Help for a newbie

[Chris8039]

So I'm reasonably new to modelling and I'm really enjoying it. I'm still struggling to get good results with my airbrush and brush painting is getting a little better, so car I've done a Shelby Mustang and I'm just putting together the last of my '58 Corvette Roadster.

So questions for my fellow modellers;

1. Annoyingly I have got a little bit of the glue onto the clear plastic windscreen then I made the fatal error of putting my finger in it ....so I now have a slightly cloudy finger print on my windscreen, can I do anything about that? Or do I need to chalk it up to experience?

2. Both kits have been Revell and both have had flaws, the Corvette's Chassis was twisted so much the car rocks, I've tried weighting it down I even glued the chassis to the underside of the cockpit just to try and take the wobble out and although it's slightly better it is disappointing, are Tamiya kits any better or is it just I've been unlucky? 

3. What are people's opinions on paint I've still got a few pots of revell colours left but I've used mig paints with my airbrush and I've been reasonably impressed with them, thinking I should switch it all to mig any thoughts on this? 

I realise it's all subjective I would just like to glean information from experienced modellers so I can improve the quality in my finish, that being said I also know my first few models will probably look like a dog's been playing with them lol.

Any help comments grately received 

Many thanks 

Chris 

[HoolioPaulio]

Hi Chris.  I can't really advise on point 1, I just live with finger prints if they happen, annoying as it is.

 

Point 2, I can't comment on Revell kits with too much experience at the moment as the only one I have built is apparently a rebox of an old Monogram (I think) kit and it is terrible.  I've got two modern Revell car kits in the stash and they look a hell of a lot better on the sprues, with clean lines and good detail.  Tamiya however, wow.  I've built three so far, two cars and a 1/12 bike and they were incredibly good.  Only some flash on the older kit (Mini made in the 80's) but the fit was still pretty much bang on.  Minimal seam lines too.  I wouldn't write Revell off, but they seem a little hit and miss in quality from what I've read.

 

Point 3, again not much I can say as I only brush and airbrush Vallejo acrylics with reasonable success, probably more to user skill than anything, with occasional Tamiya for clears and matt black.  So I don't have experience in other paints, but I make them work so I'm good.  I use Vallejo for three reasons mainly, one I needed acrylic so I can airbrush in the house as I have no where else to do it.  There are no dangerous fumes, I spray into a home made spray booth (large cardboard box) to catch over spray, and wear a mask.  Two, my local hobby shop stocked it, and I prefer where possible to go and see him, have a natter, and get some tips etc.  Finally three, Vallejo can be thinned with water with no problems.

 

HTH

 

Paul

[Fastcat]

Hi Chris,

                     You can try polishing out the glue mark. When it's set hard, set about it with a very fine abrasive paper and keep going until it disappears. Then use progressively finer abrasives to restore the clarity finishing off with a clear plastic polish. It helps if the windscreen hasn't yet been fitted in place because it will almost certainly become detached with the constant handling or else some other damage will occur.

 

Many Revell kits are from pretty old moulds and over the years, fitting issues and distortion can be a problem. I think that both of your kits are from older moulds and if you lack experience pose quite a few problems which with a bit more experience you'd easily overcome. Tamiya make some really fine kits and are hard to beat but it's all about what you enjoy making and whether anything in their range motivates you. If there's something in their range you'd enjoy building, it's difficult to go wrong. If it's Americana that you like, then Monogram do some nice kits as do AMT but the age thing could still be an issue. You could also have a look at Moebius kits although their range is small. They are thoughtfully made and obviously kitted by enthusiasts.

 

Paints are very personal. For cars, I always use Halfords rattle cans or Tamiya sprays but they need care as the paint delivery is much heavier than an airbrush and it's easy to get paint runs. Many car modellers swear by Zero paints from Hiroboy. They're specifically mixed for airbrushes and should work straight from the bottle but you need to spray outdoors or a in spray booth. I don't use them as I prefer the convenience of a can and I get good finishes without much trouble but it's an acquired skill and if you're not on the ball you won't find it difficult to come a cropper!

 

Dave 

[bmwh548]

1. Sand it, polish it, and if you have any Klear/AK Gauzy dip it to finish it off.

2. Revell has tons of old moulds that have been re-released over the years. Some have tons of issues, others go together pretty good. It depends on the level of finish you're going for. The Japanese manufacturers have more refined moulds IMHO. I've worked on Fujimi, Aoshima, Hasegawa, Tamiya. Very well engineered, minimum amount of flash, seam lines... You can always check scalemates for the "lineage" of the model, video reviews... However if you're leaning towards American muscle you're going to be stuck with Revell/AMT/Monogram. I think Meng does some US models and those should be new moulds with minimum issues.

3. Paint is a matter of preference. I tend to go with automotive paint as it's dirt cheap (I have a store that can cook up most of the normal recipes), lacquer based so it will dry fast, have brilliant coverage and it will grip like crazy to the plastic. If you want to stick to modelling paint I'd go with Mr. Hobby, maybe Tamiya... I can't stand the Zero stuff, not that they're bad to airbrush, but it's just automotive paint prethinned and sold at obscene prices (my own personal opinion, not trying to start a flame).

Edited April 21, 2020 by bmwh548

[Alan R]

5 hours ago, Chris8039 said:

Annoyingly I have got a little bit of the glue onto the clear plastic windscreen

Hi Chris,

It all depends on how visible the smudge is and how much damage to the clear part you have. If the damage goes deep, it may be better to get a spare from the manufacturer, or just ignore it and chalk it up to experience.

 

I also have made this mistake in the past and found that it is possible to almost completely remove the smudge.

 

1. I start by sanding the offending mark with 240 grit wet-n-dry, usually wet. It stops the sand-paper from clogging too quickly!
   Don't worry if it looks a mess, all scratched up. This is just the first stage.
2. I then repeat the same with 600 grit wet-n-dry, The scratchy bit hopefully will look less scratched.
   At this point it should look fogged rather than scratched.
3. I repeat this again with 1200 grit, followed by 2000 grit.
   By this time the fogging should be almost gone along with the smudge.
4. You can repeat this with ever finer grit abrasives, but after 2000 grit, I usually start polishing it with tooth-paste. Dab on a very small amount of toot-paste on the affected area and buff with a soft cloth, not
   tissue paper as this may be too abrasive. Buff the affected area with the cloth until the surface should be free of the smudge.
5. Some people will then coat the clear part with Klear/Future (or whatever it has become)

 

Obviously, this will be a lot easier with the clear part removed from the body, but it would appear that you have cemented it in already. I doesn't make the job impossible, just a tad more difficult.

Others may have even better ways of removing such marks.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Alan R

[MR2Don]

I got this hint from this site in a post about removing mould lines from return curve canopies, e.g. SU27. If they still market them and if you've got one and if it's actually open (debateable just now) Poundland do (did, you can never be sure) a set of three manicure blocks. Square foam base block with four surfaces - file, buff, smooth, shine. These will polish out just about anything.

[Six97s]

I think the answers above covered it, but as bmwh548 says, you can't really generalise about Revell kits.   Some regularly reissued kits were originally tooled in the late '50s and early '60s; some were designed in the US, others in Germany; then there are the ex-Monogram and Aurora moulds, again some of which are decades old.

 

It's a similar situation with AMT/MPC/Lindberg (all now under the Round 2 umbrella).  Much of the range is made up of reissues of kits going back to the early '60s, so those based on the annual/promo models will have one piece chassis with suspension and exhaust moulded in.   I would avoid Moebius unless you really like fixing warped parts.

 

If you have a kit in mind, it's probably worth posting here first to solicit opinions.

[ElectricLightAndy]

Hi Chris,

 

I agree with the above comments regarding the windscreen, however I would suggest various grades of fine wet and dry paper, used wet, then polished with car polish like autoglym resin polish or similar, bear in mind that clear styrene is quite brittle so take care with handling it, also it is good practice to use PVA glue on clear parts, Humbrol make a product called ClearFix which is a crystal clear PVA specifically designed for transparencies. :) 

 

I have had great revell kits and bad revell kits, all manufacturers have great and not so great kits, but bear in mind even some of the more challenging kits can be more rewarding to complete, and sometimes the easy ones aren't as satisfying and might not look that much better when  complete 🤔 tamiya do make great kits on the whole but still require effort, and can be really fiddly. I can recommend their bike kits, they are really fun! 

 

As the others, I generally use halfords rattle cans for 1/24 bodies or bigger, and always use their plastic primer aerosol. For the smaller bits I use Humbrol and Revell enamels usually (if you don't mind waiting  a little longer to dry) as well as their gloss Cote and Matt Cote products, I find they are more predictable to use with the airbrush and don't clog in general.and give you a longer working time, acrylics tend to dry on the tip and have caused me MANY hours of frustrating evenings, I did use acrylics for several years, Tamiya and Vallejo air are ok but are fragile, revell acrylic is great for brushing details as it covers well, don't bother with humbrol acrylics 😑 chrome finishes I achieve with Humbrol or revell Gloss black under Alclad II laquers, protected with Gloss cote. 

 

Everyone has different opinions, but as you are fairly new, just try and find what you enjoy working with :) 

 

Hope this helps :) there is great info on britmodeller.

 

Andy.

 

 

[Chris8039]

Thank you to all of you for your help, I will definitely look into the clear PVA for the clear gluing, I'm enjoying trying to find what works for me, I've also after watching a few youtube videos realised that my airbrush cleaning was under par, and I'd also been trying to apply th coats too thickly (damn my impatience) so I'm learning all the time!