First Time Modeller

if you need to fill a small gap try letting some extra plastic sit in liquid model cement and let it get real soft and jelly-like. then use a toothpick tip to place in the gap ans sand smooth with fine grit sandpaper and presto! i thought it would be hard to do and harmful to detail at first until i tried it, but its fairly easy and gentle to just about all details.

about getting parts off the sprues: try attaching a piece of tape (either black rubbery electrical tape or masking tape works best) to the back of the part, about 1-2mm past each end of the piece, and then try to cut it out. it works very well for me on the really small grabiron in 1/35 tanks and 1/48 aircraft guns, anteannas, and landing gear legs. the tape offers enough support and if you use the electrical tape or masking tape, it usually does not leave the tape residue in the part.

hope this helps!

My nephew passed of cancer 2 years ago and he, too, started modeling before he went. My heart goes out to you and yours.

I don’t think anyone has suggested this - try hearting the knife blade (a candle works) before cutting the small parts.

I’ve found that Break Fluid works to remove paint - believe me it doesn’t harm the plastic.

Best way to get paint of clean is very carefully chip and rub it off with the tip of a wooden toothpick. Its hard enough to scrape the paint away, but not hard enough to do any serious (noticeable) damage to the plastic, unless you really gouge away at it.

As for the putty. I dont thin it, i scrape it on with the tip of a chisel blade. If its actually a gap, i would recommend putting a bit of glue in it and binding it with some rubber bands or a peg or something till i sets.

Others may have better suggestions.

Good Morning All,

Thank You for your help to date.

I noticed going down the spin of my lovely plane, there is a super thin gap, but enough to ruin the paint job. I have some tamiya putty, it's very thick, can I mix this with a thinner of some type to help the application??

Second, I sadly painted some brown on a clear part, I am using water based arcrylic's, can I use something to wipe the paint off?...

Photo's will be attached once I get the gap filled, not too happy with photo sharing just yet.

Thank You :)

Don't forget, it's best to paint from lightest to darkest colours. It makes it easier to get coverage.

Good Afternoon All,

Thank you so much for your help. I managed to get the small part's out without breaking them thank you all for your advice. One 4mm gun survived, lolzzz...

The painting I will get too soon, I am going to basecoat dark grey and then paint the Dark Earth (Brown) & then using Blu-Tack get the pattern for the green + Paint the Black underbelly & all other detail's, then I will Decal & Weather.

I will upload Photo's once done with some inprogress photo's as well :)

Thank You so Much for all your Help.

My method for avoiding breaking the fiddly bits is to cut the sprue tree to pieces first. I have a much easier time getting in at an advantageous angle that way. I also use flush-cutting side cutters rather than scissor-action sprue cutters. To me they seem to cut closer and impart less "twist" - i.e. less chance of breakage.

Not all models are plastic. Click “paper model airplanes free” on Google Image.

http://www.modele-kartonowe.com/friendsdone/gn_i16front.jpg

http://www.airminded.net/jenny/jn4_pmodel1.jpg

Scorpiomikey's method will work nicely for you.

GW/Citadel inks will work for weathering, Remember to start small and build them up so you don't end up going overboard. It's easy to add, harder to take away.

The way i do it is i make sure theres something semi hard (like a self healing cutting board) hard up against the item. I then put my finger on top of the item to keep it stable. Then i slide the tip of the blade over the sprue connection point repeatedly till it comes free, then i tidy it up.

Airfix isnt exactly know for its stability of plastic though, at least, not the 72nd stuff.

Good Morning,

Thank you for your wonderful help/advice. I brought a sprue cutter, but the tiny little guns & antenna's still snapped, using tweser's I managed to reattach them...

How do you work around this problem? Do you cut upto the item? or cut it at the Tree/Sprue & lay it flat to cut them out??

Basically, if you have something small (3mm - 8mm) and super thin, how do you remove this from the tree without it breaking/snapping?

Please Help :)

Photo's will be post soon, Waiting to Paint it Up, be gentle though, first time painting a model when photo's uploaded :) :)

Question, I have citadel ink's, can I use these to weather?? (Given to me by a friend)... I also have 7 really small gap's, how can I fill these without killing detail?... Please help :)

Thank You so Much for your Time & Help :)

If you can not get a sprue cutter, try using a small pointed scissor. For small parts it is also helpful to have a pair of tweetzer. For clear parts or small parts, try not to cut to close to the sprue, you can use a nail sanding stick to remove the excess. Hope this helps! I am also new to modelling.

Blessings!

Hi Benjamin - Welcome to the forums! Good luck with all your cancer treatments and everything.

For the small parts, you may have good luck with a sprue cutter:

or maybe a razor saw:

http://www.daviddarling.info/images/razor_saw.jpg

Best of luck! I hope you enjoy the hobby!