Perfect your modeling skills here.
Competition Hand book PDF HERE
Masking
By Dave Wellen
Masking Engine Nacelles Made Easy
Ever spent hours upon hours painting and detailing the engine of one of those wingy thingies only to
be faced later with the dilemma of having to paint the exterior body color and desperately trying to
figure out how to mask the darn thing? The problem is fraught with compound curves in a tight space,
there is delicate interior detail to contend with, and oh, by the way, you want to feather the exterior
color into the interior color. If that sounds like a problem you’ve come across, here’s a new (to me)
technique that I developed this afternoon. The tools you’ll need are:
First, assemble the model as you normally would, detailing and pre painting to your heart’s content.
During this process, make sure to paint the interior color of the engine nacelle the color you want.
That’s the hard part. Once you have gathered the necessary items and are ready to mask for painting
the exterior, the rest of the process is really pretty simple.
Happy modeling,
Dave
Dave has sent us a graphic of a "remove before flight" tag for you to capture
and resize to your liking and here it is:
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All, I know not all of us are airplane guys (or gals), but here is a neat little freebie to tuck away in the toolbox. It’s a jpeg (100% created by me, so no copyright issues) of a single REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT flag of the variety found peppered all over and inside just about any USAF aircraft on the ground. The real thing is about 18” long by 2” wide, and the image is scaled to 1/32 with a length of 0.5625”, but you could convert it to just about any scale just by doing a little math and adjusting the image size using your favorite image editing software. Plaster the image multiple times into a single new image, print on white decal paper, apply to both sides of some aluminum foil strips, run a little red paint along the edges, and viola…home made remove before flight flags that you can bend into any shape your heart desires.
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I am in the process of building a couple of automobiles for Matt's Diner, a 48' Ford Convertible
and a 49' Merc. I want to strip the chrome plating off of the chrome parts. I want paint the parts
different colors & finishes, call me crazy!
I started by comparing two chrome stripping agents - Bleach and Westley's Bleche-White
(Tire Cleaner). Both agents stripped the plating off of the parts, however the Bleach strips
quicker and is less expensive.Rinse in Warm -Hot water. Now that the plating is removed you
can stop with Clear Lacquer coated white plastic parts, or remove the lacquer to get down to
the plastic - But How? I cut the parts off of the main spru tree, leaving at least one attachment
point along with the part number. I then soaked the parts in Nail Polish Remover with Acetone.
It strips off the lacquer, but doesn't attack the plastic part. Rinse in Warm-Hot water. Now you
can remove seams or imperfections, polish the plastic, glue & paint multiple parts, or prep it
for a different metallic finish (Alcad).
Ken
An observation: By Dekker
Six degrees of Kevin Bacon:
O.k. I just finished watching District 9 on DVD and made a unique connection.
1. The film was produced by Peter Jackson, the guy who filmed the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
2. Peter Jackson lives and filmed Lord of the Rings in New Zealand.
3. District 9 was partially filmed and edited in New Zealand.
4. Rumor had it he was the force behind Wingnut Wings models, the 1/32nd scale WWI super detailed models.
5. Wing Nut Wings is in New Zealand.
6. The company that produced District 9 was called Wingnut films.
Presto Peter Jackson is Wingnut Wings and Wingnut Films!
Now if he will only produce models of the vehicles and Mech in the District 9 movie and maybe in 1/32nd scale!
Go Peter!
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Giving your old airplane models new life By Matt Quiroz If you are anything like me then you probably have one or twelve airplane kits lying around that could use some attention or TLC to get them back in the game as it were. A lot of what I had were ones that had some type of damage to their landing gear parts whether it meant that it was broken or missing entirely, there they sat. Some were less than stellar builds i.e. a Heller 1/72 A-10. While these would never see then inside of my display case they also had something else in common; these being that the tires were still with the kit which would be important for what I wanted to do. I decided to get them repaired somehow to free up some space on my shelves….so I could put more models on there of course! What I decided to do was build what I had wheels up as if they were in flight and then hang them from my ceiling in my modeling room much like we all used to do when we were kids. So far my fledgling Air Force consists of 5 planes. There are more waiting to be finished, and it will be considerably easier than trying to repair them to the point that they can stand on their own legs or become contest goers at some point. Building them gear up is usually easier as the parts count is reduced considerably. So, if you have some aircraft lying there with some busted up gear, or you just aren’t all the thrilled with how they came out, don’t trash them, resort to your childhood ways…no not firecrackers either, but build them gear up and hang them up someplace for you and others to enjoy. I would recommend that you not hang them in your bedroom though. The wives seem to frown on that practice for some reason.
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Paint labels
By Rodger Cole
I admit I don’t take as good of care of my paints as I should. I rarely remember
to wipe off the threads before putting the cap back. Result, many paints that
either dry out or that are impossible to remove the cap. A while back though
I found a tip in Fine Scale Modeler that I tried that works very well. The plastic
lids from soda bottles, normally 2 liter bottles but most any bottle should do,
fit well over Testors Model Master, Pactra Polly S, and Floquil paint bottles.
By replacing the original lids with these plastic lids the paint seems to stay
fresher and the lid is much easier to remove. The lids have a ridged edge
that is easy to grasp. At the very worst I can use a standard pair of pliers to
open the lid and I’ve never had one I’m unable to open.
My routine now is to use my laser printer to print out labels for my paints,
put in a few BB steel shot to aid stirring, and replace the lid with the soda lid.
I use Avery 05408 white laser labels. I went onto www.avery.com to download
a free template to print this label. I recommend using a laser printer, if you have
one, as the printing is more durable.
You’ll note in my photo of my paint drawer that there is no pattern to the order
I have the paints. I tried keeping them in numeric order but I found that far too
anal, plus they only stayed in order about one paint session.
Mud up your tank
By Rodger Cole
The last time I decided to “mud up” a tank model was almost the end of my marriage,
possibly even my life. Let me explain. My old method was to mix Mr. Dissolved Putty
with Woodland Scenics coarse turf and some sand to make a gooey mess that I would
lather onto the suspension. The problem was the smell. Even though I opened my
work room window wide open, and ran the ceiling fan at high speed, the smell from
the putty filled the entire house. My wife, whose sense of smell would rival the
keenest bloodhound, threatened me all sorts of bodily injuries if I ever did it in the
house again. Reading Steven Zologa’s book, Modelling US Army Tank Destroyers
I found a mention of “Acrylic Texture Gels.” He specified Liquitex, but also said
that other brands were available. So with the latest 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby
in my hot little hand I went in search of this item.
In the art supplies section of the store, the isle where they have pain brushes and such,
I found not only Liquitex, but also Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic Mediums. There
were a number of different textures available from each brand but the one I chose was
the Mineral Texture Gel from Winsor & Newton. This medium has dark grey pumice
particles mixed into the product, eliminating the need to add sand. Covertly opening
the bottle at the store I was pleased to note that it didn’t smell nearly as bad, or as
strong, as the dissolved putty. I was also happy to see that a 250 ml jar was only $8.99,
compared to $4.99 for a 40 ml bottle of dissolved putty, and this was before the 40%
off coupon.
The texture gel did everything I had hoped it would. I mixed up a batch along with
some acrylic dark brown paint, and some coarse turf, and slathered it onto the hull
and running gear of my Academy M-18 Hellcat I was putting into a winter setting.
The result was everything I had achieved with the dissolved putty. I might have
taken a bit longer to dry but other than that the effect was the same. I can also see
this material being used for ground work in small areas, perhaps a base for a small
viginette. I will have to experiment with the mineral texture gel, along with some
of the other blends. I think there are many possibilities with the type of product.
Give this item a try.
How to create a new weld seam
This technique is for ages of 18+ as it involves a hot soldering iron!
I recently needed a seam on a tank to have the look of a weld.
I achieved this by use of a tool called a pyrograviture, this is
is a fancy way of saying a soldering iron with a special tip.
I started by getting a x-acto soldering iron with replaceable
knife blade marketed as a hot knife. I replaced the #11 blade
with a offset chisel blade to get in tighter places. I then glued
evergreen .010 x .020 strip styrene along the seam with Tennax 7R.
I then CAREFULLY taped the styrene with the hot blade at a slight
angle. It would melt a ridge in the plastic. I proceeded to "stipple"
along the strip. After this was done I brushed the weld with more Tennax
to soften the texture and make it look like a soft weld.
This technique takes practice so experiment on spare parts first and remember
the iron is HOT and can burn you so be carefull!
How to build models without busting the bank
By Scott Stathis
When many of us started building models 20 or more years ago, kits were fairly
cheap. But in recent years with the advent of the uber-kit finding a model kit for less then
30 dollars or more can be a challenge. Likewise, the cost of paints and other supplies has
also greatly increased. How then can we as avid model builders and penny pinchers save
some dough?
My solution: Buy in bulk the things you use a lot. (x-acto blades, pipettes,
microbrushes ect.) I usually buy on Ebay the items I need in bulk. Now I know not
everyone likes Ebay, or is it Evilbay? But what ever source you choice to use is fine.
Here is an example I just received in the mail today. I really like using microbrushes
they are small, flexible and disposable. But at $1.79 for a pack of ten it can be pretty
expensive in the long run. So I went on Ebay and guess what I found?
There are 100 microbrushes in each of those tubes. The Sizes range from super fine to
regular. Each tube cost me $4.95 plus $1.80 shipping, for a total of $13.50. At $1.79 a
pack of 10 from the hobby store would have run me $35.80 plus tax.
I have also bought a bag of 100 pipettes and 100 x-acto type blades in this same way
and saved a lot of money in the process.
Can we always do this? No. But I figure if I save where I can that will leave me more
money for that new kit I’m just dying to get.
Realistic exhaust
By Matt Quiroz
Every once in awhile, we stumble on something that is
not designed specifically for our hobby and this is
just one such instance. A good friend of mine builds
WWI aircraft and he was always able to achieve some
very realistic appearances on the exhausts of his
aircraft that were textured, rusted, etc. I asked what
his secret was and he showed me: Sophisticated Finishes.
It is an aging solution designed for use on pottery,
crafts, figurines etc. and consists of a two-part
system, an Iron Metallic Solution and a Rusting Solution.
The first part consists of 100% iron shavings suspended
in an acrylic water-based medium. The second material
contains ammonium chloride and copper sulfate. When
applied over the iron surfacer base coat it reacts by
actually oxidizing/rusting the underlying coat. The more
rusting solution applied, the more rust will appear. Apply the Iron solution first followed by the Rusting solution.
For more orange-looking rust, apply the rusting solution
while the Iron solution is still somewhat damp. For darker
brown looking rust, let the Iron solution dry more. The dryer
the Iron solution, the darker the rust finish will be. Several
light coats will produce a better finish than one heavy coat.
Additional coats should be applied 24 hours apart, although
I have added additional coats considerably sooner and still
achieved very good results. The effect achieved on the photos
to the left took less than an hour.
Since there are some caustic chemicals in this product, it
is advisable to use proper safety measures when using them.
Obviously, you should read carefully the instructions and
warnings on the product. I paid $18 for my set, but the
solutions can be purchased individually too. There are other
products in the same line designed to achieve different finishes;
a patina finish, and copper, among others. This product is
available at most craft stores and well stocked art stores.
My test subject for this article is an old Tamiya German lower
hull. The Iron solution was shaken well and applied with an
old brush. Even though the solution cleans up with water, I
wouldn’t use a good brush to apply this stuff. I used a hair
dryer set on high to help speed the drying time. Once dry, I
applied a second coat and again used the dryer to help speed
the drying time. The Rusting solution was applied and allowed
to dry on its own as I typed this. Even in the short amount
of time that it sat drying, the rusting process has started
as you can see in the photos. I applied a second coat and
also set this aside to dry while I worked on some other projects.
Now some 25 minutes later there is a definite change in the rust.
Once you see where the rust is developing, additional coats can
be added to customize the effect you’re after. I concentrated
the applications to the drive sprocket area and the upper and
lower areas of the hull. After three applications you can really
see the difference from when the initial coat was applied. Once
everything is dry, it is suggested that the surface be sealed.
Once sealed, washes and dry brushing can be added to enhance
the look of the effected area.
While this method is a little involved the results are well
worth the effort it if you are going for a seriously rusted
out vehicle or just some nice looking exhausts.
Instant adhesion
Ever have trouble holding parts while even the fastest glue sets?
Or cant hold the part still while the glue sets?
Try brushing superglue accelerator on one part and apply glue to the other.
when they touch BAM they stick instantly.
Pigment problems.
If you use MIG brand pigments they work great but be careful
as they will stain your rug in no time and a simple vacuuming
will only make it worse so be sure to brush them inside a box
and be sure to wash your hands afterwards. this stuff gets
everywhere!
Blast off!
Next time you are sanding a bunch of putty be sure to have a
can of "dust off" compressed air handy. You can get all the residue
out of the scribed panels before they ruin you paint job.
It can be found at any office supply store. Also good for dusting
models on your shelves.
Zimmerit shoot out.
By Dekker Zimmerman
I recently got into 1/35th German WWII armor and quickly found out that many were
coated in a material called zimmerit. This was a paste that was applied to tanks and armor
to prevent magnetic mines from sticking to the hull. The paste was a mix of materials that
when mixed resembled concrete. It was spread with a trowel in various patterns to keep
the weight down. This ranged from horizontal lines to a "waffel" pattern.
I soon realized that most kits did not have this feature molded on. Model companies had
problems molding the texture to look hand applied. The one option was to apply this on
models by hand. Dragon models is releasing models with a new technology called slide
molding and can replicate zimmerit fairly well but only have a few kits out.
(see the kit review page for details on one)
I decided to take the plunge and try my hand at modeling this texture. There are many
ways to do this including putty, epoxy putty, pre-made resin sheets and photo etch.
Below is a brief description on each
1. Putty- Many forms and dry times (discussed below)
2. Epoxy putty- A two part thick gum like material that has a long dry time but is thick
when applied and needs to be textured by a screwdriver blade or doe roller.
3. Pre-made resin sheets- These are very thin flexible resin sheets with molded in texture
and cut to he shapes in the model. These are a fast way to apply zimmerit but you will
still need to know how to use the putty method to fill in gaps.
4. Photo etch- These are thin metal sheets cut to the shape of a models parts. They are
hard to apply on complex surfaces so you will still need to know how to use putty.
I experimented with six different types of putty raked with the Tamiya brand of
zimmerit tool. This tool is a must if you are simulating the scrape method of zimmerit.
Some putties dried to fast and caused "tearing" and others attacked the plastic to hard.
The six types of putty I tried were:
1. House hold spackle, for wll repairs
2. Tamiya polyester putty
3. Testors white putty
4. Squadron white putty (green was just too gumy)
5. Molak Stuco
6. RPM's Red Bondo
I taped off 1"x2" squares on black Evergreen styrene and spread a glob of each putty on
to the squares the "raked" them with the Tamiya 0.7 tall rake. I raked a 1/4" then slid the
tool down slightly then dragged then up 1/4" ect. to simulate the real pattern on
German armor. The results were as follows:
1. House hold Spackle
This was bought at a hardware shop. It is water soluble and has a problem sticking to
flexible parts. It dries quickly, in a few minutes, it will be to tough to rake and will tear.
It spreads VERY thin and might be a good scale choice for 1/48th armor. No odor.
2. Tamiya polyester putty
This putty is VERY toxic and the fumes are horrible. This putty had the longest work
time as you mix 2 parts to make it and spreads smoothly. It had the best performance
while raking but the smell will drive you out of you model room immediately! Too bad.
3. Testors white putty
This putty is by far the cheapest but skins over almost immediately causing tears.
This sometimes looks like zimmerit damage but is hard to control. Low odder.
4. Squadron white putty
This putty dries quickly and has some tearing. It bites into the plastic well with out
melting it. I found it easy to repair when dry as it sets up strong and will guide the
rake well for touch up. medium odder. This is the best of the 6 in my book.
5. Molak stuco
Molak stuco is VERY smooth. and spreads well. The down side is it seemed to blend
together in places. This putty is also hard to find. Low odder.
6. RPM Red Bondo
This is a auto body filler found at auto parts stores and was also sold as Testor Red Putty.
This putty is ideal for filling gaps BUT when I tried to rake it it had immediately attacked
the plastic underneath and the rake scored the softened plastic below. It also blended
together a bit. Not a great choice for zimmerit but great for seams.
The first choice is buy a Dragon model with molded zimmerit
The second choice is to buy the thin resin sheets that are pre-molded
The third choice is using putty.
My conclusion was that for my style of modeling the squadron white putty worked the
best It only needed a bit more dry time. Here is a photo if it applied to a Tiger I gun mantlet.
I hope this helps in you modeling.
For more info on zimmerit visit www.panzerworld.net/zimmerit
DZ.
Extra! Extra!
Knock-out pin killer revealed!
Have you ever had problems with those pesky ejector pin marks (the little round marks)
on your model parts? Well fret no more for our own club member Paul Benko has rescued
us all. He has come up with a easy to make tool to help. At a recent demo he did for the
club he showed how to use small brass rod with a small piece of double side mounting
tape stuck to it then with a small piece of washable sand paper stuck to it makes a micro sand stick.
To top it off he showed how to take a cheap electric tooth brush and turn it into a micro orbital sander.
Step one: pull out all the bristles of the brush with pliers.
Step two: cut a piece of the double side foam tape, in the shape you want, to the rotating head.
Step three: cut a small piece of washable sand paper and stick it on the tape.
Step four: DESTROY ALL EJECTOR PINS! Last photo shows the mark on the left is wiped out.
The math of models. Here.
Creating realistic palm trees. Here.
Federal Standard (FS) conversion chart. HERE.
