PsiBorg

Hi, just thought I'd introduce myself. As I kid I used to enjoy making models, mostly fighter planes and one or two cars. I'd invariably just glue them together and stick the decals on...occasionally I'd even try painting the model, but only with the included paints (they never give you all that you need).

As an adult, the urge to start doing them again has become overwhelming and as such, just for the fun I got a simple Airfix Red Arrow to do (I think a level 2...level 1 is snap together I think).

I glued it together, painted it and stuck the decals on in about two hours. I was reasonably pleased all things considered. Sure, it didn't sit properly on it's wheels and the wings clearly weren't level, and sure, the paint job looked inconsistent and too thick in places, and sure there were stringy bits of glue poking out from the cockpit, but it was a model, and I made it.

Cut forward a few years and the desire has returned in a much bigger way, and this time I want to do it properly. I got myself a Revell Dodge Viper 1:25 (level 3 on their scale of 5), purchased various brush sizes (I don't want to go near airbrushes yet), a few tools (clippers, knife, tweezers, sander) plus all the paints I needed (albeit Humbrol equivalents) and a couple of Humbrol #1 grey as I believe it can be used as a primer. Oh, and some paint thinner to clean my brushes.

After seeing some of the paint jobs on models in your gallery, I'm gobsmacked and hope I can get somewere close. I've taken on board some tips (I can't take everything on board at once...that will come with time hopefully), but patience is the main one...I'm going to take my time and not set out to finish in a day. I'll be painting certain pieces on the frame before gluing and making sure they're clean and free from grease first. I've also got some glue that is supposedly non-stringy with a nice thin outlet for precision gluing.

I'm going to have a further browse around the tutorials area, but I think at the moment, the two main things I want to know are how best to paint a car (I'm not worried about weathering, dirt or any other advanced effects...I'm just after the showroom finish and don't know how to go about it), and the other that I've noticed from the gallery is that decals look painted on. How on earth is that done? From my limited experience as a kid, decals tend to go silvery around the edges over time and look awful...they never look painted in even when new. What with doing a Dodge Viper with dirty great big white stripe decals running the length of the car, I'd like to get this right!

Anyway, any pointers would be appreciated, and I'll hopefully keep some sort of work log here so people can shout at the noob for doing everything wrong!

PsiBorg

Oh, and there's a term I keep coming across and I don't know what it means...

"...remove the flash".

???

wonwinglo

Hello there PsiBorg,the term 'remove the flash' merely refers to getting rid of the spare plastic that the parts are moulded onto,to do this firstly use a pair of small electrical snippers leaving a small amount showing of the plastic,next carefully remove the flash with a small file carefully blending in the part itself,there are many other ways to tackle this one many of which are here in the archives,it is simply removing the respective part away from the sprue and carefully cleaning it up.
I hope that this assists you and wish you well in your new modelling ventures.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

Bunkerbarge

Hi PsiBorg and welcome to the forum. Have a good look around the forum first and make the most of the wealth of archived tutorials and information we have amassed over the years and you will be surprised at how much you can benefit from the postings. Have a look at the Back to Basics thread I put together as a starting point and it might just generate more questions that will lead you onto other threads.

As for the silvered decals, you will find a lot about that already written as well but it is mainly caused by putting them onto a matt surface and getting air trapped below the decal film. You shouldn't have any problems on a gloss surface such as a car body but they will almost certainly be improved with a clear gloss coat over them and the car body after they are applied.

The car paint job depends a lot on the colour of the plastic and the final colour as to whether you need a primer. If the top coat is white and the plastic red you would almost certainly need a primer but if the colours are similar you might not need it.

I would also suggest that primer has other properties that standard grey paint does not have so don't be misled into thinking that matt grey is as good as a primer. As with most things in modelling, use the right stuff for the job, it is worth it in the end.

__________________

“Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack, Butting through the Channel in the mad March days"

wonwinglo

Regarding the decal silvering,some makes are worse than others,a simple solution is to flood the area first with Johnsons/Future,place the decal and dab gently with a lint free cloth,when partially dry add another coat of Future,this will level out the decal and fix it as well,the silvering should go away,all the silvering is clear decal film that lifts away due to no adhesive on the outside perimeter.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

jspitza

Hello PsiBorg
Welcome to the worlds oasis of modeling! Decals are amazing but can be very complicated. I use Mr. Mark softener and or Microsol decal solution. This is how the painted on effect is archived. This stuff shrinks the actual decal and dissolves it into the kit lines, around rivets, ect and thus gives the "painted on" look. Hang in there though as this is the journey of a lifetime!

PsiBorg

Thanks for all the initial posts. Some questions answered. I'm going to be posting a work log soon for the Revell Dodge Viper I'm working on. I think it's the best way for me to come up with questions I need to ask/search. I'm about half way through (have just mounted the seating area and attached the body to the chassis.

I'll probably review the kit as well.

As for the paint...the main body is a metallic blue (which according to the instructions is supposed to be mixed with a Revells dark blue colour). I had to get Humbrol equivalents, but the conversion chart I used had a mistake in that the Revell dark blue ended up being a Humbrol dark purple! Since the plastic is dark blue anyway, I painted the Humbrol metallic blue straight on and it looks pretty go as is, so no primer needed there.

I'll try and post some pictures up soon in a different thread as opposed to reviving this two week old one!