Painting parts on the trees?

Haa! When I read the title I thought you were asking how to paint tree parts!

Bish

Ye, i see what you mean Pawel. But the items we are talking about, shovels, picks and other small tools, is anyone really painting them by airbrush. These items are a different colour from the vehcile itself and are surely far to small for airbrushing, whether on the vehicle or the spure. I am amazed when i see pics of a kit with all the parts on before painting. But i don't understand how people can paint underneath a part.

Like many things its each to his own.

One of the guys in our local AMPS Chapter, Jim Wechsler, who's Shermans are in this month's FSM, prefers to attach all of that vehicle stowage before painting. He has shown his technique (among others) at a few chapter meetings. I have not tried it yet, although I have adapted his method of painting all the suspension/tracks after the build, instead of before, on a few of my recent builds. Both methods have their pros and cons, but can have equally impressive results.

Pawel, I had no idea that the airbrush was that old. But it does make sense when one thinks about it. However, I do recall that the 70s, (40 years ago) while being more of a 'do it yourself' modelers era, were not completely the dark ages for both kits and a few rare accessories. But I think it was a bit further back when the guys who set the standards of mold seam removal and all those little attention to details that really bring a model to life in miniature. I clearly recall visits back in the 70s to the various LHS that had models that were simply stunning to see. And they were the norm for displays and contests.

Listening to the remaining old timers from that era who still partake in the local model clubs that was the standard then. Those were the builds that inspired me to get better and change from slapping a build together and painting it in a day Calvin and Hobbes style to taking my time.

And some of those techniques from back in the day still have there place. As do the new fangled methods such as supergluing pins, toothpicks, or some other item to perform the same function on a small part for painting. There is more than one way to skin a cat proverbially speaking.

BTW, very nice looking M48 That is 1/72? Wow

Stik - Of course there are always the masters who lead the way, the spearhead. Of course there were airbrushes, even 100 years ago. But it's enough to look at the level of details of the old and new kits to see the change of standard I'm talking about.

Bish - shovels and picks - now that's a good example. I'd say you should sometime try it on some cheap or scrap kit, to put the tool rack on, then do the preshading - spray the recesses in "shadow" or "dirt" colour, then spray the centers of the panels in the camouflage colours, and then, while the paint is still relatively fresh, take a really small brush and try to paint the handles and the steel of the tools. If you concentrate on the topmost areas of the tools, you can get nice "shadows" underneath them, plus you can blend the colors together a little, to avoid getting that "clean tools on a dirty vehicle" effect. That's how it works for me in some cases, that's also what you get in case of most resin cargoes, stowage etc. Not to limit myself to empty words, let me post a piece of 1:72 modelling done exactly this way:

OK, I put some stowage on that was painted separately. And they still weren't painted on sprues, they had stretched sprue holders glued to them in carefully chosen spots.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day

Paweł

Ye, i see what you mean Pawel. But the items we are talking about, shovels, picks and other small tools, is anyone really painting them by airbrush. These items are a different colour from the vehcile itself and are surely far to small for airbrushing, whether on the vehicle or the spure. I am amazed when i see pics of a kit with all the parts on before painting. But i don't understand how people can paint underneath a part.

Like many things its each to his own.

30-40 years ago, there were guys building to the the same level of attention to detail as today.I used to see those builds at the hobby shops that I would visit. But they did not have resin, photo etch, or a wealth of information at their fingertips. But there were airbrushes. I have a couple modeling books from back then that showed me how to do seam clean up and all those other little things that make your models better. Shepherd Paine in particular comes to mind.

Bish - I mean like 30 or 40 years ago if you were a hobby builder, a small casting seam line on the part wouldn't bother you that much, especially when you painted it by brush, and the paint would partly cover the seam, and then you wouldn't do any drybrushing or washes. Nowadays leaving a seam line on a part is a clear no-no, and many more people paint by airbrush, meaning thinner paint layer and all the imperfections show through. So sanding casting imperfections (sprue attachment points also count here) is what I meant writing about clean-up of the parts. I guess what you ment was removing paint from the surfaces to be glued. OK, I'm not so strict here neither - for example if you paint with Gunze paint you can use liquid glueon such surfaces with no problem, but if a part is covered with Humbrol, I'd rather remove the paint, or use CA on smaller parts.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day

Paweł

^ what do you mean you dont have to clean up the part?

Pawel

Howdy!

I'd say that method is a relic from times long ago. Nowadays the standards are so much higher, it doesn't make sense any more. For most of the parts it's best to paint them after glueing them to a subassembly - on a weathered model parts working close together can not have a totally different colour. And also you have to clean up practically every part, so if you absolutely have to pait the part separately, you clean it up and carefully choose a  spot, to which you glue a holder, that will later be cut off. But the books from 30 years ago told you to paint on the sprue, and a tradition dies hard...

Hope it helps, have a nice day

Paweł

I'm not sure how standards have changed in regards to this. Its not like theres a new device that will help. I believe its down partly to the skill of the builder and partly to preferance. And no, you don't have to clean up the part, i've never had a problem with secureing pars after painting.

My main issue with painting parts on the model that are a different colour from the vehicle is how do you paint the underside.

Weathering on the other hand should really be done with the parts on the model. 

good answers, thanks.

A combination of above. If a small part can be glued in place and then painted there the same as the surrounding area, I go with that. But if it is gonna be in a different color from the surrounding area (lets say a silver landing gear strut in a green or gray wheel well) I will removed mold seams, all but one (hopefully in the most inconspicuous place) of the sprue attachment points and leave a bit of sprue as a handle to hold the part for airbrushing. If there are multiple similar but different part, I will leave the part of the sprue with the identifying part number on the pece of sprue. Afterwards, once the part is painted and cut free for attachment, a quick bit of work with a needle file and then touch up with a fine paint brush and I am all set.

Howdy!

I'd say that method is a relic from times long ago. Nowadays the standards are so much higher, it doesn't make sense any more. For most of the parts it's best to paint them after glueing them to a subassembly - on a weathered model parts working close together can not have a totally different colour. And also you have to clean up practically every part, so if you absolutely have to pait the part separately, you clean it up and carefully choose a  spot, to which you glue a holder, that will later be cut off. But the books from 30 years ago told you to paint on the sprue, and a tradition dies hard...

Hope it helps, have a nice day

Paweł

If the part is held on by several areas, I sometimes trim away all but one spot.  I trim carefully when I do cut to minimize area affected.  Then after spraying and after removing from the sprue, I touch up with a brush.  I particularly use the "paint small parts while on sprue" technique for small parts that may be a different color than the assembly they will be mounted on, such as antennas, gun barrels, etc.

makes sense, thank you.  Yeah I see this done a lot with the gundams.

It depends oin the part. Small parts, like tools etc, can be awkward to paint off the sprue. I normally trim all but one of the sprue connections and then paint. That only leaves me with on part. And if i possable, i will leave the connection in an area that may not be seen. Once i remove the part its just a case of trimming the one tab and touching that up.

But generally i only do this with small fiddely parts that are a different colour from the hull/airframe.