Oh come on Swanny, we know it’s not the quality that you get excited about…
I can see it now-“Wow, who’s that handsome devil?” LOL[;)]
I better duck for cover… Swanny’s not to far from me!
Sounds great Swanny! Looking forward to volumes 2 & 3, that is after I finish watching volume 1 [:D]
More like “Am I really that fat?!?”[BH]
Oh boy, do I hate living in a country that doesn’t support paypall, and not having a credit card [banghead]
Snail Mail Dan, snail mail. If you are mailing an order let me know and I’ll hold one for you.
Swanny, I received my DVD set yesterday and finished watching it. I can’t thank you enough for putting something like this together. Even simple techniques can be hard to understand without actually seeing it done. I thoroughly enjoyed watching your production.
Here are some of the things that really helped clarify things for me. I understood the sludge wash idea, but after watching you, I realized that part of my problem was that I had my wash way too thin. I was afraid to put too much paint down also, even with it so thin, but now I realize that I need more paint and really slap it on. I didn’t think about using liquid cement like you did. I used it to fit fuselage parts and wings together, but didn’t think to use it with the variety of uses you did. I use superglue for those other applications, but using the liquid cement seemed easier. I also didn’t think to use a small paint brush for the application. Very nice and I will definately employ that. I use ProWeld. What is the name of yours again (guess I could watch the video again, but doesn’t hurt to ask here). Is there a difference between the brand you use and ProWeld? I wondered if people attached antenneas the way I did. It was very useful to see that. Same thing with the photoetched seatbelts. Using Mr. Surfacer to fix seams looks great. I’m definately buying some of that. I’m horrible with squadron green putty. It doesn’t like me. I also didn’t realize the use of the curved knife blade, especially on rescribing panel lines. I always avoided fixing seems like the plague because of that. I gotta get some of those sanding sticks too. Regular sanding sticks are too limited. There were many, many other things I saw that were useful.
I made a list of a few questions I wanted to ask while watching:
I was curious why you used Mr. Surfacer to prime your parts. Is it because your using acrylics for your paint? Would you think it would be necessary to use Mr. Surfacer if your using enamels?
You mentioned that you pre-thin your paints. Do you keep old jars and pour out part of a new jar to mix it?
It was interesting to see that particular airbrush used. I use an Omni 2000 with the big cup. It’s great for large area painting, but yours definately cleaned up easily and since your paints are prethinned, it’s not a big deal to add more paint to your small cup when necessary. Yours seemed to get much more use out of every drop of paint than mine does also. I think I end up wasting a lot of paint unnecessarily sometimes.
You simply shook your jars to mix them. Do you have something in there to help mix the paint? I’m using enamels, but I really have to mix the heck out of them with a toothpick. I was wondering if I was missing a trick there or something.
You mentioned you mix your enamels with laquer thinner. I’ll have to try that again. I seem to remember having mixing problems when I originally tried that. After using mineral spirts for a bit, which worked ok, I settled on Model Masters thinner (I use MM enamels). It seems ok, but that jar is expensive. You also mentioned that it helps to preserve the paints when you pre-thin. Your right, many of my paints don’t last long, especially black. Another reason I may have to consider trying laquer thinner.
I’m sure I had other questions, but I can’t recall them right now, lol.
Again, thanks a ton. I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time just to see how others do it and to get more ideas. I can’t wait until the next release.
Wow, that’s a heck of a reply – thanks. So let’s try to answer some of your questions:
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I use Tenax 7R but it is very similar to Pro-Weld. I’ve used Pro-Weld before and only stick with Tenax due to easy availiblity.
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I think it is important to always prime a model. It will reveal any mistakes before you use color and can fix them. I use Mr. Surfacer 1000 thinned 50% with lacquer thinner because it gives an excellent finish and is easy to work with. This applys to all paints being used for the final finish. In the case of Alclad lacquers sometimes I use Krylon Gloss Black as my primer.
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I clean and save paint bottles and lids whenever possible just for pre-mixing paints.
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If a bottle of paint has not been used for a while I may have to mix it with a toothpick but usually a good shaking will do the job. Remember all the enamels are thinned with Lacquer thinner and this does help. Acrylics are thinned with Windex and/or isopropyl alcohol. I do not put BBs or ball bearings in my bottles. It is possible (rare but possible) for this to cause the bottle to break and that would be bad.
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I think flat black enamel has the worse shelf life. Even with lacquer thinner it has a shorter lifespan than the other colors. Still I am extending it twice the normal shelf life.
My way of doing things is not neccessarily the only or the best way, it’s what works for me. Other modelers have other techniques and you may find not all of these work as well for you. I am simply offering suggestions in the hope that I can make your modeling adventures more enjoyable.
Thanks Swanny. I understand that there are different ways to do things and yours is just one of them, but it helps to see someones techniques to try them to see if you might like them or maybe modify them. I’ve come up with many unorthodox ways of doing things just by trial and error. Some work pretty good, others not so good, lol. I’m always curious how others do things and a video is the perfect medium. Thanks for the reply. [:)]
You asked for some suggestions for your future videos. I would like to see some additional weathering techniques, like exhaust stains, gun stains, paint chipping, and perhaps battle damage.
Another thing I’ve always been curious about and have never tried is using strip stryene (spelling?) to either create parts or filling areas like if you cut out the ailerons because you want to show them moved.
Your suggestions have been recorded – thanks for the input.
As long as suggestions are getting thrown out, I’d like to see a close up on most of the parts painted. I understand getting a close up of a part while it is being painted can be tricky, but a nice close up of a part lying on the table by itself when it is done would go a long in helping to see what is going on and the results.
I find myself straining my neck to see over your shoulder or hands sometimes to see the part [:D]
Oh how I love your dvd, let me count the ways…
I now use damp tissue paper to mask bomb bays/cockpits/etc. I now use the thin strips of masking tape technique to mask canopies. I now know how to make better washes that actually wipe off as they should. Last, I’ve got a bottle of Tenax on the way. I’ve read about most of the techniques beforehand, but actually seeing how you do them and their results really helps.
The one thing I still haven’t learned, how to open and close various bottle caps with one hand without knocking them over.
Just wanted to say great DVD again, specially now that I’m using the things I learned.
Thank you (bow) thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. I know what you mean about trying to see around me during construction. In the next DVD we took special care to set camera one with the new macro lens right into the work area and camera two was only about two feet off and zoomed right in. We also found that by setting up a monitor where I could see what the camera was seeing we could get lots better results.
I would like to share my appreciation for you for the DVD. It is a great asset for my. An inspiration as well as a nice company while working on my models - see attached picture - I reorganized my workspace and here we go :
Greg
Aaahhhggg! There’s a fat guy on the TV! Nice work space.
I’ll toss my thanks in here as well, Swanny. Volume 1 has helped me greatly, even bringing me back from the edge of airbrush destruction. I had quit using mine out of frustration, but after watching the ease you displayed, I took some notes and tried again. Volume 2 sounds exactly like what I was hoping for…PE help. Sign me up. [bow]