Aircraft building tips
Discussion
Hi all,
so I've gone out and bought a couple of models (planes not the nice looking girly ones,) have the paints and glue etc, does anyone have any decent tips they can give me?
how do you get the engine nozzles and parts of the plane to have the sooty well used look?
any advice would be great!
Boozy
so I've gone out and bought a couple of models (planes not the nice looking girly ones,) have the paints and glue etc, does anyone have any decent tips they can give me?
how do you get the engine nozzles and parts of the plane to have the sooty well used look?
any advice would be great!
Boozy
It's a big subject and some of the professionals go into really impressive amounts of detail. There are some good books on the subject though.
I'm no expert but these sites appear to have some good info...
http://www.modelaces.com/modelbuilding.php
http://www.buildingscalemodelaircraft.com/index.ht...
HTH
I'm no expert but these sites appear to have some good info...
http://www.modelaces.com/modelbuilding.php
http://www.buildingscalemodelaircraft.com/index.ht...
HTH
As slip stream says it's a massive subject and there are books not just on general modelling, but modelling particular aircraft, and there are as many ways to build them as there are opinions on the subject.
You may want to join a forum or two, here's a few to check out, there are more but these are friendly places where most posters are willing to tell people how they achieved certain effects and many will do build threads that do that just that.
britmodeller in particular the in progress threads here.
Also the aircraft resource centre and hyperscale.
It can also be very useful to get to a modelling club, IPMS have branches throughout the UK and there are many independent ones, ask in you local model shop if you are lucky enough to have one.
for simple jet exhaust try painting with a dark metallic grey,(gunmetal for example) when dry give a wash (paint thinned so much that the pigment runs into the holes and lines but does not stick to the main surfaces) with an oily black (90\10 black\blue works well), and when this is dry dry-brush (get an old brush and pick up a small amount of paint that is lighter than the original shade (in this case a light grey\silver might do and brush this on some tissue paper until the paint on the brush is almost dry and flick the brush over the surface of the exhausts) this will highlight the raised detail.
You may need to practice a bit, with a wash the paint needs to be thinner than most people think and with dry-brushing the amount of paint needs to be less than you'd think and it needs to be dryer than you'd think - textured paper is good for practice.
Done right this type of thing can be quite effective. Once you become confident you will try your own thing and eventually you will find a technique that works for you.
You may want to join a forum or two, here's a few to check out, there are more but these are friendly places where most posters are willing to tell people how they achieved certain effects and many will do build threads that do that just that.
britmodeller in particular the in progress threads here.
Also the aircraft resource centre and hyperscale.
It can also be very useful to get to a modelling club, IPMS have branches throughout the UK and there are many independent ones, ask in you local model shop if you are lucky enough to have one.
for simple jet exhaust try painting with a dark metallic grey,(gunmetal for example) when dry give a wash (paint thinned so much that the pigment runs into the holes and lines but does not stick to the main surfaces) with an oily black (90\10 black\blue works well), and when this is dry dry-brush (get an old brush and pick up a small amount of paint that is lighter than the original shade (in this case a light grey\silver might do and brush this on some tissue paper until the paint on the brush is almost dry and flick the brush over the surface of the exhausts) this will highlight the raised detail.
You may need to practice a bit, with a wash the paint needs to be thinner than most people think and with dry-brushing the amount of paint needs to be less than you'd think and it needs to be dryer than you'd think - textured paper is good for practice.
Done right this type of thing can be quite effective. Once you become confident you will try your own thing and eventually you will find a technique that works for you.
Boozy said:
Hi all,
so I've gone out and bought a couple of models (planes not the nice looking girly ones,) have the paints and glue etc, does anyone have any decent tips they can give me?
how do you get the engine nozzles and parts of the plane to have the sooty well used look?
any advice would be great!
Boozy
one way to do it is to dip your brush in a thinned out mix of matt white for piston engine exhausts,mud for undersides, matt black for gun smoke, exhaust nozzles, hold it near where you want to leave the mark and blow hard in short bursts.......practise before doing it on the model obviously so I've gone out and bought a couple of models (planes not the nice looking girly ones,) have the paints and glue etc, does anyone have any decent tips they can give me?
how do you get the engine nozzles and parts of the plane to have the sooty well used look?
any advice would be great!
Boozy
Personally, these are my tips for generally moving up a level from your existing level of modelling (I am only gauging this from the way you have posted your question).
1) Tamiya Thin cement (or similar)
2) Promodeller washes (for panel lines and staining)
3) Airbrush (for thin even coats of paint and much better finish than brushes)
4) Acrylic paints (much more manageable, dry quicker and not so toxic)
5) Micro Set/Sol (for making decals really lay down nicely over detail like joins and rivets)
6) Johnson's Klear (for clear coats and sealing decals, a modeller's dream)
These are what I would call the pure basics. Anything after that is down to personal choice/experience/addiction lol
1) Tamiya Thin cement (or similar)
2) Promodeller washes (for panel lines and staining)
3) Airbrush (for thin even coats of paint and much better finish than brushes)
4) Acrylic paints (much more manageable, dry quicker and not so toxic)
5) Micro Set/Sol (for making decals really lay down nicely over detail like joins and rivets)
6) Johnson's Klear (for clear coats and sealing decals, a modeller's dream)
These are what I would call the pure basics. Anything after that is down to personal choice/experience/addiction lol
Edited by The_Jackal on Monday 9th March 23:38
Just make sure you get a dual action one. Anything from 35 quid upwards should be ok, but you do get more quality the more you pay.
The thing is if you are learning (to clean as well as actually paint is just as important) you dont want to go messing up a £100 airbrush.
It will be able to do block colour and camo and other details, so you dont really need to go worrying about needle sizes at this stage.
The thing is if you are learning (to clean as well as actually paint is just as important) you dont want to go messing up a £100 airbrush.
It will be able to do block colour and camo and other details, so you dont really need to go worrying about needle sizes at this stage.
Boozy said:
Great advice thank you!!! so which airbrush gun would be good then? I imagine that's for a plane of a whole colour rather than a camouflage effect? any tips on which to buy? there's lots out there for different amounts,
thanks so far guys!
Even basic airbrushes will be good enough to do camouflage patterns. The secret is in the masking techniques used - and they are many and varied too.thanks so far guys!
If you want cheap and cheerful kits to practice on, I would highly recommend the new HobbyBoss range of "EasyKits". They consist of very few parts but are so precisely moulded that they almost click together and require minimal cement. They are however, reasonably accurate and ideal for beginners. The great thing is the price - they cost around £4.00 and it is therefore not a disaster if tyou make a pig's ear of any painting attempts.
As has been mentioned already, joing a local model club would be an ideal way to learn about model building. Most modellers are friendly folk and more than willing to chat about their techniques and model building methods. Some might even hold the odd occasional "masterclass" on airbrushing, canopy painting, applying decals etc.
I've been a member of the IPMS for over 20 years and attend the Farnborough Branch monthly meetings. Seeing the standards others can achieve is always inspirational.
There are also lots of model display shows throughout the year. I'd try to get to at least one as you will see hundreds of made up models on display - plus find lots of kits, accessories and books to spend your money on.
Boozy - I see you are in Hampshire. Are you close to Farnborough?
Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 11th March 09:51
As a first I would recomend the cote d'arms paint range they are some of the best around in terms of coverage and they can be bought Here
There are plenty of sites on the web which can give advice about basic and more advanced painting tips for planes Here is a good start point. A site I like is Here its more fantasy figure oriented but the tutorials and explanations are pretty good.
Also I'd check youtube as there are plenty of model painting tutorials for every type of model and minature imaginable.
There are plenty of sites on the web which can give advice about basic and more advanced painting tips for planes Here is a good start point. A site I like is Here its more fantasy figure oriented but the tutorials and explanations are pretty good.
Also I'd check youtube as there are plenty of model painting tutorials for every type of model and minature imaginable.
Tamiya paints are also very forgiving and I have also started using Vallejo Model Air paints which are prethinned for airbrushing and very populat in the aircraft modelling world.
If you dont mind paying £3 a month subscription I thoroughly recommend http://www.promodeller.com/ . This guy puts up regular video builds, and you cant beat actually seeing someone doing something you are trying to learn, especially airbrushing.
If you dont mind paying £3 a month subscription I thoroughly recommend http://www.promodeller.com/ . This guy puts up regular video builds, and you cant beat actually seeing someone doing something you are trying to learn, especially airbrushing.
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