Hi all,
I'm just getting back into the hobby after leaving it sometime around 2001. I used to build 1/35 armor and figures, 1/48 planes and had a go at 1/24 cars, but the cars kind of bore me. My current focus is on 1/48 planes.
All I can say is a lot has changed since I last pulled a plane out of the box. I remember trying to research subjects on the Internet, and it actually took more than one Google Image search. I found a copy of Finescale Modeler where the editor announced the establishment of a website, and what a difference it is today (the content marketer in me marvels that that's what websites used to be used for).
Anyway, I got back into this hobby in October when the girlfriend was out of town and I picked up an Academy F4U-4B Corsair and an ICM Spitfire MK IX. Hated the decals on both of them (yay for aftermarket), but was happy with the builds. Finished them with Tamiya aerosol paints, and then decided it was time to get the airbrush back out.
I found my old airbrush at my parents' house, and it's some form of Testors (I think they called it the detail airbrush). It uses Aztec paint cups, but I got frustrated with it and sprung for a Badger SOTAR 20/20. What a difference!
Now that I'm older, I find I have a lot more patience (and funds - since I don't have to beg them off my parents anymore), and I've found what a difference things like Micro Sol and Micro Set make, how you will only be frustrated if you thin paints with water instead of some actual alcohol or thinner, and that Tamiya putty is much easier to use than the old Testors Contour Putty. Still love that Testors/Model Master cement, though.
My current project is a Hobby Craft Czech Avia S-199. It's the first model I've ever fully airbrushed (aside from the cockpit), and it's the first time I've done preshading. I chose it in part because it was cheap ($14) but still had recessed panel lines, decent detail and is a 109 variant (one of my weak spots). And it was essentially one color. I am not at all afraid to mask, but I figured it would just be easier for learning if it was all green
I built it straight out of the box except for lead foil seat harness, lead foil gear bays (the kit doesn't give you any detail there. I thought it looked pretty bare so gave it ribbed bays that look at least a little like the real thing). I drilled out the gun barrels as well.
There were some fit issues with the fuselage halves, and the filling on the bottom behind the wings could have been better, but overall I'm happy with the way its going. I shot it Tamiya RAF Dark Green, hand-painted the canopy rails and used Tamiya paints for the cockpit. I am waiting on my panel line wash to come in from The Detailer, and I plan to practice on an old Monogram HE-111 I found that is sadly missing too many parts to be salvaged and built up now (will have to get one, though).
Right now, it's on my workbench (kitchen table) with the decals sandwiched between coats of Future. After the panel line wash, I'll add pastel chalk weathering for the exhaust and maybe a little for the machine guns. After that, time for another finish coat (haven't decided what to use yet, though I do like the sheen of the Future right now), and I'll glue the canopy in place (it's just sitting on the plane now since I don't trust myself to mask it right now.
