SteveStarPics Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Hi. Thanks for accepting me as a member of this forum. My name is Steve and I live near Wellington in Somerset. I started making models back in the 1960s ( one of my earliest memories of the hobby is gluing the cockpit of an Airfix FW189 in place before I'd glued the machine guns in place from the inside - Doh!). Anyway, between about 1969 and 1980, I was a regular customer of Beatties in Southampton and I reckon I made most Airfix, Tamiya and Matchbox releases of the time.....but then I discovered beer and girls, so the hobby waned. Roll forward 40 year, I've been skulking around Britmodeller and various of forums for a few years and I've accumulated a small stash of kits (an Eduard 1/48 Spitfire Mk 22, a Hobby Boss 1/32 X-15A-2, a Revell 1/48 Harrier GR7 and recently a Hasagawa 1/48 SH-3H Sea King. The Sea King purchase was inspired by last years Apollo 50th anniversary and I've bought the bits / decals to build the early SH-3D "Old 66" that recovered Apollo 11. I live next door to @Johnsonand I think he's sceptical about whether I'll ever actually build anything, so he's suggested I join this forum as a way of forcing myself to get on with the Sea King. I'm from the era before aftermarket and PE parts and when your paint choice was Airfix or Humbrol enamel so please be patient with me asking stupid questions. Here's the first one - what paints would you recommend for airbrushing the Sea King please? Just need to get the paints and I'm off! Steve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerboy Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Hi Steve, welcome to BM, its a good place to be, looking forward to seeing the Seaking build, paints can be a mine field, but thru an airbrush l would lean towards acrylic, Tamiya or Vallejo Air is my go to brands, user friendly and spray like a dream. Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kushan_Farsight Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Congratulations making the move from forum lurker to forum poster! Youll find this place is a wealth of information, support, tips and gentle encouragment - just what you need to get kits out of the boxes and onto display stands. btw i am SUPER jealous of your Super-Hobby X-15a. I have an MPM 1/72 version, and it cries out to be bigger and more detailed! Look forwards to seeing progress on the Sea King. I would just note that the most important thing is to have FUN! Unless your exceptionally gifted, your first few models wont be up to the scratch of some of the guys who have been doing this masterfully for 2,3,4,5 decades, but the thing is to improve on each successive build. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveStarPics Posted February 6, 2020 Author Share Posted February 6, 2020 Thank you @Farmerboy - Tamiya and Vallejo it is then! Thank you also @Kushan_Farsight - I just hope I can do the X-15 justice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoolioPaulio Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Welcome to the forum Steve. I second the shout for Vallejo paints through an airbrush, and they also brush on really well with good quality. I love the fact that you can then them with water with no issues. I also brush with Tamiya paints, but have not tried the airbrush with them yet. I have some thinner ready, as apparently you can't thin Tamiya with water reliably. My primary go to is the Vallejo range at the moment, and I only use the Tamiya clear colours, and a matt black at the moment. I can't recommend Vallejo enough, although the darker colours seem to be worse for tip dry than the lighter ones on a long spraying session, but that's easily remedied with a bit of kitchen roll with Vallejo airbrush cleaner on it every so often. A good AB also helps. I just upgraded from a £25 no brand to a Harder & Steenbeck Ultra, can't recommend that enough either at the moment. I tried to airbrush some of the Humbrol acrylic that came with an Airfix starter set, but even thinned it clogged my nozzles badly and took a lot of cleaning. So I'll avoid them for now. Paul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 (edited) Hi Steve and welcome to BM! Paint - I can only comment on Tamiya acrylics which I found difficult to airbrush as the paint dries very fast, maybe try the Vallejo to start with? Looking forward to seeing your Sea King built !!! A great subject! Best wishes, Edited February 6, 2020 by Johnson More stuff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Greetings from Western Canada. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Hello Steve... from the Windy city of Chicago. Enamels are still around and these are supposed to be the best of the bunch. https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/ @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies a member makes them. From what I understand they're the best color matches by everyones descriptions. Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonetothedogs Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Welcome from Taunton Somerset ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troffa Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Welcome aboard from the Isle of Avalon! Plenty of modellers in the South west- off to the Tank Museum next weekend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveStarPics Posted February 8, 2020 Author Share Posted February 8, 2020 (edited) Thank you all for your kind welcome @Troffa, @Johnson, @gonetothedogs, @Corsairfoxfouruncle, @dogsbody and @HoolioPaulio I've just ordered a load of Tamiya acrylics from the interweb, so it looks like I've run out of excuses for not making a start on the Sea King. I'm going to make the SH3-D "66" as it appeared after it had successfully delivered the crew of Apollo 11 to the USS Hornet - at this point in time, I believe that the aircraft would have displayed 3 capsule silhouettes under the cockpit side windows and a "Now Hornet plus 3" sign under the starboard door window. I'm also going to build it with rotors and tail folded as it was after the Apollo crew had transferred to the Mobile Quarantine Facility. Well, that's the plan anyway! Steve Edited February 8, 2020 by SteveStarPics Corrected spelling mistakes! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglierating Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 Hiya ...Zummerzet too ...Yeovil in my case ....Beatties Southampton should have got ma and pa to drive the extra 20 miles to Portsmouth....Modeltoys ....of modeldecal fame. Still both gone now but just in case you are not aware there is an absolute gem of a model shop in Frome ...I suggest you go there right away ....but not Sunday to Wednesday they are closed unless it's the first Sunday of the month.....foams at the mouth someone stop me rabbling🤣 welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveStarPics Posted February 8, 2020 Author Share Posted February 8, 2020 Hiya @junglierating. Thanks for the info about the model shop in Frome Sounds like a visit is in order next time I'm going that way! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar side Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Welcome Steve. I did my time in Beatties too, but over the other side of the country. Nice to see a couple of your 1/48 projects. Harrier GR7 & Sea King. Been wanting to build a Yellow Sea King out of Wattisham so will keep an eye on how that one goes. All the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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