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Plastic Scale Modeling Age |OT| Planes, tanks, cars, sci-fi & more

Cerity

Member
LHS having a sale on a bunch of odd kits, so I picked up these. My first gundam kit in 5 years or so, they're so old they have bandai glue bundled. Missed out on an AMT Star Trek USS Enterprise :(

5PpGlnI.jpg

Super keen to lay some candy down on the Hyakushiki but need to get through everything else first!
 
LHS having a sale on a bunch of odd kits, so I picked up these. My first gundam kit in 5 years or so, they're so old they have bandai glue bundled. Missed out on an AMT Star Trek USS Enterprise :(



Super keen to lay some candy down on the Hyakushiki but need to get through everything else first!

This reminds me the "Old Kit Tournament" (旧キット選手権) in Japan. The theme is that people are building some old kits with modern techniques. This is a fine example I discovered from Twitter.



https://twitter.com/gakuyasan/status/791264674280902656

Pretty amazing stuff. If you want to see more, just search 旧キット選手権 on Twitter.

Personally, I have several old models (>20 years) and I am thinking if I should rebuild them as they were built poorly by me when I was a child.
 

Eridani

Member
I've been considering getting into this for a while and I've finally decided to actually do this (partly due to this thread, thanks everyone). This is what I've got (+ some other supplies not pictured - primer, top coats, knife and the like):
I've never done this before, aside from a couple of gunpla kits, so the end result will probably suck, but it's been fun so far. Some random thoughts:

- Starting with a 1/72 plane kit might not have been the best idea. I was not expecting that I'd have to start painting small details straight away (although it's kind of obvious in hindsight). Something more straightforward might have been a better choice.

- Brush painting is hard. I've done enough research to know this though, so it wasn't much of a surprise. Getting the correct paint thickness has been my biggest problem so far. Hopefully I'll get better at this when it's time to paint the outside of the hull.

- It's fun.
 
I've been considering getting into this for a while and I've finally decided to actually do this (partly due to this thread, thanks everyone). This is what I've got (+ some other supplies not pictured - primer, top coats, knife and the like):

I've never done this before, aside from a couple of gunpla kits, so the end result will probably suck, but it's been fun so far. Some random thoughts:

- Starting with a 1/72 plane kit might not have been the best idea. I was not expecting that I'd have to start painting small details straight away (although it's kind of obvious in hindsight). Something more straightforward might have been a better choice.

- Brush painting is hard. I've done enough research to know this though, so it wasn't much of a surprise. Getting the correct paint thickness has been my biggest problem so far. Hopefully I'll get better at this when it's time to paint the outside of the hull.

- It's fun.

Congrats! It's a very rewarding hobby! Do your best on your first and find your flaws and work them out on the next. Keep on going each kit gets better and better.
 
Does anyone know a better place to get things in the UK than Hannants? Almost £4 postage seems very high, especially when what i want is only around £10 - 15. I've looked at a few other places but they have similar postage costs as well or are just more expensive in general.
 
So I just finished rebuilding my car from an accident last year and while I was fixing it up I picked up a scale model of the same car to keep me motivated in fixing my real car. Anyways I hastily did a shitty job of painting it the same color of my actual car. Now that its complete and looks a little different than it originally did I'd like to try and paint it and make it look like my actual car. Only experience I have is building and panel lining Gundam kits so I have no Idea where to begin. I'd like some help if possible as to what I'd need to purchase. Thanks.

This is what my current car looks like and would like the scale model to resemble.
This is what the scale model currently looks like (I know i did a shitty job lol)
I need help finding hopefully some kind of putty or something I can mold the front lip, side and rear diffusers out of and somehow attach them to the body of the car (super glue them on?)

I plan on completely dissembling and sanding down the parts on the model that will be painted black and leaving the silver the way it is unless you guys suggest otherwise. Also I asked a while back how I could make the rear windows look tinted and a helpfull gaffer gave me some suggestions but I completely forgot, sorry. If you guys could help point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it. Now that I'm not working on my actual car I have some spare time to finally tackle this.
 

blakdeth

Member
Greetings modelers,

I am relatively new to scale modeling and I really need some help.

I am assembling a Bandai Tie Fighter and I would like to add some weathering effects and panel lining. I have decided to forgo an overall basecoat for simplicity sake and because I do not own an air brush.

I have a couple of weathering supplies at my disposal. The first is a Tamiya Weathering Master B compact (includes snow, soot, and rust). The second is Model Masters enamel in black and gray along with some Testors enamel thinner.

I haven't yet tried the weathering compact, and I am unsure of the ratio of enamel to thinner to use for weathering and lining. I would very much appreciate some tips on applying weathering effects and panel lines to bare plastic.

Thank you all!
 

Cerity

Member
Haven't finished a kit in ages, so I was pretty determined to see through a kit last weekend. Started a Tamiya 1/48 Kawanishi N1K1 Kyofu Type 11 and it's sitting at about 90% now.

9l8ZQpnl.jpg


Just need to finish up the canopy and the rest of the panel lining. Paint job is fair rushed and I also miss decal setting solution (can't find my bottles of microsol/set). Other than using the wrong type of green, pretty happy with how it is so far.
 

BearChair

Member
I finished the body of my MG Turn A Gundam. Just need to do the weapons/shield.

I'm starting to think about my next project.

Are there any mecha kits of a similar quality to Bandai's MG line that aren't Gundam?

I tend to prefer the more military looking designs rather than some of the over the top Gundams (Turn A being an exception, I like Syd Mead). What are some other product lines I should look at?
 

Cerity

Member
xwto6AAl.png


I've been working on this for the last week. Hobbyboss 1/35 ZSL-92 IFV. Playing with Tamiya's weathering sets. Just need to put together the wheels and detail some more parts.

I finished the body of my MG Turn A Gundam. Just need to do the weapons/shield.

I'm starting to think about my next project.

Are there any mecha kits of a similar quality to Bandai's MG line that aren't Gundam?

I tend to prefer the more military looking designs rather than some of the over the top Gundams (Turn A being an exception, I like Syd Mead). What are some other product lines I should look at?

Look into some kotobukiya kits. They do a range of mecha kits - macross, zoids and armoured core. The armoured core ones are pretty bonkers.
 
I recommend looking up Kotobukiya as well. Bandai might have an edge on them but they made huge strides in improving their kits. Plus they have huge variety when it comes to designs from robot animals to spacecrafts.
My most recent purchase from them was the Z Knight Type-K. Had a lot of fun with it.



Only problem with them is that unlike Bandai they don't reissue many of their kits and so they can be hard to find later.

Oh cool, Zoids. I remember i used to watch that! I used to have some of the models of them as well, no idea what happened to those...
 
Done with my first tank, pretty happy with the result, it's a lot of fun, I messed up a lot, experimenting with the weathering but you can just keep going and it doesn't matter much if I messed up since I'm going for the dirty look anyway.

gU3mhXt.jpg

That looks really good for a first try, especially the weathering.

I just started my first try at weathering/rusting. I also like having the luxury of messing up and not ruining the entire model because the intent is for it to essentially look kinda "crappy".

iUBATKHl.jpg


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the clean side:

aQ3gjSkl.jpg


I developed a method of using orange clear and rolled up paper that I burn the tip of and then rub into the paint while it's still wet. I then build up the layers adding some smoke layers and extra layers of ash/clear orange when needed. If needed I can sort of "bake" on the ash with a butane torch before I rub the excess off the body.

The hardest part has been thinking about where the rust/rot would be on the body. I used some source pictures to help out so it hasn't been total guesswork. Oh, and getting the confidence to keep going because i'm convinced it's all 100% luck and I'll never be able to replicate it after stopping for the night.
 

NEO0MJ

Member
third time's charm?

Now it works!

Really nice, but if I have to critique it's how the inking feels a little messy and the color a little too dark. Did you use a pen for this?

Oh, and getting the confidence to keep going because i'm convinced it's all 100% luck and I'll never be able to replicate it after stopping for the night.

Yeah, I get this feeling a lot and sometimes I don't work on something because I'm afraid if I drop it I'll never be able to finish it.
 

Cerity

Member
I haven't finished it yet (on holidays) but not great tbh. They're more or less a dust, which makes them only really good for highlighting/drybrushing. It's hard to get any sort of texture with them. The applicators are pretty booty too.

The tamiya sets might be a tad cheaper but 100% would take the ammo or MIG pigments and weathering pastes over them. Though, IIRC tamiya just released a bunch of pigments and pastes in the states too - which have had good feedback.
 
I finished up the rustomod 356 porsche I was working on. Managed to get a uniform finish despite doing it over the course of a few nights and being worried about replicating the process. This is also the first time i've tried to do something weathered. Overall, I like the finished look of the body. I might change the wheels to something more traditional but i'm not sure yet.

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I'm really digging the weathered/rust style. It's a lot more forgiving then straight detail work. Probably gonna mix a few of these in every now and again to change it up and free my nerves from worrying about potential errors.
 

dubc35

Member
^ Love the passion you put into your cars! My daughter (3 yo) is starting to get into Hot Wheels so I have been buying some cars here and there. No mods or anything since she just wants to play with them; trying to decide if I am buying the cars for her...or for me, lol.
 
I haven't finished it yet (on holidays) but not great tbh. They're more or less a dust, which makes them only really good for highlighting/drybrushing. It's hard to get any sort of texture with them. The applicators are pretty booty too.

The tamiya sets might be a tad cheaper but 100% would take the ammo or MIG pigments and weathering pastes over them. Though, IIRC tamiya just released a bunch of pigments and pastes in the states too - which have had good feedback.

Yeah I pretty much just use them for staining and scuffing really. I leave the real pigment work to my Vallejo pigments.

It's been a while since I posted some completed builds, so here comes a bomb!

Bandai Clone Troopers
tumblr_om04vt2eHy1sar356o6_1280.jpg


Bandai Tie Striker
tumblr_olbz5kOAJf1sar356o2_1280.jpg


Honda CB750F
tumblr_okf4a4RBo71sar356o3_1280.jpg


Revell U-Wing
tumblr_oiyucezUVc1sar356o5_1280.jpg
 
Wow, Revell customer service seems a lot better than Airfix. I sent a request for a spare Churchill part (one of the track springs) to Airfix and they didn't even seem to read my email properly as they asked me to tell them the part and kit number again even though i'd included it, then they said they wanted £4 for the piece, then when i said how absurd that price was they said that was wrong and they really wanted £3. £3 for a tiny part of a £6 kit. I refused that, obviously, so that Churchill kit is never getting finished unfortunately.

Revell on the other hand, years ago i accidently glued the track wheels on a jagdpanther on backwards, meaning i had the lower chasis of it now useless and couldn't sort it out. Last month after finding out they even do spare parts I requested the entire bottom half of the chasis and those 8 wheels again, i didn't expect they'd actually do it, but i just had it turn up. I never even got a reply to my request but that also means i didn't have to pay postage or anything at all!
 
D

Deleted member 18827

Unconfirmed Member
Been building something I've wanted ever since I was kid. The Tamiya RC 1/16 King Tiger.

FmqbHbP.jpg


Finished the base coat. Ready for some camo.

vuYIKom.jpg
 
I finished my MG Turn A yesterday. I'd love some critique.

Hmm this makes me want to get a Turn A. How was the build for you? Was there anything funky with it? The panel lining looks strong but fine to me. What'd you use to panel line? Curious because how strong yours is. I just got my hands on some panel liner and trying it on the weekend. I recently got back into making gunpla and I had a really fun time hand painting mine.

I did this Destiny gundam and my gf did the Beargguys and the Quanta.

Y4RUMSr.jpg


I need to put the waterslide decals on it and then topcoat... but I've never done waterslides before so I'm really hesitant.
 

4444244

Member
Has anyone here made the Kotobukiya Dodonpachi Kit?

I'm tempted, but I don't have an airbrush. From what I understand the kit is mostly clip togther, wondered how it might look without painting.

Failing that, I could try to match the pain as best I could with some spray cans?

Lhpkjnu.jpg
 
Just about finished with another hot wheels. Got this FuguZ in a 9-pack and still haven't found a carded single. I really dig this casting and also got a bunch of 4 spoke wheels from the aircooled set that just released, they're perfect for old school jdm customs.


o38Eh0Tl.jpg


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I finally managed to get some mr hobby modeling putty/clay so I can finally start making some custom aero parts/kits. Gonna probably experiment with a liberty walk style mazda furai concept. I'm also working on a small diorama/scenery piece for taking photos. Learning little tricks and figuring stuff out as I go along.
 
Here's another stormy, just busted out some Tamiya black spray paint. It's not perfect, was really tricky getting a perfect finish, plus it ate up a whole can. Pretty expensive venture, but at least it's cheaper than trying to find a proper Bandai Shadow Trooper.

SxVIAlVCrOeW4O-vPGAT0TmlZh3f4enkdMbap-qQ81FqKr7PApx1J5cE9YngK_T5eIUUcQwhxsV13FM7pBJuYZ8eco6h4pDPP4lVB1OJzksQrDFCMSg-bbY8i1ZCHBvx0eC4CaLOz0HhKQPYZYzpD7-8rYR5SkOSG5pBMDEbptS6pG-WPSjPYVNBuKfjBnANs0VjxJaizC4l8aukyGLlIjFnffz_6dPfddS-et2zgKmB5kBznXrxzSJBbD8xqkwk0zaRyJj_CIgXaGRaz80bX10ErCOW9R_QJBdS_VMGNEfCBttTTu-66XerGfwBClf4YUxVFF7Yow3s0hi4ssmVZ1V08wpwjfxPJ1mpKBZ49w8W1jYhnqQX9n0nefj7i6n2jQGFDGIzKC1K7VU_C-GOTaCYlqBWu55y3frZ6PLrT41lg6zfJBX7QOtm5zZr1wNDzW5GOVISz8Kh6uOP5-7uI33Z4DRrPI_fF8irT1XXhqMpJMssBMSh4OWAlYUwj9LGBOO6EH9OsjCl51yzmrqFj3n98tp2ucIscbM7sezauKl1zWgkdPEiYu8rKTnlihvB9XUO-ITGgrenfHwBZE5Nexw6prO2SIirBHAQI6qiFUDRv0-exuMbrQ=s950-no
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
You're ModelChili? I'm only subscribed to six Youtube channels and yours is one of them.

Guilty as charged. That's awesome, glad I made the cut! Now that you're here, what sorta videos would you like to see more of? I kinda swing wildly between subjects, not sure how it goes down with the majority of my subs.
 
Seeing a ton of Tamiya model kits in Japan during my last trip, I became extremely interested in trying to build a tank or something myself. But I have absolutely no experience with kid building aside from some of those easy, snap-together Gundam models.

The OP is very useful in providing some of the essential tools, but I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a starter kit if I'm interested in building old military stuff. I'm especially interested in the Japanese manufacturers!
 
Seeing a ton of Tamiya model kits in Japan during my last trip, I became extremely interested in trying to build a tank or something myself. But I have absolutely no experience with kid building aside from some of those easy, snap-together Gundam models.

The OP is very useful in providing some of the essential tools, but I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a starter kit if I'm interested in building old military stuff. I'm especially interested in the Japanese manufacturers!
I made a Tamiya T34 a bit ago. Was easy enough. Look at some builds with tracks that are already done, because putting together those things is annoying as hell.

The hard part is the painting for me, I'm so bad at it.
 

MJPIA

Member
Just stumbled upon this thread.
I just finished building a 30cm/12" long battleship Bismarck metal model kit that's composed of some 130-140 pieces that took me roughly 15-20 hours to build.
Given its metal not plastic and unpainted is there a different thread for these types of models somewhere or is okay to post here?
 

kiunchbb

www.dictionary.com
Just stumbled upon this thread.
I just finished building a 30cm/12" long battleship Bismarck metal model kit that's composed of some 130-140 pieces that took me roughly 15-20 hours to build.
Given its metal not plastic and unpainted is there a different thread for these types of models somewhere or is okay to post here?

I say it's fine, unless you want to make an new OT for Metal Scale Modeling Age lol.
 

MJPIA

Member
I say it's fine, unless you want to make an new OT for Metal Scale Modeling Age lol.

Hah well given this is the first one I've ever made I'd probably wanna leave that to someone else more experienced to make if it ever happens.
Superstructure wall was too long and didn't line up because of that which caused me a fair bit of grief but otherwise the kit was of decent quality.
Not everything's straight but as long as you don't look too close it looks nice.
Do wish I could get the gun barrels lined up better though.
In hindsight I probably should've done something simpler for a first build but it worked out.

I've got a couple plastic models I've got sitting around I may try building and painting now when I have time.
I am not the greatest at painting tiny parts accurately so I've been putting them off.
 
I made a Tamiya T34 a bit ago. Was easy enough. Look at some builds with tracks that are already done, because putting together those things is annoying as hell.

The hard part is the painting for me, I'm so bad at it.

Painting is what worries me, mostly. I can't even imagine how annoying it must be to juggle the assembling and the painting, and when to do one or the other.
 
Hah well given this is the first one I've ever made I'd probably wanna leave that to someone else more experienced to make if it ever happens.

Superstructure wall was too long and didn't line up because of that which caused me a fair bit of grief but otherwise the kit was of decent quality.
Not everything's straight but as long as you don't look too close it looks nice.
Do wish I could get the gun barrels lined up better though.
In hindsight I probably should've done something simpler for a first build but it worked out.

I've got a couple plastic models I've got sitting around I may try building and painting now when I have time.
I am not the greatest at painting tiny parts accurately so I've been putting them off.

Looks pretty cool! Having done lots of photoetch work on my Enterprise I know how tricky metal can be. Must've taken a lot of work.

Painting is what worries me, mostly. I can't even imagine how annoying it must be to juggle the assembling and the painting, and when to do one or the other.

For something simple like a T-34 or other WW2 tank I'd just build it and then worry about painting. That's how I usually work with armour. Here's a T-14 Armata I'm currently building. It'll attach the sideskirts and a few fiddly bits after painting, but everything else is glued on.


Watch a few videos from Andy's Hobby HQ, he pretty much does the same thing with some pretty good results. I also did the same on a Fury I did a while back.

This is why I don't really enjoy aircraft that much, there's way too much pre-painting and fiddling around for my liking. :p
 

MJPIA

Member
Looks pretty cool! Having done lots of photoetch work on my Enterprise I know how tricky metal can be. Must've taken a lot of work.
Thanks but honestly I can't take any credit for the etching, everything came pre-etched.
Which is probably fortunate for me given this is my first even model I've made.
I was already a bit over my head as it was.
Formimg every single piece from flat sheets of metal was a pain as it was and further adding etching into the mix is probably a bit more than I'd want to do at this point.

Fortunately 430 stainless is rather pliable and can take a fair bit of folding and retries before breaking which is a nice trait when a Chinese kit gives no guidelines or instructions on how to turn a flat piece of metal into a certain sized oval or circle while still having all the mounting tabs line up.
Forming the hull so the keel fit took me hours.
Was totally worth it though in the end.
 
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