New modeler to Airbrushing. Looking to improve. My first go with photos

Welcome. Can't see your pics. And photobucket will not let you post pics on forums anymore unless you pay for your account. The last three from imgur look great.  Post in the aircraft section you'll get responses

Wish I could see your photos but you haven't paid the $400 fee to Photobucket try using a free hosting site like flicker. For some of your questions. I use regular paper towel for soaking up water etc. I use cheese cloth/tack cloth to wipe the model down before paint and between coats. Vallejo paint is great for brush painting but hard to master airbrushing I would suggest using Tamiya instead. A few tips with vallejo use their own thinner others can cause a gooey mess in your airbrush. Also a few drops of their flow improver will help alot.

Welcome to the gang! I don't have much advice to offer, as I think it looks good so far; I agree with you about the underside color. I'm intrigued about the brush painting as I'm a fan of the skill. Hope you will share some pics of those!

Images hopefully updated now

Cheers for letting me know

Mat 

Good work!  Welcome to the Forums!

Majinvash

Morning all,

I have been brushing painting models since I was a child and last month I took my first steps into airbrushing. 

I bought 4 cheap 1:48 Revell Spitfires. (Really terrible kits, by the way. Ill-fitting, low on detail and with actual copywriting text visible on the bottom of the kit.)

I have 90% completed the first one and I will upload some photos later.

What I have learned so far is preparation is the key beyond my wildest dreams. 

I completely messed up the primer by painting to fast with to much paint. 
Washed it off and tried it again. I still think I might have gone with a little to much paint but comments welcome.

Next I painted the bottom sky and the top with the recommended brown from the Vallejo Battle of Britain paint pack. ( will comment on that later )

Then because I have never masked before, I tried tape and blue tack. 

Results were good, although I am really not happy with the camo pattern its self. 
But on my first go and with 3 more to practice on, meh who cares. I think its too stripey and not enough green. 

The canopy has masking fluid on, which really didn't work for me. When I took it off last night, it took off the paint as well. Doh. 

I think the slight overspray from the blu tac looks a little better than the sharp line from the masking tape. What do you think?

I then applied a satin coat because I forgot to by gloss, applied the decals and applied the softening solution. Worked very well and after adding on a few small details, applied another satin coat and went to use an enamel based wash. 
This went horribly wrong and I ended up washing it off and giving up on it.

I will be ordering some acrylic wash instead and see how I get on with that. 

I have a few questions at this stage if anyone can kindly answer?

I used normal bathroom tissue to wipe away excess water and it left material all over the model. 

What do you use to wipe your models and is there a recommended liquid to use to clean the model between coats or if I know I have messed up a paint patch or put my grubby fingers over it?

What PSI would you use for primer and then for the paints? I have been sitting around 20.

Are there any camo templates I can download?

So the paints that are supplied as you will see in my final images which when I finish the model over the weekend I will upload. 

All the recommended colours look wrong to what my head says a Spitfire should look like. The green looks too dark, the brown just the wrong shade and the base sky colour is too green. I have a few other options and I have ordered some white to lighten the green on my next attempt. 

 

Updated 

 

Better res

So yeah, Hi and any comments or recommendations welcomed

Cheers

Mat 

 

 

This thread forum is for introductions. Post in Painting forum section instead.

Welcome. It looks pretty good to me.

 

Welcome to the Forums Mat! Glad to have you aboard. 

I'll give you my  worth. I think your Spitfire looks very good. I think we all have problems when we start working with a spraybrush. I use Vallejo acrylic paints and thin them with distilled water. I clean up the airbrush with Windex followed by distilled water. I haven't had any serious problems with this set-up except those that I caused by being careless. It just takes a while to learn all the in and outs of spraybrushing. I think that you are off to a great start. 

When using the blue-tac putty to do soft edge camo, remember to spray light coats and spray directly at the putty so it will leave the soft edge. If you spray at an angle, you will get the sharp edge camo from the edge where the putty touches the model.

If you check out the painting section of the forums, the members will be able to give you more help. I hope I've helped a little. Hang in there and post pics so we can see how you are doing.

Enjoy.

Jim  

Howdy !

 I'm not a "fan" of the Spitefire, but what you have looks good to my eye.

I use paper towel's to wipe off stuff, the paper in them is designed to wick away liquid....

( Toilet paper is designed to withstand "stuff" less wet, ... so it tend's to turn to goo when it get's soaking wet.... that's when it leave's bit's of itself behind.)

I also have just started to use an airbrush. After 40 or so year's using "Rattle can's" I found that my airbrushing "Technique" is a bit heavy handed. I find myself trying to cover the model with two or three heavy coat's of paint.... have to "train" myself to go lighter.

Also just started using Vallejo Acrylic paint's ..... still "Experimenting" with them , but so far ... result's are promising.

Anyhooo,    Welcome to FSM.

Welcome to the forum. The "Spit" looks good to me, even the canopy, which I remember being a beast to get right. And you went wheels up. Smart move as the struts....meh.

Thinking on your question about camouflage masks.

Really needs to be posted over in painting.

Those patterns were not arbritrary, which is probably why you know yours looks wrong.

I have no idea if Revell instructions have it right.

If you get a print of one that is right, copy it at the right scale and use it to make tape masks.

GMorrison I was wondering what information you had regarding those paint lines Not being arbitrary? I've got my own Tamiya spitfire recently and I'm still in the research phase.. And I just came up with that question that you happened to answer. "I wonder if those paint schemes had a specific set of criteria .. or was it random?" I noticed this post on the Welcome forum and your answer stuck out like a sore thumb in light of my own sudden wondering. This Tamiya is a Mk. IXc. In 1/32 I just finished a crummy revell 1/48 Mk. I, the exact same kit as the OP. And I am undeniably dissatisfied with my own attempt at the RAF hard edged camo. I bough the kit to relearn the basics. That was really the only answer I came up with. That RAF camouflage had harder edges than American or German patterns. But that's all I found. I was hoping you could point me towards a good source to get that information for myself. As far as established patterns in camo. Or any history about it really. Some one in Britain, during the war, had come up with the idea to paint them this way. And if the lines aren't just arbitrarily laid down to look similar.. then there must have been a process or system to paint them. And that information has yet to reveal itself to me. I apologize for the long winded form of question. But that is exactly the question I was asking myself and well.. they say, you never know unless you ask.. Thanks in advance Bernie

Hi, Mat -

Your Spit looks really nice to me, for a first attempt you can be proud of it. It beats the heck out of my first several attempts.

I use paper towels for wiping down the surface, my brand is "Kim Wipes," I think they're considered lint free. They work well.

I use alcohol for plastic surface cleaning prior to painting, but I don't use it for cleaning a previously painted surface, especially acrylic paint. I think it may be strong enough to attack and mar the paint.

At the last step before spraying I use "tack cloths," widely available, they will remove any foreign objects on the surface. Typically they come in very large sizes, I just cut them into squares that will work for me. For getting into tighter spaces, like around landing gear and such, just wrap some around a piece of plastic sprue and you can remove bits that you can't reach with your fingers.

For my airbrushing I usually spray at around 14-18 psi, but will vary as needed.

I think you did very nice work on your Spit. In time you'll find the most helpful element of learning to airbrush is, practice, practice and then some more practice. I keep lots of plastic scrap at my spray booth, for testing out the paint thinning process, pressure and airbrush setting adjustments.

Thanks for your post and photos.

Patrick

 

Welcome aboard! 

I just finished the same kit and wasn't happy at all with my own attempt at painting the RAF style camo.  

I got my own revell to re learn some basics and to practice some new skills as well. 

 

But oi! The revell kit is awful.   The body has a twist.  The wings were bent.  Flashing. Poor details.  And to top it all..  my own lousy new guy skills.  I hand painted mine. First with enamels on the interior.  But I didn' like huffing the thinner.  And it was too cold out to open the garage door. So I Decided since my paint job looked pretty lousy.  I'd switch to acrylics. I tried the Vallejo on the exterior and had much, much better results.  But yeah,  my own kit looks really noobish in many ways. 

 

So.. since I screwed up so much on the cheap o revell..  I went and upped the ante !! and bought a bleedin Tamiya 1/32 spitfire.  That way I can really see my mistakes and feel the financial burden whilst I drool over this gorgeous kit I really have no business messing with at my level!

Having said that.. I've learned quite a bit on that 1/48 and I plan to take the lessons on to the Tamiya and give it my all to do the best I can and use what I learned on the way. 

I'm also switching out to an air brush, I think.   This Tamiya is too expensive and too large to try to slather on paint willy nilly and hope I got the mix right.  

I'll be doing a significantly deeper level of research. Now that I know a bit more about where to look.  And I have 90% of my airbrush set.  I've got the airbrush and a decent compressor with a tank.  The rest I'll plumb in later.  But I'm going to practice on some stuff besides the really expensive model I don't want to ruin.   And I think since I'm new to air brushing .. I'm going to stick with acrylics. Particularly Vallejo since my LHS is small and that's what he stocks.  

I know it can be done.

And I know from experience in my own trade, that its best to learn a hard process if you start out without having bad habbits. And starting fresh.. it shouldn't be impossible to figure out how to do it right.  I've seen plenty of guys swear by airbrushing acrylics. In spite of the pitfalls.  And I enjoy the lack of fumes and the finish I've managed on a few pieces with my acrylics.  

 

All in all, if you're wanting some information or want to learn or shoot the poop with a good group of knowledgeable folk about this craft.  FSM is fantastic as a resource.  I've had several folks reach out already when I was brand new and give me plenty of tips and advice that have stuck with me so far.  In spite of everyone telling you to post this to paint..  repeatedly >.< you'll get the best help there.  But in general the place is great. 

Good luck!  Yours looks way bettern' mine does!  Here's to get'n better! 

Bernie