SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

What kind of paint kit is recomended for a newbie?

2345 views
19 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    March 2020
  • From: South Florida
What kind of paint kit is recomended for a newbie?
Posted by Having-fun on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 10:34 PM

I am working on my new project, a sail boat 1:72. The box comes with a list of recomended colors to use on the kit. I have been having a hard time finding paints to order.

I would like to stay with acrilics mainly becuase the easy of cleaning, I want to expend my time bulding the model, not cleaning brushes with toxic chemicals.

I have been loking for a reasonable priced kit of paint that would contain a selection of the most used paints for sail ships, what I am finding are kits for tanks, planes, cars, german uniforms, US uniforms, etc. but not a set for sail ships. Do you guys have any ideas you could share with me?

 

Thanks

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 9:06 AM

Sailing ships are such a small slice of the ship genre in this hobby that there likely is not such a paint set put out by the mainstream paint companies. Only recently have any of the acrylic paint lines come out with more popular 20th century naval colors, aside from a long discontinued Marine Colors line by Testors. At best you can get some generic color acrylic paint sets that include primary colors, then hunt for more specific individual colors that you may need such as for the sails and bare wood deck.

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 9:51 AM

Hi there and welcome.

 

What's the kit? I'd be happy to make some suggestions if you can let us know what's on the ways.

Most ship models in the "sailing " category have a higher ratio of hand/ airbrush painting than others. For that I reach for high pigment content enamels.

I still keep up a good supply of the Testor's square bottles for fine detail hand brushing.

Bill

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Mansfield, TX
Posted by EdGrune on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 10:15 AM

Ship models, particularly wooden ship models, may be considered the bast**d child of modeling.    There are just a few dedicated color sets for ships, and essentially no dedicated sets for wooden ships.

The colors used during the period are going to be common and relatively available natural pigments.   Lamp black, lead white, ochre, red, green, and mixtures thereof   

Here is a complete set for the steam ship era

Vallejo Model Color is an acrylic, brushable, water cleanup paint.   Remembering that the steam era overlapped the end of the sail era.   Many of the colors would be compatible.   The picture is off Amazon, but you may be able to find the set through other online sellers

 

  • Member since
    November 2018
Posted by oldermodelguy on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 10:17 AM

Hi ! Just curious, is this a wooden model kit or a plastic model kit ?

  • Member since
    July 2019
Posted by Robotism on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 10:34 AM

EdGrune

Ship models, particularly wooden ship models, may be considered the bast**d child of modeling.    There are just a few dedicated color sets for ships, and essentially no dedicated sets for wooden ships.

The colors used during the period are going to be common and relatively available natural pigments.   Lamp black, lead white, ochre, red, green, and mixtures thereof   

Here is a complete set for the steam ship era

Vallejo Model Color is an acrylic, brushable, water cleanup paint.   Remembering that the steam era overlapped the end of the sail era.   Many of the colors would be compatible.   The picture is off Amazon, but you may be able to find the set through other online sellers

 

 

You can never go wrong with Vallejo. The standard line can be airbrushed if you thin them and keep them mixed up with airbrush thinner. They like to seperate but work okay if you bully them a bit with your stirring stick. The Vallejo air range airbrushes much nicer and should have many of the same colours. Panzer Aces are an off shoot of Vallejo model colour and may contain some suitable colours since they aim for perfect accuracy to real subjects.

 

You maybe able to find a conversion chart online to find the right vallejo colours you need.

  • Member since
    March 2020
  • From: South Florida
Posted by Having-fun on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 11:23 AM

It is a plastic ship kit from Revell

 

I have been trying to get the Vallejo set in the islustration, but, Amazon shows it a s back odered, I have lookes in other location but, I have not been able to find it.

 

BTW, Does this posting system has a spell checker? if so, where is it?

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 11:37 AM

Nope, no spell check here anymore. It was eliminated in one of the last forum ”improvement” revamps a few years back. 

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Mansfield, TX
Posted by EdGrune on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 11:51 AM

Looks like it may be instock & available from squadron.   Item VJ70146.  

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 12:06 PM

Having-fun

It is a plastic ship kit from Revell

They've sold dozens and dozens of different ones. Kit #? Subject?

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    November 2018
Posted by oldermodelguy on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 1:33 PM

Having-fun

It is a plastic ship kit from Revell

 

I have been trying to get the Vallejo set in the islustration, but, Amazon shows it a s back odered, I have lookes in other location but, I have not been able to find it.

 

BTW, Does this posting system has a spell checker? if so, where is it?

 

I've built three of their ship/boat kits years ago ( and if not theirs then plastic at any rate), the last one I believe was a river boat, I did PT 109, a cargo ship and tug boat and the sailing ship HMS Bounty ( the only one I airbrushed).. I always used enamels back then. If you decide to go with acrylic paint be sure to prime everything first. Acrylic can be fine but they stick much better to primer than plastic and primer is made to stick to plastic. Of all the boats/ships I have done I think the tugboats just captured me at the time. The Bounty was great but a much bigger project.

I think Vallejo Model Color is a decent choice for brush painting. I also use craft paints and blend up my own colors, same with acrylic artist paints. I'd suggest Model Master acryl for brushing too but not sure how inventory is. Vallejo is a surer bet right now. All that though to say if you are sure on acrylics as your choice then please prime ! It's too much work to have your paints chip or flake or wear off........ And Ships are fun !!

  • Member since
    March 2020
  • From: South Florida
Posted by Having-fun on Thursday, April 16, 2020 9:18 PM

What kind of primer do you recomend? Can I use the type of spray primer sold in places like Home Depot?

 

Thanks

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Mansfield, TX
Posted by EdGrune on Thursday, April 16, 2020 9:39 PM

Having-fun

What kind of primer do you recomend? Can I use the type of spray primer sold in places like Home Depot?

 

Thanks

 

Use with caution on plastic models

Spray paints & primers from the hardware store may be used on plastic  models but be sure to spray light coats.  Test first.  Krylon, Plasticote, American Painter, Rustoleum may have solvent properties which can affect the models surface.  

I have used them, but go slow.  Two light coats instead of one heavy one

  • Member since
    November 2018
Posted by oldermodelguy on Friday, April 17, 2020 5:42 AM

Having-fun

What kind of primer do you recomend? Can I use the type of spray primer sold in places like Home Depot?

 

Thanks

 

What I'm going to say is basically what Ed said. I'll add a little bit.

I used to use Krylon all the time but some folks here have said it's properties have changed. I don't know if that's good or bad !! When I used it I heated the can in hot water which thinned the paint a bit in cooler weather and gave great atomization, consistent year round. Some of the guys in the model car forum have said they use Rustoleum primer and do the same as I did with Krylon. They just put down light coats and if it goes on a little dry or nubby just steel wool it smooth after it's good and dry.. Same for Walmarts lacquer primer ( sorry I don't know the generic name they use but it's about $3 a can and lacquer based is all I know about it). When you back away too far it can go on a little dry is why that occurs but if too close the solvents in the paint can be tough on plastic. What I did with Krylon is just speed up my passes and it went on just wet enough to be smooth but thin enough that it dried right away and could be accelerated with use of a hair dryer if need be and it never damaged plastic parts.. But today since I airbrush most things, I'm using Badger Stynylrez primer which is an acrylic poly resin paint that won't damage plastic. But I never damaged a model using Krylon, I used it for years, I think two decades after Floquil went out. I've also, on another note, brush painted Stynylrez onto small parts now and then and it's come out nice.

You could also order in some Tamiya primer from one of the online stores and that's made for plastic models, it's a mild lacquer base...

  • Member since
    March 2020
  • From: South Florida
Posted by Having-fun on Thursday, April 23, 2020 8:38 PM

Thanks for the answer! I will investigate the Tamiya primer when I start my next project.

I still working on the Revell pirate ship, once I finish it then I will have to decide what I going to do next

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Friday, April 24, 2020 2:54 PM

Having-fun

What kind of primer do you recomend? Can I use the type of spray primer sold in places like Home Depot?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

I use Rustoleum sandable primer found at many hardware and building supply stores.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    March 2020
  • From: South Florida
Posted by Having-fun on Thursday, April 30, 2020 2:27 PM

GMorrison

 

 
Having-fun

It is a plastic ship kit from Revell

 

 

They've sold dozens and dozens of different ones. Kit #? Subject?

 

 

I sorry I did not answer this question sooner, but here it is:

Revell Pirate Ship 1:72

No. 05605

Long: 55mm, High: 47MM

Skill level: 5

These are all the info I found in the box and the instructions, hope that is the answer you wanted.

PD I spell checked this using my word program.

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Thursday, April 30, 2020 2:54 PM

Thanks! I did figure that out, following your build. She looks great by the way.

The spellcheck makes a real difference. I completely understand the trouble with spelling; many members here have that and have figured out various ways to get past it. Sometimes I think my own spelling is headed south.

 

Bill

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    March 2020
  • From: South Florida
Posted by Having-fun on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 3:48 PM

 

Spellers software are not a completed solution, most of them, would not give the appropriated spelling of a particular word, or can not understand the word you just type, the one that comes with Word is one of the best, and it better be, considering that Word is a writing program.

I also a member of another blog, not related to models, that has such problem, I type what I think is the spelling of a given word, and the choices I get do not correspond to the word in question, (They just made an “upgrade” that made things worse ) in many case I had to crack open one of my 4 dictionaries to find the answer.

  • Member since
    May 2020
Posted by Flugzeugmodellbauer on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 10:57 PM

I am building a WW1 German aircraft with no supplies. I went looking for a prepackaged palette (color selection). I failed. I found a modern military palette, but even that was a poor fit. There are a lot of good reasons for this. For example, palettes vary by country, service, and war. So any general collection is going to have a lot of material irrelevant to any particular project.

Seems like Vallejo makes some of the best acrylics. Given that they can be had for $3.77 per bottle with shipping included if you buy a couple of dozen colors, you are best off picking your project and then buying just what you need. I did and it cost way less than that military palette of 72 colors, notwithstanding the good per bottle pricing of the larger bundle.

Do note that Tamiya are not true water-based acrylics if smell is a concern. They are alcohol based and denatured alcohol stinks in many people's view. It is also poisonous.

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.