Getting back in it

[diymirage]

About 5 years ago we moved and i completly got out of modeling

As life has progressed, ive found myself with a little spare time on my hands and rather then sit here and argue plotics with you guys I decided to get back into modeling

Back in the day I used to mostly build cars in 1:25 but ice decided to shift my focus to 1:35 WWII models

In part because I used to build those as a child, and in part because it allows for more detailing and weathering

For my reentry into the hobby I ordered this tamya Hanomag (on a side note, I believe this was one of the last military models I build 20some years ago)


So, stay tuned, and tips and tricks are always welcome, since I'm sure I will be rusty

 

[H22A4]

Well as you knew from your previous days making models, Tamiya is one of the best model makers out there for accuracy/detail! They are not cheap but then in most cases, one gets what they pay for.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

I stopped when my eyes went bad at 40 years old. even welding became impossible. Just had eye surgery. Glad I kept all of them.

 

[FISHYPETE]

I still have remnants of the Rommels Rod kit And an unbuilt Tamiya 1/25 Tiger I. I sold a very large portion of my stash, ( only kept the Mopar kits)approx 10yrs ago. Still have some built kits from the 70’s, and many unbuilt kits from late 70’s- 80’s. I haven’t built a kit since 90’s, good to see some of you getting back into the hobby

 

[diymirage]

Well as you knew from your previous days making models, Tamiya is one of the best model makers out there for accuracy/detail! They are not cheap but then in most cases, one gets what they pay for..

I was pleasantly surprised when I ordered this kit, it came in under $20.00 shipped to my house

Of course, since im getting back in at ground zero, im sure i will easily spend double that on paint, glue and brushes

I stopped when my eyes went bad at 40 years old. even welding became impossible. Just had eye surgery. Glad I kept all of them.

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40 you say?
I turned 40 2 months ago, funny

That is very similar to what I sold off when I got out last time
There were some pretty cool kits (I think all 3 issues of the 1:18 charger) a ton of parts, wheels tires and engines

But it is what it is

I did keep half a dozen of my build kits

 

[niceolddart]

I was pleasantly surprised when I ordered this kit, it came in under $20.00 shipped to my house

Of course, since im getting back in at ground zero, im sure i will easily spend double that on paint, glue and brushes



40 you say?
I turned 40 2 months ago, funny

That is very similar to what I sold off when I got out last time
There were some pretty cool kits (I think all 3 issues of the 1:18 charger) a ton of parts, wheels tires and engines

But it is what it is

I did keep half a dozen of my build kits

If you haven't heard of them, Micro-Mark has a lot of neat stuff for the model hobbyist. Check them out.

 

[diymirage]

well gents, the kit came in today and as i got it opened i noticed two things...first of all, these parts are WAY smaller than they used to be

second thing i noticed, is they changed the way the track go together
back when i last build this kit, you had to put the two ends of the tracks together and fuse them by melting them
that a pain that was

this time, there is a little tab that loops in and it is so much nicer



i got about 2 steps into it before i managed to deviate from the instructions
all my resources tell me the inside of these used to be painted the same color as the outside (which makes sense)
but since i want to paint this one a dark german grey (early european theather) i felt like there wouldnt be enough contrast with the outside, so i decided to paint the inside a mat tan

i think that makes sense

i intentionally didnt paint it perfectly as i want to try my hand at weathering both the inside and outside

the only weathering i have done so far is dry brush some "natural steel" over the high traffic areas of the floor
(which shows up better in the pictures then in real life)

 

[diymirage]

Got most of the assembly done and ready for paint

I put on a very light coat of Primer (because I ran out)

And am now ready for base coat


It's been awhile since I used an airbrush and I never used this paint (vallejo) before, so wish me luck

 

[diymirage]

Well, this was a disaster

I dont know if my air pressure was too low, my paint was to thin or my needle was too small

Either was, when I ended up shooting the base it was too thin and didn't dry properly
As a result, it ran down and pooled in places

When I noticed that, I dabbed it off with a paper towel, figuring I could always reshoot it

(If this pooling had taken place on the top of the model I would have been tickled pink with the results)

So, I may try to shoot it again, or go straight into weathering, because for what it is...it doesn't look too bad

(Of course the thinner the paint the higher the gloss, so we will see how it dries out)

 

[diymirage]

Got some decals laid down
Im really happy i went with the cream interior, it pops nicely

(And you can really see the paint issues on the tool boxes there )

And im still planning on weathering it

 

[diymirage]

Got a start made with my weathering
This is all new to me, but im liking it so far

 

[Dustdevl340]

Pretty cool. I often think about getting back into modeling but I don't have the time.

If you want to jumpstart your weathering technique look for plasmo on YouTube. That guy's finished models look like they just drove or flew off the battlefield whatever the scale. Serious off the charts skills.

 

[diymirage]

Pretty cool. I often think about getting back into modeling but I don't have the time.

If you want to jumpstart your weathering technique look for plasmo on YouTube. That guy's finished models look like they just drove or flew off the battlefield whatever the scale. Serious off the charts skills.

thanks, ill look him up

one thing i did today was get one of the soldiers painted (mostly)
im very pleased with the way the camo came out, something i was never able to properly do before

the only downside is, the more i think about it, the more i think i painted the wrong camo on it, like, the print i used doesnt match the cut of the uniform

so i may end up redoing it in plain grey

(ill probably get some pictures up tomorrow)

 

[Tanker]

Based on the lack of swing arms on the suspension I would guess that this particular Hanomag is a reissue of a much earlier kit. Tamiya's more modern offerings have significantly more detail and are more accurate. It took them a while, but they eventually figured out that their customers were no longer kids, but rather grown men that demanded more from a kit than they'd been offering. This lead to a plethora of newly tooled outstanding kits that raised their status among modelers considerably.

Panzer grey is an excellent choice for an early halftrack like this one, but I'd like to suggest that you invest in an airbrush. It will completely revolutionize the way you paint and weather your models and leave you wondering how you ever got by without one. You're already doing work at a higher level than many modelers, which makes me believe you could put an airbrush to really good use.

 

[diymirage]

thanks tanker, ever visit a site called scalemate? it has some great info on kits, for instance, it has the timeline of a certain kit by part number

(on the actual website these are all hyperlinks, but as you guessed, the one i have still has the 1973 datecode on it )

i actually dont mind it being so basic, because i also bought one for my oldest to build, and he is still a kid


as for the paint, i used a Paasche H but i had some issues with it
of course, im using a paint i dont know, and trying to get a finish im not used to

so, any suggestions you have, i am all ears

 

[Tanker]

I looked up the Paasche model H to see what you're using and I see it's an external mix design. These are fine for certain general applications, like painting the outside of a tank all one uniform color, but they are less suited to precise detail work than good internal mix designs. You'll notice the difference when applying camouflage in the final stages of a build. The borders between one color and the next will still be soft, but also more defined., which in turn gives a more to scale appearance. Badger makes several different versions, some very affordable, others a bit less so. I have one that I've been using for the last thirty years along with an Iwata HP-BC. I started a brief thread about a few old kits I put together years ago, and in that thread the large scale Bandai Panther at the top was painted entirely with the Badger, and I likely used it on the Russian T62 as well. It's been a while so I can't be positive, but I think I used the Iwata on the camouflaged M60A1. They can be found at the link below.

A few kits I put together years ago.

An important detail to remember when using an airbrush is just how much thinner to use. This can vary greatly from one paint brand to the next, and even one color to the next. For this reason back in the seventies when I was a teen obsessed with WWII armored vehicles I became a huge fan of Humbrol paint. The pigments they used were very finely ground and there was a lot of it, so it covered well and very smoothly, even when applied with a brush. I would use it right out of the little can with little to no thinner. Later when Humbrol became just about impossible to find I was forced to switch to Testors Model master series paint with good results, but most of their colors required varying small amounts of thinner to get them to behave themselves. Now with so many manufacturers switching to water base formulas and prioritizing their development I'm kind of stuck. I'd rather not use that stuff, so I've had to stock up on the oil base paint for fear that It'll go away completely. They've already cut back quite a bit on the colors available, which seems like an ominous sign to me.

 

[diymirage]

I kind of just bit the bullet and went with acrylics this time (since I'm starting from scratch anyway)

I picked up a few of vallejo paints, they seem to be one of the major players now

One thing I noticed is some of the paint rubbed of during handling (specially on the hands)
You never saw that with oil based paints

I think I remember the humbrol paints, they had the actual press in lids right?


I dont recall the number, but in a previous life I used to have a badger airbrush, it was a very nice tool (airbrushing was actually an elective class at my highschool)

Anyway

Here is some progress on the soldiers

 

[Tanker]

Nice work on the vintage figures. I remember when those guys, and I mean those guys specifically, were among the best you could find anywhere. That was back in the seventies, and I was always frustrated by the fact that no matter how carefully the kit was built or how much detail was added to it, the figures would kind of spoil it. I spent many hours shaving molded tunics away from legs and butts and replacing them with carefully trimmed paper soaked in Elmer's glue, then teasing it into shape so it would hang naturally. Sleeve ends also had to be opened up in the same fashion so that arms could be seen going into the sleeve instead of ending at the molded end of it. Helmet chin straps and rifle slings were made out of trimmed masking tape and fingers had to be separated from each other via careful use of an exacto knife blade, and they still looked fake. I was always frustrated by them, so eventually I stopped trying and left them unassembled in the otherwise empty box. Thankfully figures have improved dramatically in recent years so I'm inclined to give them another try when I get to some of the tanks I've purchased recently. One thing I've considered is using 3D printed people instead of the molded kit soldiers. I have the uniforms and basic equipment that German soldiers wore and carried during the war, so I'd just need a few volunteers to wear it and stand still for the cameras. The finished figures look so real they'll almost fool you. Here's an example.

 

[Tanker]

I almost forgot. Yes, Humbrol came in little metal paint cans and still does when you can find it. The fact that it's so hard to find anymore is why I've been using Testors Model Master paint along side the Humbrol brand. The Model Master paint is pretty high quality and a huge improvement over the stuff they sell in the little square glass jars.

 

[diymirage]

thanks, im really pleased with the way the soldiers are coming together

ive noticed some of the stuff offered in resin has great detail, but to be honest, i think i would end out outpunting my coverage
the again, better detail might make it easier to paint, so who knows

its pretty obvious these guys have been around for a while
(and if im not mistaken, the soldiers included in this kit, were also part of Tamiya 35030, "German assault troops" so who knows how old and wore out those dies are)

3D printing may be the way to go, what scale is that family you posted?

 

[Tanker]

I’m not sure what scale they are. When you find a place that does that sort of work they list the figures in inches. Once the photos are taken and digitally stitched together to create the 3D image file they can supposedly print them out in any size you want within reason. A six foot tall guy in 1/35th scale would be about two inches. But since people vary in height it’d probably be wise to focus on getting the rifle the soldier is carrying the right length. Then everything else would fall into place.

 

[diymirage]

That makes sense


I painted that last soldier, I used the white over black primer and then added a glazing agent to my topcoat

Not sure if it helped a lot, but I like it
(On second thought, I should have done this with a standing figure)

I got to say, I think I'm seeing an improvement in my overall figure painting

 

[Tanker]

Nice job so far. Figures in 1/35th scale are never easy due to their small size. It takes a steady hand and a lot of patience to get good results. If you’d care to add a little extra detail, the bottom of the sole on a German soldier’s boots would be a dirty raw leather color with hobnails and heel irons nailed into place. This would be visible on the kneeling soldiers boot.