Model Kits

Hey, I've been getting back into model kits and given some of the tools and techniques you use can be carried over to doing Plarail and Tomy customs, I thought I'd start a thread showing what I'm working on at the moment however if anyone else builds model kits they are welcome to join in too.

My first ever model kit I had when I was about 7, an Italeri Spitfire Vb/trop in 1/72 scale, though the first I ever actually built was a Revell 1/144 F-16. Because the Spitfire was the first I had, I wanted to build another one now, 11 years later, to see how much better I could do and also to get me started back into the hobby because it couldn't hurt to learn some painting and scratchbuilding stuff for model railways.

There is 11 years worth of dust on that and yet I still have the box, sprues and decals.


I bought a brass cockpit etch for the kit too so I could have all those beautiful tiny details but looking back it was a poor choice as you can barely see inside without any of the glass.

Here are some pics.




The paint lifted a bit when I tried to apply a wash over the top of everything, even with a clear on top. This is because the only greens I had were enamel and even then I had to mix that shade myself.

Not visible in this pic but to act as glass, I spread some clear gloss over the back of the openings which gave a thin clear film.

Fuselage halves and wings assembled.

Painting a pale blue underneath as this is what I've heard the tropical spitfires were painted in. Varying accounts yield various shades and paint brands so I mixed this myself using acrylics. They spray much better than enamels, I find.

Same green as the cockpit.




And that's where I'm at so far. I have a lot of smaller parts painted already but I don't have pics of them in decent lighting.

So I'll keep updating this thread with my progress and I hope everyone else joins in with their model kit projects too!

- Tree

[Super]

Is that a camouflage stencil that came with the kit or something you created? I am curious as to the camo colors, are they from a real plane? I assume its all airbrushed?

I look forward to watching you on these as it takes me way back in putting together model car kits a hundred years ago. I do like to watch some of the YouTube videos of model builders like this guy, Will Pattison https://www.youtube.com/user/barpfoto/videos

The camo pattern was a scanned and printed version of those in the instruction manual which in turn came from a real plane, as for the colours... Well, I tried to get them close to the real colours but there isn't exactly much to base it on. I see a lot of people go for more yellowy base colours which is what I originally wanted, as well as a lighter brown but my eyes let me down and I don't particularly want to remask and respray. Yes it's all airbrushed, apart from the smaller details in the cockpit.

If you've got any pics of those car kits you made, I'd love to see them! As for watching people on youtube, a really good channel I found (that coincidentally made me want to get back into modelling) is PLASMO - Plastic Models. definitely recommend checking him out for something relaxing to watch.

[Super]

Well, I tried to get them close to the real colours but there isn't exactly much to base it on.

Would those colors be from the Desert Theater?

If you've got any pics of those car kits you made, I'd love to see them!

LOL...camera's weren't invented yet when I was a lad.

I’ve managed to acquire a pretty large collection of model kits over the last few decades but I rarely build them anymore.

Fortunately, my daughter has shown an interest in model building and she’s even built a couple of simple models. Guess who will inherit the vast Stash-O-Doom?

It's good to know that model kits are somewhat timeless given their continued popularity in younger and older generations.

Sorry for no updates on the Spitfire visually but it crashed and was nearly written off completely. I was trying to add some weathering powders because modelling for me is supposed to be a learning experience plus it adds a little something extra to finished models seeing them with paint chips, exhaust soot, mud etc. Anyway, when I was putting the powders on, to avoid touching the fuselage or anything else where disturbed (fingerprints) powders would be visible, I was holding the plane by a small piece of plastic that aligns the prop to the rest of the plane. Given it's only 1/72 scale and weighs almost nothing, I had been using this for painting the plane up to this point as well with no issue so thought it would be fine. No. It snapped off in my fingertips and the plane dropped to the hard kitchen floor belly-down because of course it couldn't land upside down or on its side leaning against something. Belly-down, all wheels broke off. It took 11 or so years for my original one to lose all its landing gear and 1.1 seconds for the new one to do the same. I've tried gluing the parts back on but given how many layers of paint I had up to this point, they got in the way of the glue and ruined the paint finish while also ruining any chance of reattaching with any strength. Adding to this, when trying to reattach the landing gear, the right wing separated from its lower half.

I'm livid at the moment, not least because after adding the decals I considered calling it finished but convinced myself to go the extra effort to see how well it comes out. Guess I'll just add that to the list of thousands of moments of regret I wish I could redo.

EDIT: changed my mind, here are pics.











This was after trying to glue everything back together. I know the weathering looks a bit far fetched in the pic but under normal lighting conditions it's just enough to be visible.

- Tree

[Super]

Bummer but instead of 'a moment of regret' I see it as a moment of learning...not to do that again.

I am curious as to the paint in the close up of the wing as it looks orange peeled and yet you used an airbrush. Or was that the look you were going for?

It did orange peel and it wasn't intended. I have been painting outside because I'm not allowed to paint in the house and one theory I had was the paint partially drying in the space between being in the airbrush to on the surface of the model. Unlikely, I know, but so far that's all I could think of. It is possible thought that I didn't clean the airbrush properly or I'm not thinning paints well enough to cause them to spit out as little blobs randomly at the same time as the smooth flow of everything else. I do have another airbrush I could try but it's not a top-fed one and is a little inconvenient for something as small as this.

You mentioned earlier that the camouflage was from the desert theatre and this is correct. The instructions for this kit (for the variant I'm doing) say T-L flew from Malta in 1942. The second desert schemed spitfire variant able to be made from the kit is for the 'clipped' wing AB502 of North Africa in 1943. The kit also gives a third option, a US air force Spitfire flown from the UK in green and grey scheme - not quite as interesting!

[Super]

Yeah, Airbrushing can be tricky at times, too much thinner, too little, too much pressure, too little, spraying too thick or too thin, too large of tip too small............

I did a little looking and it turns out I probably didn't thin the paint enough which was a little bit of a shock to me but fair enough, noted for next time. The orange peel effect has somewhat disappeared with the application of the final matt coats over the top.

Final coats?

That's right, it's done! 






It's disappointing you can't actually see into the cockpit anymore but that is to be expected at this scale.




Let me know what you think!

Now to change topic slightly, I don't know whether it's a lack of interest in model kits, lack of awareness of kits that would interest people etc. but I did expect the thread to take off a little more instead of being my personal dumping ground. Given that a lot of members here have some model trains, I'll list a few manufactures of loco kits here;

Dapol manufacture British locos, rolling stock and some structures using toolings from the 1950s. Originally branded as Rosebud Kitmaster, the moulds were purchased and used by Airfix after the company went bust. In the mid or late 90s these were then purchased by Dapol and continue to be produced today. Some of the locos they produce include the BR 9F, City of Truro, SR Battle of Britain class, LMS pug etc. I believe the Battle of Britain kit would be excellent for somebody wanting to try a custom Tomy/Plarail/Trackmaster 1.0 Rebecca - I've certainly toyed with the idea given I have Neville and at least 3 kits for the BoB!   The tools are old though, be warned, so some slight imperfections are to be expected but nothing serious. They are cheap though and readily available online and in some hobby stores!

Revell is another brand (a more popular one at that) which produce some locomotive kits. Because the German branch of the company produces them, they are mostly German locos though they do produce a Big Boy kit and in the past a NYC Hudson as well which was an ex-Monogram tooling. They don't produce it anymore as the moulds are most likely worn out but you may be able to find one second-hand.

Italeri do some European outline wagon kits and I believe a BR52 as well.

Arii used to (or maybe they still do, let me know please) make some Japanese locos in 1/50 scale including the D51 and C57. These can easily be found on Amazon or eBay.

Aoshima also do Japanese locos in 1/50 scale, though more modern diesel and electric locomotives. From the images I have seen, they have amazing detail out of the box and despite my lack of interest in Japanese railways and stock, I am seriously considering getting one of these kits.

Trumpeter did or do a model kit for a BR52 in 1/35 scale which is near enough to Gauge 1 which most of us know as the scale used for the model series episodes of TTTE.

Thunder Model is a brand I only found recently, though they do 1/35 European outline rolling stock as well as a 1/35 scale BR80.

So there are definitely some great options out there for those wanting railway related model kits or just for those with an interest in the hobby all together.   If people know of any more railway related kit manufacturers please do let me know!

- Tree