plastic kits

[Guest]

is it best to paint on the spru, as you have to scrape the paint off to glue

[wonwinglo]

is it best to paint on the spru, as you have to scrape the paint off to glue

There is no hard and fast rules on this Dave,if the item requires detailed painting and it is difficult to paint whilst assembled then paint beforehand,otherwise try and assemble the model as far as you can then do the painting later,spue painting is mostly aimed at small items that can be difficult to hold whilst painting them,so yes in that case go for pre-painting.

What I can never understand is the way some people paint things like fuselage halves before assembly ? that way they need to glue and scrape before touching up !

Once you have a dozen or so models under your belt things will evolve as to the best way to tackle the subject,give it some thought before you commence assembly.

[Guest]

Thanks a lot

[Guest]

Hello Everyone! Looking for a tip on cleaning brushes I found this group, in fact an answer from the Moderator. I remember reading in one of the magazines, I believe it was FSM, that someone placed his or her brushes in Acetone after cleaning the for a short while to remove the residue.. Any truht in this_ ThanksJose

[Guest]

Depends. If you have a lot of flash, like on the cut-away 747, then obviously don't paint first. Though on a 48th Tiger, paint the wheels first, put on model them touch up.

As for cleraning brushed, don't use enamel, acrylic is nicer and cleaner. To be honest I can't remember the last time I used enamel as I moved to cellulose and acrylic in the 90's.

Just for a bit of nostalgia, had to visit Borth for a therapy exercise yesterday and in the little newsagent we use, where the good Commando comics are there was a full box of Airfix M12 brick red at the back of the shop! The buff box with the Airfix logo on the side, fond memories of model shops came flooding back. We was almost tempted to buy it but decided not to.

[Guest]

Hi Dave and welcome to the site,

In answer to your question, I think this is a matter of personal taste.

When my dad taught me how to build kits as a kit, I would always paint items still attached to the Sprue as it made it easier to do so without actually having to handle that particular part.

I would certainly paint internal components on the sprue as there is very little marking on them when you cut them off the sprue and it only needs a dot of paint if required when you cut them off. At least the rest of the component is dry by the time you come to do this so you can handle it then for that purpose.

I do paint some larger parts still on the sprue too but generally try not to get too much paint near to any glueing surfaces, scraping a little paint off is not too much hassle anyway.

Again it is up to you how you do it, there is no right or wrong way as such.

Regards........Mark

[wonwinglo]

Jose,as an artist I can tell you that if you want your brushes to last a long time,observe one simple rule,always rub liquid soap into the bristles at the end of the session in the palm of your hand,swirl the brush around a bit and see the colour come out,that colour builds up in the ferrule of the brush and wrecks it,any thinners is fine but will not remove all colour.

I am going over slowly to acrylics myself these days,but white is the weak spot,no manufacturer seems to be able to formulate a decent white acrylic for model use that has a decent body to it,some of the best acrylics in my opinion are the Warhammer ones,silly names for the colours but super paint.

[Guest]

is it best to paint on the spru, as you have to scrape the paint off to glue

I usually nowadays remove the part from the sprue, clean it up and prepare it for painting then I reattach it to a spare piece of stretched sprue, pared down to give a small contact area and glued onto a surface that is not visible on the model.

Take a 1/72nd pilot, invariably attached by his head and a leg to the sprue. I remove it and clean it all up then reattach it to a cleaned up piece of stretched sprue underneath his foot. When you have finished the paint job, holding the sprue all the time, and it is finally time to fit him you simply have to break him off the sprue and glue him in place with the minimum of handling.

Then take a motorcycle tank. I would asemble the two halves, finish the joint and prepare for painting then stick a piece of sprue inside the tank underneath. You can then paint the tank with either spray or brush and finally when you are ready to fit it break it off the sprue.

A motorcycle engine I might assemble the crankcases and the cylinders before sticking a piece of sprue to a surface that is going to be covered by a chain case or an alternator cover. I might even do all the weathering before removing it from the sprue and fitting it to the frame. Then when you fit the chain case or alternator cover, also painted with a piece of sprue stuck behind it you will have a perfect finish.

You have to think these assemblies though before hand and decide on the best way of holding and painting the bits but I almost always use trimmed down stretched sprue to hold bits while I paint them.