Modelling tips

[robemcdonald]

I ended up moulding the egg out of milliput.

Worked out okay..

[Drawweight]

Attempting my first scale model car I’ve got 2 pieces out the spruces and cleaned up (yay for me ). It’s the rear crossmember and drive shaft which obviously glue together. I’m going to be hand painting the underside and most of the rest and possibly rattle can the body something more colourful.

My basic question is do I assemble as much of the little bits as practical and then paint on the assumption that the brush will get into all the nooks and crannies or paint separately and then glue which I’m assuming you’d do if you were airbrushing it.

Also regarding paint I’m using Tamiya paints. For the smaller pieces do I thin and use a lot of coats as per larger areas or just paint straight?

I can already see that the assembly is going to be straightforward and it’s the finishing that’ll take the work.

[Evangelion]

I've always been a devotee of the 'paint as much as you can before assembly' school, as parts become more and more inaccessible as you progress. Just remember to scrape clean the bits where the glue goes, otherwise all you're gluing - is paint!

With regards to thinning the paint, I thin mine almost as much for brush painting as I do for spraying. So you need more coats? Doesn't matter, at least they'll be thin ... and smooth.

Of course in a ideal world yo'll have an airbrush and spray everything in sight; I'm aspiring to that at the moment.

[dr_gn]

Drawweight said:

Attempting my first scale model car I’ve got 2 pieces out the spruces and cleaned up (yay for me ). It’s the rear crossmember and drive shaft which obviously glue together. I’m going to be hand painting the underside and most of the rest and possibly rattle can the body something more colourful.

My basic question is do I assemble as much of the little bits as practical and then paint on the assumption that the brush will get into all the nooks and crannies or paint separately and then glue which I’m assuming you’d do if you were airbrushing it.

Also regarding paint I’m using Tamiya paints. For the smaller pieces do I thin and use a lot of coats as per larger areas or just paint straight?

I can already see that the assembly is going to be straightforward and it’s the finishing that’ll take the work.

You might struggle with brush painting Tamiya paint - it's alcohol based and tends to dry very fast and drag itself off the surface while you're brushing if you're not careful. Thin coats might help, but I've never had much luck with it apart from very very small components. I'd always advocate using multiple thin coats no matter what the paint. I use Vallejo Model Colour, which is designed for brushing.

Re. paint/assembly. I invariably paint and weather as many components separately as possible. If the parts are small, and/or non-structural, I use PVA to attach them. I don't bother removing paint from the joints (PVA doesn't damage paint), and any excess can be cleaed up with water. It can also be thinned with water and wicked around things, making a perfect joint. It's also an effective filler for small gaps. It's also pretty strong once cured. If a part is large and/or structural, then locally remove the paint to expose bare plastic.

[Drawweight]

Thanks.

I’ve only bought 3 pots of paint so far so next time I’m buying I’ll swap to Vajello.

For now I’ll paint as I go and scrape back to bare plastic mainly because I haven’t any PVA till I can get to the shops on Monday.

Is a bit of primer out of a rattle can worthwhile or just go with the top coat even on small parts?

[Prolex-UK]

Drawweight said:

Thanks.

I’ve only bought 3 pots of paint so far so next time I’m buying I’ll swap to Vajello.

For now I’ll paint as I go and scrape back to bare plastic mainly because I haven’t any PVA till I can get to the shops on Monday.

Is a bit of primer out of a rattle can worthwhile or just go with the top coat even on small parts?

You can buy Tamiya thinners which help when painting.

I use Vallejo mostly though

[dr_gn]

Drawweight said:

Thanks.

I’ve only bought 3 pots of paint so far so next time I’m buying I’ll swap to Vajello.

For now I’ll paint as I go and scrape back to bare plastic mainly because I haven’t any PVA till I can get to the shops on Monday.

Is a bit of primer out of a rattle can worthwhile or just go with the top coat even on small parts?

If you've got primer, use it, but beware it can go on very thick out of a can, especially if it's cold and not shaken up thoroughly.

[smifffymoto]

Started a Revell M60 A3 tank 1/72 scale.Some of the detail pieces are so small and tow ropes so thin that they get consumed by the glue,by that I mean even the smallest drip from the Revell contactor needle.
Have you got some tricks to apply minute blobs of poly cement or do you let the paint cover your sins.

[Prolex-UK]

smifffymoto said:

Started a Revell M60 A3 tank 1/72 scale.Some of the detail pieces are so small and tow ropes so thin that they get consumed by the glue,by that I mean even the smallest drip from the Revell contactor needle.
Have you got some tricks to apply minute blobs of poly cement or do you let the paint cover your sins.

Toothpick?

[robemcdonald]

You can try Tamiya extra thin cement (if you can find somewhere to deliver it)

It comes with a small brush.

For the sort of thing you’re talking about I usually put the part in place and touch the brush to were the parts attach and let the cement wick into the joint.

Note. Make sure you have the minimum amount of cement on the brush or you might have a flood.

It looks like water, but don’t touch it until it cures or you might have a messy fingerprint to contend with. (The voice of bitter experience)

[robemcdonald]

Drawweight said:

Attempting my first scale model car I’ve got 2 pieces out the spruces and cleaned up (yay for me ). It’s the rear crossmember and drive shaft which obviously glue together. I’m going to be hand painting the underside and most of the rest and possibly rattle can the body something more colourful.

My basic question is do I assemble as much of the little bits as practical and then paint on the assumption that the brush will get into all the nooks and crannies or paint separately and then glue which I’m assuming you’d do if you were airbrushing it.

Also regarding paint I’m using Tamiya paints. For the smaller pieces do I thin and use a lot of coats as per larger areas or just paint straight?

I can already see that the assembly is going to be straightforward and it’s the finishing that’ll take the work.

I would assemble as many of the parts (that will end up the same colour) as possible then paint it.

Glue and painted parts never seem to work out well for me.

If you check back through the thread I asked a very similar question myself a couple of years ago when I was getting into model making.

[Evangelion]

robemcdonald said:

I would assemble as many of the parts (that will end up the same colour) as possible then paint it.

Yep, that's the way I've always done it. Same colour, assemble first. Different colours, paint first.

Good example might be an aircraft where the cockpit interior would be assembled then painted, as would the fuselage, wings and tail. On the other hand bombs and rockets would be painted before being attached under the wings. Same would apply to propellers, undercarriage parts and so on.

[dr_gn]

smifffymoto said:

Started a Revell M60 A3 tank 1/72 scale.Some of the detail pieces are so small and tow ropes so thin that they get consumed by the glue,by that I mean even the smallest drip from the Revell contactor needle.
Have you got some tricks to apply minute blobs of poly cement or do you let the paint cover your sins.

Paint & weather the the tow ropes first, place them on the model and wick PVA diluted with water around them, or use neat PVA if the parts have defined contact points. Clean up with a brush & water as you go if necessary. Leave it a couple of hours and it'll be solid. Any glossy or satin effect from excess PVA will be rendered invisible by an overall Matt Coat (Winsor & Newton Galeria Matt is excellent). If you screw it up, just dissolve the PVA with water and try again.

[dr_gn]

Evangelion said:

robemcdonald said:

I would assemble as many of the parts (that will end up the same colour) as possible then paint it.

Yep, that's the way I've always done it. Same colour, assemble first. Different colours, paint first.

Good example might be an aircraft where the cockpit interior would be assembled then painted, as would the fuselage, wings and tail. On the other hand bombs and rockets would be painted before being attached under the wings. Same would apply to propellers, undercarriage parts and so on.

Sometimes it can be beneficial to weather some same-colour components separately, then you get, say, dry-brushed scuffed edges to an electrical box all the way around rather than just the ones that are exposed on the outside. It works well on larger scales, especially on predominantly black cockpits, where an all one shade, dark assembly can look toy like. There are dozens of black tones that you can use on different components to enhance detail without deviating too much from the overall "black" finish.

[robemcdonald]

That’s the great thing about model making. There is no right way or wrong way of doing things. (Obviously dr_gn way is the right way though)

[dr_gn]

robemcdonald said:

That’s the great thing about model making. There is no right way or wrong way of doing things. (Obviously dr_gn way is the right way though)

Not at all - as you say some folks like a certian look, others don't. I can't bring myself to paint randomly wavy upper/lower camo demarcations, even though it's historically correct. Same with invasion stripes - many modellers paint them freehand to replicate hand painting, but to me it looks like crappy modelling. Do what you think looks best.

[Drawweight]

A couple of small questions.

I've just finished a Tamaya Skyline which has turned out okay for a first attempt. For a rattle can it looks okay in the flesh but the camera picks up every flaw.

I find I'm using superglue as much as Tamiya extra thin because I'm gluing painted parts together. It's just ordinary Loctite but seems quite thin and comes with a brush so is pretty good for delicate parts. It even seems to wick quite well. Is there anything better on the market to use?

My next project is a Bristol Beaufighter MkV1. Instead of doing the one coat covers all approach as I did with the Skyline I'm going to apply several watered down coats hand painted of course as per the you tube videos I've been watching.

Presumably this is the correct approach? Also how long do you wait between coats? I'm assuming you can mix enough paint to do a few coats.

Another less technical question. It's driving me nuts having to get up from my desk to run the brush under water every time I finish painting a piece. Is there a workaround or is that just something you have to do?

[Eric Mc]

Drawweight said:

A couple of small questions.

I've just finished a Tamaya Skyline which has turned out okay for a first attempt. For a rattle can it looks okay in the flesh but the camera picks up every flaw.

I find I'm using superglue as much as Tamiya extra thin because I'm gluing painted parts together. It's just ordinary Loctite but seems quite thin and comes with a brush so is pretty good for delicate parts. It even seems to wick quite well. Is there anything better on the market to use?

My next project is a Bristol Beaufighter MkV1. Instead of doing the one coat covers all approach as I did with the Skyline I'm going to apply several watered down coats hand painted of course as per the you tube videos I've been watching.

Presumably this is the correct approach? Also how long do you wait between coats? I'm assuming you can mix enough paint to do a few coats.

Another less technical question. It's driving me nuts having to get up from my desk to run the brush under water every time I finish painting a piece. Is there a workaround or is that just something you have to do?

Do you mean Beaufighter Mk VI - it's all Roman numerals, which are all letters (numbers arrived almost 1,000 years later with the Arabs).

Regarding cleaning brushes, I just have a couple of water filled small jars handy. If you are using acrylic paint, water will suffice to clean the brush. I use three small jars. I swizzle the brush in jar 1, them move to jar 2 and finish off in jar 3, and then wipe the brush in kitchen paper.

With water based acrylics, drying time are a lot quicker than old style oil based enamels. I find you can safely return to the painted surface within an hour of painting.

[Drawweight]

Another painting question.

I’m currently doing a McLaren Honda using rattle cans for the larger parts and brushes for the detailed pieces.

As with all the models I’ve done so far I seem to spend ages painting a little piece, washing brushes and waiting on it to dry before assembling it.

Am missing something or is this what you do?

Or do you figure out what’s needing painting the same colour and paint a whole lot of pieces at once?

[robemcdonald]

Drawweight said:

Another painting question.

I’m currently doing a McLaren Honda using rattle cans for the larger parts and brushes for the detailed pieces.

As with all the models I’ve done so far I seem to spend ages painting a little piece, washing brushes and waiting on it to dry before assembling it.

Am missing something or is this what you do?

Or do you figure out what’s needing painting the same colour and paint a whole lot of pieces at once?

Like everything there is no right answer.

A lot of modellers group all the parts by colour a paint them in one go.

Another school of thought is to paint everything on the sprue then remove and assemble the parts when dry.

You can also assemble sub-assemblies and paint them before final assembly (how many variations of assemble can I use in a single sentence?)

Earlier on in my modelling journey I was not adverse to using a hair dryer to speed things along, but ultimately I discovered the best technique was patience.

Look at Dr gns McLaren thread. Nothing there is rushed or compromised. The result is stunning.

Look at my struggle with the ancient revell corvette. I cut just about every corner, rushed it and it looks st.