Returning Newbie Questions !

[Guest]

So guys, a few question if I may?

Returning to the hobby now, building cars for the time being. No airbrush at the moment and I live oversea so getting anything in costs time and money.

1) using Humbrol glue- normal old skool stuff at the moment but should I be using Tamiya extra thin stuff? With regards clear parts - CA is the way forward these days as well ?

2) Using enamels for small parts and interiors etc - do acylics brush ok for the smaller items on cars like exhausts, engines etc ? I can use cans for bodywork. Is this the way to go - enamels seem a bit heavy for this sort of thing ...

3) Alclad - does this brush OK or will it only work properly with AB?

4) decals - Micro Sol/Set or are other brans as good - I get a lot of kits off FleaBay so they might be a bit older and the decals a bit fragile ...

Sorry if this should go elsewhere but put it in the painting section for now !

Cheers

Paul

[yak face]

Hi paul , welcome to the forum. Heres my take on the questions (hopefully others will follow ) 1. Humbrol glue is fine for some things but an extra thin cement is very useful , tamiya or other brands (revell contacta for example). as for the clear parts standard CA is not ideal as it fogs them up. i personally use pacer formula 560 a pva based glue that dries clear and gives a good bond. 2. acrylics are fine to use for brushing in small areas , i do it all the time, with one notable exception- Tamiyas acrylics are notoriously difficult to brush with but spray beautifully, best to stick to vallejo or similar . 3. Alclad , you cant brush this stuff , its formulated for spraying only and even then takes a lot of care due to it being laquer based ,and hence VERY corrosive to styrene type plastics , a primer is always needed. 4. Decals from older kits can sometimes be fine , but then again they can also be useless! The micro sol/set system helps to get the decals to conform to the kit surface but if the decals are shot in the first place it might not make any difference. There are plenty of aftermarket decal sheets available so usually its not a lost cause. Hope this helps , im sure other members will give their own take on it too, cheers tony

[papa 695]

Hi Paul To answer some of your questions

1 i use the Tamiya extra thin its an hot weld works great you just have to be careful about keeping any ting you use to keep the parts in place when glueing and that includes fingers Mr surfacer does a similar glue

2 CA glue for clear parts i don't use it due to possable fogging of the parts i use Gator glue or clear fix both a type of PVA

3 Acrylics i only use acrylics but i do airbrush but for the fine detail i do brush and they work fine But i find Tamiya acrylics not the best to use even on small detail ( but that maybe just me )

4 sorry never used Alclad

5 I use Micro set/sol but not all the time sometimes just water does the trick. If the decals are alittle brittle looking i put set into the water i put the decals in to soften them up the after placing them on sol does the rest

Hope this helps but i'm sure some more experienced modelers on here will come along with there help )

[stona]

Well I'll put in my tuppence worth.

The old school glues work fine but you may well find a thin glue like Tamiya Extra Thin or Mr Hobby useful. Do have a practice with it before applying to one of your beloved models to get the hang of both the application and the way it capillates along the joint.

I'm biased and still largely use enamel paints for detail painting and spraying but you can certainly brush paint detail with good acrylic paint.

Definitely use an acrylic or PVA type glue for clear parts as suggested already. There are some supposedly non-fogging CA glues available but rather you than me!

As Tony said,you can't brush Alclad and achieve the expected effect.

Microset/sol are readily available here and are a decent decal setting/softening system. I have used Mr Mark Softener but found it a bit strong for some decals. In any case it is worth testing any decal softener on an unused decal from any given sheet. Decals vary considerably and some won't react at all whilst others disintegrate. This isn't specifically a function of age.

Microscale do a product called "Liquid Decal Film" which can be useful in saving old decals. You just paint the liquid over the decals and let it dry before applying the treated decals as normal.

Cheers

Steve