Model equipment shopping list - going to uni, need new stuff! And brush painting? I'm an airbrusher!

[Adam Poultney]

So, I'm moving out to uni next month. Unfortunately I won't have space for my current modelling setup and taking an airbrush is entirely impossible. I'll be looking to buy a bunch of stuff for a smaller second model setup, and leave most of the stuff I have at home here, maybe except for unusual paint colours which I can just take with me when I pick up a kit or three from the stash.

 

So I need a shopping list, preferably stuff that will last the four or five years I'll be at uni (I'm doing a masters course in aerospace engineering, possibly with a placement year which could take it to five years). 

 

Off the top of my head, things I'll need... and please tell me if I'm missing anything obvious!

 

Cutting mat (A4 probably, maybe A3)

Hobby knife + spare blades

Sprue cutters

Sandpaper

Sanding sticks

Files

Tape (various sizes)

Tamiya Extra Thin and Revell plastic glue (just the ones I'm used to using)

Fillers (I've got an unopened tube of Revell's filler I can take)

Model drill + drill bits

Clamps

Paintbrushes (I've been airbrushing for ages, what ones are good?)

Paints for brush painting (again, what brands are good for brush painting? Ideally acrylic but might try others)

Brush paintable primer (Mr Surfacer?)

Isopropyl alcohol

 

Something to keep this stuff organised and compact

 

Kits (I have these lol)

 

And everything I've missed (??)

Edited August 27, 2021 by Adam Poultney

[Mike]

Have you thought about getting one of those wee-tiny compressors?  I reviewed one a while back... several whiles back, actually

 

Linky:

 

 

 

[Adam Poultney]

2 minutes ago, Mike said:

Have you thought about getting one of those wee-tiny compressors?  I reviewed one a while back... several whiles back, actually

Thought about it.... but then I thought about the spray booth, yeah that folds up but do I really want to be running that in my accommodation lol they're pretty loud

Edited August 27, 2021 by Adam Poultney

[Mike]

2 minutes ago, Adam Poultney said:

do I really want to be running that in my accommodation lol they're pretty loud

IIRC that one was fairly quiet... It's still knocking about somewhere if you'd like me to test it for subjective loudness so you can gauge whether you're going to be killed by your neighbours or not?

[Adam Poultney]

2 minutes ago, Mike said:

IIRC that one was fairly quiet... It's still knocking about somewhere if you'd like me to test it for subjective loudness so you can gauge whether you're going to be killed by your neighbours or not?

If it's not too much trouble, that would be quite useful. 

Other thing I need to figure out would be how to get an extraction thing from a spray booth out the window, student accommodation windows on all but the bottom floor only open a few inches.

[Adam Poultney]

 

This is how much room I'll have to work with; it's got to fit in this, and not be in the way when I'm doing actual uni stuff. Ideally it'll all go in a corner or in top of the shelves.

 

I suppose I could just build white vulcan after white Vulcan after white vulcan and do them all with spray cans outside 😂

 

[Richard E]

57 minutes ago, Adam Poultney said:

Something to keep this stuff organised and compact

 

A small tool box or angler's tackle box will probably help you keep all of your stuff organised.

 

 

[Mike]

55 minutes ago, Adam Poultney said:

If it's not too much trouble, that would be quite useful. 

I shall have a look.  The compressor is tiny-wee, so won't take up much space.  As to evacuating the booth, you can get all manner of window adapters from skinny thin ones to fat ones. have a shufty on Amazon, then buy it elsewhere if you can

 

[Roger Newsome]

Adam, for half of the year I do my modelling on a ship in the North Sea. The only thing I have with me which isn't on your list is cotton buds and cocktail sticks.

This is the little compressor I bring with me.

 

[-Ian-]

A quality daylight lamp and an Optivisor, not cheap but well worth it. I would prioritise those above an airbrush and compressor.

[Black Knight]

This is my list of building kit I take to model shows or club nights. It all fits into one small-ish plastic box

Perhaps it'll give you some ideas

 

Item & Quantity

Reading glasses x 1 of 1.5 or 2.0

Paint brushes x 3 , detail, small, medium

Scalpel x 1 with no.11 blade

Sprue cutters x 1

Small screwdriver x 1

Tweezers x 1, black with rubber tips

Scissors x 1

Cotton buds x 6

Cocktail sticks x 6

Paint rag x 1

Small torch x 1

Small jar of brush cleaner x 1  of paint brush restorer – green

Superglue x 1 gel

Superglue x 1 of fast, 5 to 10 sec type

Assorted paints x 10 as needed

Tube of fillers x 1

Lighter x 1

Aluminium flat dishes x 3

Tube of plastic glue x 1

Revell Contacta glue x 1

Elastic bands  x 6

Spring clamps x 4, of 2 x soft, 2 x hard

Empty jar for water x 1

Glue loop x 1

Sanding boards x 3 of 1 each x coarse, medium, fine

Wet & Dry paper x 4 of assorted grades

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

5 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

If it's not too much trouble, that would be quite useful. 

Other thing I need to figure out would be how to get an extraction thing from a spray booth out the window, student accommodation windows on all but the bottom floor only open a few inches.

I used to use a 10” floor fan that was boxed in and could be shaped to the opening using flexible hose (Clothes dryer) or cardboard. Hold it in place with simple painters/masking tape. You can use the same fan if you get creative to cool the compressor so it doesn't overheat. Last but not least use a furnace or paper coffee filter to collect particulates before exiting the window. 

[dnl42]

Perhaps stick with rattle cans and brushes? On the down side, rattle cans throw a lot of paint. On the plus side, they're compact to store and you're forced to do it outdoors, perhaps in a scrap cardboard box.

 

In my RV, even less space than your dorm room, I take Metal Earth models, a Small Shop Bug and rolling set, nippers, an equalling needle file, tweezers, and higher-power drugstore reading glasses. The models are in one small plastic box and the tools in another small plastic box.

 

Finally, are you really sure you're going to have that much free time to devote to involved modeling projects? I recall my junior year of a Naval Architecture bachelor's where I just got used to not sleeping from Thursday morning to Friday night. I'd wake up Saturday morningish and work through the rest of the weekend to catch up with all the work I didn't get to during the previous week and to try to a leg up on the next week. Of course, we only had slates, chalk, and counting sticks.

[Admiral Puff]

Given the course of study you're about to take on, dnl42's comment on time needs to be considered - seriously! When I did law in the mid '60s I had precious little time to do any modelling; study took up virtually all of my available spare time (although I did have a day gig as an articled clerk, which didn't help!), and I suspect that  you'll find yourself  in a similar boat. Your list is probably close to the mark, but don't be surprised if you find that the modelling gear ends up untouched in a corner! (And besides, it doesn't look as though you've got enough space available to fettle an Airfix Vulcan ...)

[brianthemodeller]

When I was travelling and model building in hotels, I used a large plastic storage box lined with kitchen roll as a spray box. When not in service for spraying it served to store and carry all my stuff. Never had a problem using a small compressor, either.

 

if I recall correctly from my Uni days, the sound of a compressor will be the least of your noise worries…

[jackroadkill]

I made my spray booth out of a plastic drum, a USB computer fan and some 5" flexible ducting.  I just dangle this out of the kitchen window ('Er Indoors loves this, by the way....) when using the airbrush and it all packs away into the drum when I'm finished.  If you already have a collapsible spray booth this would save you even more space.

 

That said, brush-painting is very enjoyable and much simpler in terms of equipment.

[Adam Poultney]

5 hours ago, Admiral Puff said:

Given the course of study you're about to take on, dnl42's comment on time needs to be considered - seriously! When I did law in the mid '60s I had precious little time to do any modelling; study took up virtually all of my available spare time (although I did have a day gig as an articled clerk, which didn't help!), and I suspect that  you'll find yourself  in a similar boat. Your list is probably close to the mark, but don't be surprised if you find that the modelling gear ends up untouched in a corner! (And besides, it doesn't look as though you've got enough space available to fettle an Airfix Vulcan ...)

A lot has changed since the dark ages lol, first years have a fair bit of free time and since the lectures are, at least for the first time, hosted online there will only be more. 

On the flip side of it though, the cost of university and accommodation has skyrocketed so the concern is not time, but budget. That's why I want tools that will last, even if they cost more upfront, I'll be building models that will require a lot of time to get through (the first one I have planned may be an Airfix Buccaneer S2 converted to an S1, white scheme so I can do it with a rattle can easily enough). 

[825]

If you're going to brush paint, acrylics are more user friendly, next to no smell and brushes can be washed with water and some detergent. Also essential, well I think so, is Flow Improver which retards drying time a little bit and effectively stops brush marks. 

[Mark Harmsworth]

Something hard to cut masking tape (and p.e.) on - a small ceramic tile works if you can find one.

 

Given your space restrictions I would definitely go with a small cutting mat - how about an A5 (148 x 210 mm) mat?

 

To protect my desk I use a blotting pad underneath the cutting mat. The blotting paper soaks up most spills and when you get fed up with the way it looks just replace the paper. And you can jot stuff down on it 😉

Like this:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Osco-Faux-Leather-Desk-Mat/dp/B00TAUXOPY/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3S6LYDIS3F8VB&dchild=1&keywords=desk+blotter&qid=1630235723&rnid=1642204031&s=officeproduct&sprefix=blott%2Caps%2C178&sr=1-4

[Mike]

@Adam Poultney I stumbled on the compressor after giving up looking for it, and took it indoors for a trial.  I took a video of it with my iPhone, but I'm wondering how best to show it to you.  It's really quite quiet.  I ran it on our rug over a tiled floor, and it wasn't loud enough to upset anyone in the room, nevermind next door.  If you put it on a hollow desk and didn't insulate the feet (maybe get sorbothane pads?), it might echo, but it was surprisingly good.  It doesn't have the features of a full-size compressor of course, but once you get it set to a pressure you can work with, you never need to change it, and when you put your airbrush on the little stand, it turns off the air.  Quite funky really

 

Let me know if I can send the vid to you via iMessage or something.  I do have a TY account, but I never sign in, so can't even remember my username at the moment.

[Moggy]

This is Moggy's mobile modelworks:

 

Since a few years back my best mate and I have a modelling weekend fortnightly.

I had a lot of experience with building away from home after 34 years of demo building at hobby shops and competitions. 😎

This is the latest iteration - and I'm highly satisfied with it 😜

 

 

I bought this cardboard boxes sold as "forms' drawers" (as in bureaucratic paperwork). They have now seen at least 58 "outings" so quality is quite good!

 

 

Four drawers allows for keeping equipment in the same category in different drawers:

 

 

 

 

All smaller tools travel in this icecream box - itself travelling insider drawer no. two

 

 The top drawer contains airbrush, hairy sticks, plastic card, wet n' dry, a number of scratch detailing goods but I have a number of references on paper (as opposed to digital format) I need to have with me.... so I created a removable second tier - my tablet travels in it too (thus well protected)

It's amazing what you can do with a motherboard box 🤪

 

 

 

All this travels inside this sports' bag. It was bought a very long time ago as the "container" for the mobile modellworks - actually measuring it to ensure a good fit. It's a robust thing; the only limit to it is weight - as in how much I'm prepared to drag around with me 😉

 

 

There is lots of space left for the kit's boxes (as long as they are not 1/72 B-52s!) Some necessary equipment travels outside the drawers:

 

 

When demo building in the wild 😸 I take my silent compressor with me. It's rather heavy but not very big - at Janne's place we use his compressor.

Using Tamiya and Gunze acrylics kills the "stink/ health hazard" barrier.

 

The only problem with this is that it won't fit through my cat flap 😺

 

Cheers, Moggy (itinerant modeller cat)

Edited August 31, 2021 by Moggy
typo

[IanHx]

As a former modeller while at uni (many moons ago) I'd say that the biggest thing you need to consider is....  how are you going to take your built models home ?

 

I got by with glue, hairy stick, paint tins, scissors,  and a repurposed nail file.

 

 

[malpaso]

I don’t remember having much opportunity for modelling (except project work for the course) though I did build a couple of those LS 1/1 handguns in my halls of residence!!!

[Adam Poultney]

On 31/08/2021 at 16:24, Mike said:

@Adam Poultney I stumbled on the compressor after giving up looking for it, and took it indoors for a trial.  I took a video of it with my iPhone, but I'm wondering how best to show it to you.  It's really quite quiet.  I ran it on our rug over a tiled floor, and it wasn't loud enough to upset anyone in the room, nevermind next door.  If you put it on a hollow desk and didn't insulate the feet (maybe get sorbothane pads?), it might echo, but it was surprisingly good.  It doesn't have the features of a full-size compressor of course, but once you get it set to a pressure you can work with, you never need to change it, and when you put your airbrush on the little stand, it turns off the air.  Quite funky really

 

Let me know if I can send the vid to you via iMessage or something.  I do have a TY account, but I never sign in, so can't even remember my username at the moment. 

hmmm if you've got Facebook I'm on there under my name with a profile picture of a dice, you can send videos over messenger

[Adam Poultney]

21 hours ago, IanHx said:

As a former modeller while at uni (many moons ago) I'd say that the biggest thing you need to consider is....  how are you going to take your built models home ?

Good question! I'll be building primarily smaller kits, and I'll probably look for ones which are a bit studier. What I might do is buy cheap sponges and cut them to shape for the models. 

Projects I'm considering in the fairly near future include:

Vulcan B1 conversion 1/200 (gear up, on a stand) 

Buccaneer S1 conversion 1/72

Probably some spitfires in 1/72

Vulcan B2 (early) 1/144

 

I'll have to be careful with landing gear on some of those, the Bucc I could leave the pitot attached with PVA so it can be removed with no permanent damage for transportation but won't just fall off and get lost, some S1s appear not to have IFR probes so I'll aim to do one like that.

 

I'm thinking actually things like the Bucc S1 will be good because conversions will take a lot longer to complete; it's a higher upfront cost but I think it'll just last longer than cheap 1/72 ww2 fighters by Airfix which I can build in a weekend