Help me!

QUOTE: Originally posted by ronald_prawiro HI, could anyone put some brand names of model kit from the best to the worst? ex: Tamiya, Hasegawa,...........

Ronald, that's a tough one to answer definitively. The two companies you mentioned both offer a lot of excellent kits. Most companies sell kits of varying ages; the older ones typically have less detail and may not be as impressive as the latest state-of-the-art production. The positive side is that the older ones usually cost less. There's also a great deal of selling, swapping, and leasing of molds going on between companies. Just because a kit you find in the store is in an ABC Models Co. box doesn't mean it is from molds originally produced by that company. As a result, there may be variations in kit quality from one company to the next.

Reading FSM's Workbench Reviews and periodic Kit Roundups is one way to get a feel for kit quality. If you want to build a popular subject, like a P-51 or a Sherman tank, it pays to do some research to find out which kit may be best suited to your needs. Joining an IPMS club so you can talk to other modelers is a big help. The Detail and Scale series of books also have kit evaluations. However, if you want to build a rare subject (the 1/72 scale Morko Moraani, Finnish version of the French WWII MS 406 fighter, in my kit closet comes to mind ), there may be only one kit available, and your willingness to deal with any shortcomings has to be determined by your level of eagerness to model the subject.

QUOTE: what is the different between air brush and regular palstic paint?

Often, none. The same paint may be used for either application. However, it has to be thinned for airbrushing. And some paints, like Tamiya acrylics, seem to be optimized for airbrushing; I didn't have a happy experience the one time I tried to apply them with a brush (but that was years ago). On the other hand, I find Testor paints fine for hand-painting, and many FSM contributors and readers thin them and get great results airbrushing them.

QUOTE: which one is the best to color a model kit?

That depends on the model, your patience, and your skill with either technique. Airbrushing gear, of course, requires considerably more upfront investment than a few bottles of paint and some good brushes. Brush painting generally works best on small models (say, 1/72 aircraft) and small parts. Where larger areas--for example the fuselage or wing of a 1/48 or 1/32 aircraft--have to be covered, your chances of getting a smooth, even finish are better with the airbrush. A compromise, if you don't build a lot of models, is to use a spray can, but your color selection is more limited and spray paint is much more expensive.

I should add that most serious modelers I know use an airbrush. I guess the way to get good with it is the same way (as the old joke goes) you get to Carnegie Hall from here: practice, practice, practice.