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About TheModeller
- Birthday 14/02/1960
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Modelmaking, Photography, Cooking, I do a mean Carbonarra!
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I'm only going from memory because I don't have my Venom references handy, but I'm pretty certain that camo'd Venoms were either PRU Blue or Painted Aluminium underneath.
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Like I said, its your model, there are however plenty of other examples at HS, ARC, the FSM forum and other places warning about the use of marker pens with both enamels and acrylics. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q...ading&meta= Pollyscale acrylics are mentioned specifically, Testors matt coat gets mentioned as well as enamel finishes, its very hit and miss using them for this kind of thing, it may have worked for you with the combination of paints you used, but thats not to say other people copying your technique will have the same luck, just as well to point out documented examples of potential pitfalls lest someone stuff up thier paint job.
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It can take weeks, months or even years for the results to show, its caused by a gradual migration of the alcholol based ink carrier through alchohol based paints and varnishes such as most acrylics, but hey, its your model... I'll just point you here: http://www.ratomodeling.com/articles/pre_shading1/ the article explains the issue clearly enough, for my part I'd never advise anyone to use any kind of marker pen for 'pre-shading', not if you want the paint job to last.
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Permenant marker ink will eat through any paint and varnish laid on top of it which is why such pens aren't used for 'pre-shading'... Actually, in 40-odd years of modelmaking the only use I've found for them is labelling packages! The paint-pen idea will work but as it lays down a sharply defined line I doubt it'll give the effect you're looking for by pre-shading, which is a subtle, graduated 'shading' along appropriate panel detail which is why its called pre-'shading', not pre-striping...
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Surprisingly, or not(?), I've read much the same elsewhere about Tamiyas business plan in relation to thier 1/48th range, things like "how are they going to survive if they don't kit such-and-such", "what are they thinking doing a Pz.IV J when everyone knows a Pz.IV D is the kit we want", "how do they expect to remain in business with such a marketing model"... Of course not a one of the commentators gave a moments thought to the simple fact that Tamiya have been making kits for 70 odd years in one form or another, weathered war, earthquakes, a cataclysmic meltdown of the Japanese home economy, and most recently the world economy gurgling down the pan, and yet despite how stupid their marketing guys are they're still making kits and, one presumes, shedloads of money too...
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Be still my beating heart... A Wessex, what a splendid idea Bill, or how about a nice new-tool first generation Harrier family? GR.1, GR.3 and the trainers?
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If you take into account the resin manufacturers and the aftermarket lines that Hannants don't carry there is actually a huge choice of subjects and accessories in 1/48th, certainly more than enough to fill my area of interest which is British built armour. Of course there isn't the variety and depth of the 1/35th market but I still think its a pretty healthy niche in the armour modelling world if you're into WWII subjects. It'll be great to see Airfix add a few modern types to the selection, at the moment the only mainstream modern kits I can think of are the two Tamiya Hummer variants. An M1A1, Challenger, Warrior, M113, an M48/M60 or Merkava would all be welcome, it remains to be seen if these new kits prove popular but I hope if they do we'll see more like them.
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I'd only add, don't worry about depth of coverage in your first coat, apply the paint thinly in multiple coats rather than trying to get it covered in colour in one go, it can also help to use an aerosol primer spray in an appropriate shade for your finish colour but given your living arrangements that may not be possible.
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The Sea Vixen is 40 quid, near as makes no odds, and nobody even raises an eyebrow, the Lynx is only 40 quid if you buy it with the Landy and troops in the gift set. Stand-alone it'll be less than 30, and as I just forked out 30 quid for a new 1/48th single seat WWII RAF fighter it looks like good value! If its a decent kit it'll be worth the money. You could buy a cheaper one of course... If that ever happens.
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1/32nd is effectively a dead scale as far as armour and softskins are concerned, the armour modellers just aren't interested, 1/35th rules, which isn't surprising given the sheer quantity of stuff available. Its a bit puzzling however that none of the mainstream manufacturers have made the mental leap needed to see the market for 1/32nd airfield support vehicles and figures yet, especially given the revival of 1/32nd aircraft kits we've seen in recent years. 1/48th armour/softskins suffer because despite fitting in with 1/48th aircraft few big manufacturers seem all that willing to go beyond the WWII US/German scenario, I can't really blame them, WWII US and German stuff sells no matter the scale, so if you want vehicles suitable for use on an airfield diorama you need to look to the resin manufacturers such as Accurate Armour, of course the drawback there is the price, not everyone is keen on resin kits, and they won't sell to the mass market. Its a frustrating situation, personally I've taken to 1/48th armour, the scale offers a good compromise on physical size and fine detail, there is plenty of aftermarket stuff available for the kits on the market and new kits are coming out quite often, Italeri have announced more kits, Bronco are popping out scaled down kits of thier Staghounds and now Airfix have announced the Landys, Jackal and Coyote kits. The problem is that few people will start a 'collection' of 1/48th armour because the range is still fairly limited, so they don't buy the kits, so the manufacturers don't release new products, but without new products to buy the interest in the scale remains small... And thats where we came in... I've gradually been building a small collection of wartime British cruiser tanks, from the A13 to the Comet, but that calls for two pricey resin kits, and a whole bunch of scratchbuilt conversions to get what I want, which is fine for me because I know what I'm aiming for and can source what I need via online specialist suppliers, for Joe Bloggs in Modelzone on a Saturday morning the story is very different.
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I think Vasko sold all his patterns on to Grey Matter Figures... http://www.greymatterfigures.com/index.php?p=0
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Exactly, its not as if there aren't enough manufacturers supporting 1/35th for someone have pinched these off already, instead there are a couple of pricey but beautiful multi-media kits from Accurate Armour... Of course thats not to say we won't see mainstream 1/35th kits of them from HobbyBoss or Trumpeter or Dragon or Tamiya or Bronco or MiliArt or MasterBox or AFV Club or... Need I go on? Its always the same, why is it the 1/35th boys always feel so threatened when a new kit or product comes along thats not in the 'one true scale'? Its always the same refrain, 'should have been in 1/35th...' as if there aren't enough subjects covered in 1/35th already, to the piont where the big makers are now popping out kits of paper-prototypes! Hell even the multi-turreted monstrosities of the late 30's are getting kitted by multiple manufacturers! How about we just let Airfix produce what they think will sell, if they get it wrong then we'll see no more 1/48th vehicles, but of course if they get it right I can see a big potential market in cross-over subjects for them that the other manufacturers have so far failed to get a grip on.
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How is it anymore pointless than your repeating over and over that that Airfix are stupid, out-of-touch or going to the wall because they don't make the specific, niche-market subject you desire? The evidence is quite to the contrary, Airfix are coming on in leaps and bounds, improving thier quality and value all the time, making kits that are popular and well received by the vast majority of modellers using this forum, and now taking a risk on entering a new scale and subject type. You see, you keep repeating how Airfix are out-of-touch, stuck-in-the-past, missing out on opportunites, not producing the specific products you want, yet they are clearly doing a decent job of making enough money to fund all these new-tool products... Yes 1/35th is by far the most popular scale for armour modellers, I even have a couple of 1/35th kits in my stash, 30 years ago I and a few other small manufacturers used to produce a range of 1/35th armour accessories, resin, etch and figures. You don't need to tell me how popular 1/35th is. I suggest that Airfix know only too well how big and how popular 1/35th armour is, they know only too well how many companies are in the 1/35th market, each competing for a slice of the same pie, and they also know the amount of investment they'd need to put into it to even scratch enough out of the market to get thier money back! 1/48th is new(ish), fewer manufacturers, fewer subjects, the kits are generally substantially cheaper than thier 1/35th equivalents and therefore easier to sell to thier target market, and the subject area Airfix have chosen to tackle is, to date, a unique one as far as the scale is concerned. Looks to me like they intend to lead in this scale, not follow. So, who is out-of-touch exactly?
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It says to me that sheep are easily led.
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But you're the one banging on about them producing a Star Wars subject! Hardly armour related either, and to be honest you have to be living in some kind of vacuum not to have picked up on the general buzz surrounding the more recent Airfix products regardless of genre! I didn't say anything about your clubs membership, I pointed out that 20 modellers, anti-Airfix or otherwise, doesn't constitute 'alot' by any stretch of the imagination and at the least its presumptious of you to claim you're speaking for 'alot' of modellers, you're not, you're speaking for 20 modellers...