I’m Mat and I’m bran-new in the business! Although I’ve loved aviation for as long as I can remember, I am just starting to take modelling seriously. I do have a dozen models including a Mosquito, Anston, and Saab Viggen under my belt, along with a diorama of the Battle of Dieppe. I am all about World War two.
So now that you know a few things about me and my “collection”, here’s what I ask of you; having seen some models and dio’s posted on the site, I envy all of you who can make them happen. As a newbie, but a fellow model-maker, I was wondering if you could direct some advice, tips, and tricks of the trade towards me! I don’t have many materials other than some cement, tweezers and a few brushes. I don’t have a big budget for this, but I would like to buy more tools, so please shwo me what is worth buying, and what i can use to facilitate the creation of great models!
Welcome to the Forum[#welcome]. Your question is really to broad to answer in one post, but some of the basic tools would be an X-acto type Knife with a bunch of #11 blades, some sanding sticks in medium & fine grit, several grades of wet & dry sandpaper, a pin vice and a set of small diameter drill bits, a set of needle files with at least a flat, rat tail & half round, a scribing tool, a razor saw, a steel 6" ruler, a pair of small precision scissors, and so on. As budget allows, a good airbrush & compressor should be high on your list. Over time you will be amazed at the number of modeling tools you can acquire. Hope this helps a little. I’m sure others will chime in with even more helpful advice.
Welcome to FSM. Those are some pretty broad questions. As you may have noticed there are other sections to this forum that deal with various tools, tips and techniques. I would suggest browsing them. I too am a WW2 fan and my site (link in signiture) may offer some help on kits and tips as well. If you have specific questions just ask - there are a lot of very friendly, helpful and knowledgable folks here willing to help you out.
welcome to the site. i can sympathise with the lack of major finances to do this, however if you are located near a walmart, target, kmart, or any other type of large retail department store you have at your disposal a number of things. in the arts and crafts dept you will find knives, brushes, paint pallets, small cups for storing paints and such, and different finishing products. the auto dept has sandpaper, glue, and fillers. the cleaning supplies have future. the tools dept is great for little things such as drill bits. the there are styrofoam bowls for misc jobs. start small buy here and there and you will find you can have a large base of tools and supplies. now the sore spot, the toy department may have paints, kits, propellant, and if you are lucky a testor kit with an airbrush. they are inexpensive and over time you can build quite a collection.
on the subject of kits, if you wish to begin small you can stick with the kits there or you can order online or mail order from many places. with this resource you can purchase any kit you wish (within financial constraints). you can also purchase your paints, fillers, supplies, and references that way.
just a few things you can think about. personally i order from squadron and purchase what i can from walmart. i have now purchase my second ab, this time it is an aztek a370, it is not the top of the line but it will work for what i need. i also have a large supply of paints, fillers, and tools. this is just over the last four months.
hope you find something you can use out of this post.
Welcome to the forum. Like you I don’t have a big budget for the hobby. I also don’t have many tools. I just try to make use of what’s available. The wife’s manicure set for example is a good source of files, tweezers and cutters. He-he-he. I do my dioramas using ordinary materials like cardboard, styro etc. For us who don’t have much budget, we just need our imagination lead the way. Good luck and happy modeling.
Welcome and good luck!
To start this hobby you need to get the basic tools first.You will
accumulate the rest over a period of time.So to stay with the budget
get the bare essentials ,cutter ,knife ,sandpaper ,paintbrushes
or even an airbrush.A lot of tools can be found in hardware stores.
If your finances are tight it’s worth going 1/72, as the kits are usually a lot cheaper.
It’s also worth looking at kits from companies like Revell, Monogram, even airfix as these are often cheaper, and often older. This does mean that they are not quite in the same league as Tamiya & Hesagawa, but they are great to learn on, and if it all goes horribly wrong, you haven’t wasted too much money.
The other guys have pretty much covered all the basics, so I don’t have a lot to add in that respect. Maybe just to say that you can mail order most things a lot cheaper than you can usually find them locally.
My main point is just to recommend that you don’t get caught in the “Technology Trap” where you think that to be able to build high-quality models you have to have every bell, whistle, and gimmick on the market. Building models is a test of your abilities and not a test of the quantity of tools at your disposal. For example, sanding sticks are great, I use them all the time, but a piece of regular sandpaper wrapped around a pencil would do the job to. A Dremel tool with a good assortment of grinding and sanding bits is a great thing to have around sometimes, but you could eventually get there with sandpaper alone. A good set of tools is important, but in many cases they just make the job easier. You can do anything that you want with just a basic set of tools, it just may take longer.
All those tips on tools are great but if you want to create GREAT models try to be as creative as you can.Work on being a dioramist,tell a story,try to see things in a new and different way.Think outside the box of a model on a base.But above all ,have fun ,enjoy your work,there are no mistakes in our world of creativity.Cheers! John.
I can’t thank you all enough! The advice I received, I will definitely follow, and i can tell you all now that imgination is definitely not what I lack (ask my parents!). Thank you very much, if you have more to say, I will be happy to read it, and I hope to see you all among the miscellaneous forums later in my modeling career!
Welcome,
The next time you have to go to the dentist, ask if they have any worn out tools they are going to get rid of. I got a hand full of of bits that fit a Dremel tool, that are good for grinding, drilling and sanding. I also got several tools that are good for spreading filler. Look around the house for items. A jar or margerine top makes a good palate for glue or paint. And hang around here. Everyone is friendly and helpful.