RRB: this is the book I have that really helped me with my modeling techniques. It has hand-painting, foil work, airbrushing and more!

http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12257.html

 do you have a spray booth? Mine is a cardboard box. When gauging how much to open/close the airbrush nozzle, I spray a bit of paint on the box and see how much color comes out. I can adjust the nozzle/air pressure if need be. I dont use humbrol, but it cant be too far from MM acrylics. With those I just add a few (4-7) drops of future to it. The paint flows much better after that. My air-pressure usually runs about 10-15 psi for acrylics, higher for enamels (20-ish).

TO test the air-pressure/thinness of the paint on the model, I spray a bit on a larger area such as the wing. If the paint spiderwebs im too close/have too much air-pressure. If it gets the texture of an orange peel, either the paint it too thick and you  need to thin it some more or you are too far away from the plane. The paint should lay down smooth and thin. Too thick and you will get puddles and runs, and obscure details.

I dont often use a primer coat, but it does help sometimes, especially with acrylics. Acrylics are thinner than enamels and dont "bite" into the plastic as much. Since this is your first round with the airbrush, dont be too disappointed if your finish is not perfect. I'm still working on perfecting my airbrushing skills as well. Air brushing takes A LOT of practice!!

Not sure on the PSI as I don't have a regulator on my compressor .

Did you prime the model? I would do that before airbrushing that way the paint has something to grab onto. You'll want to put several coats of white.

As far as thinner, what I was told is that you want the paint the consistancy of milk. Not sure how much thinner that is cause I just eyeball it. I'm sure someone can give you better answers than that.

So i finally had time to try out my airbrush with water, i think I've got the hang of it.

so what Psi do i need to apply a coat of white paint straight on the plastic? i normally just do one coat and that is the colour coat i want on my model to be.

and how much thinner do i need to add to the paint? I'm using tamiya acrylic thinner with humbrol acrlyic 34 (white)

thanks in advance

wheres that XF-85 Goblin, p38jl?

the real red baron

Cool, cant wait to see it finished!

Cool, cant wait to see it finished!

Yep. Too many people want to see the Tomcat finished (me included ). Gonna work on the places that need filling and sanding tomorrow.

YAY!!!

well i just saved a few people some grief, lol.

I'm happy to hear your satying with us

the real red baron

MedicMan - dont go! you are going to stay here.

YES SIR!!!

Kermit - Oh, did you think that mig with the green wing tips, already finished was mine?? i just found a pic of that model on google.

MedicMan - dont go! you are going to stay here.

Thanks everyone for the help, OWL - im going to use your wash technique for now, Kermit - I like the idea to use the pernament marker, I'll go with that up until i get my airbrush and compressor up and running.

Thanks to you all. It's people like ya'll that make it worth it.

I hope we lose no one other than the person or persons who caused the whole thing. Hang out with us Medicman, most here are great people you included.

CallSignOWL

Medicman71:

Thanks Gamera, but due to recent problems here and FSM taking the wrong actions (in my opinion) I probably won't be posting here for much longer. I do have the build over on two other aircraft forums. ARCair and Zone-Five.net.

 

 

aww, Id hate to loose ya. I'm not too upset about that whole fiasco, and would much rather see people sweep it under the rug and keep going instead of abandoning ship.....

Me too. Now back to my Tomcat!! Still rescribing the top. Gonna start on the bottom and fix the problems still left on the front fuselage. Will post more pics soon.

CallSignOWL

Medicman71:

Thanks Gamera, but due to recent problems here and FSM taking the wrong actions (in my opinion) I probably won't be posting here for much longer. I do have the build over on two other aircraft forums. ARCair and Zone-Five.net.

 

 

aww, Id hate to loose ya. I'm not too upset about that whole fiasco, and would much rather see people sweep it under the rug and keep going instead of abandoning ship.....

#$*^ straight! I come here to talk about models instead of arguing. I hope that whole mess is behind us. If you change your mind MM I'm sure I speak for everyone that we'll be glad to have you back.

Medicman71

Thanks Gamera, but due to recent problems here and FSM taking the wrong actions (in my opinion) I probably won't be posting here for much longer. I do have the build over on two other aircraft forums. ARCair and Zone-Five.net.

aww, Id hate to loose ya. I'm not too upset about that whole fiasco, and would much rather see people sweep it under the rug and keep going instead of abandoning ship.....

I tried as well. I'll still be here lurking and I'll still post pics of the Tomcat for ya.

Ouch! I'm sorry to hear that, I tried to stay out of the whole mess. Still, good luck and I'll try to remember to drop by them and see how your F-14 is going.

Thanks Gamera, but due to recent problems here and FSM taking the wrong actions (in my opinion) I probably won't be posting here for much longer. I do have the build over on two other aircraft forums. ARCair and Zone-Five.net.

Medicman: I have to agree that I love what you've done with the F-14, please keep us posted!

Thanks Vetteman. Everyone i've shown the Tomat to has liked it. I was kinda shocked as this is the first time ever that i've rescribed a kit. My IPMS president even said that it was looking good and his kits are jaw dropping. I hope to have it looking like a real Tomcat soon.

Baron,

Ahhh,.... my little mig...*sniff*. It was one of, if not the, first kits i built on FSM..... fond memories there.

I agree with you that it is likely the wings were actually green and just a battlefield replacement of the original wing tip assembly. I have seen the b&w picture of that particular aircraft and came to the conclusion that the shading was too light to be red. It still remains food for debate, just going on that one picture....

Yet, i chose to paint them red as i felt it was more of a "russian" thing to do.... They seem to like red...red october...red this...red that.....

So in the end i made an "artistic liberty" kind of choice....purely influenced by taste. Your mig looks great btw!!

And as far as your question goes:

I have used a permanent marker in the past for preshading with pretty good results. Might be an alternative to not having to use an airbrush

And on behalf of washes: i personally like to use watercolors. Really cheap and almost as good as artist oils. I use a similar mixing as does Miss Owl with the exception that i also add a tiny splash of alcohol to improve the paint mixing up with the water. Watch out with the detergent in the mix as too much might cause your wash to bubble as you apply it too rough/ fast.

Apply generously... wait until it sorta starts to lose it's wet shine and then rub off excess with q-tips and demakeup pads. (always a good laugh to see the ladies at the beauty department give me funny looks when i go buy new ones)

Richard

the real red baron

OWL: thanks! do have to apply the pre-shading with a airbrush???

and how do you 'make' a black or dark grey wash???

yeah, pre-shading works best with an airbrush. IF you hand paint it on, the pre-shade will be too thick and will show as a raised lump under the airbrushed coat. A wash is thinned paint. I use acrylics, mixed with a bit of water and a drop of dish soap. The soap helps break the surface tension of the water you added, allowing for the wash to flow smoothly into panel lines. I actually have a jar of wash I premixed from the leftovers from airbrushing sessions (a mix of brown, grey and black) that is stored along with the rest of my paints. Any time I need to do a wash, I grab the jar and give the contents a good stir. That way I don't have to keep making the wash every time I need one.

vetteman42

 

To our Host Miss CallSignOwl, sorry bout the MiG -3 comment but I had to say something.

oh no, not at all!  These comments are great for discussion.

OWL: thanks! do have to apply the pre-shading with a airbrush???

and how do you 'make' a black or dark grey wash???

Vetteman42: This is what I base my opinion on: howred.html

I personally think the wing tips were green. I prefer green, i suppose if you like green make it green, if you like it red make it red.

the real red baron

im 99% sure that the wings arent partialy white/red, infact they are actualy partialy white/green. 

Baron there is a huge controversy between the red or green wingtips on the MiG-3 and it seems both are acceptable. What made up my mind when I built mine after reading everything I could find online about it was the fact that my kit was an ICM kit made in the Ukraine. The instructions showed the tips as red in winter camo. I figured they should know besides I like the red tips.

Oh and Baron your Cobra really looks nice, I like the color scheme a lot and the extra details like the brake lines really came out well.

Daddy1 what can I say about your engine other than when is the run up test coming I wanna see it.

Kermit for shame buddy sayin your Tiger aint so good .... sheesh. Ya gotta love an F-5 in aggressor camo and yours looks great man. I love that camo scheme too man !!! Well done sir.

Medicman I havent had the nerve to try any serious scribing yet but yours came out very very well. I know you put in a lot of work on it and in the end I think its going to pay off big time.

To our Host Miss CallSignOwl, sorry bout the MiG -3 comment but I had to say something.

preshade is laying down a dark color along panel lines, the lightly covering them with the top coat:

(or prime the whole plane black, then shade in the senters of the panels with the top color, like I did on this Mig-29)

then lightly spray over the whole plane u ntil you get the coverage you want. Dont apply too much or you will cover up the preshading

-----

a wash is a thin paint mixture applied to recessed details, then let dry for a bit, then wiped away in the direction of the airflow, leaving the darker color in the recessed detail to bring that detail out

if you look closely at the tail of this RC-135, you will see darkened panel lines. That was achieved using the wash method (you will have to enlarge the picture)

ok, lol

I've always wanted to know how to pre-shade and apply a wash but i have no idea how to do it or how to apply it to the model?!

By accident. LOL!! I had primed it to check my progress. Unfortunatly it was very humid here and I did it in the garage. The paint dried before it hit the model making it look like sandpaper. Had to go back and rescribe the entire thing. To answer your question though I think it's part lighting and partly due to the primer paint.

Wow! that looks really good!

how did you get the panel lines a darker shade??