Help required

[Guest]

Hi all im back intop modelling after 20 yrs absence, Im in a pickle in what order to do things

(must be my age) . Do you paint before building,? I have no airbrush, once built and painted then do I varnish, (Product advise would be good) then weather or visa versa, any tips on weathering would be nice.Please help this confused but happy to be back in the fold modeller.

[Ian M]

Well there are others here that can tell you much better than I can but this is sort of the way I do things.

If its a tank or the like I tend to build most of it and then paint it. I build the hull of the tank minus all the small details, the wheels and tracks paint them then put them together. Then the small detail parts bits i call knock offs, 'cause you knock them off all the time if you put them on to early into the build. As much as possible the real small fiddly bits get cleaned up on the sprue, painted then when needed cut free and added to the kit.

Air craft tend to get built in sections sort of like the cockpit. build and paint as you go (or paint and build). Then the airplane gets built minus the knock offs. Mask off the cock pit, or glue it in place then paint the rest of the plane. Add on the fiddly bits.

As for pproduct advice... Humbrol paints are good and can be found almost any where that sells hobby things. Varnish, Some use a propper varnish, others use a floor finnishing product; Klear or Pledge multi surface wax. It can be brushed on and is self leveling. Its as thin as water so you need to keep an eye out for runs and pooling. They are easy to take care of as the excess can just be wicked away with a dry brush. After paint you can give it a coat or two to give a light shine to the surface. Put the Decals on. There are many products to help with this too. I use Microscales products and can say the work very well. Be warned though. some decals have a nasty reaction to some of the decal solvents and break up! Most are OK and I have only experianced it twice, so no that big a problem.

When the decals are dry you can give them a coat of Klear to protect them. Now you can begin to weather. This too is a mine field with many many ways of doing it. That one I will leave to the more profficient her on the forum.

Generally if you follow the instructions in the kit, the build/paint/build/paint order are normally quite well described in the various sections.

Most important: Find a way which works for you. The way I work is often total caos with bits of kits all over the place. Having to on the go at once dont help!!!

Ian M

[yak face]

hi antony welcome to the forum, what most people do is to paint anything that will be hard to get to before assembly (ie cockpits, interiors wheel wells,etc. )and do the main painting after putting together. The varnish is usually put on after final painting to seal the paintjob and to give a good surface for decals, a glossy finish helps eliminate the silvering effect of the carrier film on the decals,and once the decals have dried a final coat of varnish (matt or gloss , whatever the model calls for) to seal everything in then you can apply the weathering. Any more questions just fire away,someone will always help , cheers tony

[stona]

You'll have to paint some bits as you go along but most people do the main finishing near the end. Have a look here.

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/painting/10533-when-during-building-do-you-paint.html

When you've got your paint on you should seal it with a gloss varnish. This will protect the paint and provide a smooth surface for decals. Microscopic air bubbles trapped under decals,often in a matt paint layer,are the primary cause of silvering. That's when the decal film is visible with,unsurprisingly, a silvery appearance.

I seal my decals with another coat of varnish before weathering,some don't bother. I think if I make some horrible mistake weathering the varnish will enable me to fix it without repainting the whole model!

The best product for these stages is Klear floor polish. It is becoming hard to find but other similar products are available from your local supermarket. Search for Klear or Future (it's U.S. trade name) and you'll find loads of threads.

Next I do my weathering. This may involve various washes. You need to experiment to find what suits you and this also depends on the sort of models you are building. The easiest way to get a good result is to use a premixed clay type weathering was. I use the Promodeller washes which John sells in the forum online shop.

Once you are happy with all this you will want to give your model a final coat of varnish. This is totally dependent on what the model is. A car or motorbike would probably need a gloss varnish, a WW2 aircraft would need a satin or Matt varnish depending on the subject.

I use an airbrush and use Vallejo varnishes. I believe they may also be brushed on,hopefully one of our resident users of the hairy stick will be able to confirm this or give you an alternative.

Cheers

Steve