BikingLampy

Thanks for the replies. I take the point about brush painting, and yup, some of the posters on here have it down pat. The first 2 models I built, I brush painted (actually had to do the first one twice for various reasons) and it took a LOOOONG time to get something that I was only grudgingly happy with. Humbrol enamels were a pain in the bum to work with, some need thinning, others don't and the drying time is obviously pretty long. yet I still get brushmarks right left & centre. Compare that to the Defiant which took 2 days all in to do the camo, using aerosols and precut masks with much better results and it's a no brainer. I've looked at Littlecars previously, and it looks like between £200 & £250 to get a solid basic setup. That buys quite 40-50 cans and I'm building in 1/72, so not using huge amounts of paint at a sitting. I would "like" an airbrush, but now is not the time (been an expensive summer). I was hoping to order everything in one go to minimise postage costs (Antics, my local shop in Sheffield recently closed, so I can't just pick stuff up easily any more). I guess if I just order some RLM02 to deal with the cockpit interior I can delay a decision about the external paint work for some time as it'll probably be Christmas or later by the time I'm that far along. BL

Hi, I'm about to embark on build no.4 of my return to modelling - this time a BF109e4. The other 3 have all been RAF, and having got some decent results using Humbrol rattle cans on no.3 (a Defiant), I'd like to carry on and use them on the 109. The problem being I'm not finding any/many matches to the Luftwaffe paint colours. I'm after matches to:- Humbrol 31/Slate grey/RLM02 Grau Humbrol 65/Aircraft blue/RLM65 Hellblau Humbrol 91/Black green/RLM70 Schwartzgrun Humbrol 117/US light green/RLM 71 Dunkelgrun Humbrol do none of them in spray format. An online comparison suggested Tamiya AS09 for both the H91 and H117, which obviously can't be right for both. AS23 looks a better choice for the H117? And what about AS5 for the H65? Then there's the Slate grey... Any other choices I should be aware of? (obviously the other answer is to give in and buy an airbrush, but that's a lot of cash at the mo...) Thanks! BL.

Hi all. Just finished decaling my current project and I'm aware that its covered in greasy fingerprints, which I'd like to clean off before I varnish to seal the decals in. What's the best way to do this that will cut the grease, but leave the decals intact. (including some tiny virtually microscopic ones)? The non decaled areas have a coat of W&N Galleria gloss, so I don't want anything that'll eat that either! Thanks, BL.

Having just checked my pics from RIAT, aside from the "Spirit Of Great Britain" bit and the Airbus logos on the inside of the main u/c doors, there's all the names on the inside of the bomb bay doors, plus more corporate sponsors on the nose wheel doors (didn't get a great pic of this) Union Jack and Georges cross on the tail, the stuff on the crew hatch and a teddy and a monkey in the bomb aimers position. Vulcan RIAT 15-5 Pics here https://www.flickr.com/photos/65471955@N03/albums/72157660913053485

So coming near to the end of my first return to modeling kit, assembled, painted decaled, all gone passably well. Far from flawless, but not too bad. Then I decided to give it a coat of matt varnish, as seems to be the style these days. It's an airfix kit, painted in Humbrol enamels, so lets use Humbrol sprayvarnish to maintain compatibility. Except the ^&%*&^*(&ing varnish has melted the decals and crazed the paint. To say I'm furious would be an understatement. It's taken me the best part of a month to do this, and almost as much cash as buying a real Spitfire in 1939 would have done as I've been starting completely from scratch. To find that paint products from the same manufacturer are completly incompatible is beyond belief! And as for melting decals - what's the point in ANY modeling specific product that will eat decals?? (unless specifically and categorically designed to do so). Some parts had been Pledge/Kleared. Others hadn't. Seems to have made zip all difference. The bits where it has dried without trashing the paint have also taken on a slightly cloudy/powdery finish, which is also poor. Having actually googled the damn stuff, it appears to be a moderatly common feature of the matt varnish. Sorry, but that truly commits indecent acts with goats. So other than throwing the entire lot in the bin and forgetting I even contemplated the idea, any rescue remedies? I can't even see how to sand it down without removing loads of detail. Chemical stripping? Without trashing the plastic? Or is that what "varnish" is for in modelling speak...? ...grump.... Thanks all! BL

Thanks all. That's quite useful... ...not according to the instructions. 1 blue & red roundel on the upper left wing, one on the under right wing. Nothing on upper right or under left. As per here:-

To be honest that's confused me a little more. According to the bottle, I should use 'Set first, apply the decal, then over brush with 'Sol. You're suggesting the other way round? Can you define "roll out the excess water/Micro-Sol" . This is AFTER applying the decal, right? "Drop the decal onto a pice of wet kitchen towel and watch for the backing paper to wet up" Currently I hold the decal in a pot of warm water for 10-15 secs, until it will slide easily on the backing. Is the bit with the paper towel instead of (to what advantage) or as well as (likewise) the pot of water? Thanks!

I'm a returnee to the world of modelling - a good 20 years since I put glue to plastic. Restarting the traditional way with a 1/72 Airfix Spitfire, and this site has been a goldmine of useful technicque info. I'm at the decaling stage now and have been having some issues. I've painted in Humbrol enamels (hairistikteknik - not with great results, sadly. Airbrush now on the shopping list), then done a coat of "Pledge/formally known as Klear". So far so good. Having read up on decal solutions, I lashed out on a bottle of Microsol - wanting all the big decals to pull down nice and tight over the canyon-like panel lines (there were several posts that suggested 'Sol was far more useful than 'Set). But despite liberal application of 'Sol and/or a wet layer of Klear underneath the decal they're drying absolutley flat. Not the slightest hint of conforming to the surface. Even slicing along the panel line with a scalpel then 'Sol-ing has made no difference. I'm also getting a fair amount of silvering on the clear sections of decal - most noticeable on the large combined roundels/codes on the fuselage. Ideas/suggestions? I think I need to try a proper gloss varnish coat - the Klear may protect the previous coat nicely, but it's no supersmooth gloss finish. Obviously try the 'Set/'Sol combo as per the instructions. Others...? Am I simply expecting too much? Given the stunning work done by you lot, I don't think so! Thanks all!