Hey everyone, just joined up here and I'm looking forward to getting started. I have only built two models in my life so any advice at all is greatly appreciated. I am interested in WW2 aircraft, are there any kits out there that you would recommend to an inexperienced modeler? Any good sites for decals, aftermarkets, kit reviews and reference material besides this one? I know I am throwing a lot of questions at you but there is a lot that I am looking to learn. Just want to say thanks for any and all replies and I know I'll be posting again soon when other things come to mind.

Tamiya kits are generally direct builds, and don't require a lot of aftermarket help. Academy kits are generally very well priced but the decals are poor and they are sometimes soft on the details. Those are the kits I have experience with.

Hyperscale, Cybermodeler and the Aircraft Resource Center are good online modeling forums for info in addition to this one. There are lots of very helpful people here who quickly share information and would know much better than I do about the AM decals.

I'm just building an airfix 1/72 P-51B and it is a lovely simple kit to get started on or Airfix 1/72 spitfire mk1
These are old and have raised panel lines but if you want something cheap and easy to get into these
are good kit.
Academy p-39 i had good cheap fun with too. Tamiya 109e is an excellent and easy build.
Hobbyboss have some simplified kits for very easy assembly and these are good for practicing painting on.
As a half hour of work will give you a plastic aeroplane.

Follow some current build logs or campaign threads and pick up tips.
Ask questions of the builders. (They love the attention)

One piece of advice I can give you, being a 'newly-returned to modelling modeller' myself, is not to try aftermarket parts until you have built a few more kits, and are happy with filling and sanding.

I re-started modelling with a Tamiya Spitfire in 1/72, which is a kit that normally builds itself, but decided to add an Aires cockpit. Sanding down the inner walls of the kit until you can almost see though them was not a pleasant task, and even then the wing didn't fit to the flared wing roots. You can see the disasterous results in this thread.

Well like the guy's have pointed out . Tamiya are great kit's to start with . Excellent fit and easy to follow instructions . Academy have great kits as well , but like the guy's said their decals can be a little on the troublizm side . Hasegawa are also great kits to build , they follow Tamiya's with excellent detail and are fairly easy to build . Revell is another one . Most of them are fairly priced so they won't break the bank . I do have to agree with Ben though . Build a few kit's first before trying Photo etch parts and after market stuff . If you fell you have to try them start with the easier items such as seat belts and the like . For the resin you can just replace the wheels until you get a better feel of working with these items . Just go with what you are comfortable with . As for different sites the only one I turn to is here as well as the Aerodrome for us WW1 nut's .

Go through some of the build threads here and ask questions , it is the best tool you will ever own

You could take into account that making models ends up in having a collection of them.

This collection has most value if you can compare models with each other, use the models in diorama's, combine airplane models with other equipment like vehicles or figures...

To enable this you need to decide on which scale you want to use and then stick to it. The problem is that there are many scales ranging from 1/144 (very small) to 1/24 (very big).

In my book there are only two 2 scales worth consideration: 1/48 and 1/35 because both scales give you very good detail and there is a very wide range of aftermarket stuff, vehicles, diorama scenery etc available in these scales. I am working only in 1/48.

But then this only a personal opinion and i do not want to devalue in any way the marvellous models made in other scales, very often (if not always) better than what i do.

And also, if you haev a productivity of some people here on aeroscale and are able to finalise 10 models in the time that i can finalise one then this is of less concern to you. I just want to bring this aspect under your attention

Thanks for all of the responses! I know that I am not ready for aftermarket detailing but I was just curious about them and would like to do some research. I just bought a 1/48 Bf109E-4 from hasegawa.

Alex, If you can get your hands on a digital camera- put up some photos in a build thread on here, and I'm sure you'll get a lot of help along the way.

Alex, you can not go wrong with Hasegawa and Tamiya builds. You got a great kit to start with and don't forget to post pix of the build! This site is full of folks that will be eager to point you in the right direction if you are stuck. As was mentioned before, you might want to stay away from the aftermarket kits until you are comfortable with the build (but then again, Tamiya and Hasegawa usually make nice builds right out of the box).

Hermann

Good choice, find a simple paint scheme and do the best job you can. Paint small parts and inaccessible but visible areas before assembly but make sure surfaces to be joined are clear of paint. I like acrylic paintsand my favourites are Tamiya. Take your time, dry fit parts and separate from the sprues with a scalpel. There are some excellent threads on filling and finishing on this site. I never throw surplus parts and decals out, they can be very useful for other models. Finally, it is your model, build it how you want it, build it as well as you can, but have fun doing it and learn from it .

Like has been said above, Tamiya and hasegawa kits are really well detailed and assemble very well. However I think if you are not to picky on details or specific aircraft, older monogram and revell kits are very inexpensive and can still produce impressive results, maybe treat yourself to some aftermarket decals if there is a specific unit or pilot you would like to depict or just to add a little flair on your first kit. I would worry more about your parts preparation and finishing for a couple kits before tackling more complex kits or resin and PE parts. First kits are good places to try some simple detail work, like stretched sprue for the radio aerial, or hollow out gun barrels, sand a slight flat spot on the tires to simulate weight.

The above advice is all good. Pick a kit you like in a scale you are comfortable with. Then just take it one step at a time. We will guide you through the build whenever you have questions. The key is to enjoy the hobby, and always try to make your next build better than your last.

Another thing that I learned very early on is the necessity to test fit throughout the build. Once you start building the internals and sub assemblies ...take the time to test fit the components every so ofter to see how the parts will fit before you commit to gluing them together.