Building Models - TIPS AND TECHINQUES

[dyowelb]

as the title says....

To help each other, maybe we can have a 'How-TO' depository of tips and techniques here in MW.

Thanks,

d

[HWR MKII]

anyone who needs tips feel free to ask ive been building since i was 5 and im 28 now. im also a national ipms award winner. i have lots of info to share also some inexpensive techniques that work really well.

[dyowelb]

anyone who needs tips feel free to ask ive been building since i was 5 and im 28 now. im also a national ipms award winner. i have lots of info to share also some inexpensive techniques that work really well.

could you post some techniques/tips???

[HWR MKII]

id like to but its hard to know what to put in without a starting point. right now there are alot of things in the forums that could be transferred like the chrome stripping thread. i personally like to use Whestleys Bleache White to strip chrome and paint on any model. a 2 to 3 day soak in that stuff will remove the paint or plating off anything. it doesnt harm resin,plastic or vinyl. once its soaked just wash the parts in hot water and scrub them with a toothbrush. the Bleache White is available in 2 gallon jugs at most automotive stores its made to clean whitewalls on old cars. its really cheap and you can reuse the chemical no matter how dirty it is

[Ido]

I am a new-newbie painting with enamels thinner is needed or not? And what I can use to polish enamel paints form the brush?

[HWR MKII]

welcome ido. for enamels thinner is definately needed. testors airbrush thinner is good and can be found almost anywhere. i didnt quite make out the last part of your question but the best way to polish enamels ,at least gloss ones, is to spray them with some testors glosscoate. its a laquer that wont be easily torn up by car waxes or plastic polishes.

[Ido]

welcome ido. for enamels thinner is definately needed. testors airbrush thinner is good and can be found almost anywhere. i didnt quite make out the last part of your question but the best way to polish enamels ,at least gloss ones, is to spray them with some testors glosscoate. its a laquer that wont be easily torn up by car waxes or plastic polishes.

Oh sorry, I mean, how I can polish the brush after I painted with Enamels? I have to use the testor thinner or there are others products (maybe cheaper)?

thanks

[HWR MKII]

it depends on where you live i guess. im stationed in the UK right now so testors is the cheapest for me. if you mean polish as in get the metal part clean and the residual paint out the only thing i can think of is liquid cement or something i use. its the paint thinner for the paint used on english tanks. its really strong and will clear a room. i have to wear a breathing mask when i aribrush with it. your brushes should be ok as long as you clean them really well with testors thinner. i have never really had a problem. another thing you could try after youve cleaned them is to wet the brush in water , put a drop of dawn or some other dish detergent in your palm and scrub it around a little. it will get alot of the remaining dirt out of the bristles.

sean

[HWR MKII]

on another note this one is for those of you who do not have the equipment for postshading like our friend WMchang. his work is awesome but a fine tip airbrush is expensive or you just cant get it right . but there is an easy solution. chalk artists pastels( not the stick or oil form)these are stamping pastels. they come in square plates that are very fine and the dust comes up on your brush. use a fine tipped brush and swirl it on the pad until you have some dust on the brush then apply it to the model. be sure to seal the model in a clear coat to keep the pastels in place but the effect is quite similar to his postshading and a little less messy. the pads come in many different shades of all colors in a box. they can be found on the web under stampin up! i use them alot and am not disappointed. i will post pics tomorrow once i find my usb cable for my digicam.

[Grayson72]

Yeah would like to see how your pastel technique comes out.

[HWR MKII]

ill try first thing tomorrow when i get home from work. its 1130 pm here in the uk so it wont be until about 10 or 11 am eastern standard time until they get posted

well here are some pics of my pastel technique im sorry if they are a little blurry im trying to get a handle of my new digicam

Edited August 17, 2004 by HWR MKII

[Mule]

Are there templates or something to remake sanded off or putty filled rivets? Also, what is the best tool to use for remaking rivet marks? How about the best tools for rescoring pannel lines?

[Amped]

A relatively simple way to re-make rivits is to use just a tiny dollop of of viscous (or 'thick', as opposed to runny) glue or epoxy where you need a rivit... try squirting some out... then using a tooth pick... get some on the tip... then make your dot/ rivit. Let it dry and... TA-DA: insta-rivit! It requires a steady hand, but it's simple & effective. Actually Elmer's White Glue is pretty damn effective & has just the right consistancy. Likewise, you could take a piece of glass (not plastic or acrylic/ plexi-glass, real glass... like a broken mirror or the like) and make a series of glue/ epoxy dots. This allows you some leway to practice making a series of 'rivits' to get just the right size you need. When they cure, you should be able to pop 'em off the glass pretty easily & cleanly with a razor blade. Then you have a series of rivits to glue on individually (use only a very, very small amount of adhesive, as you don't want leakage of glue to get outta hand). Tweezers help in handling. Pretty simple & effective... especially for larger scale models. As always, practice makes perfect!

Now, if ya wanna make 'inny' style rivit markings as opposed to 'bumps'... a simple pointed scribing tool/ awl or small drill bit (again, practice on another piece & make sure you are working in the correct scale) is pretty effective. IMO, professional dental tools and scrapers are the absolute best for re-scribing fine details such as panel lines. Check out medical supply catalogs or ask your dentist where he gets his supply... you may even luck out & get a free sample tool!

Edited August 17, 2004 by Amped

[Stamen0083]

I think Hasegawa makes templates for rescribing rivets. They are etched metal plates with teeth evenly spaced. Basically, line up your drill bit with the tooth, and drill.

As for scribing panel lines, this has been said more than once, and it cannot be said enough: Hasegawa scriber saws RULE!

[HWR MKII]

heres another pic i hope its a little sharper

[HWR MKII]

and a final one this cam is really irking me

[HWR MKII]

the last one was the best i could get i took 50+ shots all in all but it does show best the contrast in the finished and unfinished wings and alot of the panel lines are sharper. the pastels dont show as much on the actual model. give it a shot you might like the end result

sean

[scand]

I just bought a badger NH200. What type of compressor would be good for this brush? Is there any thing less than a hundred bucks? I've found that internal mix airbrushes use the aerosol bottles quicker. It normally takes me two bottles to finish a 1/48 model. That's just two damn expensive.

Also, I've noticed that the more you spray from a bottle the cooler it gets. When it get's cooler the consistancy of the spray changes. It's really irratating when doing panel lines. I've found it helpful to keep two bottles handy. when one freezes up I just switch to the other one.

[fernarias]

Get the Cambell Hausfeld Model: FP2040. It's two gallons and fairly quiet, some people use this in their apartments. Best thing is that it's cheap, the retail list is $87.00 and you can usually find it in any of the big box stores (Wallmart, Sears, Home Depot, etc.). Ask a salesperson to run it for you so you can see if it's quiet enough.

F.

[HWR MKII]

testors and revell also make good inexpensive airbrush compressors that will fit on your desk. they range around 100 dollars but can be found cheaper. testors makes one with an adjustable pressure valve on it. on the part of the cans cooling.it happens when any compressed gas expands even sodas. if you dont want it to freeze on you just put it in a pan of hot water. do NOT heat it while in the pan just put really hot water in one and it should solve your freezing problems.

[scand]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm going to end up buying a compressor. I've bought five bottles in the last two months. Those things cost 10 bucks a piece

[onezero]

Are there templates or something to remake sanded off or putty filled rivets? Also, what is the best tool to use for remaking rivet marks? How about the best tools for rescoring pannel lines?

A sewing needle chucked in your pin vise is a marvelous tool for scribing panel lines - works on resin and plastic. I used that for years before I found out about those photoetched scribing saws (Trimasters, before Hasegawa bought 'em, if I remember right). I have both now ..... and I still find myself going back to the sewing needle trick.

If nothing else, it's cheap.

Now rivets .... there's another story. Depending on the size and spacing, something called a "pounce wheel", found in a craft store, can be used to make evenly spaced depressions. Run a strip of label tape along the line you want the rivets to .... um, run ....and push the wheel along that. It looks like a watch gear on an axle, and I've heard of folks who have made their own tools using watch gears, a pin for the axle and a toothbrush handle connected to the axle to control the tool.

Raised rivets - folks has already told you the glue drops trick. For more uniform results, check out the model railroad section of the local hobby shop for "Grandt Line" products - they make all sorts of rivet heads, bolts, nuts, etc in various sizes. More expensive than glue, but perhaps worthwhile in uniformity of results.

Dzus fasteners - they look like a standard slotted screw head, inset a bit - can be replicated by drilling a hole, then inserting a rod into the hole. Use your hobby knife to score a straight line through the diameter of the rod before you put it in.

Evergreen and Plastruct make plastic rods with circular and hexagonal cross sections. You can slice "wafers" off these, like you'd slice bread for a sandwich, to get rivet/screw heads or nuts. Put a drop of styrene glue on a slice taken from a circular-cross section rod, and it'll form a mushroom top that looks like a rivet.

Hopefully, the above makes sense - hard to do in words without piktchurs.

[insyir4h]

does anyone know how to strip off paint from a tamiya lacquer based spray can paint safely? can i just use ordinary thinner?

[LORD KUNGFU]

Are there templates or something to remake sanded off or putty filled rivets?  Also, what is the best tool to use for remaking rivet marks?  How about the best tools for rescoring pannel lines?

A sewing needle chucked in your pin vise is a marvelous tool for scribing panel lines - works on resin and plastic. I used that for years before I found out about those photoetched scribing saws (Trimasters, before Hasegawa bought 'em, if I remember right). I have both now ..... and I still find myself going back to the sewing needle trick.

If nothing else, it's cheap.

Now rivets .... there's another story. Depending on the size and spacing, something called a "pounce wheel", found in a craft store, can be used to make evenly spaced depressions. Run a strip of label tape along the line you want the rivets to .... um, run ....and push the wheel along that. It looks like a watch gear on an axle, and I've heard of folks who have made their own tools using watch gears, a pin for the axle and a toothbrush handle connected to the axle to control the tool.

Raised rivets - folks has already told you the glue drops trick. For more uniform results, check out the model railroad section of the local hobby shop for "Grandt Line" products - they make all sorts of rivet heads, bolts, nuts, etc in various sizes. More expensive than glue, but perhaps worthwhile in uniformity of results.

Dzus fasteners - they look like a standard slotted screw head, inset a bit - can be replicated by drilling a hole, then inserting a rod into the hole. Use your hobby knife to score a straight line through the diameter of the rod before you put it in.

Evergreen and Plastruct make plastic rods with circular and hexagonal cross sections. You can slice "wafers" off these, like you'd slice bread for a sandwich, to get rivet/screw heads or nuts. Put a drop of styrene glue on a slice taken from a circular-cross section rod, and it'll form a mushroom top that looks like a rivet.

Hopefully, the above makes sense - hard to do in words without piktchurs.

man, thats some good advice. Thanks for the tips. HYUH!

[Mule]

Thanks for the scribing and rivets suggestions! This thread has been most useful.

[dyowelb]

does anyone know how to strip off paint from a tamiya lacquer based spray can paint safely? can i just use ordinary thinner?

I use Castrol Super Clean (Cleaner/Degreaser). Doesn't hurt the plastic..

[HWR MKII]

another method for removing paint is to soak the parts in whestlys bleache white. its a cleaner made for cleaning the dirt off whitewall tires. it doesnt leave a greasy residue like castrol does. just soak the parts for 2 days or until you see the paint lift off the parts. after the soak use an old stiff toothbrush to remove the rest of the paint. rinse under hot water and give the parts another scrub if necessary. the cleaner is cheap and can be found at auto part stores or walmart in 2 gallon jugs. this stuff works on any paint ive seen so far including automotive laquer and will not harm plastic, resin, or vinyl. bleache white is not a chlorine bleach like clorox its environmentally friendly. theres no fumes as well. i swear by this stuff. its also inexpensive to boot for modellers on a budget. good luck

sean

Edited September 3, 2004 by HWR MKII

[onezero]

The stuff I use for stripping paint is Strip-A-Kit. Non-toxic, environmentally safe, with a lemony fresh scent. http://www.hangar3.com/

I really can't recommend it enough --- I've tried the rest, the tire cleaner, bleach, simple green, moth urine, you name it. This stuff does a good job.

Shameless plug, but here's an article on using it:

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/2001/rc_moon1.htm

Much less shameless, and probably more usefull:

http://www.modelingmadness.com/scotts/accessories/sak.htm

[HWR MKII]

bleache white wont strip your skin after 2 minutes fo exposure either. its a concentrated version of the cleaner used in formula 409 cleaner and spray on oven cleaners. i stiripped down a 1/9 scale ED209 droid from robocop and had it repainted in 2 days. the base grey for the model was auotmotive primer and the stuff came right off. there was no need for chisles and sanding or even rescribing lines that the paint didnt come out of. im thinking of debonding the glue on my 48 scale club m VF1 strike and stripping it down. im not happy with how the paint turned out on it at all. i just need a copy of the decal sheet.

Edited September 3, 2004 by HWR MKII

[jardann]

I've used a product called Greased Lightning! to strip paint from old models. soak the parts for 2 or 3 hours and the paint usually comes right off. For really tough paint I let soak overnight and then there's no problem. It also seems to gently debond the glue too so that most parts easily pop apart and are ready to be reassembled. I believe it is biodegradeable and gentle on skin. I use rubber gloves just to be safe, but I've never had any problem when the liquid did get on my skin. I've picked it up at Wal-Mart and even at Big Lots(cheap)!

[Pat Payne]

One model paint remover you may want to consider (at least for acrylic paints) is Dawn Power Dissolver. This is a spray-on gel that was designed to dissolve baked on grease and food on dishes, cutting down on the elbow grease needed in cleaning a kitchen. It works extremely well on acrylic paint. I had a A6M2 Zero and A6M2-N Rufe which refused to have acceptible brush-paint schemes, and so I liberally doused them with Power Dissolver, and within a few minutes, they were back to the bare plastic -- even the decals went away.

[Guppy]

I posted a topic on this one, and just in case everyone is hanging out in this topic I'll try again.. basically I had a little stuff-up applying clearcoat and need a little help..

I just finished airbrushing a couple of kits and bought some Gunze Sangyo Mr.Topcoat spraypaint to clearcoat the kits.

In the past I've used Mr.clearcoat and Tamiya clear coat spraypaints and they've worked fine. This time, everything went a pearly opaque colour - you can really see the varnish. I assume I used too much as I don't imagine these paints would have an expiry date and go bad.

Question.. is there any way to remove the varnish without having to repaint? It would pretty much mean starting again which makes me want to cry.

PS.. Mr.Topcoat IS acrylic isn't it???

PPS - I did a test spray spraying lightly on a few pieces I was gonna throw away, and I got the same 'pearly' effect. Second question.. Can clearcoat in a spraycan go out of date and turn bad?

[Ido]

I tried to paint with enamels but I can't obtain a good smooth surface.

In my town the only brand of enamel paint is the humbrol and i use humbrol thinner. (if someone know a online store where i can buy paints and other things please tell me because my local hobby store really sucks!)

The only thing that i achieve is an orrible surface, IMO is the paint that is too old and badly conserved. or is just the brand that sucks.

However, what is the right amount of thinner? I can give a try again.

[LORD KUNGFU]

Take your time, dont rush.

[HWR MKII]

hey ido where exactly are you? the only place ive been where humbrol is the main available paint is the UK. from my experience though lord is correct. if your brush painting humbrol enamels take your time. if your airbrushing them and cant get a smooth finish then try adding a little more thinner. dont add too much or the paint will be too runny. if the paint is the correct texture and its still coming out grainy on the model try reducing your air pressure a bit. other than that i cant think of any other way to get enamels to come out really smooth aside from taking time