What kit?

[fomb]

I've not built a kit for around 20 years, but as I'm sat here for the next few weeks with a broken leg I've got some time on my hands.

Therefore, what would be a good kit to recommend to someone who you basically can consider a beginner. Cars or Aircraft are my bag, and the bigger the better.

Any suggestions? I also used to build Airfix (badly, as a teenager) but from what I understand there are now some better kits. What else will I (definitely) need?

[Zad]

Half the pleasure is in browsing the model sites

Britmodeller forum: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?act=i...
Finescale model forum: http://cs.finescale.com/f/

Shops:
http://www.hannants.co.uk
http://wonderlandmodels.com/
http://www.modelzone.co.uk/model-kits.html
http://models2u.co.uk/Shop/enter.html
http://www.modelzone.co.uk/model-kits.html
http://www.anticsonline.co.uk/
http://www.emodels.co.uk

I wouldn't go for anything too fancy to start with. The important thing is that you get it built and painted. There is nothing more demoralising than faffing about for days with filling and sanding, and just having a box of bits and no finished model.

I find that enamel paints are better than newfangled acrylics if you are going to brush paint. Airbrushing is great, but its a big investment in money and time.

[Eric Mc]

Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Mk1 (new mould). You can't go wrong with that.

[dr_gn]

fomb said:

Any suggestions? I also used to build Airfix (badly, as a teenager) but from what I understand there are now some better kits. What else will I (definitely) need?

Personally I'd go with Academy, and for a beginner, I'd look at the 1:48 range rather than 1:72 which is very fiddly and tricky to get right unless you're handy with tweezers.

Saving grace for Airfix is they're cheap, but invariably need plenty of skill to match the finesse of the Far Eastern manufacturers. I'm just looking at my own example of Eric's suggestion of the Airfix 1:72 Mk1a Spitfire, and frankly, even though I've seen built examples previously, I'm still shocked at the depth of the surface detail. It's like looking at a jigsaw puzzle. The Academy MkXIV (also available in 1:48 scale IIRC) is in a different league, and goes together beautifully. Here's one a pal of mine built - his first kit for over 20 years. Judge for yourself!



http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Eric Mc]

Nothing wrong with most Academy kits either - although their 1/72 Spitfire XIV, which I've part built at the moment - is distinctly odd about the wing roots. Airfix Spitfires always LOOK like Spitfires shape wise. Other manufacturers seem to have had problems with some of the subtleties of the various Spitfire marks.

And, as Dr Gn says, Airfix kits are relatively cheap - and generally available.

But, for a first, simple kit, then Academy models do go together well and they are cheap too.

If you want something even simpler to build, the Hobby Boss Easy Kit range might be worth looking at.

[fomb]

Who tends to put together the best car kits?

[dr_gn]

fomb said:

Who tends to put together the best car kits?

Overall - Tamiya (if you mean a manufacturer).

[kenny Chim 4]

I would agree with dr_gn but as Tamiya kits include a lot of internal engine parts ect., you should perhaps start with less complicated kits such as Hasegawa provide. They have just as much external detail on the bodywork and are generally just as accurate.

See here and scroll through for examples: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/440/0/1

[dr_gn]

kenny Chim 4 said:

I would agree with dr_gn but as Tamiya kits include a lot of internal engine parts ect., you should perhaps start with less complicated kits such as Hasegawa provide. They have just as much external detail on the bodywork and are generally just as accurate.

See here and scroll through for examples: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/440/0/1

Not all of them, the S2000 (and many others) are purely 'kerbside' models with no underbonnet detail. Here's my now sadly departed Tamiya S2000's build log:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[kenny Chim 4]

dr_gn said:

Not all of them, the S2000 (and many others) are purely 'kerbside' models with no underbonnet detail. Here's my now sadly departed Tamiya S2000's build log:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I am so sorry to hear of your loss dr_gn and my heart goes out to you.

As an aside, I greatly admire the work that you have produced and would love to see you turn your hand to painting figures (I know, I know) but now that you have started using oils, you can progress to painting flesh- and more so figures. Have a look at this 1/10 bust: http://www.coolminiornot.com/86125

Sorry, I'm just trying to promote my preferred platform..

[dr_gn]

kenny Chim 4 said:

dr_gn said:

Not all of them, the S2000 (and many others) are purely 'kerbside' models with no underbonnet detail. Here's my now sadly departed Tamiya S2000's build log:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I am so sorry to hear of your loss dr_gn and my heart goes out to you.

As an aside, I greatly admire the work that you have produced and would love to see you turn your hand to painting figures (I know, I know) but now that you have started using oils, you can progress to painting flesh- and more so figures. Have a look at this 1/10 bust: http://www.coolminiornot.com/86125

Sorry, I'm just trying to promote my preferred platform..

Cheers - why don't you do a 'how to' type of thread? I wouldn't know where to start. Figures seem much more of a true art than what I'm currently doing which is a fairly easy step-by-step process.

BTW last night I ended up stripping the oil finish from the SE5a fuselage again...the enamel thinners somehow broke through the Klear coat and ruined it, so it's currently in a bath of brake fluid.

I thought I'd maintain the modelling momentum by starting an Airfix Spitfire Mk1a, but it's turned into trench warfare...

[Eric Mc]

Try their Mk21 instead.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

Try their Mk21 instead.

Too late now. I assumed it would be similar to the new 109E4, where the panel lines are perfectly OK so long as they're not highlighted. Strange thing on the Spitfire is that the wings seem not too bad, but the fuselage is a joke. Eduard do a very nice detail set for it, so I wanted to see how it built before committing to spending a bit more time improving it with etch. I'm going to coat the fuselage with Halfords filler primer, sand it back to plastic on the panels, and see how that turns out.

[Eric Mc]

Just lay on the primer and don't highlight the panels. It's not too bad once that's done. I've seen a few made up by club members here at Farnborough and they look fine.

At least they look like Spitfires. I'm building the Academy MkXIV at the moment and it has lovely panels but a weird shape. The Airfix PRXIX has too deep panels - but very good shape.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

Just lay on the primer and don't highlight the panels. It's not too bad once that's done. I've seen a few made up by club members here at Farnborough and they look fine.

At least they look like Spitfires. I'm building the Academy MkXIV at the moment and it has lovely panels but a weird shape. The Airfix PRXIX has too deep panels - but very good shape.

Scale models without any form of colour shading don't look good IMO; solid colour camo tends to make them look like toys or mass produced die casts. Far better to try and deal with the panel line issue as best I can and carry on as normal I think. If it works, fine. If not, I won't have wasted much time or money so it's OK.

[Eric Mc]

Far be it from me to suck eggs - but you can get panel tonal variations even with virtually no panel lines visible. I've had a go at this, with marginal success. It's something I'm going to try and develop in my models over the next few months.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

Far be it from me to suck eggs - but you can get panel tonal variations even with virtually no panel lines visible. I've had a go at this, with marginal success. It's something I'm going to try and develop in my models over the next few months.

You said don't highlight the panels so I thought you meant use solid colour.

I initially intended to fill all the panel lines completely and experiment by preshading and pencilling the lines in afterwards... but how do you know where to preshade when the lines you're supposed to be preshading are filled in, and the model has a basecoat? Postshading would have been an option but I can never get that technique to be subtle enough.

I thought about mixing black acrylic with milliput to both fill the lines and leave a high-contrast grid which would hopefully have shown through the first thin coats of colour.

In the end I really can't be bothered...

[Eric Mc]

No - I was talking about using pre-shading or washes to emphasise panel lines - which is something I'm not a huge fan of.

I've seen a few reviewers in magazines complain mightilly about the panel lines in some recent Airfix kits (although not the most recent) and then go ahead and magnify the effect of those lines by adding pre-shading and washes.

But, just to show that some of the newest Far Eastern releases can leave Airfix standing when it comes to totally unfixable howlers, read the reviews of the new 1/72 Se Vixen released by Dragon/Cyber Hobby in this month's Model Airplane.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

I've seen a few reviewers in magazines complain mightilly about the panel lines in some recent Airfix kits (although not the most recent) and then go ahead and magnify the effect of those lines by adding pre-shading and washes.

This is partly the reason I got this kit in the first place - I assumed the panel line issues on the examples presented on Britmodeller etc., had been magnified by cack-handed painting and weathering techniques. I also - incorrectly - assumed that the panel lines would be of similar quality to their new '109E4, the surface detail of which turned out great (to my eyes anyway).

The panel line widths on the Spitfire fuselage scale to around 13mm full size (72 x 0.175mm). I hesitated to resort to actually *measuring* something on a kit like this, but the panel lines are unbelievebly oversize, and there is the proof. I would go as far as to say that the kit panel lines aren't far off those of a real Spitfire at 1:1





Not that I'm reviewing this kit, and I'm not interested in arguing the toss about Airfix quality, but the truth is it is a great little model, spoiled by what appears to be a small but very tricky to correct issue. Again a potential best kit available AND at the lowest market price. It's so damned frustrating.

[perdu]

That is frustrating isn't it, 'specially'when'they seem to have captured pretty well all the direction changes seen on the real thing. That is a lovely photo dr_gn, there's something to aim for when you finish the model.

I'm thinking of more delicate "panel"ing for my models in future but I have a long way to go yet with laying thin but solid colour bases down first. Bad paint shows up bad panel lines IMO.

(Even thinking of stripping off the colour and primer coats from the yellow Wessex and doing it again...but thinner with lining. Not sure I have the nerve though )