Painting large hulls

I want to throw my in here.  If this is your first time painting a big area, take it slowly, build it up in layers, after letting it dry, take it to another room, with different lighting, and you'll find areas where your paint didn't cover evenly.

I mainly paint 1:35 scale armor and smaller, but recently painted a 24" Star Trek Enterprise D.  Man was that a challenge!  Just getting an even base on that monster took a long time, and I had to fight the urge to 'open up' my airbrush and blow more paint.  In the end, the quality of the final product justified the extra time spent.

The Tamiya stock numbers for the older Bismarck/Tirpitz were 78001/78003.  They used to retail for 30 to 40 USD.   Tamiya looked around and saw the prices which people were willing to pay for Trumpeter kits and decided to get in on the action.

They took items 78001/78003 out of production.   They re-introduced kits 78013/78015 as the new Bismarck/Tirpitz, with a newly increased price.    The only new item in the new kits was the box.  The kit is exactly the same.  If you can locate a 7800x kit, pick it up and save a buck or two.    

You may also wish to look for the new Revell/Germany Bismarck.   It is reported to be better than the Tamiya kits which are showing their age

Thanks for the replies everyone.

The LHS closest to the base has a Tamiya Bismarck for 89 dollars and a Tamiya Tirpitz for 67 dollars. I didn't get the kit numbers, but the Bismarck box was one of the newer looking mostly black box and the Tirpitz kit looked a little older. Since it is a Tamiya kit, I will most likley go with the Tirpitz and save a little money.

Regards,

Jeff 

firesmacker wrote:

DOH! I should have been more clear. I was talking about kit prices I actually have a Badger 155 and a 360. The 155 should be perfect seeing as how I have several large paint jars for it. And yes, Dixie Art is an awesome company. Jeff

Jeff,

That 155 Anthem puts out a lot of paint and should be great for that!  

firesmacker wrote:

I actually have a Badger 155 and a 360. The 155 should be perfect seeing as how I have several large paint jars for it. And yes, Dixie Art is an awesome company.

I agree.  I have their single action version, 200 NH, and with the needle opened up and the air pressure raised to 20 or 25 PSI, that thing will put out a very broad pattern, ideal for painting soumething large like a 1/350 ship. 

Me getting the wrong end of the stick more like.

Best of luck with the build.

Karl 

DOH!

I should have been more clear. I was talking about kit prices

I actually have a Badger 155 and a 360. The 155 should be perfect seeing as how I have several large paint jars for it. And yes, Dixie Art is an awesome company.

Jeff 

Jeff, try one of the following:

http://www.dixieart.com/

http://www.bearair.com/

http://www.coastairbrush.com/ 

I've purchased from all of them in the past, as buying in the US is so much cheaper than in the UK, and had good service from all of them. 

BTW I use a Badger 100G, though if you're going for surfaces that big a 100LG might be better still.

Karl 

Thanks for the reply Karl.

That's kind of what i figured. I've seen a couple on EBay that are pretty reasonable. Every LHS in my area charges anywhere from 88-99 dollars. I've found a few on Ebay for around 70 dollars and that includes shipping. Thanks again.

Jeff 

It can be pretty daunting being faced with a large area to cover in 1 colour, and how you tackle it may be dependent upon the equipment you have to hand.

Painting the whole area in one go should lead to more consistent results, and is best tackled with an airbrush with a larger paint capacity and needle/tip combo, as once you crank it up, you'll be able to open the AB full out to get the coverage, which means rapid paint usage. 

Also worth mixing up a large batch of paint, particularly if you are mixing colours, and store in an old paint jar.

Karl