I am re-entering the hobby after 25 years. There is so much information in the various forums, youtube videos, etc. Sometimes so much information it’s hard to know what to do. I recently completed my Tamiya 1/48 Me-262. These are the techniques that worked for me on this build. I have limited time, skill, and budget so I tried to post the easiest and fastest techniques for casual modelers who don’t have the time or skill to sort through all the info from the highest level modelers.
Tamiya liquid cement is cheap, easy to use, and works good.
My puttying and sanding skills need a lot more practice. Bondo red glazing putty is ok, but I found Vallejo plastic putty very easy to apply and requires little or no sanding.
I used MM enamels to make the various Luftwaffe colors RLM 76, 82, 83. I just used the various colors I had on hand to mix my own versions that look good to me. My improvised mixes aren’t matched to the real thing, but they’re good enough for me.
MM enamels need a lot of thinning for airbrushing, and were hard for me to get a smooth finish. I think I was using too thick coats, I will try to use multiple light mist coats in the future. Based on my experience with Tamiya acrylics during post shading, I think I will use that for base coats (thinned with IPA) after my enamels run out.
I did some preshading tests on scrap plastic. Long story short, it’s too much work for me. I got the results I like with post shading.
Future is no longer sold, so I used Quick Shine from Walmart. I applied it with a brush, let it dry for a couple hours, then started my panel line washes. Most folks say to let it dry 1-2 days. But I figured if you can apply it to a floor and walk on it within an hour, it should hold up to acryllic washes.
I used $5 acrylic raw umber from Michaels for the panel line washes on the RLM 76 lower surfaces. I mixed it with water and dish soap and got the results I wanted. For the darker upper surfaces, I used 5$ black acryllic. I also used $5 white acryllic to show the worn edges and rivets of fuel access hatches, etc. I didn’t mess with oil based, water color, etc.
I did panel line post shading with Tamiya acrylic thinned with IPA. Worked like a charm. I also used that for the cannon soot stains. I supplemented these with Tamiya Weathering Master makeup style soot, oil, etc.
I used the cheap white acryllic straight from the tube with dry brushing to show scratched and chipped paint on leading edges, wing root, etc.
Parafilm M is great for masking canopies. It took me a few tries to get it right, but once I figured it out it’s fast, easy, and effective.
For the final flat clear coat, I used 1 part Tamiya X-21 diluted with 3 parts Quick Shine, sprayed with my airbrush. The flow through the airbrush was not very consistent, but I still got a smooth finish with just the right amount of flatness.
My next build is a P-38 with NMF. I have some Alclad aluminum and dark aluminum. I am not using the high shine Alclad, so I don’t need gloss black undercoat. I plan on using plain Krylon gray primer from Home Depot or Walmart, straight from the rattle can (no decanting!). I will also mask and prime different panels in white and black primer to get shade variations when I spray the Alclad. This is a form of pershading, but in this case I am hoping to get the shade variation I want with just one application of Alclad aluminum. I don’t want to try masking and spraying different types of Alclad.
WARNING! JOKE! I say your advice is not very helpful, because you can’t replace talent, and you sure show a lot of talent here! That Messerschmitt looks very sharp and I would love to hear from you how did you do those blue background photographs without any visible means of support to the model? The “in flight effect” is very convincing. And I bet you vould crank out good looking model just with some crayons and a hobby knife!
For your future, NMF build - they say it’s critical to get the surface as perfect as you can, because high gloss finish tends to exaggerate all the flaws… Then, if you don’t want to do high gloss high shine, then maybe other paints would be easier to use in such case? My experience (limited with NMF) was to use the highest “shine” available and it usually gets toned down somehow, anyway. And I had my best results with Gunze super metalizers - the only metalizer I know that really can be masked and the tape didn’t leave any marks.
Anyhow - thanks for sharing and good luck with your next build, have a nice day!
BTW, you can Replace thin with 250ml Tamiya Airbrush Cleaner. It’s the same thing but a bottle of the cleaner will last much longer and when you figure how much you get as opposed to Tamiya thin with 40ml… you’ll pay much less for the same results.
Hi Pawel, thank you so much for your kind words! It is very encouraging and inspirational to hear this from an expert modeler. I am looking forward to continue to work and mproving my skills.
For the photos I used the following steps:
Glued a short piece of Styrene tube to the bottom of the plane. The tube is 1/4" OD and 1/8" ID. The cheapest I found is from McMaster-Carr PN 1808T11, it was about $7 for a 6-ft piece.
Got a 1/8" steel rod from Home Depot. It was about $8 for a 5-ft piece. These parts are mainly to construct a cheap stand to put the plane on a shelf. But they also came in handy for the photos.
Stuck the steel rod into the Styrene tube and had my son hold the plane in the air while I took the photos.
Used Microsoft Paint to crop away as much of the background trees and houses as I can. Then used filled rectangles to cover more of the background. You need to use the Edit Colors to get the color of the rectangles to match the sky. With practice you can get pretty close.
Once the rectangles are in place, I feather the edges using the spray paint option in the brushes menu. I also use the spray paint to match the tint gradients of the sky, and to block out the rod. You need to use Edit Color for this as well. I use splotches and irregular patterns to break up any sharp edges, just like camouflage on a plane.
For NMF I will be focusing on surface prep, both before and after priming. I have various grades of sandpaper from 1000 to 10000 grit that I plan to use. I didn’t get Micro Mesh, I just got a kit that has various fine grit sandpaper from Amazon for $10. My personal style gravitates towards worn, stained, and weathered finishes, to simulate a bird that is in hard wartime service. But it is so easy to overdo this! I spent a lot of time toning things down on the Me-262, and it still has some overkill on the weathering.
I think you are right, even if I try for a high shine it will get toned down anyway. I will shoot the regular Alclad aluminum on top of 10,000 grit sanded Krylon, see what it looks like, and go from there.
I googled the Gunze super metalizer, but the closest result I could find is Mr Color Super Metallic 2. It is $5-$10 per bottle, readily available, and has good reviews. So I will be giving it a try. Thanks for the tip!
Edit: Next time I will have my son hold the plane higher, then use a step ladder to get close enough to the plane to take the photo. Then I can eliminate the background objects altogether. I was too lazy to get the step ladder while taking the photo, and paid the price by editing it in Paint. I can’t cure stupid, but sometimes I can learn from it! Still need Paint to get rid of the rod though.
Thanks for the compliment! Looking at the armored vehicle in your post makes me hope that one day I can get 1/10 of your skill. It looks like it came straight from the battlefield, which is how I want my models to look. One day I want to build armored vehicles, but the weathering I want to do is completely above my level rn.
Thanks for the tip for the Tamiya thin glue equivalent. Unfortunately the secret seems to be out, the 250 ml Airbrush Cleaner is out of stock on Amazon, Spray Gunner, and other places. Walmart has it for $25. But Sprue Bros says they have it for $10.50. So I will order it and be set for glue for life! I had some of my MM enamels for 25+ years and although they are on the thick and gooey side I still can use them.
Used to do armor all the time and I most likely will go back to it. I’ve been building models since I was 6 or 7 and here I am almost 73 and currently doing a UBOOT in the ship section.
There is one statement I can relate to in a way. NMF. Only I DO NOT use paint! I created my own foil to complement the “Bare Metal Foil” I use on really necessary areas and whole planes. I do NOT until finished, Coat the foil with anything. I always over lap the foil in a very thin line at the edge of panels,That way when Burnished the edges ars brought out subtly by the overlaps where Necessary!
The reason is simple. I discovered, cleaning a very old, near the beginning of this move to Bare Metal planes, to Buff the daylights out of them Before Putting on Decals, Then, spraying with Clear Gloss-Coat or Semi -Gloss Clear coat.
That way even after a wipedown with a soft brush and cloth they gleam with the appearance I sought! After mixing what I thought was the thinnest of these Coatings, Apply it, Then, when they were done to my satisfaction, wait till they dried, THEN, Put on the weathering with Acrylics, Then recoat with a very wet mist, only in those areas and blend using the polishing compound.
There is one thing you probably run into here. When "NMF"ing, make sure ALL decals are cut the very edge of their colors. Otherwise, you Will have a bunch of off color lines around each one. I find this to be the most tedious part of these builds!( decaling, has never been enjoyable for me!)
Thanks for the tip about using bare metal foil. When I first started researching NMF, I looked at using foil as an advanced technique way above my feeble skills. But a perfectly smooth finish is a must for Alclad, and my sanding skills are terrible. So maybe applying foil might be a way to get around that.
My personal style leans toward dirty and ugly, to simulate wartime birds in hard service. So for my first NMF build (a P-38), I will be looking to simulate a dull, oxidized finish with a fair amount of streaks, stains, and discoloration. I already have a bottle of regular Alclad aluminum (not high shine) that I will try. But one day I want to do a polished F-104, brand new from the factory. Given my terrible sanding skills, bare metal foil might be the ticket for that. Instead of gloss black primer polished with 10,000 grit followed by high shine Alclad.
Thanks for the decal tip, I will try that on the P-38.
Scrap them or use sandpaper to make a pastel chalp and apply with any soft brush. If it is too much just brush away, if not enough add more, great for exhause, fuel, dirt and rust stains.
Hi rob44, thanks for the pastels tip, I think it would work great on my next build, a NMF P-38. Not to mention all my other future builds. I am really into weathering, I think that is what makes a model look realistic. I think it is best to combine several different methods to get a variety of effects.
Today I started the NMF P-38. First is the cockpit, I looked at photos and there is a lot of zinc chromate. I didn’t have any, so I went to Michaels and got a 99-cent bottle of “Spanish Olive” acrylic. I thinned it with plain tap water and shot it from my airbrush. The results are ok for me. Cheap, fast, and easy!
Regarding the pastel chalks, if you have a Michael’s near you (and from your note about the craft store paint, it sounds like you do), look for a set there. Other craft stores should have them, too. I bought a set of earth colors years ago at an art supply store near me, for ten bucks. I use a knife blade to scrape the sticks for powder as necessary. I refuse to pay Mig or Tamiya, etc, for something I can find and prepare myself.
Hi Disastermaster, you sure do have a ton of modeling experience. I am glad you and others like you are so willing to share your knowledge and experience. I checked out your Uboot build and I love the paint work, and the details on the railings and cables. I’m looking forward to seeing the future progress.
Hi Baron, there is a Michael’s a couple miles away. I will go there and get the pastel chalks set in earth colors, I’m sure I’ll find many uses for it. I got the Tamiya weathering master makeup style kits. Amazon had all seven kits for $35 so it seemed like a good deal. I like the red and blue colors that can be used to simulate burnt and oxidized metal like you’d see on the unpainted rear fuselage of a F-100. But when it comes to weathering, I like variety so I can avoid overusing any single method.
Be warned, do not use oil based pastels in the following manner.
Mix with water or rub a damp/wet brush across the pastel sticks then rub it on the part…wipe off any un-needed results. You can use alcohol but you really need to experiment with that as it can be VERY tricky.
Or, you can do it like this but there is less control.
To break the surface tension you can dilute the pastels with water and a couple of small drops of dish washing soap to make a slurry. The soap is the trick in many venues.
If’n Youse is gonna do an F-104 You want your foiling skill at it’s best. That is a bird that like the "Super Saber " is very outstanding in looks an requires an almost Darned near perfect job, either with paint or foil. I did one from Monogram and used an Old product. Rub-N-Buff Silver paste.
I laughed at my Grandma when she bought the stuff to try and help. Well, I did try it and finished the Whole Bird with it. After the second buffing with a very soft cloth, I wasn’t laughing anymore, I’ll tell ya. It’s still silver looking I think. One of my Daughters had it last.
Ho disastermaster, thanks for the pastel tips. I think I’ll try rubbing a moist Q-tip on the pastel then applying to the part. And you’re right about the alcohol. On the 262 I was trying to tone down the postshading with IPA and it started to smear the Quick Shine and the enamel.
I’ll try the drops of soap with the pastel if I am trying for streaks instead of dusty finish.
Hi Tanker-Builder, thanks for the compliments and the tip about Rub and Buff. One of my goals with the P-38 is to see how many problems I have with surface prep, priming, and applying the Alclad. I am going for the easier regular finish not high shine. So 'll try to get an idea if I am up for the high shine. If and when I do decide to tackle a high shine finish like F-104, then I’ll decide my method based on my experience with the P-38. I already have a bottle of high shine Alclad. But since I am looking for fast, cheap, and easy, I might just go straight to Rub and Buff. Michaels has the tube of silver in stock for $8, so I’m going to get some and try it.
I have to advise you on one thing first. Given the nature of the product, Rub-N-Buff is a paste coating imbued with both a paint base with waxes in it for applications on wood. So there things to remember. Mainly being a waxy, oil based paint like coating, it’s best you MAKE Sure to let your first coat to dry well before Buffing!
The Gassing out before polishing usually takes about two days on a large project, so go from there with Commen sense and a learning curve that holds surprises!
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Glad to help!
UBOOT in the ship section.
Those paints are delicate and will wear off easy.
Be warned, do not use oil based pastels in the following manner.
but there is less control.