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New to model building

shamrock55

I've been meaning to get into model building and painting for a while now just as a bit of a hobby,just your typical ravell and airfix type models.are there any recommended sites for these and for paints and airbrushes and general gear needed,i all be doing something really basic to start off with obviously as I know nothing about the model building world tbh

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grudgebringer

I would also recommend that anyone looking for kits and paints in a bricks and mortar store check out MCL Direct in Newbridge, they stock a wide variety of paints and kits at reasonable prices, shipping is also cheap or shop collection is also available, don't go there hoping to shop from the shelves, most of their stock is held in the back, only a small portion is on display, always check their site:

https://www.mcldirect.com/en/381-model-shop

djerk

Few items I haven't seen mentioned that I couldn't live without when I got better at modelling.

Zap a Gap.. never really used contact glue again after using this.. It's basically just superglue you can buy in various strengths. Get the slow cure if you're worried about not being able to get a proper fit first time (though you should always dry fit first anyway). You can use talcum powder as an accelerant if you so please.

Tamiya masking tape.. for obvious reasons.

Future floor polish is great for glossy coats (acrylic based). It can also do wonders for canopies etc. You can get sanding sticks with 3 grades of grit for these purposes to file off any molded seam lines, start off rough and work your way to finest grit and you'll have a surface as smooth as glass, dip in future and it'll look even better. Don't use contact glue around canopies either, it can smoke the appearance through a chemical reaction that fuses the plastics together.

Learn about paints.. you can layer acrylic over oils and vice versa, this is a good way to go as they are both basically inert with each other whereas layers of different colours using the same kind of paint can eventually bleed into each other over time causing cracks and such. Use toothpicks to paint finer details like cockpits etc.

There's great stuff made by micro sol designed specifically for decals.. it softens them so that they can adhere much better to the surface and actually form with the nooks and crannies of your model.

Get piles of sand paper in various grits to sand down seam lines, glue etc. A plastic filler is also a must, especially with cheaper sets that haven't been formed that well. A scribe can be handy to mark out any lines on the model you might have over sanded (or needed to) to make corrections and such.

A tip for doing wheels.. use a black felt pen or permanent marker with a fine tip to go around the wheel hub/alloys, then use a brush to do the rest, you'll get a perfectly nice finish.

Just few things off the top of my head, hope they help! happy modelling

ps i bought a lot of my stuff from wonderlandmodels.co.uk

shamrock55

Could anyone recommend an airbrush nothing too expensive,i got one with a compressor from China and it's rubbish,keeps getting blocked and paint flow is very inconsistent when it does work,the compressor is fine for now though,cheers

The Doktor

Whats "not too expensive"?

less than 100, less than 150?

shamrock55

The Doktor wrote: »

Whats "not too expensive"?
less than 100, less than 150?

less then 100 for now anyway, is there really much of a difference between an airbrush that costs 50 and one that costs 250 and if so what is it? TBH I just want the damn thing to spray and stop clogging up every 2 mins,with the one i have i can honestly say I've spent more time taking it apart and cleaning the damn thing then actually spraying with it

The Doktor

shamrock55 wrote: »

less then 100 for now anyway, is there really much of a difference between an airbrush that costs 50 and one that costs 250 and if so what is it?

Yes!!!

If its clogging, you need to thin your paint more.
If using acrylics go about 70:30 Thinner:Paint
Also keep cotton buds near by to wipe the tip from time to time.

try these
https://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?products_id=21056
https://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?cPath=400_403_1_146&products_id=22182

But if you really want a decent brush that will last you and works every time get this
https://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?cPath=400_403_1_9_46&products_id=3

Ive had a bunch of air brushes over the years. Started with an Aztek, then got a few different metal body brushes.
My favourite was a Tamiya one for a long time, until i tried a Iwata brush. Was hard to get bits for the tamiya one which is why I changed.
Ive 4 Iwata ones now including some custom micron ones, and I can tell you theres a difference.
The revolution one above is great for models, including cars etc.

shamrock55

The Doktor wrote: »

Yes!!!

If its clogging, you need to thin your paint more.
If using acrylics go about 70:30 Thinner:Paint
Also keep cotton buds near by to wipe the tip from time to time.

try these
https://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?products_id=21056
https://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?cPath=400_403_1_146&products_id=22182

But if you really want a decent brush that will last you and works every time get this
https://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?cPath=400_403_1_9_46&products_id=3

Ive had a bunch of air brushes over the years. Started with an Aztek, then got a few different metal body brushes.
My favourite was a Tamiya one for a long time, until i tried a Iwata brush. Was hard to get bits for the tamiya one which is why I changed.
Ive 4 Iwata ones now including some custom micron ones, and I can tell you theres a difference.
The revolution one above is great for models, including cars etc.

Those brushes look good I'll check them out cheers, the thickness Of The paint wasn't the problem because i thinned them down well but the 70:30 is a good tip

shamrock55

Quick question,im using acrylic paint for spraying and all other parts of a model but would enamel give a better finish for smaller parts like internal parts,wheels and engine parts and just use acrylic for main body parts?

The Doktor

shamrock55 wrote: »

Quick question,im using acrylic paint for spraying and all other parts of a model but would enamel give a better finish for smaller parts like internal parts,wheels and engine parts and just use acrylic for main body parts?

Short answer.... no

Just use acrylic everywhere, and use enamels for washes etc.

djerk

shamrock55 wrote: »

Quick question,im using acrylic paint for spraying and all other parts of a model but would enamel give a better finish for smaller parts like internal parts,wheels and engine parts and just use acrylic for main body parts?

There isn't one better than the other, they all have their benefits and pitfalls that you can only learn through experience by using them. Enamels take much longer to cure/dry between coats (some people won't paint onto enamels until they've cured for at least a week) and it's harder to clean out your equipment between uses because you need spirits to thin and wash them out. Acrylics dry fast but require a different technique and approach, a huge boon is that you can thin the paint and easily wash them off with water if you make a mistake (also non toxic). You really just have to experiment. There are lacquers as well that add another dimension, they dry much faster than oils but have their own reactions to consider when mixing with other paints.

shamrock55

The Doktor wrote: »

Short answer.... no

Just use acrylic everywhere, and use enamels for washes etc.

Fair enough, Btw what do you mean by washes?

The Doktor

shamrock55 wrote: »

Fair enough, Btw what do you mean by washes?

Washes are where you thin the paint right out. You allow it to wash into all the nooks and crannies, and it makes thing look more real, and brings out details.

Great in things like engines.

Though id prefer artist oils for it, but enamels can be used.

So say a piece thats painted silver in an engine. Using white spirit and a tiny dab of oil paint, (i mean say 5 ml of spirit and the tip of a brush of oil, until you get used to it). Just dab the wash loaded brush around the part and youll see the colour flow into corners and around bolts etc.

You can see its been done on this engine, so gives you an idea.

shamrock55

Ah Yea ive seen videos on that alright,did you do that engine it's fantastic

The Doktor

shamrock55 wrote: »

Ah Yea ive seen videos on that alright,did you do that engine it's fantastic

yeah, thats one o mine. Its a Honda RC166 (12th scale)

shamrock55

Quick question,when painting, on the instructions it has a letter for each colour to be used, but there is one letter(h) that has 3 colours on the model I'm doing now it has Aluminium, orange and clear,does that mean the Base coat is aluminium the main coat is orange then clear on top of that? It's an orange lambourgini btw