Equipment

[Dr Jekyll]

Inspired by the 1/24 Mosquito I was thinking of having another go at plastic aircraft kits and working my way up gradually.

I still have some brushes.
Still have some modelling knives.
Know where to get paint and glue.

But I always used to use Swarfega to clean the paint off my fingers, and can't find it anywhere. What do people use these days?

[Eric Mc]

If you switch to acrylic paint, water will do the trick.

[mickk]

Swarfega can still be found

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SWARFEGA-Hand-Cleaner-500g_W...

[Zad]

Halfords (and I qould guess most other motor spares places)

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

I agree with going to acrylics though, much nicer to use. Especially if/when you get an airbrush.

[dr_gn]

Overall I like Acrylics better, having recently experimented with them. They aren't perfect though:

I find that brushing them leaves marks because they dry so quickly, and this also can cause problems when airbrushing: the paint coats the nozzle very quickly, and can also dry before it hits the model, leaving a sandpaper like finish.

Also, if you leave the brush or airbrush without cleaning it thoroughly, once dry they are even more difficult to remove than enamels (from metal surfaces). At least with Enamels you can use thinners to remove deposits easily. I tried IPA 100% concentrated, but it's still a struggle.

Having said that, if you clean up asap after painting, using soap and water is far more agreeable than the volatile stuff you have to use with enamels.