discussion Total newbie to modeling, requesting advice

[Guest]

Hello, I'm George and my parents just got me a 1/48 scale Academy F- 16C for my seventeenth birthday. I'm trying to follow some general tips YouTube provided, but I would like some more contact with people that do this modeling thing.I want the internet's opinion. Is this model too much for a first build, or I can go ahead and start it from tomorrow?

 

[Guest]

You'll find plenty of help on here mate. I'm very new to model making myself so I can't advise you on this but the amount of support and help I've had on here from people has helped me loads. Enjoy the forums mate and don't ever hesitate to ask for help

 

[Guest]

George

Happy birthday

My suggestion would be get on and build it and enjoy it. There are so many techniques and processes that you will learn over time but for a first build i would concentrate on the enjoyment of building the kit.

If there was one recommendation starting out it would be get yourself (if you have no already) some liquid glue rather that the tube type adhesives.

When i started out so many years ago all you had was tube cenent (airfix in my case with a snap off tip) and it was just so difficult to control.

If you do a GOOGLE search along the lines of 1:48 academy f-16 that usually brings up various kit reviews and builds you can read up on.

Hope you enjoy your build.

 

[james pithouse]

No, as long as you read the instruction carefully, and get paints as on the instructions. Because on the side of the, box they only give you a few off the paints, needed to start you off. The way I paint the parts, is to leave them on the spruce but, some people use blue tack and cocktail sticks to hold the parts after they painted them, or during the painting if it is a.Tamiya model on the instructions, all Tamiya paints are acrillic they start with an X's are small bottles same as XF or Ts . T's. Stands for Tamiya spray cans. There are other paints just use codes so you have to, guess if they are humbrol or revell paints. Tamiya models fit perfect to together, sadly other models need to be trimmed down to fit or some parts might be missing. With that I hope this helped but on here other people will give advice as well so, don't be afraid to ask for hints and tips ok by the way welcome to the forum where the fun begins and never stops. P.s happy birthday george

 

[Guest]

Well,thank you so much for your birthday wishes and initial support! Tony, I have some paint - on glue which smells like (and says on the container that is made of) some type of acetone. As for the paint, James, I only got two tones of gray and a gold mettalic, which are "all the paints I'm gonna need", said the shop owner... They are all Humbrols. I'm gonna need to ask, because my mother is a kindergarden teacher, if I can use some other types of paint except enamel or acrylics.. Thank you again everyone, and Good night from Greece!
P.S. I have school tomorrow and it's 1 am out here, if you wonder why did I say goodnight.

 

[Gern]

Hi George. What the guys have said so far is perfectly true. If you have any specific questions, ask on here. There's always someone around to help.

I don't want to discourage you on your first kit, but I should tell you that you almost certainly won't end up with a perfect build first time round. Lots of modelling techniques need practise and experience to get them exactly right. Just do your best, and if the modelling bug does bite you, your natural desire will be to make a better job of your next build - and that's the way all good modellers work. They all try to make their next kit better than the last one.

 

[Guest]

Hi peeps, another question: Do I have to thin enamel and acrylic paint to paint with a brush?

 

[Guest]

I use Vallejo acrylic paints and sometimes thin them with a very small anounnt of water if needed. Sometimes I just use them straight from the bottle, depends on the colour really as some are different consistency to others in the range . Humbrol enamels I always just used straight from the tin.

 

[james pithouse]

I agree with jack 10 I use Tamiya paint and no I don't water them down. Occasionally Humbrol enamel paint

 

[colin m]

Well this isn't going to help you, as my opinion differs, but I would say just about any enamel or acrylic would benefit from diluting, some only need diluting a bit, others more. thinner paint means less chance of brush marks on larger surface areas. BUT, matt humbrol enamel does work well from the tin with out diluting. Gloss might be a bit tricky without diluting a bit. I suppose the real answer is, experiment on scrap plastic.

 

[dave]

Welcome to the forum George.

As people have already said, try the paints you wish to use on scrap plastic and see what you think.

As a rule of thumb from my own experience a paint marketed for airbrushing probably needs little or no thinning, a paint for brushing does, for instance Vallejo model colour I tend to thin about 50:50 with water.

It is also better to do multiple thin coats than one thick one.

But have a go and enjoy the experience, the one thing you will discover is that we are all still learning and developing as modellers.