Hey, those tips and techniques really work!

I have to admit to the same revellation when I started to listen to people. Now I hate to brush paint, use liquid glue almost exclusively, thin that paint and clean that airbrush well. My next thing is to seal decals with one more coat or future as some decals soak up the matte finish too well, hence my latest CF-18B.

Glad to hear that the tips and tricks are doing you some good. Make sure you post some pics of your latest masterpiece when it's done. Looking forward to seeing it!

demono69

Always great when you try something new or something you read or heard about somewhere, it works and the results are better than you'd hoped. Ahhhh modeling, try it, fix it, try it again.

Bob

Drew,
congratulations!
i seem to bounce from 'stuck in my rut' to 'i want to try everything at once. NOW!'

on the microsol & microset front:
1) find a piece of foam or something similar that you can make these bottles 'tip over proof' with. i won't tell you what makes me suggest this, but let's just say my bottle of "set" is 1/4 full and my bottle of "sol" is 7/8 full.

2) you might want to buy a cheap paintbrush and dedicate it to using w/ the Sol & Set. that way you won't have to worry abt contaminating them w/ thinner, paint or brush cleaner. i use the same brush everytime and just give it a good water rinse after each session.

3) ALWAYS test Sol & Set on a 'minor' decal in an out of the way place, or better yet, on a decal from the sheet you aren't going to use on a piece of scrap plastic. you will find that some decals are nearly impervious to these solutions while others literally go to pieces.

4) you have probably heard this 100 times, but if you use the Sol and the decal wrinkles up: DON'T TOUCH it !! it will return to normal and snug down beautifully if you leave it alone. and on a similar note, while you are using this stuff, work on one side or part of the plane at a time and be careful if you need to move the kit around. take it from someone who had to stick his finger thru the national insignia on a 1/32 Stuka before he understood how important this was.

don't be intimidated. it's not that hard.
just approach it methodically, and let me make the mistakes for you.

ed.

Hey, Drew.........
It's great to hear you're moving onto the "next step" in modelling. All that fancy stuff you read about really isn't that hard is it? And look at the results - you've tried something new, and you've already built a better model that you ever have before. Easy, huh?
I'm as skilled a modeller as I am because I've been reading FSM for almost 20 years (has it been that long?) and trying the tips and techniques detailed in the mag. Most often I get it right, sometimes I don't, but I try again till I get it right.
Use this forum as well. There are a lot of people here who have more information locked up in their heads than you'll ever need. So just ask, man.
Cheers,
LeeTree

Hey guys, thanks for the encouragement. Thanks especially for the tips on applying the decals. I'm going to print out this thread so I have them handy.

I bought my first FSM as a freshman in high school in '88. It featured a P-80 super-detailed by Bob Steinbrun (I hope I spelled that correctly). That article facinated me. Tasks like cutting the styrene to reposition the cockpit, scratch building the instrument panel and gun bay, and the host of other things that Mr. Steinbrun did were just incredible to a 14 -year-old. Actually, I still have that issue, and his work is incredible to a 29-year-old too. :D

Like a lot of people, I got away from building models when I was in college and then working, and then I got married. But I always retained my interest in the hobby. I'd buy an occasional FSM or interesting kit. Finally, last year I started building again. My wife has been very supportive and even seems interested when I show her the models or drag her to air shows. :D

I usually only get on average 1 to 2 hours a week to work on a model due to other committments. But, that gives me a lot of time to plan in advance what I'm going to do at each modeling session. I like being able to be so methodical. One time-saving tip I may have read somewhere and then tried was using my wife's hair-dryer to help the paint dry more quickly so I can apply a second coat. I set it on cool and keep the hair dryer moving over the area I painted. The light coats from the airbrush dry pretty quickly.

I posted some in-progress pictures of this model about a month ago, and I plan to take more pictures soon and post them once the paint is done but before I apply the decals.

Regards,

-Drew