When making Airfix models, what's better? To paint the pieces first, then glue them together, or build it first and then paint it as a whole? cheers marcus
When making Airfix models, what's better? To paint the pieces first, then glue them together, or build it first and then paint it as a whole? cheers marcus A bit of both usually Marcus. I usually paint the fiddly bits while still on the sprue. Assemble the main tub, and then paint, decal and weather that. Add the fiddly bits and then a final touch up. And remember a tip from the great Steve Zaloga. In small-scales, paint everything below the superstructure brown. Really.
One huge disadvantage with painting on the sprue Marcus. Your glue won't work properly on the painted bits, remember you need to scrape the paint off any areas that need gluing. When you're done, We want pictures .
One huge disadvantage with painting on the sprue Marcus. Your glue won't work properly on the painted bits, remember you need to scrape the paint off any areas that need gluing. When you're done, We want pictures . Cheers for the tips lads. Got to build all those vehicles listed on the Santa thread first. :mellow: Once done, I'll post them on here to see what you think. cheers
Don't forget to clean up the mould lines and trim the excess sprue off too. My tip for painting is build as much as you can first and only paint fiddly bits that you won't be able to fit a paint brush once it's finished. Before using glue, do a dry fit first, just so you can see how the bits go together. Once that seems OK then use glue.
Well I finished the Sherman last night. Looks OK. Acording to the instructions, the whole body is one colour. I wouldn't mind adding a bit of artisticness and making it look 'weathered' as Bod mentioned. Any ideas how to do that? I took a photo of it on my phone. Set it up nicely with some infantry running along side, some plastic trees borrowed from my nephews train set and sat the whole thing on a spread out pouch of Golden Virginia to give it the effect of mud or grass. Ha looks alright for an amatuer. I'm going to my mates next week who's a wizz on puters. he's gonna put the photo of it on here for you to see and also loads of pics I've been busy drawing. Bout time I stuck 'em on the art thread. marcus
Well I finished the Sherman last night. Looks OK. Acording to the instructions, the whole body is one colour. I wouldn't mind adding a bit of artisticness and making it look 'weathered' as Bod mentioned. Any ideas how to do that? I took a photo of it on my phone. Set it up nicely with some infantry running along side, some plastic trees borrowed from my nephews train set and sat the whole thing on a spread out pouch of Golden Virginia to give it the effect of mud or grass. Ha looks alright for an amatuer. I'm going to my mates next week who's a wizz on puters. he's gonna put the photo of it on here for you to see and also loads of pics I've been busy drawing. Bout time I stuck 'em on the art thread. marcus go for it Marcus. a bit of dust and dirt is easily added with a little pastal finely chopped. Kev
Give it a wash of thinned down black paint to add shadows & depth. Let it dry. Then do some "dry-brushing" to highlight the raised areas, use the base colour with some white mixed in then wipe most of paint off the brush and dust the model all over with a very nearly dry brush.
Drawing on with HB pencil is good for a bit of chipping and rubbed areas, use it very sparingly though. If you do a wash or pastels, again be very sparing and use very thin paint; less is often more in weathering land. Another handy thing is a very fine black pen (those fineline things, nothing special) can be used to accentuate some areas that would benefit from darker sharp lines (obvious weld seams, hatch & plate joins etc.).
Nice one Adam. Didn't think of using a black pen. Some of the bolts and hatches have been covered a little with the paint, so that may do the job nicely. cheers marcus
Back in the '80's a fella called Francois Verlinden (IMHO a modelling genius!!) produced a series of books called "The Verlinden Way". I think it ran to 6 volumes and there were also a few 'one-off' specials dealing with specific subjects such as AFV's and figures. These books improved my modelling overnight and are definitely worth a look if you can find them. Best regards, Paul...........
If your new to modelling or coming back to it after a period of adsence I can recommend enough the Military Modelling web site. It has its own forum and is a wealth of information. The members are very friendly and will give you loads of great advice Military Modelling, Military Modelling Magazine
