A newbie work, feel free to comment TONS OF NEW PICS ADDED

Hey, JailCop! I, personally, think that you're off to a great start with your modeling endeavors. Keep it up, and don't let anything stop you. ALL beginners have a so-called "learning curve", which gets smaller with time and experience, so just hang in there, my friend.

One of the best things, if not THE best thing, you can do is find and join a model club in your area. Reading the tips on these forums will only get you so far, especially if the author of a particular forum thread doesn't explain things clearly. It is hard sometimes to understand what you're reading. But, if you have someone to physically show you what you're trying to learn, that makes all the difference in the world. I'm one of those guys that learns better by watching, asking questions, and gettings my hands dirty. I can learn from a book, too, but it takes me a lot longer to learn that way. If you click on this link ( http://www.ipmsusa.org ), then click on Chapter & RC Directory on the left side of the screen, you'll probably find a model club near you that can show you everything you need to know about modeling.

I hope this helps you out. Good Luck with everything!

Gary Mason

Thanks for pointing that out, now that I see that picture it makes sense.

Let's talk a little about your Hog..

First thing that jumps out is the ammo feed-chutes.. They aren't yellow, as you pointed out, but neither are they brass.. They're aluminum.  The ammo gets fed through them to the guns' feed trays, and their purpose is to keep the belts from flopping about and twisting, which causes innumeral feed-jams..

The above is the set-up for a mini-gun, but the dual M60s are the same kind of chute... There's just two of 'em on each side, one per gun.. The ammo belts are only partially visible when the guns are loaded, showing little more than a bit of brass and the metal links, which are black in that scale...

Ok so I found my camera, and put some fresh batteries in it.  Took some better/closer pictures.  Please don't be too harsh!  I learned something new on each model and I'll try to narrate what I learned in between the pics.  Starting from the first models I did:

Camaro:  This one was the first model I'd done since I was a kid.

M41:  This tank I learned that I need to improve my patience with glue, and not so use too much.

UH-1C Huey "Hog":  This kit I learned a lot, one, I learned that I need to make sure I have the paints the kit calls for!  I had to use yellow for the ammo, when I needed brass, looks horrible to me and I have brass now, I need to repaint it!  I also learned that I need to check how the pieces go together, I see some horrible seams and gaps.  Lastly, I learned NOT TO USE SUPER GLUE! LOL I was being impatient with the plastic cement and parts not holding, so I started using super glue, and it worked so well I used it for the clear parts, big obvious mistake!

1987 Buick Grand National:  This is the latest kit I've done, I learned a few more things here.  I learned that I can multitask.  I learned that I can work on the suspension, while I'm waiting for the paint on the engine to dry, etc.  This kit has also taught me that I need to find an alternative to brush painting, especially for large things, such as auto bodies and aircraft wings and fuselage.

I hope you enjoyed my terrible pics, shoddy models  and an extremely long post!  I'm excited to hear comments, tips, and pointers!

You're off to a good start, JailCop, and I dig your enthusiasm! I'm guessing you're already discovering how crazy addicting this hobby can be!

Hans is right that a brushpainted finish can be just as good as an airbrushed finish, but I will stress the word CAN. IMO it takes a certain kind of person/skillset to really pull that off, and I know I for one don't have it!

IF this is a hobby you think you're going to stick with, I'd say by all means, invest in an airbrush, though rattlecans are a good interim step, especially for something like an olive drab tank.

There's also no single-bottle weathering product, but for doing a wash to bring out panel lines on aircraft, that Promodeller/Flory stuff is pretty friggin' great. Just slather it on (make sure you put a gloss coat on everything first), then wipe it off with a damp cloth. It's clay-based, so even if it's completely dried, it'll wipe away easily. I used it on my Spitfire and came away very happy with the results:

I'd also suggest that you work on basic skills (assembly, filling/sanding, etc), and on each build, stretch yourself with one or two new techniques. It might also help to join a group build or two, and see how others are approaching the same or similar subjects. I built models for years growing up, and thanks largely to this forum, I've come further in the last year skill-wise than I did in all those years.

Oh, and welcome!

Hans, thanks for pointing that out, I never realized it until now, and I've already glued it onto the place!  D'Oh!  I'll try to get in there with a small brush.

JailCop

As soon as I get some batteries for my camera, I'll get some closer pics!

 

I would love to do some weathering and things like that, but I'm afraid to mess something up, as even at 26 years old, my hand is not very steady when it comes to fine work.

One quick tip about that Lightning.. The rectangular parts running the centerline of the bombs are the aircraft's pylons and not part of the bombs themselves, so remember they'll usually be painted the color of the aircraft's undersides, not the bombs..

Thanks for the tips, I actually never gave any thought to spray cans, I'll have to give them a try!

First of all, don't sweat brush-painting.. With practice, brushed finishes can rival airbrushing on some subjects, especially those that get heavily weathered, like AFVs..

Second, don't worry about buying an airbrush right away either, until you've got some "rattle-can time".. Airbrushing is an art that takes a long time to master, paint-mixing takes a while to learn to do right, and it's a high-maintenence (and expensive)  tool...  If you're just wanting an evenly-applied one or two-color finish, rattle-cans are your best bet to flatten the learning curve..

The cheaper airbrushes, like the Testor's Airbrush are pretty good for your first attempts, and although they have nowhere near the fine-line control that top-end airbrushes do, they go a long way in helping you to learn surface-prep, learn to mix paint to the proper viscosity, learn how to mix colors, learn the different applications and thinners for acrylics vs enamels, allow using rattle-cans AND bottle paints together, and also allow you to start experimenting with airbrush-effects like fading paint and "dusting"...

Folks who run out and but high-end airbrushes and compressors and a book on "How to Airbrush" and attempt to airbrush a free-hand mottled camouflage on a Ju-88 nightfighter will likely ruin it or ruin their first paint-jobs with it..

 A word about "store-bought" weathering products too..

Weathering is a process that's made up of several steps, each involving a different technique and different material.. A good weathering job involves the use of  washes, drybrushing, and  pastels or powders... Techniques used for armor models are oftentimes too heavy-handed for use on aircraft... Then there's the things that you have to analyze as you look at it..

That crystal-clear canopy is gonna look wrong on a dirty, beat-up, and sun-faded P-39 based in North Africa, but that dirty winshield is gonna look silly on a high-gloss candy-apple red Dodge Charger... That paint-chipping on the leading edges of that F-16 operating from Luke Air Force Base is gonna look outta place too.. Not to mention that you shouldn't have applied all that silver paint to the leading edges of the B-17 you built, since those black edges on the wings are rubber de-icing boots..

So there're no "one-bottle" solutions to weathering.. It takes a while to learn, and it takes a while longer to know what goes on what..

But meanwhile, enjoy the ride!

Welcome to the forums..

JailCop

As soon as I get some batteries for my camera, I'll get some closer pics!

 

I would love to do some weathering and things like that, but I'm afraid to mess something up, as even at 26 years old, my hand is not very steady when it comes to fine work.

If it's available in the US, you should try using Promodeller weathering wash. I just used it on a Bf109 and it worked great, and there is a very low risk of anything going wrong, as you can just wipe it off.

Much better than my first models, I don't think I even bothered to paint those!

As soon as I get some batteries for my camera, I'll get some closer pics!

I would love to do some weathering and things like that, but I'm afraid to mess something up, as even at 26 years old, my hand is not very steady when it comes to fine work.

    Always great to have a new voice to the forum. I sometimes think we are our own worst critics at times. All builds look fine to me. Very good work indeed! It's seem to me to all be subjective after a certain point as to how far you want to take it with regard to weathering, etc. The nice thing about posting here is the help you'll get in discovering ways to tweak your builds. As long as you enjoy it that's the important thing.

Take closer pics...

Ah, it's just plain old testors silver enamel.

That would be "Natural Metal Finish" if I'm not mistaken...

 Also, welcome to the forum!    Nice work too!

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and advice, I'm always open to more!

Tigerman:  I'm not familiar with the abbreviation "NMF"? 

Welcome to the forum from another jail cop.

Looks like some good work to me.Post the pics in the appropriate forums and you'll probably get more feedback.

to the Forums. Don't be so hard on yourself JailCop. Those builds look pretty good. From the variety of builds, you're not afraid to tackle something new. Keep at it and keep posting pics. Lots of great guys here on the forums ready and willing to lend a helping hand.

Jim  

That P-38 looks great. What did you do for the NMF?

CML, thanks for the kind words.  The Huey has probably been the most fun kit I've done so far, although I made the mistake of getting lazy and used super glue, not remembering the horrible fogging it causes!

I do all my painting with brushes currently.  If you look closely, the paint job on the green Camaro and the Buick GNX are actually horrible, uneven and filled with fingerprints, bumps and air bubbles.  The prints are my own fault, being impatient.

The concept of airbrushing appeals to me, but I'm kind of intimidated by the whole thing!

I thought about bringing the P-38 to the SYRCON show in October and entering, just to see how it stacks up to more experienced modelers.

Welcome to the forums JailCop.

You're builds are looking pretty good to me.  I especially like the Huey.

Are you using an airbrush or brush painting?  The green paint job on that car looks great (sorry, i don't know much about cars so i'm not sure what type it is).

I'm sure if you stick around here you'll learn a lot.

Regards,