General Model Kit Building Thread

[barryf1fan]

@barryf1fan I found the tyres to exactly the same on my Benneton kit and others of that era.

Not sure how you cleaned them (it looks fine 👍 ) but my solution was to slip them over a tight fitting holesaw, spin the holesaw up to speed in a cordless dry while holding some sand paper against the the tread.

Voila tyre cleaned up in 10 seconds.

👍

that's how smart people do it... me on the other hand - well, did it by hand. 400 grit sandpaper and about 45 minutes. Relaxing though.

 

[Volksauto]

Here are some more photos I took of my 1911 Ford T.

 

[barryf1fan]

@Volksauto that Model T is fantastic, love the white tires! 👍👍

have done a little bit to the Benetton, been busy of late and haven't had too much spare time to model.

The tire decals were good though and ended up using them (thought I may have to get a stencil for the Goodyear & Eagle lettering...). I did mess up one of them, but it will be on the backside of a front, so hopefully can hide it some.

Got the engine assembly finished up. Don't like the way the valve covers came out... they were supposed to be gun metal color but I wanted to try something different. Looks alright, I guess. Toying with the idea of adding piping for the radiators and such. Maybe.

Hopefully be able to get back to it next week.

 

[Volksauto]

@Volksauto that Model T is fantastic, love the white tires! 👍👍

have done a little bit to the Benetton, been busy of late and haven't had too much spare time to model.

The tire decals were good though and ended up using them (thought I may have to get a stencil for the Goodyear & Eagle lettering...). I did mess up one of them, but it will be on the backside of a front, so hopefully can hide it some.

Got the engine assembly finished up. Don't like the way the valve covers came out... they were supposed to be gun metal color but I wanted to try something different. Looks alright, I guess. Toying with the idea of adding piping for the radiators and such. Maybe.

Hopefully be able to get back to it next week.

Thanks for the comment and beautiful work! I think the valve covers look pretty good the way they are. I also think you should add some plumbing since you already added the ignition wiring. It would add so much more realism and authenticity to the model.

 

[wfooshee]

...they were supposed to be gun metal color but I wanted to try something different. Looks alright, I guess.

The valve covers on that Ford engine are actually nearly black. Your color is good for the bracket at the front of the cover, though. A dark gunmetal would work. Testor's makes a nice series of mixed-for-spraying metal-colored lacquers. I've always just used a semi-gloss black...

 

[barryf1fan]

Yeah, I researched the car and that pic came up, among others, I was just trying something different with it. It backfired a bit, oh well.

 

[Apok]

Great work volksauto and barry and thanks for sharing!

I've also done some work on the mustang.

Here it is primed, pre-shaded and with the gray underside colour already applied. I ended up mixing it myself and think I got a pretty accurate shade out of it.

Here I applied some panzer putty to mask the underside. That's the brand name for a type of malleable material that sticks to the surface of a model. The idea is you get softer transitions between the colours which looks better than the sharp edge of masking tape.

Here it is with the top also painted, dedcals applied and clear coated. I also applied a brown wash on the wings here and later did it on the body as well.

The shark mouth decal was all in one piece and quite fiddly to conform to the surface. The front needed to be hand painted as you can see there is a lip of gray paint still visible, but I forgot to take a picture of that.


The following pictures were taken from a live-stream I did of the build process, so they're lower quality unfortunately.

I applied the brown wash to the wheel bays and painted the moulded in pipe thing (a hydraulics line or something?).

I also tried my hardest to paint the wheels as well as possible, but some of the mistakes will need to be covered by mud.


All that's left now is attaching the landing gear and propeller then some more weathering effects (dust and perhaps paint chips) and the final clear coat.

 

[barryf1fan]

@Apok your plane is looking really, really good. The weathering you were talking about will make it surreal. Also, seeing it in your hand - I forget how small the scale is, nice job on it!! My eyes would be angry if I worked on something that small.

Here's a few pics of the Benetton B188, obviously not done but getting there. Have had quite a bit of adult stuff to deal with of late. Making steady progress on this one though. Paint isn't too bad considering I've only got rattle cans!! Also, got a bit of the decals down.

Got a bit more to do to get the body ready for decals. Little bit more yellow and then the intakes for the radiators. . . she's close, just struggling to find time for her. Still though, don't want to rush this one. One of my all time fav F1's
Thanks for looking!!

 

[barryf1fan]

Little bit of work done on the B188 - getting close on this one, model time is just a precious commodity I don't seem to have much of at the moment.
Little peek of what I have done, though.

 

[GTboyz]

I'm thinking of getting into model kit building but I'm too lazy to paint

I've seen some videos of people unboxing Tamiya's model kits and found the car body is already colored so I was wondering if those kind of kits are just simple snap on or does every model kit needs to be repainted?

 

[Volksauto]

I'm thinking of getting into model kit building but I'm too lazy to paint

I've seen some videos of people unboxing Tamiya's model kits and found the car body is already colored so I was wondering if those kind of kits are just simple snap on or does every model kit needs to be repainted?

There were a very few Tamiya snap kits which were called Snap-Loc kits.
If you find model kits molded in color, you can make it look like it is painted! The plastic out of the box has many imperfections such as scratches, flash, and a semi-gloss finish.
But if you buff the bare plastic and deck it up a bit with detailing, you can still have a very nice looking model without ever painting the body. Just keep in mind, you'll still have to paint everything else of the model such as the engine, chassis, interior, etc.
Here's some examples of great models built with unpainted, polished bodies:

But you're so limited with creativity without painting. Painting is probably the best part of modelling imo.

 

[GTboyz]

There were a very few Tamiya snap kits which were called Snap-Loc kits.
If you find model kits molded in color, you can make it look like it is painted! The plastic out of the box has many imperfections such as scratches, flash, and a semi-gloss finish.
But if you buff the bare plastic and deck it up a bit with detailing, you can still have a very nice looking model without ever painting the body. Just keep in mind, you'll still have to paint everything else of the model such as the engine, chassis, interior, etc.
Here's some examples of great models built with unpainted, polished bodies:

But you're so limited with creativity without painting. Painting is probably the best part of modelling imo.

Goddamn , what brand are those?

 

[Volksauto]

Goddamn , what brand are those?

Revell 1/25 1967 Chevelle SS 396 (1989 Release)

Monogram 1/25 '50 Ford Pickup

 

[wfooshee]

Year and years ago, meaning late 70s, the Tamiya kit I bought of Jackie Stewart's Tyrrell 003 was painted, in the box. That model was severely damaged in a move and I purchased a new kit to replace it. The new one was not painted.

That was the only kit I ever had that came in the box with the car's body prepainted. None of the chassis or engine parts were painted, just the body had been sprayed with the Tyrrell blue.

 

[Volksauto]

Year and years ago, meaning late 70s, the Tamiya kit I bought of Jackie Stewart's Tyrrell 003 was painted, in the box. That model was severely damaged in a move and I purchased a new kit to replace it. The new one was not painted.

That was the only kit I ever had that came in the box with the car's body prepainted. None of the chassis or engine parts were painted, just the body had been sprayed with the Tyrrell blue.

Speaking of prepainted kits, this is one on my bucket list:

It's a Revival 1/20 1937 Auto Union V16 Type C Streamliner. The kit is a metal kit. They usually sell for around $250 when one pops up on Ebay.

 

[barryf1fan]

Little work done on the Benetton tonight. . .

Getting close on this one. Few more decals, and the wheels & tires.

 

[barryf1fan]

Crappy cell phone pics, but she's done.

This one was a real challenge, but I think it came out okay.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Volksauto]

Crappy cell phone pics, but she's done.

This one was a real challenge, but I think it came out okay.

Thanks for looking!

Beautiful! Great model!

 

[barryf1fan]

Beautiful! Great model!

Thanks @Volksauto !!

Here she is on the "model rack" in a case. 👍

btw, I really, really, like your user name!

Here's the cars at my house.

Victor the Vanagon

Wife's ride (my GTI in the background)

And my pride and joy that I worked on for years and finally sold about 3 years ago (it was time to let someone else enjoy her, did a lot of work on her but time to move on. . .)

My oldest has a 2017 Golf and my youngest has an Acura RSX (haven't disowned him yet - it is a nice car )

 

[barryf1fan]

Now that the Benetton F1 is done and dusted, I'm gonna build this Fujimi kit for my youngest - he told me awhile back that he would like me to do a model of his car (Integra). So I've been looking for one and finally found one that's probably about 15 years old (not as old as the Benetton!!).

here's the start:

His car is silver with black leather interior, and his wheels are painted so will have to strip the chrome off of these. Body started with front/rear bodies attached and rear deck wing. Got all the gaps filled and seams sanded down - ready for Tamiya Fine Surface white primer.

 

[barryf1fan]

Been busy today. . .

but last night I got several pieces cleaned up, de-seamed and sanded. Got the 4 piece exhaust on the chassis and filled in any gaps with CA and sanded back smooth. I also managed to get the body primed and ready for the silver metallic coat. Laid down about 5 or 6 coats of Tamiya Fine White Primer - 3-4 light coats for coverage and then a couple of thicker coats for a nice level finish. Heck, the white primer looks nice and smooth!

Also, went to the LHS to get the silver for his car and a silver for his wheels on this kit and a couple of things "fell into the basket" ! !

Been wanting the Hasegawa Nissan R91CP for AGES!! and who doesn't love a Skyline Race Kar !?!?

 

[Volksauto]

@barryf1fan great work on your son's Acura replica so far! Nice even coats of primer. I want that R91 kit as well. But my local hobby store has a Hasegawa R89 kit that I also really like.

I finally finished my Eunos Roadster after a long break from modelling. Here are some photos:

My next project I'm starting is this:

 

[barryf1fan]

That's a great looking Mazda, love the baby blue, and the Fuzzy Dice. 👍

Check that Samba bus along the way... the one I have (same kit) is warped and I've procrastinated starting it. Please post up progress though, would love to follow along on that one!

 

[Volksauto]

heck that Samba bus along the way... the one I have (same kit) is warped and I've procrastinated starting it. Please post up progress though, would love to follow along on that one!

Yes. I've heard that's an issue with these kits. Some people have had good luck and have had all the panels fit neatly. Hopefully I can say the same about mine.

 

[Apok]

First off, great work to everyone. Some nice models in here. 👍

I've finally finished that 1/72 scale Mustang. The project had to take a bit of a back seat for a while, but I finally got around to finishing it. Sadly didn't take too many pictures of the process, but I assembled the landing gear, did plenty of weathering and clear coated the model. I used a couple techniques I've never tried before, like trying to get the paint chipping effect on the edge of the panels, using pigments to get sort of a streaking grimy look and using the airbrush for a dusty look. Mostly on the underside of the plane.

Pictures! ( Bottle cap for scale )

Spoiler: extra pictures

There are a couple things I would've done different had I built it again. The wonky propeller is kind of annoying, but oh well. Lesson learned. At least it spins!

 

[barryf1fan]

Man! @Apok that's some of the best weathering I've seen on a plane. Fantastic realism, the paint chipping, the exhaust staining, even the scratches on the canopy glass (not sure how you did it, but looks unreal, or completely real) - all of it is amazing!! And such a difficult scale to get that level of detail on.

Kudos ! ! and not sure what the prob is with the propeller, but looks perfect in the pics!

 

[Apok]

Man! @Apok that's some of the best weathering I've seen on a plane. Fantastic realism, the paint chipping, the exhaust staining, even the scratches on the canopy glass (not sure how you did it, but looks unreal, or completely real) - all of it is amazing!! And such a difficult scale to get that level of detail on.

Kudos ! ! and not sure what the prob is with the propeller, but looks perfect in the pics!

I think that might just be tiny specks of dust on the canopy that I didn't see when taking the pictures, but thanks!

 

[barryf1fan]

I think that might just be tiny specks of dust on the canopy that I didn't see when taking the pictures, but thanks!

👍

 

[Volksauto]

First off, great work to everyone. Some nice models in here. 👍

I've finally finished that 1/72 scale Mustang. The project had to take a bit of a back seat for a while, but I finally got around to finishing it. Sadly didn't take too many pictures of the process, but I assembled the landing gear, did plenty of weathering and clear coated the model. I used a couple techniques I've never tried before, like trying to get the paint chipping effect on the edge of the panels, using pigments to get sort of a streaking grimy look and using the airbrush for a dusty look. Mostly on the underside of the plane.

Pictures! ( Bottle cap for scale )

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Spoiler: extra pictures

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View attachment 858010

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There are a couple things I would've done different had I built it again. The wonky propeller is kind of annoying, but oh well. Lesson learned. At least it spins!

Your weathering is phenomenal! Not only does it look realistic, it's scale correct as well! Bravo!

I started the Volkswagen Samba Bus. I finished the engine. I don't plan on adding any ignition wiring because the engine is tucked away deep within the rear with a small deck-lid covering it making it kind of hard to see when the model is finished. I'm happy with the results.

 

[Volksauto]

I finished the chassis on the VW.
I've seen real restored Buses with different colored floors. I've seen them black, grey, or body colored. I mostly seen Sambas painted with body colored floors. I'm not 100% sure if it's correct but I like the look of it anyways so I painted the floors body colored: