Bunkerbarge

Bob this is one of those classic areas that you really can't make rules up for. You have to think through how you want to do things beforehand and then follow your plan.

Some things are better painted on the sprue, some things are better assembled first, it all depends on the particular model and how it is assembled.

Don't be afraid though of doing what you think best rather than what you think you should do.

If you have a specific scenario to deal with then ask and I'm sure there will be as many differrent ideas as there are answers and none of them will be wrong!!

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

Nigel.D

Greg if Copydex is not available in the States then send me your address and i will post some over for you

Tailspin14

Well first off, I bought an airbrush and compressor... I am scared of it and not used it beyond spraying water out of it. Very expensive and highly immobile water pistol if you ask me. So, for now, I am hand painting. I do have a P40 that I am working on that I would like to air brush but waiting for the build to be finished. My biggest dilema is not really knowing how to use putty properly to keep from really messing up my build. I have parts on my P40 that I am trying to work through so I don't get fed up enough to scrap it. If you get putty in the wrong place how do you get it off completely? Stuff like that. I am scanning the tutorials, but I haven't found the answer to that one yet. And as for painting, I know with a semi gloss coat you can dull down gloss paints. If you use a glossy coat, can you make flat finish seem glossy? Haven't tried it for myself yet, just curious.

Bob

P.S sorry if these are noob questions. Like I said, I am still going through the tutorial stuff.

rjwood_uk

most puttys can be removed with white spirit as long as they have not fully cured. just use a cotton wool bud (or q-tip the americans call them) and use that.

for the gloss effect. of course you can. it all depends on how glossy you want it. aircraft are not shiny, nor flat so you need to decide how you want it to look. modern jets look about right with a coat of future/johnsons but you could go for a full up gloss varnish if you want (make sure you get one that does not yellow!)

alan2525

You can always use masking fluid - the stuff watercolour artists use. It brushes on liquid and then dries out and can be peeled off. Much like copydex but easier to apply.

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Bunkerbarge

Even if things in real life are a full matt or gloss it rarely looks right to paint it as such on a model. A lot of finishes are in between the two so for those simply mix a tin of matt with a tin of gloss in the proportions you require for the finish you want.

When you are experimenting measure specific amounts into a tin, paint a surface and see how it looks when it dries.

I painted my coaster hull with a mixture of matt and gloss paints and varied the mix slightly as I went along. I will also be going over it again with differring ratios to produce differrent textures which is very typical of an old ships hull with many coats of paint applied over the years.

As for the airbrush, I know Nigel will cringe when I tell you that I have never really got into them either. I just can't be bothered with all the faffing around cleaning the dam thing. Not to mention the mess caused by the overspray and dust. I do use it every now and then and I know I am missing out on a whole world of techniques but I am managing to only use it very occassionally at the moment.

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

Tailspin14

After reading this post, I checked our your gallery. I have looked at it before, but paid a lot more attention this time. I have officially decided to cut myself a break. Hehe. I have been expecting too much being this early getting back into modeling. One of my other projects is the USS Lionfish. I have just realized my first mistake and that was in putting the tower together early. It is a very basic model from looking at the instructions and the detail isn't anything superb. I would have loved to have given the tower some detail. All the pictures that I have found of the Lionfish have been very non-detailled. How much of what you do is imagination and how much is dead nuts on?

wonwinglo

I think that airbrushes are a very personal taste,some cannot live without them others like Richard find the hassle of cleaning a put off,I also know of people who cannot use them for respiratory reasons,one thing that has been noticed is that they appear more popular in the States,one such group that I contribute to are surprised when they see my hand painted creations.
Having said that I like the Halfords aerosol sprays with those fine diffusers,for basic broad colours like white etc you cannot beat them,their basic universal white primer is excellent as well,whilst not cheap they go a long way and you do not have to clean them either.
Everyone to his or her own again but as people point out,just because you own an airbrush it does not guarantee a good finish,you need to work hard to achievei it.

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'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/

Tailspin14

I have heard that as well about airbrushes. I just want to be able to find my niche so to speak. I felt it was time to give it a shot and with one of the monster trucks I am building, I thought it would be a great finish. When I get the guts to paint it that is.....

rjwood_uk

buy a load of cheap crappy models and hack hack hack! spray gallor and youl get the hang of it!