RobL

When I started scale modelling (I don't count the handful of kits I built as a teenager), around 2015, I was always chasing the dragon - never really achieving what I wanted, so, among other reasons, I switched to Games Workshop figure painting. That bought me joy because it's slightly cheaper at times, and I have more freedom in what I can do with the way they are painted. What also brings me joy in my hobby is achieving something that looks better than I thought it would. I've "upped my game" this past few years when it comes to Games Workshop miniature painting, to the point where I am painting figures that are turning out better than they would have a number of years ago. On the flip side what gets me down is regressing to painting something like I'm a ham fisted caveman - I keep having that happen. I seem to sporadically go through a period of doing half decent looking figures, then I have a run of poorly painted one's. Which is rather frustrating because I can't work out why. It is always a joy though to get over that "hump" and have a model turn out better than I expected.

I've used Gunze paints several times on a few models. Never had them melt the model. Nor have I had decal softener "stain the shade". Melting of a model will likely be down to the type of thinner used, aggressive cellulose/lacquer thinners (stuff like Rustins) will be a culprit, and using too much of it when thinning paint, and/or flooding a model with the paint/thinners. Staining due to decal softener would most likely be because of a lack of a clear coat (i.e. varnish), and/or not having left the paint to cure enough (24 hours at least is recommended, I've read sometimes a week is a good idea). No, Gunze paints are not entirely water based, most are alcohol or cellulose/lacquer based, even their "aqueous" branded range. In my experience the "aqueous" branded Gunze paints can be thinned with water if you really need to, but I wouldn't recommend it. With regards to gunking up your airbrush, yes, ideally, you should be using thinners, not water, for Gunze paints (or any other brand really), and it's the amount of thinners you use that will make the difference, but the type of thinners will vary depending on the type of paint. For Gunze (and Tamiya) paints get some Gunze Mr Color Self Levelling Thinners (it's a cellulose/lacquer thinner) and mix that with the paint - 1 part thinners to 1 part paint (i.e. 50/50), if you use pre-shading I'd go even further than 50/50 (60/40 or even 70/30 for example). Your paint will then airbrush like a dream, but be aware you will need multiple coats of it. Then flush your airbrush with the same thinners to clear out any paint between colours/when you're finished airbrushing. For brush painting I'd use some Isopropyl Alcohol to thin the paints (91% or stronger, you'll see it referred to as IPA, medical alcohol, rubbing alcohol and several other terms). You can also use IPA for thinning Gunze/Tamiya type paints for your airbrush (in the same ratios), but it's not quite as good as Gunze's own Self Levelling Thinners. I wouldn't recommend using Gunze's own Self Levelling Thinners for brush painting - it will be an exercise in futility as it'll just keep melting any previous paint you applied. I'd also recommend storing your airbrush in a jar with water, or even thinners if you don't mind the expense, up to and just covering the colour cup (but don't put the air valve in) - since I started doing that I've rarely had to completely tear down and clean my airbrushes. I just pick them up out of the jar, run some water or thinners through to make sure they're working, and get on with airbrushing. Nothing should clog up the airbrush between uses because it's not being given a chance to dry out. Just make sure to top the water up occasionally as it'll evaporate, you may also want to change the water periodically if it gets detritus in it.

Hey all A few years ago, not more than 5, I repaired the handle of one of my coffee mugs. I used JB Weld steel reinforced 5 minute epoxy, mostly because I knew the mug is porous, being ceramic, and superglue would have been largely a waste of time. I didn't pin it, because I don't think that's possible without doing more damage whilst drilling. Today I was holding the mug, by the handle, lifting it out of the sink, which had hot water in it for washing up, and the handle gave way. I'm guessing the hot water we use in the sink for washing up, over time, softened up the JB Weld and today it finally let go. So, word to the wise, beware of repairing mugs, the glue will likely fail eventually. I'm a little concerned now as my 65yr old mother (still recovering from a double heart bypass) has a mug that I repaired the same way about a year or so after mine broke, that she uses daily for coffee... Carry on.

To me "Luft '46" is mostly what if. What if WW2 had gone on for longer, what if the Nazi regime had got some of the designs off the fag packets and into prototypes, or even production. And the Nazi "Wunderwaffe" seem to have been more widely publicised than western allied contemporaries. However, the only "Luft '46" thing I'm fascinated by is the Horten Ho 229. Because it actually flew, had several prototypes, was an early jet, was a flying wing and could have been an early "stealth fighter" due to it's apparent low RCS. It was also apparently on the Emergency Fighter Program. Had the war gone on it's likely it could have gone into production!

Most of my "holy grail kits", were I to return to building scale model kits (I currently paint Games Workshop figures for my model hobby kicks), aren't really oop, just out of my budget/storage/display/skill limits. I'd like to do a fully lit up Polar Lights Star Trek Enterprise, refit or A version (the one from the Shatner era movies). Preferably in 1/350 scale as it's an easy size to shoehorn all the lighting in and a battery pack. But it's 3ft long, 2ft wide. Costs over £100 also. I did start trying to do it with the smaller 1/1000 scale kit Polar Lights, because it's a nice 12" long, but just couldn't get my head around it, sold the kit, and sometimes now wish I hadn't!

Sorry to hear your stuff got broke. I live in a town roughly 60 miles from London, you may have heard of that place... There are no proper model shops at all. Frankly there's little to nothing useful unless you like nail bars, coffee shops, Turkish run cafe's and barbers, 2 of the big brand supermarket chains and pubs. Even the out of town shopping village is as useless unless you're shopping for trainers or women's clothing, and a have a significant amount of disposable income. We're an "affluent" commuter town you see, so, the comfortably well off shop elsewhere, because they can and want the town centre to be a literal playground just for them, and the rest of us have to suck it up... There is a RC model shop and a Hobby Craft 16 miles to the west and another Hobby Craft about 15-20 miles to the south. I am technically disabled, I have difficulty walking, and don't drive however so they're non-starters unless I want to waste 2 hours or more on bus rides. The only thing locally, 2 miles from me (a 15 minute bus ride), is a car parts shop that has in the last 5 years gained a Games Workshop rack/stand and iirc has for a few years, but not much more than 10, carried a few Tamiya paints and poly cement along with a handful of Revell kits, but that is about it. He's got bits and pieces so I wouldn't call him a model shop, especially as he started out as a part of a small national franchise of car parts shops, and in recent years has also started stocking air guns and fireworks!?! So, unless I'm in a hurry for GW paints (or desperately want to pay over the odds for Tamiya paints or a handful of Revell stuff), like others are saying - online is the only way. Sign of the times I suppose, but even living in the UK (or perhaps because I live in the UK), especially these past 2 years (understandably), I've found it increasingly difficult to keep any sort of modelling hobby going.

RIP Not sure how close to his book it is but I love that film.

RIP I fear we will not see people like him again.

You should try building a Revell 1/48 Huey Hog. You can't build anything that rivet counters would call accurate out of the box. Plenty of people must have built them out of the box though, because it's been around since the 60s and Revell still sell it!

If that's the same film it took them 9 years after your research task to get the film out, and was titled Dambusters: Building the Bouncing Bomb and "starred" Professor Hugh Hunt (then only a Dr). He's done several documentaries for Channel 4 along the lines of that one. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1906354/ Having watched several Channel 4, Channel 5, and BBC documentaries about the "Dambusters raid" and Guy Gibson, several of which talk about the film, I have something in the back of my mind thinking that several of those documentaries call the film quite fictional, or perhaps overly dramatised is a better term, and that a lot of the film was lifted from Gibson's own over egged memoirs, and thus shouldn't be "relied on" as an account of Operation Chastise or the preceding events. Couldn't tell you which documentaries I would have got that impression from, there's been one in recent years with Dan Snow presenting it though. It is a good movie though.

Well, they aren't Spanish. Apple products are assembled in China, would you claim they're Chinese? It's like Bentley's or Rolls Royce's, everyone thinks they're British, despite the fact they're owned by VW group, making them technically German. When you delve deep enough you'll see there are in fact very few truly British things left, despite all the PR and flag waving...

Can't add any opinion on what the products are like, because I've never tried them, but I'd just like to point out that Heinz is an American company, founded in 1869 in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. Which makes these products about as British as a curry in the UK is Indian.

I have roughly the same compressor (they're a type that are sold under many brands and produced in China). I bought mine circa. 2015ish. Has worked OK so far. Most people will recommend you spend significant money (more than your budget) and buy a Sparmax branded compressor though. You can listen to them, or not.

How is that cheaper, if you're paying £15 per magnification! I paid less than £14 for my magnifier with a range of magnifications. One like this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnifier-Bweissth-Lighted-Magnifying-Headband/dp/B08ZNNKL82/ref=sr_1_21?crid=1L67OR5IAPBJO&keywords=head+magnifier&qid=1647465583&sprefix=head+magnifi%2Caps%2C238&sr=8-21 I use it when painting miniature figures - which is most of the time. Granted I don't wear normal glasses, for reading or general sight, so I don't know how well they would sit over them. Yeah, it's not actually called "cool cube", it's called Air Max or something. There are various versions by various companies. In the UK, when it's very humid, like it was summer before last, the water can't evaporate well, so they're nearly useless. You'd actually be better off sitting with your feet in a bowl of cold water. It's a more effective heat exchanger.

I've seen these advertised on the TV. They don't seem much better than one of those magnifiers (the white ones with arms or a headband) with interchangeable lenses (that most of us probably have) that cost less or about the same a you've paid. Being USB rechargeable probably isn't as good as it sounds - because you'll likely have a job replacing the battery when it dies. And your magnification is fixed to 160% - that's only 1.6x by my faulty maths, the lenses that come with those magnifiers go up to 3.5x. Good luck though, JML products tend to have a reputation, of being solutions looking for a problem, over-promising, over-priced and under-delivering - I looked at getting one of their cool cube things, and apparently you may as well have someone stand and blow on you...

Well that's OK. Not so much of a hassle now I know I can do it all quick and easy with an electric trimmer.

So, long time no update on this. Just want to thank everyone for their advice on this issue. Weather has been a bit British and funding a bit ethereal, so I've put off tackling this issue and buying an electric hedge trimmer, but I pulled the pin yesterday and bought one from Screwfix, this one - https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb357ght-60cm-550w-230v-corded-electric-hedge-trimmer/65175 It was delivered by Parcel Force this morning, and it worked a treat. There wasn't so much greenery being early March, and I managed to clear the path somewhat so that we can actually see it now, hopefully during the year I won't have to attack it much again - Still untidy, and I need to find a stiff broom to move some mud that has collected, but at least people can walk down the path now without getting attacked by, whatever.

Hey all I forgot to post this here when I completed this about 4 weeks ago.. I don't usually do armour, of any sort... Base is 60mm in diameter, for an idea of scale. There are several weapon options and I magnetised them all so they are interchangeable, ditto with the roofs, one being a "scout" version roof (the roll cage) - Thanks for looking, C&C welcome.

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Yes.

Hey all This is a Reaper Miniatures figure. He's 28mm heroic scale (same scale as Games Workshop figures). The bottom of the throne's base is about 40mm (I think?!), I forgot to measure it and as usual I've not put anything in the photos for scale... There's a blob of gloss varnish still drying in these photos (It's dried clear now) and they seem a tiny bit over-exposed to me, unfortunately. Thanks for looking, C&C welcome.

Yeah, I'm afraid that's old news. Sure someone started a discussion last year about it. Video games have been eroding other more traditional hobbies for decades anyway and those hobbies have carried on despite that, so I doubt this will have much "impact". Other factors are more worrying at the moment.

I recently ordered a figure from Spain. I paid at checkout, presume VAT was already added and it arrived no problems, no customs etc. It was only 15 EUR worth though (10 EUR being shipping), so ymmv but it doesn't seem much different than before, other than VAT is charged at source rather than here in the UK.

Hey all I painted this Friday-Monday on and off whilst supervising/caring for my mother who's recuperating having had a double heart bypass 2 weeks-ish ago. He's 25mm heroic scale, made by Games Workshop many, many, years ago now for their Warhammer Fantasy Battle game, the base the horse shaped object is on is 25mm x 50mm. I feel I could have done better on the horse shaped object, but hey ho. Thanks for looking, C&C welcome.