Hello all, first post from me, i have been looking for a good forum and so far i like what i see here!

Anyway i just started making scale models at the ye old age of 30. I am from Bedfordshire in the uk, and in the 3 months i have been modeling i must say i love it.

I started with a 'curtiss tomahawk' and 'Messerschmitt Bf109' , i hand painted these but as i enjoyed it so much and my birthday was close i took the plunge and got an airbrush. After much pain of thinning paint and messing about with PSI, i am getting the hang of it , but have a long way to go of coarse, i must say it really makes me respect some of the amazing works i have seen on this forum.

Anyway, i have just finished my 3rd build a 'Bristol Blenheim' i think its a very old kit and it did not go together well at all, but i have learned some lessons and ordered some putty and fillar. Also the model has a lot of rivets ,i find they look over the top, and also my decals look poor when stuck over the top.

I guess my questions would be:

1) what can you do about decals when the model is so bumpy?

2)Should i ignore the joint holes made on the kits and sand them off for a better fit?

3)How can i upload photos so you can judge my noobie models?(not much of a forum user)

4)Mind if i hang out in your lovely home.

Thanks in advance!

Nevermind i figured it out

You can see what i mean with the poor fit on the top joins. Also some of the windows where set wrong and i had to make do. And also the decals dont look set.

Also i used dental floss ,glue and black paint for the radio wire, thought it looked ok.

Opinions welcome as i want to improve, but be gentle its my 3rd model!

Darren, welcome aboard. This is a great place to hang out and get help.

For the decals, get a good decal setting solution. I use micro set and Walther Solvaset for decals. Put a gloss coat down, then put the decal on and then the setting solution. The gloss coat helps the decal set down, and prevents the setting solution from removing the paint.

Joint holes-do you mean the attachment pins on the inside? If the fit is better without them then by all means yes, remove them. For seam lines, https://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/forums/111677 is a good link, right here, that will help you out.

Your build looks very nice. You can use fishing line, stretched sprue or even hair for the antenna wire if you want something finer.

Yes exactly the pins, thanks for the link. i have a grasp of basic sanding,building, painting etc. Although this one was freehand with airbrush so did not come out great.

i have no idea what to do past prime/paint, is thre anything i should use to give the model a final coat? also what is washing?

any more opinions or flaws on the model would be great

You should do a clear gloss coat before putting the decals on to limit silvering (the clear decal film shows up due to the rough paint underneath), then you can use a clear top coat of gloss, semi-gloss or flat to give the model its final sheen and seal on the decals.

A "wash" is a very thin paint which you use to pop out the details. You flow it on into crevices, corners and other small details through capillary action. It's usually a dirty brown or black colour, but it can be other colours as well. Mix your wash out of regular paint and a lot of thinner. You should use a barrier coat of clear gloss between your base colours and your wash. If your wash is oil based, your clear coat should be acryllic to avoid the wash removing it. Most washes are done using a very fine pointed brush.

Then once the wash is done, you can dry-brush to highlight prominent details. Dry brushing is done by dipping your brush into the paint, then scrubbing most of the paint off on a paper towel or rag, leaving only a little on the brush. Flick the tip of the brush across the detail, leaving only a tiny bit of paint at a time on the model. Dry brushing takes some practise, but it's a good way to do such things as scuff marks, exhaust stains and the like.

You can also do stains and such using ground up pastel chalks or pencil graphite. Apply the powder with a soft dry brush or q-tip.

There are some good books around which go over a lot of the basic techniques. When I got back into the hobby a few years back, having not done it since childhood, I was hungry for information. I bought a couple of books written by Brett Green which are published by Osprey
Modelling Scale Aircraft
Airbrushing and Finishing Scale Models
Aircraft Modelling
These will introduce you to the basic concepts. Also, keep your eye on the forums (especially the build logs) and there are a number of good magazines out there too. You will soon be posting your builds on here and we will be learning from you. Remember it is a learning process and don't be put off if your first experiments don't match up to the models built by more seasoned modellers. Above all, have fun with it.

Hi Darren, all the above advice is all very use full and will get you far, you may also need to look at what glue your using as there are a lot of different types available other than 'tube' glue that are suited to different parts of a build. I'm not going to name brands as each has their preferred.

If you need to cut off the pins, a use full thing to do is make up some small tabs from scrap or plastic card that you can then glue on one fuselage half then leave to dry, then once dry use these to line everything up. Of course dry fit everything first to make sure that it all lines up before reaching for the glue.

One last thing if your in Bedfordshire you may know that there is a model show on Sunday 21st April in Milton Keynes at the Stantonbury Leisure Centre. Loads of club displays and traders. Maybe I'll see you there

Hi Darren and welcome .. nice job on the Blenheim do you have any photos of your other builds ?? as for your decals like Russ says you just need a bottle of decal setting solution i use micro sol also , its very simple to do just paint it on the decal after you have apply it to your model , as you havent yet given your models a clear coat you should be fine to go back and coat all of your models decals. but remember NOT to touch the decals while the setting solution is working its magic :-)
hope this helps

I'd chime in and add that researching the kit is important. Fit, raised panel lines, absurd rivets are all things to avoid as you're finding.

If it's fun or catharsis you're after figure out the best kit of the subject you want to build and get that one. No sense going to war with a rubbish kit unless you really need a challenge.

Hi Darren, I think you will find a lot of help and good folks on this site. I hope you enjoy your stay at Aeroscale. Good work on the Bristol Blenheim. Russell

Thanks for the replys and the warm welcome. Il order some gloss and decal setting solution asap!

In future i will order models after looking into them, however the only reason i started this hobby was i mentioned in passing i enjoyed it as a kid , and ended up getting 8 planes a tank and some figures for xmas, so i am treating this first batch as a learning curve

Here are my other two i made, the Tomahawk was hand painted and the Messerschmitt was airbrushed. Same again though Decals dont look set and they dont have a finished look to them, but i am very happy with my progress for only three models completed.

Also you say a clear gloss before the decals and then another gloss coat, are these two different types or is all gloss the same ?

They can be the same or they can be different. It all depends on what you want your finished model to look like. Generally speaking, if it's too glossy it looks like a toy so most of us prefer the final finish to be semi-gloss or flat.

It also depends on the kind of weathering you've done. If you used an oil-based wash you don't want to finish with an oil-based clear coat because that may affect the wash you just put on.

im getting confused by all the gloss/varnish/wash talk all over the internet.

is this a basic run down ?

Primer>preshade>base colors>microgloss(varnish?)>Details and washes>decals>matt klear coat



never thought painting could be so complex, my brain feels like its melting.

More often you'll want to put your decals down before you do your weathering, but yes, that's the basic sequence. Of course you're free to ignore any of the steps you wish. It's your model, and you're free to finish it the way you want to

are there cheap alternatives to microgloss ? and what is a good brand of matt finish?

i thank you very much for patience i really am clueless when it comes to the advanced stuff

You're in the UK, so the modelling elixir of the gods is known as Johnson's Kleer thereabouts. For a flat coat, Testors Dullcote varnish is good, as is Tamiya's flat clear. Most paint ranges have gloss, satin and flat clear as well, so it's left to you to discover the one you like best.

Great i have ordered some testors with my latest supply run, one question though. I am finding a lot of info saying that johnsons klear is no longer useful as they made it scented and milky.. but also found a few that said its fine and sprays clear. Any ideas on this?

Also im glad i can now go back to the three i have made and have a go at weathering/washing/varnishing and setting the decals.

Cant wait to make my next builds!!

Thanks again

Hi Darren
Yup johnsons klear is now milky and scented i have some myself and to be honest im not convinced about it iv tryd it on a few of my models and you need far to many coats of it before you start to get a sheen on your model and its quite watery so its easy to end up with runs on the other hand it does seem to dry clear.. The original johnsons klear is the one to go for tho if you can find some . However it just so happens that there is a bottle of it on ebay at the moment but your looking at paying around 25 quid if you want it ..

I've heard some rumblings that Humbrol is re-packaging a Kleer-like substance, but I haven't been to a right-pondian hobby shop since 1997 so I can't say for certain.

Don't think I can justify paying 20 pounds for something that was 3 pounds.

Personally I usually use the following sequence: Base Coat and/or primer - (Depending on the plastic and kit) - Main coat - Full wash - Pin wash/Detailing/Drybrushing - Decals (I use decal-set and trim away as much decal film as possible) - Extra weathering if needed/touch ups - Chalks and loose pigments.

As I store the models in a glass cabinet I don't use a top coat of flat/satin clear, since I've had semi-disasters in the past.

(I haven't had the money or a air brush set yet, so I just use brushes.) By "Full wash" I mean a technique I learned when painting warhammer models, It's basically a thin wash "all over" to bind colors together as well as bring out details. It can then be enhanced by pinpointed washes.

I've had the same experience as you with older reissued kits being a bit troublesome to work with, so now I always check the status of any kit I plan to buy: What year the forms where made. A quick trip on google usually bring up some reviews if it's not reviewed here or I use the search function on: http://www.scalemates.com/ to check the kit. Very nifty!

Im just going to pay for microgloss, a friend used it for gg infant and says it lasts a long time. So it's not going to break the bank.