Calling all model kit fans - she's finally done

[captain nemo1701]

After another year faffing about, FS1 is almost ready. It's the final glue-the-top-hull on this weekend, display space ready.
'Nelsons Folly' is next (with baby FS1).

 

[captain nemo1701]

She's finished, top can be open end to look inside. I found a plastic tube from sellotape made a handy mount (the kit mount is about as stable is jelly in an earthquake).

 

[Yellow Fang]

Here it is. No matter how hard I try I cannot build and paint them like on YouTube. I have started to appreciate how painstaking you have to be to be a good artist.

This is a model of a Po-2. It was often flown by all female crew at night to bomb German soldiers in their sleep. The Germans called them Nachthexen. There is also a story of one downing an American jet in the Korean War. It is thought the jet slowed down so much it stalled and crashed.

 

[Cycleops]

I think part of the problem with your paint @Yellow Fang is that you're applying it too thick. If you're using Humbrol tinlets you need to thin them down to at least 50/50.
Interesting subject.

 

[stephec]

View attachment 657091
Here it is. No matter how hard I try I cannot build and paint them like on YouTube. I have started to appreciate how painstaking you have to be to be a good artist.

This is a model of a Po-2. It was often flown by all female crew at night to bomb German soldiers in their sleep. The Germans called them Nachthexen. There is also a story of one downing an American jet in the Korean War. It is thought the jet slowed down so much it stalled and crashed.

The Night Witches, never seen a model of one before.

As @Cycleops says the paint looks a bit thick, assuming you're brush painting thin it and apply in a few thin layers, building up gradually rather than trying to do it all in one go, and using a primer first can also help.

 

[Yellow Fang]

The Night Witches, never seen a model of one before.

As @Cycleops says the paint looks a bit thick, assuming you're brush painting thin it and apply in a few thin layers, building up gradually rather than trying to do it all in one go, and using a primer first can also help.

You can get them from 1001 Hobbies, which I think is actually French.

 

[Yellow Fang]

I think part of the problem with your paint @Yellow Fang is that you're applying it too thick. If you're using Humbrol tinlets you need to thin them down to at least 50/50.
Interesting subject.

Thanks for this. I have dozens of paint pots, but I still often find I do not have the right shade. Worse still, one particular shade of tan ruined two of my models, because it would not dry properly. In the Po-2 I just finished, I mixed black and green to get dark green, and brown and white to get the buff colour. The other green was from its own tin, but it was too glossy. If we should mix paint and thin paint, maybe it would be better to get a palette of a dozen colours rather than scores of them.

 

[Cycleops]

Non drying paint is often a result of not being mixed thoroughly. Some paint if it's been standing for a while sometimes separates, particularly the Humbrol enamel stuff.

 

[Andy in Germany]

This is one reason I like acrylic; easier to mix and generally dries matt/satin.

Here it is. No matter how hard I try I cannot build and paint them like on YouTube.

There are a number of methods used to finish a model; taken individually they aren't that complex, they just need practice and patience.

Once the basic colour is on I use thin dark coloured paint applied with a large soft brush to show up cracks and joins, known as washes, brush tiny amounts of light coloured paint for highlights, known as drybrushing, add powder made from crushed pastels to simulate dirt, and then varnish the lot with matt varnish. The added advantage is that all these extra bits hide my mistakes.

 

[midlife]

When I built mine I bought a dirt cheap airbrush and some low tack masking tape. When I got better I tried all the dry brushing and washes above but still used the cheap airbrush. Used Tamiya acrylics

After a while started using some really thin glue which removed the glue fingerprints that my models seemed to get.

 

[Andy in Germany]

When I built mine I bought a dirt cheap airbrush and some low tack masking tape. When I got better I tried all the dry brushing and washes above but still used the cheap airbrush. Used Tamiya acrylics

After a while started using some really thin glue which removed the glue fingerprints that my models seemed to get.

I've often considered an airbrush but never saw the need, mainly because I was happy with the results I was getting: acrylics don't leave brush marks unless you really ladle them on. I use a rattlecan to prime models and varnish them though.

 

[Cycleops]

If you are considering an airbrush Don's Airbrush Tips is an interesting site with reviews on loads of brushes, cheap and expensive.
https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/

 

[captain nemo1701]

Well, the 39 inch Seaview is finally done. Doesn't look hard to build but the curving hull and the two halves were a challenge to file down & paint without a join showing (hint: its just above the tiny yellow diving bell):

This 5ft beastie is next:

 

[Cycleops]

Looks good but can't help but feeling it would look better in some sort of undersea diorama.

 

[derrick]

Looks good but can't help but feeling it would look better in some sort of undersea diorama.

Or fitted with RC and motors in a pool. Statics are ok but not my cup of tea.