Hello everyone my name is Will. I would like to start modeling armor, could someone give the steps? I dont know how to do anything. What tools do I need? What are good kits to start with? What scale?
Thank you
A tall order. First off, the most common scale for armor is 1/35, although 1/48 and 1/72 are also available. I prefer 1/35 myself. A good starter kit is any of the older Tamiya kits, like the M41 Walker Bulldog. They are pretty cheap and are easy to build. For basic tools, you will need glue (tube or liquid), a hobby knife, sandpaper or sanding sticks, tweezers, a variety of brushes and paints. Just follow the instructions and you will be fine. You might want to check refernaces for color schemes and painting too. I would avoid any kits with Photo Etched or resin parts till you have a few builds under your belt. Good luck.
How do you weather?
A good primer for beginning modellers is “Buiding Realistic Tanks and Artillery” by Kalmbach publishing. Go to your local hobby shop and peruse this commonly available book. Pick it up and look it over. It’ll give you a good overview of the builidng experience and what’s needed.
Enjoy the hobby!
I own Osprey Publishings ‘Basic Aircraft Modeling’ and ‘Intermidiate Armor Modeling’(I dont understand it)
Whet exactly don’t you understand? We can sort it out for you. Welcome by the way.
Welcome to the forums. Early Tamiya kits are often recommended to beginners kits for ease and price. Their T-34’s, Panzer II, Shermans and so on, are good kits.
As for weathering, washes are a small amount of paint thinned with mineral spirits or water depending on the type of paint. They into the cracks and crevices. Drybrushing brings out highlights, especially on montone paint jobs. This can be achieved by lightening the base color and frosting it lightly over raised objects. Pastel chalks are grounded chalk that is sprayed or usually brushed on and provides a nice dusty appearance. These are some of the ways.
Welcome to the forums and to the hobby Will.
in addition to the books mentioned here, if you search online there are guides that help show step by step different techniques for things like painting and weathering. and I would agree with the others that the older Tamiya models are a good choice for your first builds.
a lot of techniques you learn can be applied to other types of models, such as planes or sci fi stuff.
good luck and enjoy.
Here is my take on it.
Kits- Tamiya is proably the best to start out with, it will yeild good looking results using only what comes with the kit (after market is things you buy to add on such as Photo Etch -PE-). Dragon is also very good for armor, some are superior to tamiya but can be more complex. I’d stay away from PE untill you have done a few kits. Other brands can yeld poorer results wihtout extra work put into them, this may discourage you where you are just getting into the hobby (if you have a question about a certen kit/tank/brand just ask).
Scale- Hard to say what you should start out with.
1/35 has by far the most subjects, is fairly large and generaly has larger parts to work with.
1/48 is quite a bit smaller, but the tiney parts on a 1/35 are usualy are part of the surface deatail on the hull/turret, they can be a quicker build and quite easy (ex- one night i couldn’t sleep and my room was cold, so i quickly got up and got my supplies/Tamiya 1/48 T-34 tank and hoped back into bed. 2 hours later i was ready for painting).
1/72 is pritty small, the parts can be harder to work with, and i prefer a bigger size. They don’t have that many parts but it can get tedious, although it ususaly is built quick. I’d recomend this scale is space is a big issue.
Brushes- If you are using hand brushes i highly recomend you buy nylon brushes which are flat and have a square edge, as well as smaller round brushes that end in a point. The bigger the surface the bigger the brush, the goal is to require as few strokes as possible. Have spares on hand, you’ll destroy a few when first starting out.
If you really enjoy building models and intend to contine for the long haul, i HIGHLY recomend getting a air brush. Its pritty easy to learn the basics and it’ll make painting the models very quick and easy.
Paint- For brushes i only use enemal. The best brand i have used is humbrol (they come in mini paint cans). I do not recomend model brand name thinners, you can use pure turpentine or mineral sprits (there is something else but i forget), mineral sprits is the cheapest and produces the lest fumes. Enemal paint takes about 24 hours to dry fully. Acrylic paint is basicly ment for air brushes (and they work beautyfully with them), but are troublesome with hand brushes. If you use these watch out for your brush strokes removing the previous layers (doesnt happen with dryed enemal), the only pluse side is they take about 15 minutes to dry.
Thinning paint- This is very easy. What you want is to have the thickest layer possible without leaving blobs of paint behind covering details. (i’m talking about enemal here)I add thinner untill it’s about twice as thick as milk (no percise mesurment). Buy eye droppers for adding the thinner, in small ammounts you can transfer paint form the bottle to a paint pan using a tooth pick (dripping). O and don’t paint form the can, it’s too thick and you’ll dry it all up. Add thinner if the paint thickens to much.
Cleaning brushes- Once again pritty simple. Have 3 clear jars with lids. One with the thinner for hte paint, after whipping off excess paint firmly tap the side of the brush on the side of the jar untill no more clouds of paint come out. In the second jar have soapy tap water(ivroy soap i use), quickly rinse the brush. In the last clean tap water to rinse the soap out. Place the bruh however you like as long as the bristles are not up aginst anything (they will take the shape they dry in).
Tools- I don’t sand much excpet for high attention areas (ex-gun barrle), you can remove excess flash and spur tree stubs with a hobby knife.
A hobby knife, use whatever blade type you find confortable.
Glue: -I use “Model Master: Liquid Cement”, the biggest thing is that it has a needle type type applicator (made of metal and as thin as a needle), this remove the need to use tooth picks and such for percision, it is a somewhat thick liquid that will flow under a part and the dry time is quick but not too quick.
-There is also liquid cement that is as thin as water, this is for long sceams with very little gap.
-Super glue. I use this for metal to plastic bonds and when there is a lot of paint invloved (paint will slow down the dry time of glues that melt the plastic)
Wire cutters. I can’t rember the type but they work like regualr wire cutters, have a spring, and one side is flat where as the other forms a V. These leave little clean up and can get into tight spaces.
And thats it for my basic tool box. I use dremel tools, pen drills, drills, sanding sticks, automoative sand paper, ect ect but if your just starting don’t worry about this, your model will turn out nice as long as there isn’t globs of glue/unremoved excess plastic/problem with the paint job.
Sanding- i start with 600 grit normaly and work my way up by intervals of 200 grit untill i hit around 1,500 grit. Automoative stores carry the higher grits.
Weathering- that is a whole other post. You should make a new post like “Weathering for beginners”. You can also make use of googles advanced search (there is a window you enter the website you want to only search in) to find old topics.
Scrafical Model- I highly recomend a fairly large scrafical model. For this model anything will do as long as it’s fiarly large (when i started airbrushing, i used a 1/48 revell PT boat). Do not make any attempt to make the kit look good, just slap it togeather leaving off small/annoying parts. This model you will test anything you are unsure of on first, thus saving time and fustration on your good kits. When you like the results switch to the good kit. I usualy use sections rather then do the entire model when trying something.
Remmber, feel free to ask about anything, just have a look to see if it’s been asked befor and be as specific as you can.
If you have questions about painting with enemals i can email you a “how to” i made on the subject(sent as the message, not a attachment if you want).
And finally i have written way to much… but more seriously the more models you build the better you become, if you do not enjoy trying to get everything percise then don’t, if you like the results then thats good enough.
-EDIT- And watch out for fumes. Only paint in well ventalated areas. Glue will also produce fumes so crack open a window. Remember that you are dealing with toxic chemicals. If you are worred enough about paint fumes (glue fumes can be resolved with ventlation) you can use a resperator that uses cartridges or states that this mask is for the type of paint you are using. Dust masks will stop dust, not fumes.-EDIT-
I plan to get
- Tamiya 1/35 Panther
-or-
- Tamiya 1/35 M41 Walker Bulldog
-or-
- Tamiya 1/48 Tiger I
Any one of these is a good choice for a first build.
One thing about the Panther though. Tamiya make several Panther kits. The oldest, the much maligned Panther “A” (35065) dates back to the early 70’s and is widely regarded as lacking in detail and suffers from some dimensional inaccuracies due to the original kit being designed for motorisation (and having protruding channels in the hull bottom for axles). Having said that, it’s still a reasonable “beginner” kit and still looks like a Panther when completed.
The later Panther kits released in the late 90’s, representing “G” variants (35170, 35176) and the “steel wheel” version (35174) are among the best Panther kits on the market.
The M41 Walker Bulldog dates from the same period as the “old” Panther and was also designed to be motorised, but can be made into a nice little model with a little TLC.
I have not yet seen the 1/48 Tiger 1 kit, but I believe it’s a very nice kit. Unlike any of the aforementioned kits, it contains “link and length” style tracks (in comparison to the vinyl “rubber band” tracks of the aforementioned kits). These are a little trickier to assemble, but carry more detail and look much better.
Even some of Tamiya’s older dogs like the Bulldog build up nicely, even if you’re new to modelling or back after a long hiatus…
This was the first kit I did after being out for almost 20 years. The kit is Tamiya’s Sd Kfz 223 from 1971, not the re-issue. I got it at a Goodwill store for $5.00. The kit almost builds itself and only had some minor fit issues. Also, since it’s not a tank, there are no motorized holes to fill in the bottom of the hull.
I have some of Tamiya’s new 1/48 armor and they are really nice. The M10 Tank Destroyer (built on an M4 chassis/hull) builds up quite nicely, although I’m taking more time than I should on something this size. The “link and length” tracks (two long top and bottom tracks, a pair of shorter tracks and 5 individual tracks for the idler/drive sprockets) are shown in the order they are supposed to be installed, and the instructions are really top notch. These kits aren’t too terribly expensive, and may be a good way to get your feet wet. Just my [2c]. Hope this helps and ENJOY!
Welcome. I won’t bother reposting what others have allready said. You need to pick a basic kit, and older Tamiya kits are definitely good to learn on. Some glue, a knife, and sandpaper/sticks, and you’re good to go.
Weathering is a whole other story entirely, and takes a lot of practice. Your most basic weathering techniques are a wash and a drybrush, and were I you, I’d start with this. The finesse required to pull off more advanced weathering techniques (to pull them off well that is) is hard to perform if you can’t do the basics correctly.
o, I also suggest wearing saftey glasses when cutting off small parts and using a hobby knife to remove plastic. Once in a blue moon you’ll here the “ding” of plastic hitting off the glasses. Make sure they are comfortable and replace when they get scratched.
But i’m paranoid about flying debree (work related), don’t know about everyone else here.
What is a wash?
To ZzZguy: You have slightly misquoted Conan the Barbarian. He actually said “To cwush yaw enemies, to dwive them befaw you, and to heah the wamentations of the women.” Sorry to nitpick.
Ok, let me see if I can explain well enough [:p]
When you paint a model a single colour, the light (because the model is so small) does not penetrate and reflect all the edges, nooks, and cranies that a real-size vehicle would. It looks flat and dull, and toylike. The idea of a wash and a drybrush is, by using these two painting techniques, to ‘recreate’ the way light plays on the real thing.
Lets assume you’ll be working with a green vehicle, but these techniques will apply to everything.
Wash: You will want to mix a dark colour, much darker than your base coat, BUT NOT STRAIGHT BLACK. Too much contrast. Use the green for base and mix it with some darker browns, or use an extremely dark green to begin with. You’ll want to practice to see what look suits you best. This is how you will develop your own style. Mix the paint and thin it a lot. Basically, you want something like 10 to 15% paint, and 85 to 90% thinner. If you are using acrylics, use either Tamiya thinner or water, and if you’re using enamels or oils (I wholeheartedly suggest oils) use white spirit (you can get it at Home Depot). Its basically paint thinner. Now, mix this well, and using a very fine brush, apply it to the model. You can either apply it to the whole thing, or (what I do) apply it locally. I apply it along crevices, panel lines, joint lines, corners, nuts and bolts, and any other small detail. The paint will pool in the recesses and when dried, will create a ‘shadow’. You will want to start off doing this very carefully and methodically. If, after the paint has dried, you wish it to be more drastic, apply another wash. Its better to apply several light washes, rather than just slop it on. In this way you avoid drying marks and a mess.
Drybrushing: This is a complementary technique to washing, and the two are the basic steps of model weathering. When light hits a high-point of a vehicle, more light is reflected to your eye, and that part of the object appears brighter. For example, look at an orange, the colour appears to be brightest on top, and darkest on bottom, where shadow is hiding it. You will want to use your base colour for this. Mix it with some pale yellow or white, and do not over do it. There is no need to thin this paint. Just mix it up. using a flat, stiffer brush, pick up some paint, and wipe most of it away on a rag that you have on hand. Then, lightly brush the high points of the model. For example the corners and lines of the roof, the high points of nuts and bolts, the rims of the wheels, any high edges you can find. Again, do this methodically. You want to have barely any paint left on the brush before you apply it to the model. You can apply this several times, and use progressively lighter colours (by mixing more white or yellow into your base). Remember that for each lighter colour you use, you want to place less on the model.
http://www.testors.com/hobbyist_guides.asp
You can take a look at the above link for some more instruction guides. These are somewhat more advanced, but once you have a model or two under your belt, you’ll want to try as many techniques as possible. Don’t be afraid of trying. Go back to your old models, and try some of these techniques out. Its easy to over-do it at the begining, and we all do it. Personally, sometimes I love to over-weather a vehicle. But as your skills grow, you’ll naturally tend to go for the ‘less is more’ approach, as you learn to control the techniques at hand.
If you need more explanations just ask [:)]
[#welcome] Looks like your getting plenty of good advic Panzer .