dubster72

Look round for a fridge compressor. Most local dumps.. sorry, re-use & recycle centres have a few knocking about. Add some hosing & fittings and you're good to go with 3am spraying! I've had this set-up for well over a year now.

Les, if your STuG is an early version (pre February 1943) then Jack is correct in that the colour would be German Grey RAL 7021. Tamiya XF 63 would be a good base coat, but rather too dark for scale. Adding a few drops of white & then overspraying the upper panels will give a much more pleasing effect.

Circles? Squiggly lines maybe, but not octopus camo

Richard, a 'properly made' wash such as any commercial product out there is merely enamel paint thinned with white spirit. Don't be sucked in by the marketing blurb! Flory washes are slightly different in that they're water based with a clay additive to aid keeping the wash in the panel lines. As long as you apply any wash over a well cured gloss coat, you're unlikely to mess it up. Most problems occur when people add an oil-based wash over an acrylic gloss coat before its fully cured. Then the chemically hotter wash affects the gloss coat, resulting in undesirable effects. Patience is the watchword!

Aha that makes sense! My apologies for any confusion I've caused!

You'll have a tough job matching those RAL numbers to Luftwaffe colours because RAL refers to land vehicles; Reichs-Ausshuss für Lieferbedingungen (RAL) (Reich Committee for Terms of Delivery). RLM is the Luftwaffe designation; State Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrt Ministerium) You'll probably have more luck by describing either the RLM number or where the paint is going to be used. So later war cockpits would be RLM 66 for example. Ammo by Mig do nice Luftwaffe paints & include the RLM number in their description. HTH

Although it's more effort because it comes in 2 parts, Miliput always gives me a nice smooth finish. You can roll it out into tiny snakes to fit thin gaps & because it's water soluble, use a damp cotton bud to smooth it out. Hardly any sanding is needed. HTH

Normal white spirit thins it perfectly... AK just decant the regular stuff into little jars & make big profits along the way. I've thinned the paste with cellulose thinner to excellent effect when airbrushing, although I wouldn't recommend using that for hairy stick work.

You could try the Zero Paints range from Hiroboy. They do a candy metallic purple http://www.hiroboy.com/Candy_Purple_Paint_30ml--product--2378.html

Brilliant stuff! I do love seeing big dioramas, there's so much to take in. Lots of clever little details abound, like the worn metal by the crew seating on the half track.

That's the ducks guts! Excellent stuff

That dashboard looks just like my one! Excellent work Pappy

10 PSI should be the same irrespective of which pressure regulator that's being used. Without knowing the particular model, I'd say the Machine Mart one is unable to provide low pressure. Although why anyone wants 10 PSI is beyond me! Surely a decent level of atomization isn't possible? But the simplest solution would be to get an inline valve, such as an Iwata MAC valve. Set the compressor pressure to 40 PSI & then adjust the MAC valve to something you're more comfortable with.

VMA are airbrush ready, straight from the bottle (after much shaking to mix it up!) However, many people like to thin them a little; especially for stuff like Luftwaffe mottling or spiderweb German AFV camo. The fun is in the experimentation...

Pulled up my chair

Why not the 5th Royal Tank Regiment? Having watched their wartime exploits on the BBC, they definitely used Cromwells (and weren't too pleased with them!)

That's really your personal choice. For myself, I begin painting once the wheels are cleaned up. Some have quite prominent mould seams & so the wheels need to be gripped tightly whilst employing the sanding stick. That grip can lead to rubbing off the previously applied paint.

I find painting wheels off the sprue is easier. This is especially true where they have quite prominent mould seams. I use kebab/BBQ skewers from the Poundshop to mount them for painting. To allow for the different sizes of hole, I wrap the end of the skewer in masking tape. This gives a nice tight fit & less chance of falling off; a common complaint when using blu tak to secure them. For the actual painting, do the centre of the wheel first, then the tyres. Thin your paint more than usual & allow it to flow around the tyre rather than painting it. The rim of the wheel will prevent it from messing up the paint you've already applied. HTH Patrick

Have a look on the Milicast website, they specialise in 1/72 & 1/76 figures.

As far as the (often very noticeable) difference between Vallejo Model Air & Model Colour goes, I think it's something to do with their respective pigment content. VMA being pre-thinned for airbrushing contains less pigment, so appears somewhat lighter to the eye. Personally I think that colour in either form is too dark for use with scale models. VMA Iraqi Sand is a better fit IMHO.

So you're effectively discounting all the laws of physics? Not to mention actual measured examples that prove said physical realities? The world is certainly stranger than I imagined since reading your post!

I wouldn't give up quite so easily! Looking on eBay at completed auctions for airbrush compressors under £50, there's a lot of them, including those that come complete with a double action gravity feed AB. Be worth keeping an eye out

Sorry! I didn't realise you were hairy sticking this one..

I'm also confused by the masking... wouldn't it have been easier to spray RLM 70 first & then mask it for the 71? Dark over light

Complete rubbish! An ICBM travels at greater than hypersonic speeds; roughly 14000 kph after burnout.That increases as it descends toward the earth. Also the faster an object travels, the less manoeuvrable it becomes. Aircraft at high speed have a much greater turning circle. A hypersonic aircraft could never be highly manoeuvrable.