Andy Moore

Love all the added stowage. Great finish and weathering Andy

Very nice finish. Great work Andy

SS-23 Spider Hobby Boss 1/35 This arrived this morning and I decided that, despite the fact that I've got way too many other projects on the go, I had to start this strait away After a quick rummage through the box, the kit seems to be well detailed. There's certainly plenty of plastic and the finished thing is going to take up quite a bit of shelf space. The main hull moulding is well over 12" long The first step deals with the cab interior which has a lot of detail considering that not that much will be seen. The majority of the interior is white and I've got most of the main component ready for paint. I'll paint some of the smaller details separately and do the final assembly after painting You get a few instrument dials on the decal sheet but there's some nice moulded detail on the parts so I may just paint these and give them a wash and dry brush More soon Andy

Agreed, bluetak works very well. You just need to be careful around any delicate parts like photo etch etc. Andy

If you take a photo of real subject and adjust white balance, contrast etc. until it's as close as possible to what you see with your eyes and then sample the colour on that image, I can pretty much guarantee that no single part of that image would correspond to whatever FS/BS code the subject is actually painted in. On a model, that is much smaller and therefore reflects much less light, that effect will be much less pronounced and as a result the model can look too flat and too dark when using the 'correct' colour. If I adjust the tone or hue of the colour I'm using, it's to replicate the way I'd see that subject in reality. I realise there are many modellers who don't like this approach which is fine. Surely everyone should find the method that works for them and gives the results they like. If I see five builds of the same model, I would much rather see five different approaches to that build and see how those five modellers have interpreted the subject than see five identical builds that have been done to a prescribed and approved style. This is a creative hobby and if the creativity is sucked out of it an important aspect will have been lost. Andy

Thanks Will. I'd got Nurgle in mind when I painted it. It seemed to suit it more than the regular delineated Dark Eldar scheme which I've never been much of a fan of.

Really like the results of that coat of smoke, gives a great weathered look without being too strong. Wish I'd tried that on my build. Andy

Very nice weathering. The lighting looks excellent. Andy

Thanks for the comments guys No, sadly not. It went together really fast and I never got round to taking any shots. The process was pretty simple though. The carapace and the other armour bits were stippled with putty to give them a bit of texture then base coated in a dark rust followed by the Model Mates rust effect. It was then given a coat of hairspray and the green added and chipped. The skin and bone parts were based in a pale ivory then given various washes to bring out the details. I wouldn't be surprised if Patrick Woodroffe is one of the artists that the GW sculptors use as inspiration. I was always a Rodney Matthews fan myself, until he became born again and started painting bible scenes. Andy

Dark Eldar Talos Pain Engine Hi guys, I thought I'd upload some of my older GW builds. I haven't done any for a while now as the price for the newer kits is getting pretty steep and the designs aren't what they once were but as stand alone models they make great builds and are useful for trying new techniques that can then be applied to regular models. So to start with this is the Talos Pain Engine given a corroded finish with Model Mates rust effects and some hairspray chipping. Enjoy the shots Thanks for looking Andy

I think all they've announced so far regarding Finemolds reissues are the 1/48 X-wing and TIE and the 1/72 Falcon, all of which will be welcome but I imagine that if they sell well they'll look at releasing others like this and maybe Slave 1. Bandai have announced a 1/72 Y-Wing too so it looks like we may be spoilt for choice soon. Andy

Great progress. The figures look really nice as does the detail painting in the interior Andy

When I lighten colours for scale, it isn't really to replicate the effects of distance. When you view a full size aircraft, tank etc. you're looking at a large object that will reflect a lot of light. Everything you can see is light reflected off a surface and the surface of a model is much smaller than the surface of the original so the colour will appear to be darker as much less light is being reflected. It's an optical illusion if you like but it's still there. It's one reason I don't get caught up in matching paint shades exactly. I judge the colour by eye and go with what looks right rather than what is right.

Thanks, you may be in luck now that Revell are reissuing some of the Finemolds kitsAndy

I've been wanting to pick one of these up since it came out. You've done a great job with yours, the weathering looks great Andy

The dusty finish looks great. Very nice build Andy

Fantastic result for all your hard work. That modulation came out really well. Love the chunky look with the ERA and slat armour Andy

Thanks Joe, I'll post some shots when it's done Thanks, the snow was a mix of baking soda and AK wet effects Andy

MiniArt kits can be a real pain but the end results can look great and yours certainly does. Very nice chipping on the cargo bed. Andy

Thanks for the comments everyone Thanks Joe. I'd originally intended to add more snow and a few icicles hanging down but I had to cut back on it a bit as the mag required the final shots on a white background so the images could be composited on the page and any snow or icicles round the edges wouldn't have shown up. Now it's done I'll try and get round to adding a bit more as I think it will add to the wintry effect. Andy

Fantastic collection. I particularly like the Challenger. I've never done any 1/72 armour, I must get round to building some Andy

In general I'd stay away from the various paint sets around as they tend to cost as much as buying the paints individually and as you say they don't necessarily contain all the colours you'd need. You're better off just buying the colours you need for each build and slowly building up a paint collection. Vallejo, Tamiya and Gunze all work well for airbrushing but if you're used to enamels you may be better off sticking with them. Andy

Got one of these to start soon so I'll be keeping an eye on your build. Great start so far, the 50 cal looks lovely Andy

Hi modelmaker77, I'm very glad to see someone has had better results with these paints than me. I'd actually seen that video before buying the set which was one reason I went ahead and got it. I can assure you though that those results would not have been possible from the paints I have. The problem would seem to be huge discrepancies between one set and another. These may be things the manufacturer can iron out in time but I do have to question the wisdom of releasing a new brand into a crowded market. Right now we've got Vallejo, Tamiya, Gunze, Lifecolor, Humbrol, Akan, AK, Ammo, Citadel and others, all with extensive ranges and all are a known quantity when it comes to colour accuracy and brush & airbrush application. For a new company to come into that market they would need to cross every t and dot every i and it would seem that Hakata haven't achieved that. I do hope they improve but, for now I'll stick with the products I'm familiar with. I did notice from your test shot above that you've got quite an even matt finish whereas my samples were not particularly matt and had no 'body' to the paint. I am wondering if a manufacturing step has been missed on some batches and no matting agent or filler has been added to the paint. All the best Andy

KV-5 Super Heavy Tank Takom 1/35 Hi guys, This is Takom's KV-5 painted in Finnish markings. It's due to be in the April issue Airfix Model World. There will be a full build feature in the mag. Hope you enjoy the shots Thanks for looking Andy