new to modeling, need guidance

welcome to the forums white, where are you stationed? Another possiblitlity is the PX, some of them stock modeling supplies, including a beginers airbrush set for not a lot of money, but the cans of air can get expensive. Also ask around, modelers are pretty common on base. You might even be able to find a group of guys who get together and build. They can be a wealth of information to you in addition to this forum. Good luck, and welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the forum White.To get a great hand brush job don't use the model brush sold at Wal-mart unless they use camel hair or fine nylon brisles.Go to the crafts department and buy your brushes there.You will fine a nice assortment to choose from.Two you will need to thin as you go when brush painting.You can do this by pouring a little paint in a small cup or tin.Then get so thinner ready to use.Go dip your brush in the thinner and scrapping on the side any excess.Once you have done this then dip your brush in the paint and apply.You will see great results doing this.This and other tips are all over in this forum and there are plenty of people here who will help you in your time of need.Digger

Welcome!! Looks like the above has covered it. With an airush, I would say look at getting one once you really get into it. The Aztek is a relitively cheap one and simple to maintain. Remember, if you do get one and use enamel paint, you would need a respirator and some sort of spraying booth to keep the fumes from making you sick. That would take up a lot of room in your barracks. Model Master makes nice Acrylics too.

thanks for all the advice everyone. i think ill go with brushing paint for the time being. my only problem with buying additional equipment is that im in the US Army and live in the barracks. this means i have a limited ammount of space avalible to store things. i will just have to figure something out. ill be spending most of the day today getting intel from the techniques forum. thanks again.

welcome!


all of the above was typical of the friendly advice people will give you here.

you may also want to look on the techniques forum, which will specialise in these types of enquiries.

for what it's worth, i started by hand painting (like most i gues), had a short and unsuccessful stint with spray cans ( a whole lot of paint without a whole lot of accuracy or control), then graduated to airbrushing with a compressor - i have an Iwata eclipse.

hope all goes well.

kind regards,

Nicholas

Being new to modelling, I think the main thing to improving your craft is to experiment. Poke around through the forums here and you'll find that everyone has different techniques, different glue recommendations, and you can find all sorts of useful tidbits. Remember, there is no right way to build a model other than to do what works best for you.

Most of us find that an airbrush is really nice to have. My recommendation in that department would be a Badger 200. Fairly simple for a novice to use, but extremely capable as your airbrushing skill improves. Poke through the airbrush forum for additional info such as paint thinning, compressors, etc. However, if you don't want to plunk down the cash for an airbrush, compressor, and paint booth, there are a lot of builders who do outstanding work with a brush. With good brushes and practice, you can achieve some pretty decent results.

I'll second Rebelreenactor's glue recommendations. I also use Testor's brush on liquid glue, that come in a clear paint bottle. If you're careless with it, you can make a mess, but with care it can glue things together really quickly so that your building is not hung up by parts drying. I also use CA super glue for that purpose as well.

For filling seems, I use Squadron's Green putty, Tamiya's basic gray putty, or CA super glue. As with everything, you'll find that as you use the different materials, you find which you can best use for whatever situation is at hand.

One last recommendation is to get one of those magnifier work lights, in which the light is a circular fluorescent light surrounding a large magnifying lens. Being able to see things up close and well illuminated can be a big help.

Have fun and welcome to the forums.

I prefer an airbrush , but nice paintjobs can be achieved with a brush. For that I prefer enamels, preferably Humbrol. For airbrushing, I like Tamiya or Model master Acylics. Tamiya dark earth or buff are common paints to simulate dirt and dust. Welcome to the forums.

welcome white_1!!!!!!!!!!

hey, these guys are great, give awesome advice! one thing i use that helps with weathering is actuall weathering powders.... they come in different colors..... I ordered mine over EBAY by just typing in weathering powders.

hey to the forums and to the hobby!

for paints i use Model Master Enamles and Tamiya Acrylics.
An airbrush is not a must. If you are still testing out the hobby then i recommend using spray cans. Model master, testors and Tamiya make them.
to give it a dirty look, add mud in appropriate places (like wheel wells)
for a worn look try dry brushing (look in the painting forum, ther is a new post about it in there) and a wash (also see painting forum)
You can also show scratched paint like near hatches with a #2 pencil.
For adhesives I use Model Master cement. It comes in a black bottle and comes out in a gel type form, a little thinner. It bonds only plastic. If you want to glue metal I use CA glue which is basically Super Glue, you can also use Crazy glue.
thats just some rough answers to your questions, there will be plenty of others with their specifics. The forum is a great place and there is lots of help on here.