Issues that cause headaches

General Discussion General Modeling Discussion
1

I have been building wood scale ships for many years and there are still issues that give me some trouble like compound curves with wood. I was a recent return to model vehicles and have some things I need to learn like working with paint. As a kid It was lots simpler, I just got my box of paint and brushed it on. I feel like It’s gotten much more complex which Is the part I like.

Just got to wondering what problems other modelers encounter, who have been at it for a long time, what causes you to take a moment and try to work out your approach on a particullary difficult part.

2

Sub assemblies and painting. I try to conserve the work and strengthen the bonds of glue by building as much as I can before paint. This is a double edges sword as with detail added most of the time it requires digging out a brush and wet pallet, for me it kinda feels like work. Because I’m a SLLLOOOOWWW builder and kinda lazy my airbrush AND brush skills are IMO mediocore at best. This always gives me pause.

3

Losing parts. I should be better than I am. I need to be more organized and neat.

Bill

4

After my recent build activity on Tamiya’s F-35A, I would have to say that masking panels on a stealth aircraft for painting is currently the bain of my existence. It burned me out so badly that I had to put that on hold and start building something else (my old Tamiya F-15E) but I soon realized that the F-35A project just took all of my aircraft building meaujeau (had to spell it differently to get past the net nanny…LOL) right out of me. Got the new Revell 71 Boss 351 Mustang, and I’ve been having a blast putting that together. Lots of new stuff to learn and figure out on that too, but its not tedious stuff like that stealth aircraft masking. I’m figuring out how to scratch-build this and that to dress it up, which I have always enjoyed. I find that the most enjoyable aspect of this hobby for me is inventing things to get the job done.

5

Nothing of major consequence, mostly easy work arounds that get me through the hurdles.

  1. Some kits still get by the sprue handlers with warps, if correctable with a little manipulation fine, otherwise a quick trip to the recycling barrel. Kudos to Tamiya and the other producers that seem to understand the customers needs, by ensuring the sprues must be carefully layed flat when removed from the molds, and to cool before boxing.

  2. Keeping up with the huge assortment of aftermarket bits, fillers, tapes and paints. So many changes happening quickly, I find myself just sticking with something I have gained familiarity with, likely passing over something else newer that may well be improved.

  3. Hand skills - At 82 I’m well past the shakiness beginning stage, I could easily get a job at Dairy Queen making Blizzards without using any electric mixers. Thank goodness for the little holding/clamping tools.

  4. Vision - It sucks! I need glasses to find my other glasses, three different strengths, none of which work ideally. But then when I catch the bus downtown a young man gets on who is blind, he smiles easily and is happy to chat with anyone who engages him in conversation. Anytime I feel a bit aggravated at the bench I think of him, at least I can still work at my bench, SHUT UP!!!

At present I’m working on the Tamiya 1/48 P-38, easily the best all around kit I’ve ever had the pleasure to build. I can fully appreciate the engineering that went into this beauty.

Good modeling to all of you.

Patrick

6

  1. having to do excessive puttying/gap-filling when the main build is mostly complete; I can’t stand it, especially the sanding after the filler dries, and if it’s bad enough I tend to put the model aside for months on end until I have the strength of mind to deal with it; I get pretty growly too when a joint that I’ve puttied & sanded decides to spring or pop open after painting - I worked in manufacturing for years and there’s not much out there more maddening than having to re-do something that’s near completion just because a horribly noticeable defect chooses the worst moment possible to appear around

  2. insufficient paint instructions; I greatly appreciate it when a manufacturer puts as many possible paints from many companies in the instructions, it’s a massive help; the thing that gives me a headache is that Tamiya is the most easily available paint in my neck of the woods and, for whatever reason, Tamiya paints are the ones most likely to not be included on the kit instructions; I guess it’s because of licensing, or competitive needs, or the owners of the companies simply not liking each other & therefore doing anything they can to avoid even mentioning each other; for me though it’s a real pain in the neck because I have to go through all the various (and sometimes obviously contradictory) multiple paint conversion charts that are online; this chore used to be a lot easier when the absolutely terrific Paint4Models conversion PDF chart was still working but when the Adobe Flash program it was built on was no longer supported that option became non-functional, which is sad because the guys who built & maintained that database did a yeoman’s work in keeping it consistently updated

7

I’m with Patrick! The eyes and the hands just seem to fight you at every turn. At our age (82) it comes with the territory. But, you learn to live with it.

I’ve been building models since I was 6 years old and I think (luckily) that I can still do a decent job on my builds. I’ve given up doing restorations of models for the local WWII museum. I can still do the work but the time it takes to do the things needed on them has gotten just a wee bit too long. I haven’t been to a contest for quite a while but I am going to PennCon in Carlisle on the 16th of this month. I have a couple of models that are show worthy but the main reason I’m going is that my old club members are going and I haven’t seen them for a while. One of them is a Major in the Civil Air Patrol and he is bringing, at last count, 15 young members with him. Sounds like a lot of fun. We built some models to use in teaching them in their flying classes.

I have found that every once in a while it helps to just take a break from the plastic models and do something different for a while. That’s when I build a few Stick-n-Tissue planes. I’ve gotten my stash of them down to 4. I’ve started searching the web for makers of those kits. There are lots of them out there and I’m building a list. Some I build to fly and others just to enjoy building. Starting to look for a place to do some indoor flying again. No competition, just fun flying.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Relax and Enjoy.

Maybe I’ll see some of you at PennCon on the 16th?

Stay safe.

Jim [cptn]

8

regarding your efforts to use a document that once was available th Adobe. Coul you point me to the site i have a few ways to convert files back to PDF and if successful i will get it to you

Cheers

John

9

I to am working on the Tamyia P-38 kit. I modified it however by insstalling a Edwards Resin/PE gun bay.

I find the most difficult part is deciding which steps to take first with this modified kit. What parts to install and what do delay installation so I do not accidently bend or harm parts such as the landing gear and canopies.

Also the Edwards instructions could be clearer about exactly where to do the sigificant surgery needed to fit the gun pod in correctly. I have done a lot of shaving of the gun pod and model pieces to achieve an acceptable mating of the pieces.

Add to this one of the included counterweights can not be used if you install the kit and I have been using additional lead shot to insure it is not a tail dragger. It just works!

I have also had such “what should I do first” issues with my 1:144 revell Fletcher class destroyer when installing PE especially the railings.

10

I take it that you are talking about plank on frame or plank on bulkhead hulls. For more modern ships I recommend solid wood hulls. Even for the last geneations of wooden ships, after paint got cheap enough to use liberally, the lines between planks became less visible. To make a wooden hull, after carving I just scribe a few parallel lines here and there. After painting this gives s hint of planks without much effort,

11

Aircraft Canopies!!! Whether it be bad fit, clarity, masking framing, glueing ,etc. I ALWAYS find a way to introduce some sort of flaw in the canopy. Most of the time I dont even notice it until later and I’m not going to go back to fix it. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, the day I build a perfect model will be the day I stop building models.

12

Looking at the scroll work on a ship head like the Constitution you can see a very detailed curved works

13

My rule of thumb (pun intended) for ships detail is to work upwards and outwards.

Bill

14

Hmmm

My biggest issue,WhichI don’t usually share is 1/700 waterline ships where they give you the bottom and there’s no way it’s gonna fit!

15

Mold slip; i.e. when the actual molds were not properly aligned when the kit was injection molded. Just a shobby quality control item. It will often make me set the kit aside, never to see the light of day.

One of my favorite kits as a kid in the 70s was a Ford van with a removable roof and detailed interior. Several years ago, it was reissued and there was quite a bit of mold slip along the windshield frame, so much that the windshield wouldn’t properly fit.

Older tank kits often suffer from this and halves of the road wheels are so out of line that you’ve got to sand them down to the size of lifesavers to eliminate the seams.

16

Hi Rob:

Yeah, I guess I can get on board with that one too. Many times I have gotten a “Life-Like” kit or A Pyro(Their predecessor) kit and this would be a problem. A few older Aurora kits over the years too. I have you on the armor roadwheels too!

17

Definite headache, one that’s usually on the painful level of a permanent migraine for me - doing WW2 Luftwaffe camoflage mottling patterns on the fuselage & tail side of the plane

Suddenly finding out something that works terrific though, basically an anti-headache? Having my generic no-name double-action airbrush permanently crap out on me earlier in the week, leaving me with just my ancient single-action Paasche H (aka “the firehose” as per Paul Budzik). And then using said firehose and some properly thinned AK Real Colour paints to produce the best mottling pattern I’ve ever done on a 1/32 Bf-109-E7. All these year I never ever would have thought that a single-action with about a quarter-million miles of use on it could ever have produced a better result that I’ve experienced with any double-action I’ve tried.

Feels great when an old-school piece of equipment makes a major headache into a genuinely happy modelling moment happen. Just because of this, when I have some money again, I’m going to invest in a Paasche VL double-action kit (as well as some rebuild parts for my venerable H) just as a thank you to them for their brush producing this result for me.

wOOt! [bgr]

18

It always cracks me up when I see those guys out there referring to the Paasche H as “the firehose”. I still have my 37 year old Paasche H, and haven’t found a single thing that it can’t do that I would supposedly need a 200 dollar airbrush for. All you have to do is run properly-thinned paint through it just like you did, and you can accomplish anything with it. I did the JAWS camo on an early “WA” A-10A with mine. Came out beautifully. I like to refer to the Paasche H as “the AK-47 of airbrushes”…you just can’t break or foul the thing, and it requires very little fuss to keep it shooting straight.

19

HI !

This doesn’t usually affect those who build Plastic. But don’t mis-understand me, It does sometimes, Especially in Aftermarket products. Don’t get me wrong, they have gotten scads better. Many years ago I built model cars for a company to be used on their Boxtop Photos. No Instructions or Chrome. That’s when I started using Foil and Rub-N-Buff.

Well, it was the instructions or lack of same. It’s like they assumed the Builder was familiar with the Media or Brass product and what to do. Not so fast , out there are hundreds of thousands, worldwide who want to do a specific iteration of a Tank, Plane, Car, or Ship, But, maybe this is our first foray into this depth of modeling. So, Why couldn’t they give instructions or ones that made sense.

I run into this a LOT in the paper models I build. Each company has someone build it and they know what the designer intended by His or Her statements and comments. More drawings please. Maybe I don’t think like he or she does. Plus, and this is important, The folks who do these are talented for sure. They just forget that maybe here in America we don’t think in Metric or the way they Assemble things in their country.

I have on my bench the S.S.United States-The Liner, And there are a lot of well for instance, take part 67-78 glue in place on top of 35, Where on top of 35? I’ve got fifteen inches here. Forward, Back, Out to the side or Inboard? And there’s no drawing like in plastic, showing you where this goes in relation to what you’ve already done. Having designed two small Real ships (4) and many boats, (100s) 25 to 375 foot!, get by. But it is still frustrating for my older mind to wrap around.

You don’t take the model apart to correct it easily either! Remember it’s Cardstock paper. When stuck it’s stuck. Wheras with plastic you can, many times succesfully take the part off and carefully relocate it covering your Boo-Boo in the process. Not so, with Paper. This is not endemic to just paper though. I have seen modelers who didn’t fully understand the miniscule instructions on an expensive aftermarket item. They Super-Glued or Epoxied it in place.

Oh, Fiddlesticks, It goes here. Hmmm. Yeah, makes you stop quick doesn’t it? Shelf of Doom, here comes another model. We don’t Blow them Up with fireworks anymore. They have gotten to expensive. I won’t go there, but I did notice with Model Cars, the price has jumped from $24.00 a kit to $34.00 a kit! Shoot !! when’s it gonna stop? Makes me wonder what all My A.M.T., Buick Riviera Kits or Revell 56 Continental Still in their original packages are worth now? Nah, we won’t go there today. Or Maybe my Tamiya Patton is worth how much? I only paid $12.00 bucks for it back when I bought it in the years gone by. Hmmm?

20

Whatch for my upcoming Stearman build in CAP markings. I too have found that more frequent breaks are helpful too. I have found that placeing the base of each thumb on a block helps jittering hands.

I too like to build and fly rubber FF. My stash is 7 or 8. That market is not dead, there are still a number of vendors. Also there are a lot of videos on youtube of building and flying them, including indoor stuff.