Any plastic or wood model builders here ?

[LEGION 12]

I have been building model ships for awhile now this will be my first build using a add on photo -etch kit , anyone have any tips ?

 

[Ebbtide]

It's been a long long time since I've built a kit. This is the last survivor of many. Mainly prop driven airplanes (twin engine oddballs a favorite) and armor.
I have no idea about this photo etching, please tell us about it.

 

[LEGION 12]

 

[LEGION 12]

They are brass etched parts that either come with newer kits or add ons for older kits they replace plastic parts or are extras , rails , funnel caps , life boat frames and on and on. They also make brass turned guns as a add ons .

 

[JB in SC]

I built plastic models when I was a teenager, mostly cars. Won a few local trophies. I think the biggest help was a Badger Air Brush, sure made for some great paint jobs.

My wife and I built a few ships, her skill with the rigging and my skills filling in gaps in the hull, etc. made for some nice models. I just ran out of spare time as our kids grew up.

 

[jaseman]

Used to build a lot of model cars as a kid. The cheaper models (AMT, Revell, etc.) would get chopped up and modified. I probably had two giant tackle boxes of just spare parts - tires, engines, seats, and such. With a Dremel, heat gun, plastic stock, and an airbrush, I made some pretty wild creations. But I also liked the higher end Tamiya stuff, which I'd detail out the models with full wiring, seatbelts, and all the other bells and whistles. I got really good by the time I was 14 or 15.

Wish I knew what happened to all the models that used to sit on the shelves of my bedroom as a kid. I know some of them fell victim to bottle rockets and M80's (with spectacular effect!) but I bet most just eventually made their way into the trash as I got older and moved out.

 

[LEGION 12]

 

[flatblackcapo]

LEGION 12 How's the kit going?
I used to be into building car kits many years ago. Awhile back I dug out some stuff I still had stashed away and found this Ferrari 213T kit that I started but never finished.
This is as far as I got

 

[LEGION 12]

LEGION 12 How's the kit going?
I used to be into building car kits many years ago. Awhile back I dug out some stuff I still had stashed away and found this Ferrari 213T kit that I started but never finished.
This is as far as I got

Guns are assembled and painted.

 

[LEGION 12]

Lower deck is glued on .

 

[LEGION 12]

Just primed the hull today.

 

[flatblackcapo]

Guns are assembled and painted.

Lookin' good so far.
Maybe I will get around to working on that 213T kit.
I only started on it about 10 years ago.

 

[LEGION 12]

Lookin' good so far.
Maybe I will get around to working on that 213T kit.
I only started on it about 10 years ago.

I've had that ship for over 10 years I'm determined to try and finish it .

 

[WValtakis]

Oh man! Please pardon the dust I too have been known to put my OCD to productive use...if it's a molded in detail it MUST be painted

Jedi Starfighter (the exterior is MUCH too dusty to show)


~Chip

 

[LEGION 12]

Hulls painted.

 

[LEGION 12]

Spotlights are all painted.

 

[Charlie_K]

You people are seriously putting me to shame. The majority of my experience with plastic models are the Gundam master grade model kits. I've painted visible pistons to look metallic, and filled in the seam lines with markers to break up the exteriors, but that's about it.

 

[LEGION 12]

My first success with a photo etch part my first try was a ladder and it didn't work well.

 

[Airborne 1]

LEGION 12
I've been build models for a few years and I see your making progress on that ship. Photo etch is a PITA.It takes patience and a very light touch (as your finding out ). Are you cleaning the sheet before you start ? If not, its hard to get paint to stick, same with the plastic. A bath in the sink with dish liq. Clean the PE with 90%alcohol .Ask me how I know this !I learned the hard way. Very sharp x-acto knives (hone those things ). Good tweezers and a piece of glass to cut those little googers free . If your eyes are as bad as mine (old fart here) a magnifying glass helps.
Keep at it ,you'll figure it out.

 

[LEGION 12]

LEGION 12
I've been build models for a few years and I see your making progress on that ship. Photo etch is a PITA.It takes patience and a very light touch (as your finding out ). Are you cleaning the sheet before you start ? If not, its hard to get paint to stick, same with the plastic. A bath in the sink with dish liq. Clean the PE with 90%alcohol .Ask me how I know this !I learned the hard way. Very sharp x-acto knives (hone those things ). Good tweezers and a piece of glass to cut those little googers free . If your eyes are as bad as mine (old fart here) a magnifying glass helps.
Keep at it ,you'll figure it out.

Yes I cleaned the whole sheet before I even started , I learned the hard way about cutting that stuff on a soft surface bends the crap out of it my first attempt was a ladder , ruined it . Magnifying glass and 1.50 reading glasses .