Hi everyone. What a great site. I've been lurking for a bit and just signed on. I'm quite familiar with the benfit of internet forums as I'm a moderator on a large Professional Quality Assurance related message board.
I put details in my profile but the short of it I'm coming back to modeling after about 10 years off to concentrate on starting a family and such.
But now the kids are old enough that I can get some time here and there to build.
I live in North NJ in the USA and have been modeling to some extent since the mid 70's.

I'm re-starting easy with re-release of the Monogram P-51B Mustang and trying stuff I never tried years ago that I learned from doing Dungeons and Dragons miniatures - particularly shading and drybrusing techniques. And learning to use an airbrush (I got an Aztek A270 cheap on Ebay).
Definately a trial and error process.

Now a question - My favorite model as a kid was the Visible B-17G by Monogram. It's been re-released I beleive and was wondering if anyone has seen a build log or a finished model done by an expert?

Thanks for a great site!

Hi Scott

Welcome aboard!

Sadly I cannot help with the B-17, I have not seen a build thread or article yet. (at least I do not remember)

Over all the super detailling do not forget it is all about fun and we all had to learn (and still do). It takes time to master some techniques and sometimes it is good to try a different or own approach to find out what suits you best.

As a re-entry model I would suggest a Tamiya kit, as it spares you a lot of hassle and swearing. You can improve your filling and sanding abilities on further model kits later .. but that's just my 2 €ct

all the best

Steffen

No worries - If it wasn't fun I wouldn't do it.

I already started the Mustang - almost done, really. But it's clearly a piece for learning new techniques and re-learning old ones. I'd rather try this with the cheaper Monogram/Revell kits that I picked up at a model show for $5 to $10.
Next to fiddle with is another inexpensive kit of a Stuka G.

The main thing I learned so far is that I prefer to work with acrylics vs enamels. Guess that's from doing D&D miniatures and mini-dioramas.

My b-day is in July and I'll think I'll point my wife in the direction of some better quality kits...
Any recommendations for a Yak-3 or a Zero or a Corsair (in 1/48)?

How is Brett Green thought of around here? I've been watching his vids on youtube (Testors Model Workshop).

Hi Scott

i prefer acrylics too .. mostly because of the drying time.

recommendations:

Yak-3: only one choice: eduard .. quite a nice kit. If you want to go without the photo etched parts try to get a weekend edition

Zero: Hasegawa or the new Tamiya Type 52

Corsair: Tamiya (!!!), for the late versions Hasegawa: avoid the F4U-4 .. very old crap. best would by the CMK conversion for the Tamiya kit (IMO)

I like Brett and his site a lot! He is a very good modeler and a nice guy too .. also he builds very fast. The forums are very informative, when you are lucky you get every piece of information you need (which is often the case).
Problems there: lots of politics especially from your side of the pond (this is really not Bretts fault). I take a break once in a while to get some distance. And some topics get awol (for whatever reason) recent example is the Bf 109E-4 Eduard.

HTH

cheers

Steffen

After some lurking and browsing the thing on my mind the most is.... Future. It's referenced all over the place.
Is there a definitive thread on this - what it's used for and how it's used - that someone could show a link?
(I'm not too lazy to search, for some reason the search box isn't showing up in Firefox on my Mac).

Hi Scott

the best (most complete) page on this topic is probably Swannys:

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

it is really neat stuff and it is cheap (at least it should be in the USA)

cheers

Steffen

Thanks Steffen - you rock.