Filler

I see. So I think I'll go with white with just a drop of a light grey to achive the 'off-ness'. Thanks again for your help.

rod mcq, thanks for the colour info. Although described as off-white, those Humbrol paints look a bit grey to me. I’ve had a shufty at that cross reference database and in Tamiya and Gunze it seems to be suggesting light grey paints too. I’ve even found an instruction sheet from an old Hasegawa 1:72 kit for the Marineflieger Tornado and although the scan isn’t very high res, I’m sure it’s calling up H008 Silver for the underside. But in every picture I’ve seen I’d have to say that the underside is just plain white. Does anyone agree that it looks white or am I really colour blind? Jan, (or anybody really) excuse my ignorance but what is Alps printed? Am I right in understanding that all the decals are as one on the sheet? So this requires more accurate cutting out? And I am to just cover the whole sheet in Microscale Micro Liquid Decal Film (I have a bottle of that) before doing any cutting out? Then I use them as normal?

Brilliant, thanks for that! I've ordered a set already!!!

Hi, For my first aftermarket enhanced build I’ll be doing Italeri’s 1:48 Tornado IDS. I’ve got all the resin bits and what not. (They don’t half make a cheap kit far from cheap – but worth it I’m sure!) Something I haven’t done yet is to source some aftermarket decals. I was originally going to go with the Italian Black Cat markings from the box but after some thought I decided they’d look a bit silly on the model – possibly resulting in a toy like appearance. So having decided that there is only one true scheme for a Tornado - that being of the mid 80’s MFG design – I’ve so far drawn a complete blank on decals. Does anybody have any suggestions as to where to look or how to cheat? (Possibly using some of the decals from the other Italeri boxing that features a German Navy Tornado in anniversary markings?) Also, any opinions on the colours would be appreciated as I’m hardly renowned for my colour recognition skills. (I’ll be likely using Tamiya & Gunze acrylics). I do hope I can do this scheme as it was a familiar sight at the British Aerospace Woodford air shows in the 80’s. I really miss the Woodford air show. Oh and one other thing; please feel free to shatter my dreams by telling me that this kit can’t represent a mid 80’s Marineflieger Tornado. oops, a picture might help!

That is an awesome Phantom. But I’ve got to ask, how did you manage to get the masking done so perfectly for that nose art? I spent ages last night just trying to mask a decent circle around the tip of a Phantom’s nose. Nightmare! I wouldn’t know where to start doing what you’ve done with this. I’d love to try something like this but I think I’ll be sticking to low viz schemes.

Thanks for that. I have plenty of daft questions, or at least I think they are! As for sharing my efforts on here I guess I ought to really, but having seen the standards set by you guys it's a bit of a nerve racking prospect. I keep showing people pictures on this site and saying "you'd think it's the real thing!!"

Crikey!! I think I’ll work at the bottom of an outdoor pool in scuba gear!!! Thanks all for the advice – especially the health and safety bit. I’ll have a look out for one of those small craft saws. A Dremel is tempting but this new hobby is already proving a little dearer than I anticipated.

Well I’ve just started out modelling and although I’m just halfway through my first effort (OOB Italeri 1/48 F-4E) I’ve built up a decent armoury of glues, putties and tools and a small stash of kits. But I’ve also just bought a pile of Paragon resin parts for a Tornado IDS (inspired by the recent BM group build!) but now I have them I’m not quite sure how to tackle them. Basically, can anyone give me some tips or advice on how to prepare them for use? They’ve all got resin blocks attached that I obviously need to remove but I’m scared of damaging the parts by using inappropriate tools or force. Any help or a pointer to a good on-line resource would be appreciated. In all honesty, I’ll probably put this off for a little while yet until I’ve plodded through a couple more OOB’s to build up some basic skills and experience. It does say on the packets 'modelling experience required' and I currently have very little of that!

Pigsty, two coats sounds good to me. I was kind of thinking that two coats ought to be enough. Although I have seen a 1:48 B1 Lancer on e-bay (I must resist!) I will generally only be building modern fighter jets, F4’s 15’s etc. Julien, I too have had my small stash of Klear coveted by someone wanting to do some weird floor cleaning activities with it! Why on earth would anyone want to put it on a kitchen floor? Perhaps they want to apply decals?

Been years since I went to a display but I’m really tempted by the Thursday or/and Friday at Fairford. Can anyone who’s been before answer a couple of questions for me? I live up in Stockport so I’d probably drive down very early Thursday and drive home later. Is the traffic pretty light and is access quite good for the arrivals days? From experience of the actual display days in the past, getting in and out by car was a long drawn out process. And is paying on the day safe? What I mean by that is that could I leave my decision to go till that last minute and not commit to advance tickets? If car access is quite easy for the arrivals days I might stay somewhere overnight and do Friday too. Really do fancy this!

Thanks for those responses. So it’s good to know that there are a few options available. I’ve just had a quick look at the Hiroboy site and (surprise surprise) they are out of all the Mr Hobby products. It seems to me that any thinner type substance that originates from Japan has become illegal to import into the UK. So I’ll stick with what I’ve got; Mr Color Thinner for use with the Gunze Aqueous and the X-20 with the Tamiya acrylic. Once they’ve run out I think that the Cellulose Thinners that Hiroboy sell look like my best option. I’ll get myself a cheap model with a decent wing area and test out the combos before attacking any of my ‘best’ kets. Thanks again for the advice! One other question without starting a new thread; is it good practise to wash kits in warm soapy water before starting to build them? I seem to recall reading about removing ‘tool release agents’. I also think that it said to only use Fairy Original and not one of the newer fragranced liquids.

As ever I’m confused! I decided to go for Gunze paints as most of the kits I’ve bought for my small stash quote their paints in the instructions. So I go ahead and buy a load of Gunze Mr Hobby Aqueous paints and a bottle of thinner from MDC. But just now while searching the net I’ve discovered that there are two types of Mr Hobby thinners. There is ‘Mr Color Thinner’ (as bought from MDC) and there appears to be a ‘Mr Hobby Color Thinner’ (not even stocked by MDC – or anyone else I can find). I discovered this on a Greek website where it seems to suggest that Mr Color thinner is a lacquer based thinner whereas Mr Hobby Color is for acrylic paints. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of Gunze paints and thinners? I’ve got a bottle of 97% IPA that I was intending to use for between colour flushes of the airbrush and cleaning. But with the difficulties of getting Japanese acrylic thinners I wondering if I might as well just use the IPA to thin Tamiya and Gunze paints. Does anyone else do this?

Cheers Max, that helps a lot. I'll check out that video too (never thought to check You Tube). Since my post yesterday I've also decided to go with the Microscale products instead of the Mr Gunze ones I'd already bought as everyone seems to think that they are a bit too aggressive. Having said that, I've also read that Tamiya, Hasegawa and especially Academy kit decals often need the stronger stuff due to being notably thicker.

I’ve read all the above and it’s very helpful but I’m still not quite clear as to the exact procedure for applying decals. I have the Gunze products. Am I right in thinking that you soak the decal in water, slide approximately into place with a soft brush or cotton bud, apply Mr Mark Setter onto the decal and make the precise adjustments to the positioning? And then if necessary, apply Mr Mark Softener to ensure it settles down into any panel lines? Do you just mop up excess setter with a cotton bud before applying Mr Softener or do you leave it to dry before applying the softener? And Mr Setter appears to be white. Is that normal?

I probably seem obsessed by Klear but if I do manage to find some (I'm about to go on a grand tour of south Manchester's supermarkets!), how much should I buy? Just to make that question a bit easier to answer, maybe I should rephrase it. With a typical number of coats (3?), how many 1/48 aircraft will a 500ml bottle cover? Can't see me buildiing at a phenomenal rate so there'd be no point me buying 10 bottles if that covers 100+ models!

Thanks for detailed answer Keef. And yes, perhaps it’s not quite the death of modelling, yet, but these are difficult times!! This devastating news about the demise of Klear coupled with the disturbing disappearance of Tamiya’s acrylic thinner and metallic paints have left me reeling! While Klear’s fate is clear, I’ve heard different stories about Tamiya’s thinner. It’s either simply discontinued (which would be incredible) or just a product labelling issue resulting in delayed shipping from Japan. So while trying to find a Klear substitute (before I’ve ever even owned any) I’m also looking for an alternative thinner. At the moment I’m rationing the X20 and using IPA for airbrush cleaning and paint change flushes. Not that I’ve done much of that yet either. My primary task at the moment is building my ‘stash’ as having a stash seems to be equally important!

'scuse my ignorance but what would you thin it with? I really am out my depth. As mentioned somewhere else, I just used to prise the top off a tin of humbrol and brush it on neat. Once dried, that was it; finished.

Can the Revell Acrylic varnish be applied by brush in the way Klear could. Being new to this I find all this quite stressful(ish). The brush application of Klear sounded like about the only foolproof procedure in the whole modelling process - and it's gone - not fair!!

Now that the original Johnsons Klear is as rare as rocking horse droppings (I started modelling just in time!) can anyone tell me what the alternatives are? I almost get the impression that once people’s stockpiles have been used up (or have spoiled in storage), that aircraft modelling is finished! I take it that a model sprayed with Tamiya or Gunze acrylic paints and decaled but not coated with Klear or similar is going to look rubbish.

Thanks GCN for that detailed answer. I think I’ll stick with acrylic for now and I’ll probably go with the Gunze Sangyo paints. It seems I can actually get their thinner unlike with Tamiya’s. I take it you still aim for the ‘milky’ consistency when mixing the GS paints? Another question I have is; what is it that you cover the plane with when painted, before and after applying decals? I keep reading about it but am still unsure as to what it is and exactly why. Oh and finally (for now), even the GS paints I’ve looked at on MDC still leave me scratching my head with the army of grey paints. Is there a resource that tells me what paints to use for things like that standard two grey scheme that F-16’s are painted in or European One? It’s probably just me but I’m flummoxed by which paints to use. Oh and Obi-Jif, I too recall slopping Humbrol enamel straight from the tin onto Airfix Spitfire and Hurricanes with a brush bought from the local newsagent. Happy days!!

I’ve just started modelling and I’ve taken the plunge from the off and bought an airbrush and compressor. Having chosen to use acrylic paint as I believed it easier to use and clean I was going to ask a question or two about acrylic paints. But having read this thread I’m now wondering if I’ve made an error? Does all acrylic paint go on poorly and crack? I thought Tamiya acrylic paint was very popular and therefore good? Although I was going to ask about Humbrol Acrylic because of the problems with getting hold of some of the Tamiya range (Thinner and metallic paints).

Thanks for the answers and advice. I think I’ll take the plunge and have a go at it. I guess that a more challenging kit is good in some ways. I read a comment on here somewhere where someone said something along the lines of “I’m a ‘modeller’, not just a sticker together of things”.

Hi, I’m new to modelling (excluding the odd Airfix Spitfire when I was a kid) and although I’m keen, having seen the standards of models on here I’m pretty apprehensive. At my local model shop they an Academy F111 (Australian) 1/48. It’s quite big but I fancied having a go at it. But having read comments in this thread I’m not so sure now. Is it so bad that it could seriously demoralise a beginner? Plus, if I was to have a go at it, could anyone tell me what colour Tamiya acrylics I’d need for the camouflage pattern that is kind of 2 greens and a brown as in the top picture of the above posts? Thanks.