Andy's 1/35 Tamiya Stug B

[JR]

Don't think cleaning is the problem Andy , I can't imagine you not doing it well . More like temperature if your storing your paints at less than 45 F. Having that insulated box would be nothing with out some internal heat.
I find my Infinity as good as is doesn't like Vallejo unless it is thinned, tried Amig one shot primer and it stopped dead, mind I was using a .2 needle. Mean while spraying using my standard Ultra H &S with a .4 needle works fine, I just have to be easy on the trigger !

 

[stillp]

Maybe, even though I think I'm stripping and cleaning the brush well enough their are traces of lacquer paint/thinner left in it which are reacting with the Vallejo and causing it to clump.

Andy, you could try mixing some Vallejo paint with some lacquer thinners on a saucer, to see if it clumps or gels.
Pete

 

[Deleted member 7181]

I could Pete, but there's enough reports of it around for me to take their word for it.

Having said that, I suppose I should try it for myself and see it with my own eyes

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Our survey said...

Cheap lacquer / cellulose thinner had little effect, but a few drops of the Mr Color Levelling Thinner I use to thin my lacquer paints and primers did this to Model Air!





Might cause a problem

 

[stillp]

Wow! I wonder what causes that reaction? Did you try with your airbrush cleaner as well?
Pete

 

[BattleshipBob]

Brake fluid.
Pete

Good god would never have thought that, but having seen what it can do to cars no wonder lol

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Wow! I wonder what causes that reaction? Did you try with your airbrush cleaner as well?
Pete

Chemicals probably

No idea really Pete, but I have seen plenty of examples of it on modelling pages. MLT can be used for thinning Tamiya and other non-laquer paints, so people have tried it with Vallejo, getting similar results.

The airbrush cleaner I use after painting with Vallejo is their own (after a pre-rinse with water to get the worst out) so one would hope it's compatible. For clean up after Mr Color products I use cheap celly/lacquer thinner.

 

[stillp]

Thanks Andy.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

So due to the moulding issue with my P-38 kit I decided to dust this off and have another crack at it, rectifying the mistakes I'd made along the way.

Carrying on with the mountain of PE I added the flush mount screws to the other side of the superstructure. I also used my new JLC saw to scribe a panel line into this section. Maybe it is one part in real life but due to the angle change I think it looks better like this. A bit of sanding to remove the stray superglue and I'm happy. Grab handle needs some attention as it looks like I molested it when trying to clean the sprue attachment point up!





And this is a reminder of the opposite side that I did a while ago. Will definitely be redoing it now!



There aren't enough PE screw heads in the kit to carry this on where I messed up on the top though. Much of the detail is clogged with melted styrene now from the rivets I mistakenly added so I'll be drilling them all out, and trying to add the screw detail from punched card. Should be fun.

 

[SimonT]

Andy - you could try soaking the rivets in liquid cement to clean them off for re-use

The side armour panels looks to have significant sink marks along the edges - if they do they would benefit from sanding flat

The one on my Zvezda/Dragon were rather sunken and had to be flattened

 

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
Well first off my apologies for coming to this so late. Just had a full read through and I must say you're doing a great job. The interior looks really nice, the seats, the rack, the weathering - great. Some interesting discussions going on Airbrushing Vallejo Model Color is one of those Marmite issues - works for some and drives others demented!
Best stuff I've found for airbrush cleaning when normal cleaning doesn't seem to work is THIS . I don't use it every time but really good when I need a bit extra umph
Early on in the thread Gator Glue was mentioned for sticking PE. It is great stuff. Looks like white glue but I reckon it has something extra in it. I often fix PE in place with Gator Glue. It gives plenty of wiggle time and any squeezed out glue cleans up easily with a damp brush. If you make a real cock-up all the glue just gets wiped away easily and you can start again. Once the part is fixed with the Gator Glue I often wick in thin CA along the join - sort of belt and braces job.
Anyway Andy keep up the great work.
Jim

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks Simon. I didn't actually see those sink marks until I enlarged the photo's so much but now that I have, I agree there's some more sanding needed.

Jim - Bob has mentioned the liquid reamer elsewhere and I reckon I'll give it a try for when I need something extra. I haven't put any Vallejo through the AB for quite a while now though and it's performing great with just the Mr Color. Will have a look at the Gator Glue too thanks. I'm still not having great luck with any type of CA so happy to try anything.

 

[Steve Jones]

Glad to see you have decided to stick with this one Andy. I am sure you will get over this hurdle and crack on with a finished build.

 

[scottie3158]

Andy,
The nice work continues.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks for the encouragement Steve and Paul.

I have to say I'm not having fun with this at all though, a simple case of biting off more than I can chew with the etch. I'll persevere, as I'll never learn unless I stick at it, but it'll probably be something I keep coming back to between other builds

 

[Jakko]

Not blaming you for getting fed up with the etched bits … it’s not exactly my favourite material either, though when used for the right things, like those screw heads for example, the results can be very good.

 

[Bortig the Viking]

This might make you feel better, my next model is a locomotive made from metal wood and many more, just been going through the instruction manual, more of a book really, and I have to put in rivets, I lost count at 600. This model I think is trying to kill me.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Yeah, lots of minor things adding up to a big headache really Jakko. I'm getting to grips with constructing the parts, I can often glue them on, and even get them in the right place occasionally but trying to work through two sets of instructions, planning an order of works, deciding what to add and what not to add for later painting, which parts are actually visible enough to be worth the effort, and plucking up the courage to hack up a perfectly good kit part to add details that I may or may not manage (light brackets etc) has my head in a spin. I can often spend an hour just looking at the thing trying to work out what I'm actually going to do next.

Then of course there's the spending a few hours cutting, cleaning, bending, gluing, adjusting, re-gluing and finally taking a breath, only to pick the model up 2 days later to find that part has disappeared into thin air, never to be seen again.

Hats off to you guys that have the skill, patience, and mental capacity to do this regularly. I think I'd end up in the funny farm if I did this more than once!

Character building I think they call it lol

And Mark - best of luck with that chap, it sounds like your going to need it.

 

[Jakko]

I can often glue them on, and even get them in the right place occasionally

Solid evidence that you’re progressing as a modeller

trying to work through two sets of instructions, planning an order of works, deciding what to add and what not to add for later painting, which parts are actually visible enough to be worth the effort

That’s the sort of thing I have no trouble with — though I think it takes a good deal of experience, which you’re well underway to building by the looks of it.

I can often spend an hour just looking at the thing trying to work out what I'm actually going to do next.

That’s the right way to do it, IMHO. Better think it through once more than cut too soon and find you’ve now got a difficult repair job on your hands.

Hats off to you guys that have the skill, patience, and mental capacity to do this regularly. I think I'd end up in the funny farm if I did this more than once!

Building models is probably one of the things that’s kept me from the funny farm

 

[Deleted member 7181]

That’s the right way to do it, IMHO. Better think it through once more than cut too soon and find you’ve now got a difficult repair job on your hands.

A pain in the rear when I only have an hours bench time though. By the next day I've usually forgotten my plan and have to start thinking all over again lol

Anyway, a quick test tonight of an idea to replicate the detail I messed up on the roof.

I'd already used the method Simon mentioned to soften and remove the "rivets" but it left a bit of a mess in my case. So I drilled out the hole to 0.8mm, punched out a bit of thin card, cemented it into the hole, sanded reasonably flat, then scored with a blade.



Apart from scratching the area with the drill bit (cramp in my finger made me jump!) I think I'm on to a winner. Only 30 or so more to do.