model aircraft painting troubles

[akkasoothy]

hello everybody.im new here to this forum and have been modeling all my life ,basically warhammer and various starwars and si-fi models but just recently started making model aircraft .i love the painting side of it the most and i sit for hours looking at images of pro-painted aircraft and wonder why the hell do mine not turn out like that.sometimes it does my head in. currently trying to master the art of air brushing and finding it hard. i wonder if i can use the airbrush in place of the numerous cans of spray paint i buy and use. basically i have been building a model (last one f-16) then spray painting it a base of black then spraying it with many light and numerous coats of grey until panel lines show ,seems to turn out ok ,but never looks like the ones in the photos .i just sit for hours at a time looking at real aircraft and model aircraft ,studying the weathering and trying to get my models to look real ..i guess it takes alot of practice. major problem for me is not messing up and destroying the canopys. so now im just searching for info and advise on airbrush use and what paints i can use in it and what ratios of thinner/paint ect.
hope to get some photos up soon. peace.

 

[N4521U]

You have come to the right place.... Greetings from another in Oz. Where on this island are you located.

I can only give a little direction. The whole plane is Not usually given an overall coat of black. Usually what most do is a line On the panel lines of dark gray. I would have you look thru the Group Builds section, click on the link at the right with the GB number on it, currently #15 and it will take you to the entries. Take a look thru some of them and you will see progress photos of the builds. Most will show the painting process. One day I will be brave enough to try the shade thingy. I did once, but the top color covered the lines, try and try again.

You can spray any kind of paint thru an airbrush. I start with a mix of about 30 percent thinner to paint from the bottle. If it sprays too dry add drops at a time till it suits you. I NEVER use anything but the mfrs thinner for the paint when airbrushing, or brush painting for that matter. Tamiya acrylics, Tamiya thinner! I will use cheap stuff for cleanup, alcohol for acrylics. Enamels, use good stuff to thin, crap to cleanup.

BTW, in a GB thread, never hesitate to ask the builder a question. I would say every question gets an answer, by the builder or the other readers. There is never a silly question. Someone else is probably wanting to know the same thing.

Cheers,
Bill

 

[akkasoothy]

hey thanx for help and reply . im living in sydney atm . ill have to actually buy some cheap cleaner cause i have been using expensive thinner for cleaning and it is quite pricey.
ill have alook around the builds. im painting another f16 atm, taking it slow though.

 

[Airframes]

Welcome to the forum, and Bill has more or less answered your question (although it would have been better to post it in the modelling section).
There is no short answer to your question, as a lot of factors are involved. I too have been modelling ( and painting pictures) most of my life - since about 8 years old, with a few breaks in between, and I'm now 60. The only advice I can give is to forget about all the weathering, panel line shading and so on, much of which can be pointless anyway, and concentrate on achieving consistent, good, clean paint finishes. The 'arty farty' nonsense can come later, if so desired, and the only way to achieve good, consistent results, is practice, practice and more practice and still expect the odd b@lls-up !

 

[N4521U]

I'm at the bottom of Botany Bay!!!!!
PM me your phone number and we can chat if you have time.

Ha, not Literally at the Bottom....... near Miranda!

 

[Crimea_River]

Crikey, another Aussie! Welcome aboard mate!

I agree that preshading the panel lines is a bit overrated and I tend to post shade or vary the thickness of applied colour to get a realistic weathered effect. Still perfecting my skills as well and experimenting with paints. Have recently switched from enamels to Tamiya which sprays really nice. Best advice I can give is to apply the paint in multiples of VERY thin layers, something not easily achieved with a rattle can. Start spraying off the model if you can and move onto the model in a steady back and forth.

You've recognized that it takes a lot of practice and you're right. But knowing this and being patient will be a real asset and it sounds like you have a good attention to detail if you're studying the finishes of other models and the real deal. These are good qualities that, with experience, will get you churning out some really nice stuff.

Post some pics soon and let's have a look. Also give us some more detail about why you think the clear parts are giving you heartburn.

 

[Wayne Little]

Well said Guys!

nothing wrong with another Aussie on the boards....

 

[akkasoothy]

currently building a-10 warthog, trying to get some pics of the cockpit loaded up as this is all iv done so far.

 

[akkasoothy]

and this is the last model i finished.

 

[meatloaf109]

That looks pretty darn good. By all means give Bill a call, he is better than he lets on. And I would suggest that you study the group builds, and anything by Wayne, he is a wizard.

 

[akkasoothy]

hey thanx alot .

 

[Crimea_River]

Not much wrong with those.

 

[Crunch]

Not sure what you're whinging about mate, they look great to me! And that cockpit is better than anything I've come up with. Ever.

As said above, concentrate on getting clean paint jobs, and build from there. I've only just started broadening my skills into underlining and am going to attempt my irst wash when I next paint. The guys on here have been a great help (I don't post a lot, but I read a lot!). I've also found some good vids on youtube that have been helpful.

Instead of base coating black, just follow the panel lines. I was blown away with the difference in result the first time I did it! It'll save you building up thick layers of paint to highlight bits. You can just go over with one or 2 clean coats and they show through.

As for cleaning your airbrush/brushes, go to Bunnings and get some general purpose thinners. It's $15-$30/L, and you don't need much.

And you are in the arse end of Sydney Bill. I'm up on the Central Coast. I get to go home where everyone goes for holidays 8)

(although at the moment, I'm stuck in Tassie for the week working )

 

[Wayne Little]

Not a bad job on that cockpit mate, don't be too hard on yourself...and thanks for your kind comments Paul, where do i send the plain brown envelope.....

Maybe it's time I went from senior member to Gandalf the Modelling Wizard, has a nice ring to it.....

 

[rochie]

hey that Beaufighter looks pretty damn good to me

 

[meatloaf109]

Not a bad job on that cockpit mate, don't be too hard on yourself...and thanks for your kind comments Paul, where do i send the plain brown envelope.....

Maybe it's time I went from senior member to Gandalf the Modelling Wizard, has a nice ring to it.....

I will second that! Let's get the "powers that be" on the job!

 

[Rogi]

Your model looks great, but in that sense I know what you mean by "pro" built stuff.

It takes lots of practice and loads more time than any of us really want to put in sometimes, I've talked to some of the "Pros" at model building contests and they all are on pretty much the same agreement, they sometimes re-do a part over and over and over X20 again just to get it to look "right", they also spend incredible amounts of time for something we reg. non magical people would consider "sub par and not worth my time atm :S"

anyway its mostly through practice that you get better and better, theres no real way to say "do this and this and you'll get it"

 

[Airframes]

All looks good to me.

 

[akkasoothy]

thaxalot guys . i have another question if anyone may know the answer. after i have pre shaded the panel lines all black ,i have usually just used a Spray can for the main coat. does it come out better if an air brush is used for the main coat .reason being is that i have not much exp with an air brush and spray can is way easy , although it tends to come outy abit thick. and i donno what ratios of thinner to paint to use for a main coat , basically dont want to screw my model up.
also would love to get some paint off some old models to redo , any ideas?
thanx dan..

 

[Crimea_River]

Airbrush will give you far better flow control of paint. Rattle cans are all or nothing.

Never had to remove paint but I've heard brake fluid works. Someone else might know more.