A modelling virgin.ooer...

[Guest]

Hi all,

First off, i`m new to modelling. Just turned 50 and have been looking for a hobby.

Ive got various interests, mainly SciFi so my first kit purchase is the Revell Enterprise from the original Star Trek series.

Righty ho, some questions!

• I noticed that some mixing of paints is required for this kit (mainly the hull colour, its a mix of 60%/30%/10%) Is this the norm? A mate of mine said that it was just a sneaky way of selling more paints... Has anyone done this kit and has used just one suitable paint instead of mixing? (To be honest im not even sure how how would measure out these percentages as liquid amounts!)
  

• Im a bit confused about the painting of the clear parts. Would i be right in saying that they should be painted on the reverse of the part? I assume the colour should show through. Most of these parts are supposed to represent lights and the main nacelles etc.
  

• Are Revell the best for SciFi models? The instructions do seem a little vague and seem to assume that the modeller has some prior modelling knowledge.
  

Many thanks for reading and if you can give me any advice or help it would be much appreciated.

WarpCore

[mossiepilot]

Hi and welcome to the forum Warpcore. In answer to your questions, the paint colours quoted are Revell, and they do seem to do this quite often, but the correct, or near enough, colours can be got from other manufacturers, such as Vallejo. Also the the clear parts can be painted on the outside, using "clear" colours which dry transparent, but I would do what you first suggested, painting on the inside using the clear colours, as I think this gives a better finish. Don't know about other Sci-Fi kit manufacturers, but I know Revell do a good selection.

Best of luck with your build, and remember to have fun.

Tony.

[homechild]

I only use Tamiya colours and I generally use the, "Yeah, that colour's close enough" rule. You won't find anyone on here that will criticise a model because the colour used is (for example) "Aluminium" instead of "Chrome."

As for sci-fi model manufacturers, Fine Molds appear to be the best for Star Wars models but can be quite pricey. I've yet to buy one of their kits but have my eyes on a couple. I know there's someone on here who's built one or two of their kits (can't remember who), maybe they'll read this and offer some more advice.

So, welcome, have fun, ask questions and show us your models when done.

[stona]

Fist of all welcome aboard!

As far as the colour goes I would ask what colour was the model(s) used in the series? I'm sure you can find a colour that will match that nearly enough without mixing. We have similar debates about the known colours used on things that actually existed at full size.Interesting stuff but at the end of the day it's a model,your model,and as long as you are happy with your representation that's all that matters.

If you mean painting clear parts with clear paints then you can certainly paint them on the inside.

I'll let someone more familiar with sci-fi models answer your last question

Good luck with your build and enjoy.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Wecome Sir

I won't talk about colours becasue I'm a relative beginner too. The chaps on this forum will make you very welcome and will offer all sorts of advice and suggestions.

It's a really friendly place.

Aidan

[Guest]

Welcome, very nice ppl here, loads of advice and compliments.

Me newby too and as I go along, I figure out what works for me with just paint brushing I'm heading towards Tamiya on weapons and smaller bits of aircraft and Humbrol on bigger surfaces. Although they are coated with clear in the end, Tamiya seems to be a bit smoother and looks and feels different than Humbrol, even after the clear, but that's if I hold the model 2 inches from my eyes. From 2 feet, they all look the same. They seem to apply different and dry different, which is why I prefer Tamiya on the smaller bits and Humbrol on the bigger. I use those two, because they are what's mainly available in South Africa. I'm not as lucky as the other members to have such a variety of paints to choose from.

Hope you have loads of fun.

Cheers

Frikkie

[Guest]

Hi and welcome aboard the good ship sca-mod,

Kit suppliers always quote their relevant paints i.e. Revell will quote revell paint codes, Airfix-Humbrol, Tamiya-Tamiya etc their range is like Humbrol but far far more limited, (a good starting point would be to look at a humbrol colour chart and see if theres a ready made 'close enough' colour), Humbrol are also more readily available, another questions is? do you have a paint preference?, (acrylic vs enamel), are you brush painting or airbrushing, as each procedure has better results with different types of paint and finish.

It may even be that with the enterprise being such a well known ship theres a paint manufacturer out there that do specific paints, like Zero paints who do specific vehicle colours in model size pots? Worth a google to see.

If memory serves, NCC1701 was an off white, so maybe something like Vallejo Ivory would suffice?

My take on the clear parts, are you lighting it inside? if so then yes, paint either side with clear, if not, then i'd suggest painting the inside with something like a chrome silver and the clear on the outside to give it some reflectivity.

Hope this is useful.

Mike

[Dave W]

Greetings Warpcore.I made the Enterprise from the Next Generation series some years ago.I couldn't get the suggested colour so I painted it the same light grey as An F14 I had just finished.And I used Tamiya clear colours on the Warp engines.What I'm saying is the colour doesn't have to be spot on if your happy with it.Nobody on here is going to criticise your build.Live long and prosper Warpcore!.

[Guest]

the revell mixes quoted are usually very close to the colour required,so you dont really need to worry about those all though a few weeks ago i built the revell voyager kit and i used their mixes and thought it looked far too grey but after looking on starship modeller i was quite hapopy with the results..welcome to the forum by the way, i also love my sci-fi,there are not nearly enough of us. my next job is a couple of the galactica vipers from mobeius models or the rocket from pegasus models, have not made my mind up yet.

[Guest]

Many thanks for all the answers thus far. Some good tips and advice.

I hadnt really considered that the colours are open to interpretation, of course they are! To my mind the Enterprise is an off white shade, to others it may be darker. I guess thats what makes the SciFi modelling aspect so appealing. It really only gets a little pedantic with extreme fans who will insist on the right dimensions and colours etc.

Fairly recently i was listening to a couple of 20ish year olds going on at length about this. They were obviously fans of Star Wars and were virulently debating the sizes of vessels and colours and speed of various ships, all quite dizzying to my old ears! Dont know what they would have made of this: Remember the 70`s tv show UFO? Dinky (or Corgi) bought out a die cast model of the UFO Interceptor and instead of the off white colour for some reason it was released in a bright green! (If memory serves istr that a blue Thunderbird 2 was available as well...) Crikey, i`ll bet their minds would have imploded with it all!

Anyhoo i digress.

Many thanks again.

I`ll post soon.

WarpCore

[Guest]

At the end of the day its a pretend ship on a TV program so whatever you want to do colour wise is up to you ... as long as it looks good to you .. then stuff the geeks and rivet counters eh

I started to get a little "intense" with the Prometheus i scratch built, but i ended up getting it to look as i liked it which didn't turn out too bad.

A little tip i've used for "colouring" clear parts ... you can mix some water based colour (acrylic) with PVA glue then paint it on the inside of the clear part, when dried it'll look see-through.

Another way is to colour the insides with some cheap permenant markers, this will only go on very thinly and look adequate when its on the model.

Oh ... and welcome to the forum

[spanner570]

Can't add anything regards paint and I know stuff all about Sci-Fi stuff, but I do know this is one great Forum.

I can't see your name WarpCore, so a formal welcome from me to the band of brothers, enjoy your time here.

Cheers,

Ron

[yak face]

Hi and welcome to the forum, like ron im no expert on sci fi models but i know we've plenty of helpful members who do , cheers tony

[Guest]

Hello again,

Well i finally got around to starting the model. It all went fairly well, i discovered very quickly that the revell enamels need to be thinned down quite a bit. I mixed some colours which initially i was concerned about, but they were fine. I just mixed with some cheap white spirit so it was not too runny, just enough to give a nice thin first coat and not too thick that the hull detail is obliterated!

To be fair i am not going to try airbrushing just yet, i want to use this first model as a test run.

The build is still ongoing, i am taking some time and really enjoying it, even when i get some setbacks. One of which is: Using the red clear paint on the clear parts? I didnt thin down this at first so it went on terribly and didnt give any kind of finish i wanted. It ran down the inside (the nacelle cove dome...) and gathered at the base. I wiped it out with spirit but unfortunately the surface melted slightly.

Anyhoo, Long tale shortened, i have ordered two replacements from Revell. I guess i am looking for some good advice on how to make the nacelle see thru with the red clear paint without it running and smearing.

Thanks again chaps for any help or advice.

WarpCore

[Guest]

Welcome WarpCore. I've done a few Star Wars models (Ertl,AMT etc), not so much Revell stuff but i've just primed a Revell model and the lines and details are excellent. I tend to use Tamiya, Vallejo and Humbrol acrylics. As some have mentioned before, if the colour sits right with you, then that's all that matters. One man's "light grey" is another man's "pebble white".