Feed me Jack Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Hi all, Long time viewer, first time poster. I have been in awe of the quality of builds on here for a long time, and as a modeller rediscovering a childhood hobby, these forums are extremely useful for tips and inspiration. After a few builds using a mix of Tamiya rattle cans and acrylic hand brushing, I decided to splash out and buy an airbrush. I picked up the cheapest one I could find -around £40 including a mini-compressor (the irony being I was spending far more on the rattle cans than it will cost me to airbrush!). I have seen it said many times, that airbrushing doesn't have much you need to learn about , but it does have a very steep learning curve. This I can confirm is true! I managed to break the needle after two days ! For this build, I also wanted to try paint chipping and panel washing. It turned about to be a build of a lot of firsts. The kit itself, the Hasegawa 1/32 P-40 is a great kit overall - good fit in general, some nice cockpit / undercarriage detail, and great value for money. Decals weren't the greatest, and required a LOT of Mr. Strong to get them to settle down. The crosshair was also very disappointing - this is such an iconic part of the P-40, yet was solid (e.g no space between the crosshairs!). I left this off as it was too delicate for me drill out the middle parts. A spoiler - there are lots of mistakes with this model. I wasn't interested in historical accuracy, and the weathering is very much overdone - as it was my first time, I went to town! I also overdid the paint chipping. The underside blue is far too 'blue' - it was my first go with the airbrush (I still had the rattle can mentality to cover as much plastic as quickly as possible!). It was only much later in the model I really got to grips with the idea of lots of very thin coats. Anyway - enough talking - here are the pics: talking, here she is: Hartmann352, KUROK, aircare84 and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Welcome aboard, sir! Looks like a great P-40 to me! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landrotten Highlander Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 I would say not a bad try for a first go. Learning to use an airbrush is indeed a steep learning curve, but with regular practice it becomes a short one. Keep up the work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Looking great! My first attempts with an airbrush were nowhere near as good as yours. It took me a couple years to even get close to that level, so have no fear, as you are definitely on the right track. Very nice P-40. Thanks for posting and welcome aboard! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 What a lot of firsts and you have ended up with a very nice P-40, when I first started to use an airbrush I really hashed it up, so much so that it gathered dust for years afterwards and I still have the odd disaster. Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feed me Jack Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 Thanks everyone for the kind comments - it really means a lot coming from modellers as skilled as you guys hope one day I can come close to some of the planes I have seen on here, in terms of skill and accuracy. I did spend the whole of the first day struggling to understand why the paint was coming out with such little pressure - literally dribbling out. I changed paint mixtures / compositions , stripped and cleaned my airbrush - nothing... Turns out the cable running to the compressor wasn't fully plugged in! I have a Hasegawa Dora in the stash next, and I can't wait to try my hand at mottling - what could possibly go wrong ? dennismcc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadBaron Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Nice build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Looks pretty good to me. And it looks like you're already on the right track. Keep at it, it's gobs of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Looks just fine Jack Better than my first A/B attempt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 (edited) A very creditable first go with an airbrush Jack, I like it a lot! My experience with airbrushes hinged around the paint being used rather than the airbrush itself. I struggled with getting the right “mix” ie thinness with paints such as Vallejo, too thick and it clogs, too thin and it splatters or pools etc. Anything that had to be thinned from the bottle spelt some degree of disaster until..........MRP came along! Spray straight from the bottle every time, fabulous results, thin layers that can be built up to the opacity of your choice etc. You achieved a pretty good finish with whatever paints you’re using but if you haven’t tried MRP, have a go! Low pressure, multiple layers = success. oh, and welcome to our friendly forum Edited July 16, 2020 by mozart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmayhew Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 looks good as Mozart says, try MRP paints - it will give you so much confidence to try stuff as to overall effect, you can look at things like blackbasing (check out Doogs Models videos on YouTube) to give lots of depth to what would otherwise be slabs of colour the panel lines are overly aggressive for me, and with more 'interest' in the main finish you may feel less need to have the panel lines 'jump out' as they currently do super stark panel lines always make models look like a 1/48 or 1/72 kit to me anyway there is LOTS of good stuff to build on - but do try those MRP paints happy modelling Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feed me Jack Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 16 hours ago, RadBaron said: Nice build! Thanks, Rad Baron, appreciate it 15 hours ago, LSP_K2 said: Looks pretty good to me. And it looks like you're already on the right track. Keep at it, it's gobs of fun. Thanks Kevin - I did find it very enjoyable wants I started to get the hand of the airbrush. Much more rewarding than a rattle can ! 4 hours ago, MikeMaben said: Looks just fine Jack Better than my first A/B attempt. Thanks Mike. Using an AB has really changed the game for me - I can't believe I didn't get one sooner. The one I got was the same price as the P-40 - bargain! 2 hours ago, mozart said: A very creditable first go with an airbrush Jack, I like it a lot! My experience with airbrushes hinged around the paint being used rather than the airbrush itself. I struggled with getting the right “mix” ie thinness with paints such as Vallejo, too thick and it clogs, too thin and it splatters or pools etc. Anything that had to be thinned from the bottle spelt some degree of disaster until..........MRP came along! Spray straight from the bottle every time, fabulous results, thin layers that can be built up to the opacity of your choice etc. You achieved a pretty good finish with whatever paints you’re using but if you haven’t tried MRP, have a go! Low pressure, multiple layers = success. oh, and welcome to our friendly forum Thanks Mozart, It's great to be here! I have seen MRP paints and they look great - anything premixed sounds perfect! Unfortunately where I'm based (Surabaya, Indonesia) they are impossible to get hold of (importing things like paint is a very long process!)There is not even a LHS in Surabaya - were a few great ones in Jakarta. I used Mr. Acrysion for this build - they are the easiest to get hold of. 41 minutes ago, nmayhew said: looks good as Mozart says, try MRP paints - it will give you so much confidence to try stuff as to overall effect, you can look at things like blackbasing (check out Doogs Models videos on YouTube) to give lots of depth to what would otherwise be slabs of colour the panel lines are overly aggressive for me, and with more 'interest' in the main finish you may feel less need to have the panel lines 'jump out' as they currently do super stark panel lines always make models look like a 1/48 or 1/72 kit to me anyway there is LOTS of good stuff to build on - but do try those MRP paints happy modelling Nick Thanks Nick. I definitely want to try blackballing next - I have seen how good the results are on these forums. I actually did the panel lines twice (they are definitely over done!). As I didn't feel confident in pre shading with an airbrush, I used the ol' 4b pencil trick. It is more visible on the bottom, as on the top the multiple coats it doesn't really show. So I then doubled down and tried another approach! As enamel Panel wash is very difficult for me to get hold of, I then tried an 'acrylic ' wash of 1 part grey paint + 6 parts water + a drop of washing up liquid. It worked well on some panels but didn't clean up very well on the raised areas (as you can see the smudges around some panel lines). Not sure if I got the mix wrong, or my cleaning attempt wasn't thorough enough. Does anyone have any good recommendations for panel wash that can be 'home made'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 6 hours ago, Feed me Jack said: Does anyone have any good recommendations for panel wash that can be 'home made'? Yep, diluted Indian ink, experiment on a test piece to get the water/ink ratio right, but it’s very easy to use, very effective and very forgiving if you make a mistake. Use as a panel or pin wash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Or Artists Water Colors (Gouache, which means more opaque than regular water color paint). I use them for washes and sometimes unthinned for small openings like louvers or vents. I recommend a set of the basic colors so you can mix whatever you need. https://www.amazon.com/M-Graham-2-Ounce-Gouache-Primary/dp/B0044TTG76 Don't use kiddie watercolors. KUROK 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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