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Cars are relatively easy compared with say aircraft - the body is often a single moulding which just needs spraying up before you attach anything to it. Rattle cans are the easiest way to do modern cars. Two-tone designs such as 50s Americana (i have done a 57 Chevy Bel-air and a 58 Chevy Impala which I'll post up later) are more tricky but no more so than doing a camouflage paint job.
Now helicopters, there's a different beast...
I've got a Severn Class Lifeboat that I'm building up the courage to have a go at. Lots of curves and big expanses of orange paint.
I keep looking at getting a model to do. I fancied doing a Tamiya Mini Cooper a while back (the original Mini), but by the time I'd priced up all the paints for the stupid things like indicator orange, brake light red etc. silver for the chrome surround bits etc. it was going to cost me around £40....
Maybe I'll get a plane this year & not worry too much about getting every colour to do it 'properly'.
My first ever model was a Handley Page Victor.
The best one I did was a Sea Harrier that my Dad & I spent ages over. It was hanging in my bedroom until my brother got bored doing his a-level revision & knocked it down throwing balls of paper at it. Of course 'it just fell down.....'
Maybe I'll get a plane this year & not worry too much about getting every colour to do it 'properly'.
I think the Airfix starter kits (paint & glue included) are very good for this - combined with the 'Humbrol Tool kit' and you're away! You don't have to worry about being too precise and historically accurate with every colour etc. As you start to do more kits, those skills from 35+ years ago start to return and you can add more paints and tools etc as you go along ...
Some wonderful models on here gents, great effort and very envious of some of the painting skills. I made a Tamiya RC car this Xmas which was fun. Otherwise I do enjoy the old muscle cars
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'57 Chevrolet Bel-Air Coupe
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'58 Chevrolet Impala
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'65 Ford Mustang Fastback
@john_drummer - fantastic! Really like those - especially the '58 Chevrolet Impala. That two tone paint job looks tremendous! 8)
btw - off topic but did you go and see N.M.E. @ the Brudenell SC last November?
NME? NMA ? No, gave that a miss. Seen them that many times I can afford to miss a tour now & again
The seats on the Impala were a PITA to get the stripes "just so". I used a lot of reference photos to get that tight.
The chrome strips down the sides were done in Bare Metal Foil, which I also used for the chrome trim round the windows on the Bel Air & the Mustang
Paint Technique? Whole body done in white (Tamiya) then the bits I wanted to keep white, masked off with Humbrol Maskol, using the side rubbing strips as the demarcation lines. Bare Metal Foil over the top hides the joints between blue & white. The blue was a mix of Tamiya & Revell acrylics until I got it just right. Needed to make a fair bit up in one go just to be sure I had enough; there was some waste
no NME - 'Near Meth Experience' i.e. The Sisters. They played a benefit gig for Simon D from The March Violets (former Nurse to the Doktor).
I was reading about 'bare metal foil' recently so was thinking of picking some up. You've just convinced me!
I've had mixed results with Maskol sometimes - I found it can leave a ragged edge if there is no defined 'demarcation. I've been using Tamiya's 2mm 'Masking Tape for Curves' recently and I'm quite pleased with it.
No i didn't know about that gig
It was a good gig! The Membranes supported and U-U-U-Utah Saints DJ'd
Anyway ... back to scale models:
Gloster:
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You only get an Oooh with a Typhoon ..
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^ Nice Typhoon.
Nicer than mine!
Buckster any good sources recomendations for the street rod/hot rod style kits? Gasser looks great
The Impala above could be made as Standard, Hot Rod or Stock Car. I opted for Standard.
Try www.modelhobbies.co.uk
This is all making me want to go buy a model kit....
Some great looking models up there 🙂
Finally finished this yesterday apart from the two radio aerials that are on the turret, they'll be done when I fit it to a base.
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I reckon the driver looks like Sean Kelly! 😀
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Just unpacked my Revell HE-111. It doesn't include any aircrew, which is a bit shit IMHO.
Has anyone got any spare seated pilots that they want to sell?
Revell hardly ever supply any aircrew 🙁
Build it with the undercarriage down, then it doesn't matter that there's no crew.
But if you're desperate for aircrew, look on www.modelhobbies.co.uk > plastic model kits > detailing sets > aircraft > your scale. Might give you some other ideas too 😉
Nice Firefly btw spursn17
Build it with the undercarriage down
Got it to hang from my lad's ceiling with a Hurricane chasing it.
I may get a set of these and repaint them.
Not happy with Revell.
I read the thread on the modeling site about your Firefly build spursn17, very impressive. Not sure the bloke at the front taking a selfie is historically accurate, and surely he should face the other way to get the tank in the background?. 😀
[url= https://www.modelhobbies.co.uk/shop/heller-wwii-luftwaffe-personnel-49655-p-8013.html ]Luftwaffe personnel[/url]
A mug of tea really 'ties' a scene together doesn't it? 😉
Very nice Firefly!
Harry_the_Spider - MemberGot it to hang from my lad's ceiling with a Hurricane chasing it.
Put some damage on the HE and the crew have bailed out after being attacked by the Hurricane.
For the price I paid for it I'm tempted to get another and do a crash diorama.
The Firefly is very nice.
Not sure the bloke at the front taking a selfie is historically accurate
😀 didn't even think of that but it does look like he's taking a selfie!
I had the choice of a pistol holster or a bayonet to put in his hand, I got it wrong.
2mm masking tape is excellent stuff! I'll post up pictures of my Spitfires when they are done, but they are a step up from the Typhoon that I did at Christmas.
I've also spent £8 on little men for the Heinkel and a fiver on Swastikas. 😀
2mm masking tape is excellent stuff!
Yes, It's good isn't it?
Prepare yourself to amass drawers full of tools, bits, bobs and fluids over the next few months! 😉
My top revelations have been:
Weathering powders mixed with Decalfix
Weathering powders dabbed onto wet matt varnish
'Goo Gone' for shifting sticky residue from canopies etc
Mr Dissolved Putty - great for filling in fine gaps
Swann Morton Blades - esp No 11
Oil paints for figure faces
Flory Models - Dark Dirt Weathering Wash
Look forward to seeing the Spitfire pictures
Flory Models - Dark Dirt Weathering Wash
I've been using Phils stuff for years. Check out his skinny sanders too. they're ace!
I sit me, or is the adhesion level of Airfix decals not what it used to be?
When I was a kid you put them on and they stayed on.
They were rubbish back in the day too. Only cure is to seal them in with a coat of varnish.
I spray the whole model with clear gloss before decals, then another coat of either clear gloss or matt after decals
Microsol and Microset are useful for decals on uneven surfaces too. Have used them to apply decals to corrugated shipping containers where you've not got a chance otherwise.
2 Spitfire MkVbs.
Wheels down for me, wheels up for my lad to dogfight in his bedroom with the BF109G once the Swastikas arrive in the post.
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Things learnt on these.
1. 2mm masking tape is ace. I redid the leading edges on the Typhoon too.
2. The decals move about.
3. Not all Humbrol satin clear coats are the same. Hence the satin finish on the 109 and the gloss on the Spitfires.
4. I'm not as good as many on here, but I'm better than I was 36 years ago.
5. Revell cement is less viscous than Humbrol and doesn't block up the needle. Basically, all of the Humbrol products have been a bit hit and miss.
Next up. Heinkel He-111 painted up in Battle of Britain colours to be mugged by another Spitfire and a Hurricane.
you'll be needing some new spitfires to go with the Heinkel 😉
Mk Bb IIRC was introduced after the Battle of Britain, as was the 109G you've already done (nicely done too!). Both 1941 vintage I think.
For the BoB you'll be needing Spitfire Mk I or II and Bf109Es
to avoid brush strokes, (a) use a bigger brush and (b) thin the paint a little. Think watercolours rather than oils
I got a MkIIb and a Hurricane in my Christmas Crate of Airfix.
sorted then 🙂
Got an American Torpedo Bomber. Is there a 1/72 Aircraft Carrier?
Looking good Harry_the_Spider! I'm especially liking the Mk Vb!
Although I always thought that Airfix's suggestion of bronze Hu171 was a bit too 'brassey' for the exhausts - see the Hurricane exhausts below
As a compromise I use:
75% Hu53 (Gun Metal)
25% Hu71 (Bronze)
And a bit of weathering 'makeup' from Tamiya
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I'll probably "weather" the MkVb that is for me.
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Hey my model making chums...
Can anyone recommend a brushable matt clear coat, like you would use on a tank?
I want to give my Heinkel a dirty matt finish and the Humbrol stuff is a bit hit a miss when it comes to gloss levels.
My least favourite part of the build as hours of work can be screwed in a couple of minutes.
I never settled on a favourite although I airbrushed. It may be worth having a look At Vallejo or something in an aerosol can from the likes of humbrol or winsor & newton.
Please test before unleashing on a pride and joy
Revell Aquacolour give me good results. can be thinned with water (hence the Aqua part of the name) and if applied thin & wet with a big enough brush (size 6 or above) you shouldn't get any brush marks. But airbrushing is better. Doesn't have to be expensive airbrush & compressor at first but the more you do, the more you'll want to. A bit like bikes really 😉
Can anyone recommend a brushable matt clear coat, like you would use on a tank?
Try Humbrol Matt Clear - but make sure you stir it very well.
I agree with john_drummer - airbush is the way to go. It really is a worthwhile investment
I use Humbrol Matt Cote thinned 1:1 and airbrushed
Airfix 1:48 Boulton Paul Defiant:
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I used Tamiya Flat Clear as my final coat instead of my usual Revell Aquacolour. A tad shiny for my liking but perhaps closer to what you might see on a restored aircraft