Your Game Is Weak

I'd have to say that seams and airbrushing would by my biggest frustration.  I do find myself getting a little better with figuring out how to work with different types of putty, but I still think that I have a ways to go to get it "just right".  As for my airbrushing, its also coming along, I still find myself learning how to get the proper thinning ratio.

I would guess another area that I need to either figure out or give up all together is the use of PMF (Finish).  I have yet been able to achieve the high-gloss finish using the stuff, it comes out looking pebbly or rough, not smooth and shiny.

My modeling Achilles heel? Finishing stuff!

I have a habit of getting overly ambitious on my projects, going hog-wild on modifications and eventually  loosing interest. Then I run out to buy something new that meets my fancy and start all over again. I've got several large projects that are in various stages of construction because of it.

A big part of the problem for me is the fact  there have been so many great new kits coming out in my favorite genre (ships) and once I get one I can't help starting it.

My mantra is that I haven't really started if I can still put it back in the box...

i really like to build and don;'t mind the filling and sanding as long as it;'s not a really bad kit. i use 3m body putty for that. i find it relaxing. tons of pe is annoying but doable and will slow me down as i talk myself into doing it. weathering, filtering, washes is fun, building bases is fun.

my big areas are figures, decals, and painting. i don't paint badly but it really takes an effort to start painting.

as for parts i too tend to have multiple small parts on the table and loose them or put a half done kit on the shelf and miss something.

BTW after typing this i went to the bunker to paint and ended up having to breakdown both airbrushes for a thorough cleaning.

I'm sloppy with my glues. Always dripping a blob on the model somewhere and then panicking to neutralize it before it mars the plastic.

And I have a bad habit of cutting off small parts in preparation for gluing them on and then losing them off my desk somewhere. Sometimes my hair sweeps over the area and knocks them into the corn field on the edge of town or someth'n. Then I have to go fashioning a replacement part.....takes more time away from my schedule...

TarnShip & Squatch88 - Thank you both for your suggestions

I hadn't though about using stock for filling & haven't yet tried D.M.'s Perfect Plastic Putty, I'll get round to trying both when I get the chance.

Scribing. When I saw that editorial I knew that a lot of bench time this year was going to be devoted to learning how to do it well. Since I'm never satisfied with "good enough", I figured I was in for a long haul, and I was right. But it's gradually getting better, and I'm remembering other Eureka moments like when I finally learned how to stretch sprue!

As for figures, so far I know how to prime them - maybe next year...

Mike  

Milairjunkie try Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic putty. It's acrylic based and has done wonders for me and all the seems that inevitably show up. Work it into the seam, then use a dampened q-tip to wipe excess away. Once it's dry it cleans up with minimal sanding. Also I've found it has  perfect drying time, slow enough to work with it but not too long where you cant touch your model for a while. I'd say about 30 minutes before being sandable.

have you tried wedges of plastic? for the larger gaps, of course

either very thin triangle shaped plastic rod, cut into sections and cemented down into large seams (in 1/4" bits at a time),,,,or heat sprue, squeeze into triangles in pliers, snip off and glue the stubs into the kit. clip off the protrusion, then sand it along with the plastic

for smaller gaps, like the one the length of a fuselage, try using a surfacer instead of a putty, it sands off with less pressure.

Rex

The whole process of filling & sanding!

I've tried various fillers & methods (X brand, Y brand, stretched sprue, liquid sprue, CA, Mr Surfacer, 3m Acryl....) but never managed to get a finish that I'm completely happy with. I generally use thinners of some form to wipe the filler down as close to perfect as I can so that there is minimal sanding involved, but when sanding the filler is often too hard resulting in too much surrounding plastic being removed or if it isn't too hard it's too crumbly & starts to come out of the joint......

Still looking for that perfect product or technique.

Figures. I've just recently forced myself to attempt it. I used to just leave them out of my builds. Now I'm forcing myself to try more and am liking the challenge.

Also airbrushing. I tend to let thinks stack up when it comes to airbrushing. I know the more I attempt to do new things the better I'll become. But I still let my fear get the best of me at times.

Glueing tiny parts and antenae lines.  I still get the glue globs, and have tried everything.  I always end up spending lotsa time  cleaning up the glue spots.

Figures, seams, canopies, and tracks.

Scale75? thanks Bish. I'll do that, It'll help with the Ace's GB and the Italian pilots you helped direct me to.

Steve, I got a set of paints from a company called Scale75. It has 8 colours and includes a guide on how to paint white and Indian skin. I have found that a real blessing and have finally been able to get skin tones I am happy with. I would highly recommend it.

I'm ok with painting, bases and patience (because like TarnShip I do multiple builds at a time), but you may notice... figures are conspicuously missing from most of my builds. I'll put a pilot in a 1/72 build, but my weakness is figures. I just can't seem to get the skin color right.

..........and double ditto on figure painting. Scared to death of it.

Figures and faces always was mine. Hated doing them. That's one of the reasons I stopped doing figures a long time ago even back during my younger years.

Ditto on figures and faces... I still have a long way to go in that area... And my newest branching out- bases- I am a total novice there!!!

Mustang, I would be of some help, except that I "cheated".

When I found out that Polly Scale was going away, I bought every bottle of every different White in the Military and Railroad lines that I could find.

I found out that there are a couple of ways to get white right. One is to use a white primer, instead of gray,,,,,,,,or at the very least, using a very light gray primer. Another is to start with a flat white, and then cover with gloss white. And yet another is that "white reflection" idea. You paint a light coat of silver paint over your primer, and then as you build up very thin with the white, it sort of reflects into any tiny spots that you didn't cover so perfectly.

So, I combined the deal into using Badger's primer for the model, Badger's White primer (it is 'flat') for the white areas (and any red, yellow or orange areas), then Reefer White from Polly Scale for the color coat. This whole thing combines to help make the Reefer White last longer, since the primers are still in production. When the Reefer White runs out in a few years, I will have a bunch of Badger's own White paint, it sticks just fine to the Badger primer. I use Aeromaster and Polly Scale for the clears, too. With Alclad Aqua Gloss  for when the clears run out.

You could do the same thing with something like using Badger primer with whatever your favorite Acrylic paint range is, using Pledge Multi-Purpose Future or whatever you clears are.

Rex

Squatch, that is one of the reasons that some of us build more than one model at a time.

Like you, I hate having the time and the inclination to model, and then hitting that magic point where I have to stop to let cement set up, or to let paint dry.

Having another model or two (or 4, lol) going at the same time lets me keep on modeling on something, instead of having to stop for the day.

Rex

I have many weaknesses that I enjoy working on. Everyone I feel looks at their model and can see what they perceive as incorrect or not good enough. Patience is my biggest issue. I get into a model and want to be working on it all the time, and when I do work to a point where I need to let something dry or sit for a while, I get inpatient and inevitably mess something up by rushing. Getting better but still working on walking away. Also seams are tricky, but the Dynamic filling putty I found is amazing and helping me a ton!

my weakness is figures  i cant do the faces at all  i am so bad at them if you held a gun to my head and said paint  i'd say shoot

Hi;

     I just recommended to a friend and fellow modeler , this way to solve seam problems .  It's called " Sprue-Glue " . Yup the old melted sprue in the glue bottle trick !

    Thing is I have three kinds .Yup , Three .Very thin , medium and thick .I am now working on four ( extra thick ) Why ? Well , for me at least I have found that this works way better than putty , especially in wing fillet areas and fuselage seams.

    This is particularly true of those I choose to " Foil - Chrome " , No , I don't use Alclad on my planes ! I aluminum foil them .So , better not be any seam flaws !

   The fact is remember you are using a base of liquid glue for styrene .You are adding bits of styrene to the glue to make the stuff . So you have a substance that will be the same color ( usually ) as the plane And support the seam strength .

I struggle to keep the model clean when finishing.  And, afterward!  I have several times finally got a really nice finish, then smeared a big gob of CA on surface gluing on some tiny detail :-(

SEAMS. They just won't go away.  At a close second, gloss coat.

TarnShip

Then I switched to Acrylics, and had to master it all over again,,,,,,,,,,,,but, the good news was that I already knew a bunch of ways that wouldn't work, so getting Acrylic Whites right didn't take very long.

Up until early this year it was figures, especially the faces. But I think I have got to grips with that. I think my main issue is attention to detail, especially when it comes to seams, I always seem to miss some.

I used to be really terrible at painting White paint.

That was a very big problem for me, since I like the Light Gull Gray over White USN aircraft so much.

So, I hunkered down and "got it right" and painted White enamels with my airbrush.

Then I switched to Acrylics, and had to master it all over again,,,,,,,,,,,,but, the good news was that I already knew a bunch of ways that wouldn't work, so getting Acrylic Whites right didn't take very long.

That puts me in the position of liking every aspect of model building,,,,,,,except I can get a bit put out when I find that I need to sand and fill for three or more tries before my model is ready for painting. But, even then, I know how to do it, and don't really hate it,,,,,,,,I just want to get to the next stage, lol.

Rex

Painting, airbrushing really. I hate it.