Jazzy Jase

It wasn't necessarily the actual kit that proved challenging... Aligning the struts wasn't too bad. The glass house was the most fiddly bit and didn't fit together too well, so required a reasonable amount of filling and sanding. The carpet Monster ate the rear skid-thingy. Luckily I have the old Heller kit, which is almost identical, so I robbed it from there. Brushing on a coat of Klear left me with some really obvious bubbles, which took some effort to remove. I had a few difficulties with the weathering wash. Tried the light one on the top surfaces, but it didn't look too good, so went for black instead. Then I found that I could not get into all those fiddly places to remove it, so there's a little bit more wash remaining than I would have liked. The decals were just a nightmare though. I've heard bad things about Academy decals and now I can confirm them! I've got a few more academy kits in the collection, which I will now be buying after-market decals for. Interestingly, I think Academy know their decals are poor as a few of their kits are now included with Cartograf decals, which I hear are very good. Finally, my airbrush kept clogging last night whilst applying the Matt Varnish, which I've put down to it being quite a warm, humid night. Anyway, having seen it in daylight this morning I'm happy with it. It's only my 5th model, so I can't expect perfection. I'm really pleased with the straight-lines camouflage. I enjoyed painting that and I've got a few more Luftwaffe aircraft to look forward to in the stash.

Just finished the 1/72 Academy Fieseler Storch. Probably the most challenging model I've made so far. I'm reasonably pleased with this one. I think I've gone a bit OTT with the weathering wash, but it's hard to remove it from all those hard-to-reach places! Also, the decals destroyed themselves and I had to get some replacements from Academy. These weren't much better. Too thin and don't like to be moved around for too long before sticking, so I'm not entirely happy with the positioning of some of them. On Monday I can crack on with my Tamiya Spitfire for the BoB group build!

There's a couple of threads on here where people are asking a similar question. These may be of use to you: What type of Airbrush??? Recommend a good setup

I'm rubbish at masking canopies so if I can I always buy an Eduard mask. It's just like Tamiya tape, but pre-cut to the correct shapes for your model.

I would definitely recommend joining www.promodeller.com. There's loads of video tutorials on there covering all the basics of modelling, taking you right through to advanced stuff. It's really helped me out and it's only £2.99 per month.

I got mine from modelsforsale.com They still list them, but don't have any stock at the moment. http://www.modelsforsale.com/catalog/produ...ducts_id=132268 Maybe worth giving them a call to ask when they are expecting more stock?

I've got a couple of 1/72 Tamiya Spitfires in the stash. I've started on a Vb and I've got a Mk1 to build for the Bob group build. Now, I'm aware that some think this kit is inaccurate, but I'm not particularly bothered about it. Having said that, I do think the prop blades are far too narrow. So, I've been looking for a replacement prop and the only one I can find is this aeroclub one: http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=ABP083 Is this the correct prop to put on a Spitfire Mk1 and/or Vb? And will it fit the Tamiya kit? Whilst I'm at it, is there anything else I could do to improve the kit without spending a fortune and without major surgery to the kit?

Thanks guys. I've masked the area and given it a light spray of Silver. Whilst not giving a perfect finish it seems reasonable. I will do some experimentation with some of your more complicated suggestions when I get a chance, just to practice and improve my skills. I've put the Mustang away for a bit now. I've lost my enthusiasm for it, so I will come back to it after doing a few more kits.

I've accidentally touched a decal that was covered in wet Micro Sol, which ruined it. No problem I thought, I'll just wipe it off and paint it on. Except... I wasn't expecting it to wipe off the Klear, Mithril Silver and Primer! What can I do to fix this? My first thoughts were to chuck it in the bin, but maybe I can fix it? HELP!!!!!! Oh, and what can I do in the future to remove a messed up decal?

Interesting to hear the colour instructions may be incorrect. Do you know what the actual colours should be?

Just received this kit from Netmerchants. Cost £8.99 and looks like a nice kit. I'll post some pictures when I get home but my first observations are: Nicely molded with lots of detail. Painting instructions and decals to make one of eleven! different aircraft. Two tire options, one with the bottoms already cut off. Lots of clear parts, including the instrument panel. Colour conversions for, Aqueous Hobby Color, Mr. Color, Life Color, Humbrol, Model Master Enamel and Acryl. A very nicely detailed cockpit with about 12 pieces. Exhausts that have to be installed before before gluing the airframe together. (I find this annoying as they will need masking.) An interesting way of holding the prop in place. (Not sure how this will work just from looking at the instructions.)

I have one (B-24J) on order with Graham from Relish Models, but I don't know when it will arrive. 1999.co.jp have recently updated their website to include the instructions for the J, so it can't be far off. http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10070130

Finally finished my third model. A 1/72 Italeri C-47 in USAAF colours. More here: http://flickr.com/photos/jazzy_jase/ This was my first proper attempt at re-scribing after sanding and I made a few mistakes. A few join marks are still showing and the invasion stripes around the fuselage are a little wonky/not parallel, but apart from that, I'm happy. Next I'm going to make two Tamiya P-51D's. All comments welcome.

Living in a 1 bedroom flat I don't have a permanent place to make models. I usually set myself up on the dining room table, but everything needs to be easily packed away. Airbrushing is done on the kitchen floor.

I haven't used Xtracrylics, but I use Model Air almost exclusively. I really like them. Yes, sometimes I find getting the right colour match a pain, but I find them really easy to use. The dropper bottles they come in are great. I mostly use them neat, but sometimes thin them with Tamiya thinners or the Vallejo stuff. I clean my airbrush using the Vallejo Airbrush cleaner, which I'm told you can dilute with water to make it last longer! I hand paint small details, interiors and wheels with them and have no problems. FYI, from my colour charts I've got RLM04 as FS33538, which matches to Model Air 71002... Yellow!

I was thinking about buying one of those too. I hadn't thought about replacement tubes, but I was wondering whether it had an English plug on it.

Thanks turnerdad. I'm really happy with it. The paint looks a little rough in the pictures, but you can't really see it with the naked eye, so I'm going to leave it as it is. It was actually the Vallejo Gloss varnish that went on rough. I used it unthinned and it didn't cover very well. I thinned the Matt coat 50/50 with Tamiya thinners and it went on lovely. I'm looking forward to staring the next one!

Finally finished my second model. A 1/72 Tamiya F4U-1A Corsair. Built OOB using Vallejo Air paints and an Eduard canopy mask. My thoughts on this build are: This is my first completed model using an airbrush and I feel the paint finish could be a little smoother. It's also my first time weathering, which maybe is a little OTT. Next model for me is a 1/72 Italeri C-47 Skytrain, which I'm going to finish in USAAF colours.

You might get away with Vallejo Model Air 95 - Pale Green for the interior.

OK, I get it now. I wasn't sure whether the canopy frames would need a matt varnish to give it the same finish as the rest of the model but from the replies I've got that looks like a no. Thanks everyone.

Very good is not me I'm afraid. More like very bad! If I was very good I wouldn't have messed it up in the first place! It's not particularly thick, so I think I will use the sanding route.

I guess that could work. The canopy frames would be left un-varnished (or glossed) but I could probably fix that with a fine paintbrush.

Thanks for the quick reply. I had a feeling re-masking would be the answer, but I used an Eduard Mask (I'm rubbish at making masks myself) so that means ordering a new one form Hannants and waiting 2 weeks.

Hi, I'm still getting used to airbrushing and last night I finished spraying my Tamiya Corsair. I used white-tac sausages to mark the edge of the dark blue, but it looks as though I've sprayed too much paint against one of the sausages and it has pooled. upon removing the sausages I am left with a raised area of paint where Dark blue meets Intermediate blue. What are my options for this? Is it correctable? My first thoughts are to sand the area and re-paint, but I'm not sure I'm skilled enough to get exactly the same finish as the rest of the model. And should I do it by hand? or use the sausages and airbrush again? I would appreciate any advice.

Can anyone offer some advice? I finished spraying my Tamiya corsair last light and in my excitement to see how it looked I removed the canopy masks. Now I realize that I'm going to need to spray the model with gloss varnish before decalling and using a wash then matt varnish over the top. With the canopy now exposed, can I even spray gloss over the top of it? What will happen if I spray matt over the top of that? What what you do?