I want to get started with modeling...

[Red October1984]

Any helpful hints or advice is welcome.

I'm thinking I want to start with an Airplane and then move on to ships/subs.

I like the R/C stuff that nikimcbee is doing too. Problem is....I have no experience ( or money )

I'm open to suggestions, recommendations, guidance, etc. This looks like some cool stuff.... A bit of a step up from the legos of my childhood.

( I think I want my first one to either be a Bf-109 or an A-10 Warthog )

[Sailor Steve]

I could give so much advice all at once you'd feel overwhelmed. Probably so could more than a few others. So I'll start simple.

1. What do you want to do? Throw some plastic together and slap some paint on it? Try to make a work of art? Somewhere in between?

My first recommendation would be to go online and see what's there. There are several popular scales, and you can make some pretty small models with just a few parts, or you can build a big plane with more than 100 parts just for the engine. Of course you want to start easy. I'm just telling you what the possibilities are. There are books available that give you good instructions on what to do and how to do it.

2. Supplies: There are actually several different kinds of glue to choose from. Not just different brands, but actual different types for different jobs. For a simple plastic model plain old Testor's plastic cement is a good place to start. Not the kind in a tube, but in a glass bottle with a brush. There are several kinds of paint to choose from. It takes great practice and skill to get good with a paint brush, and no matter how good you are it's never going to equal the results obtained with an airbrush. On the other hand airbrushes and compressors are expensive and also require a lot of patience and practice.

I'm not trying to scare you off, just make you aware of what the future can hold if you decide you really like building models. Really you should just ignore me. Find a model that looks good to you, buy some cement and an X-Acto Knife (a #11 X-Acto is the most valuable tool you'll use, and they're cheap), do a little research into paints and then have fun.

I, and several others, will be glad to answer any questions along the way, and to give specific help for problems that arise.

[TLAM Strike]

Not sure what scale and such you want to work with but I make mostly 1/72 scale tanks and aircraft, 1/700 scale ships, and have built a few 1/144 scale U-Boats and aircraft.

Trumpeter and Dragon make great models. Hasegawa is also a great manufacturer although I think a lot of their stuff was made more in the 1990s. Revell of Germany also tends to be good (although I don't like a lot of their models have individual link tank tracks at 1/72 scale).

Academy and Italeri also make good kits (I have a 109 and Spit kit from those companies but never got around to building them, but the parts look good).

Stay away from companies like ERTL (in older boxes you find a lot around), UM, Airfix (sometimes), anything Korean or Eastern European.

Tools, your going to need some. I recommend an extendable ex-acto knife. Tweezers are a must. A "Third Hand" holder with a maganify glass is nice and can be gotten cheap at places like Harbor Freight (in the US), A very fine paint bush like a 00 or 0 sized one, plus some others, toothpicks, Micro Cristal Klear (for bonding transparent parts to normal ones, since normal model glue ruins the transparency), super glue, fast drying white putty (for filling gaps, this stuff is made by companies like Squadron), a set of small files and or a cheap dremel like tool (I have an engraver that runs on 2xAA batts I got for a $1 and it works great for model making). Boxes for paints and tools are a must, you mentioned Legos, use some to build a holder with six or so slots for holding your tools you use a lot.

Oh and get a quart of enamel paint thinner from the home store, you will waste a lot of money on the little jars of the stuff from the hobby store, just to clean your bushes.

[Cybermat47]

You can look here for some good models: http://www.airfix.com/

Personally, I'd recommend starting with 1/72 aircraft, then going on to 1/350 submarines, then perhaps some capital ships in 1/570 scale.

[nikimcbee]

You could start here:
http://www.wilhelmina.com/

oh wait....

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Cybermat47

You can look here for some good models: http://www.airfix.com/

^just make sure it's something they released in the past few years. There are some of their older stuff is of poor quality.

Example: Their 1/72 Beaufighter and Gladiator come in boxes that look alike, the Beaufighter is great recently made mold but the Gladiator looks like it came from a mold made in the 70's.

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

You could start here:
http://www.wilhelmina.com/

Good one!

Reminds me if something Alexei Sayle said in his show:

Originally Posted by Alexei Sayle

I've got a girlfriend, yeah. She's a model, yeah. She's an Airfix Stuka dive bomber.

[nikimcbee]

I'd say, start with an easy kit to learn skills and build your confidence.

Pretty much what Steve and TLAM said. What do you like?

If you are a beginner, stay the hell away from photo-etched kits; First they are waaaaaay more expensive and they are not for beginners. I personally find them very frustrating to work with, but they do look cool though.


Note: the r/c kits are a totally different beast.

[nikimcbee]

1/48 scale



My pride and joy. 1/35 scale. I had a lot of fun building this diorama.




1/32 scale. I scratch built the wall and the moss is real!

[Red October1984]

Cool! I'd love to make this a good post...but I'm halfway out the door.

No time right now....but I'll be back later. Sounds like I have a good resource here.

[captgeo]

start easy or you will get scared off, brush's for paint ,use tamiya paints (water base), glue like above mentioned (one with brush), 1/72 scale aircraft are easy to build, make sure its a simple kit not a couple hundred parts, and dont expect it to look great the first try.

Tanks(1/35 th scale) are forgiving to make also, if you mess it up a bit,you can say it's battle damage

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

I'd say, start with an easy kit to learn skills and build your confidence.

Pretty much what Steve and TLAM said. What do you like?

Originally Posted by captgeo

start easy or you will get scared off,

+1

Start cheap, even if it is an old Airfix one for now - do it, take your time over it - paint what needs painting when it need painting, you can't do it all when it's finished!

Once you have finished then walk away, go out, grab a drink. When you come back to it have a good look, see where there are mistakes - too much glue? Too much paint or not enough? Fingerprints? Decal not straight? Wobbly undercarriage or snapped stanchion? - Make a list. Next time you make a model pay more attention to whatever areas went wrong*

I'd also recommend doing the same kit again for a better comparison.

*No offence intended, but things will go wrong no matter how careful - It took me a couple of years before I got just one spot-on first time.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

You could start here:
http://www.wilhelmina.com/

oh wait....

Many years ago, when I was working for Utah's only hobby distributor, I told a friend I worked for Douglas Models. He immediately said "Cool! Can you get me a date?"

"Umm..."

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Once you have finished then walk away, go out, grab a drink. When you come back to it have a good look, see where there are mistakes - too much glue? Too much paint or not enough? Fingerprints? Decal not straight? Wobbly undercarriage or snapped stanchion? - Make a list. Next time you make a model pay more attention to whatever areas went wrong*.

Also take your time.

When I worked at Douglas I picked up a favorite old modelbuilders' saying: "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

One of our regular customers was a New Zealander import who built some beautiful stuff. One day he came into the shop with his latest build, a beautiful Monogram 1/48 T-33 trainer. I was admiring it when I noticed something he had missed. "Umm, Willis? Did you know you have the stars upside down?" I've never seen a face so red. He practically ran out of the store. It only took him one night, and he came in the next day with everything perfect, including a complete refinish of the clear coat.

There are different ways to build. For my B-17 prototype that sits in the Hill AFB museum I paid great attention to detail, especially in the markings. On the other hand, while I worked at Douglas I was given several of Revell's and Monograms big bomber kits - 1/48 B-17-F an -G, B-24-D and -J, B-29 and the 1/72 B-52 and B-36 - just to build stuff to hang from the ceiling. I didn't do any fine finishing or much sanding; just put them together and paint them. One of the funny things that happened was the B-17F. On a model that big I took a shortcut, and rather than use the airbrush for the underside I just used a spray can and called it good. We didn't have any WW2 underside gray in stock, so used a can of Light Gull Gray. One day a customer came in, said he had been a B-17 gunner during the war and that was the first model he'd ever seen with the gray exactly he right color.

The lesson is, never trust your memory. When you can, use photographs.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The lesson is, never trust your memory. When you can, buy diecast.

Fixed that for Jim.

[Sailor Steve]

LOL