Finishing tips for completed builds

[Vikingmike]

Hi All,

I'm new at all this and have only built 6 or so models thus far. I'm concentrating on airplanes at the moment. I have built a combination of Revell/Airfix 1/72 and 1/144 scale planes over the last 18 months.

Of course as I newbie I built them using the materials that were supplied and because of a lack of knowledge they were never finished with a gloss or a varnish. They have been kept in a tin and are a little dusty but are not too bad. Knowing what I now know about finishes and glosses can I go back and add a finish to protect them or do I leave them and concentrate on my current builds?

Any tips gratefully received.

Thanks

Mike

[AndrewR]

To be honest, I'd be inclined to press on with current builds and leave most of them be for the moment.

It might be worth having a practice on one of them to see how your chosen varnish shapes up, and how you want to apply it (spray can, paintbrush, airbrush). Then when you build one of the new improved models, you'll already have some experience at the varnishing stage.

If you spray or paint matt or satin varnish, don't forget to protect any transparencies. Many people use Klear as a gloss varnish, and that can easily be brushed on. I tend to use Vallejo varnishes, which clean up in water and can be brushed or sprayed. I used to have an aerosol can or two of varnish about, but that usually means being outdoors, or at least in a very well ventilated room. Most of those aerosols are pretty smelly, and "domestic bliss" can be seriously disturbed if you stink the house out...

The Vallejo varnishes are non-smelly

It also depends a bit on what is available at your local model shop (if you are lucky enough to have one!).

cheers

Andrew

[Vikingmike]

Thanks for the reply, I am quite lucky in that I have two Modelzones and a Hobbycraft in close proximity to me. Have only just been made aware of Modelzone so shall be going to have a look next week. Have read some good things about the Humbrol gloss. The Vallejo gloss, will that be sold in modelzone or would I need to order online?

Thanks
Mike

[AndrewR]

Thanks for the reply, I am quite lucky in that I have two Modelzones and a Hobbycraft in close proximity to me. Have only just been made aware of Modelzone so shall be going to have a look next week. Have read some good things about the Humbrol gloss. The Vallejo gloss, will that be sold in modelzone or would I need to order online?

Thanks
Mike

Not sure about Vallejo in Modelzone, I left the UK before Modelzone arrived!

Edit: A quick Google says "Yes, they stock them, and you can order online".

Cheers

Andrew

[fearless frankie]

A good site for paint is "The Modeller" fast delivery with reasonable postage and they also sock Vallejo.As for finishing kits gloss varnish to apply stickers on to. Love that word so much nice than decals, and then my personal preference is a coat of satin to tone things down.
Oh and welcome along.

[Vikingmike]

Cheers Guys,

Will have a shop round ahead of some serious purchasing next week.

[flakmonkey]

Be careful there - the varnish you choose depends on the paint you're using. Don't use an acrylic varnish over enamel paints, as there's a very good chance it will craze. So, if you're painting with Humbrol enamels, avoid Vallejo like the plague. Personally I avoid Vallejo like the plague regardless of any other factors but that's a different story. You can use an enamel varnish over acrylics though. For an off the shelf enamel varnish you won't beat the Humbrol Cotes range. If you want an acrylic, the Lifecolor ones are very good.

[Vikingmike]

Cheers for the advice flakmonkey, I will be having a look at my local shops and see what is available. As i'm new to this I look forward to testing and trying a myriad of materials and reporting back.

Thanks
Mike

[Eric Mc]

I am a great fan of the Hannants Xtracrylix range of paints and varnishes. Unfortunately, they are not generally stocked by model shops and have to be purchased direct from Hannants by mail order or alternatively purchased from them directly at the various model shows they attend.

If you ever pop down to the RAF Museum at Hendon, Hannants has a small(ish) retail outlet very close to the museum.

Hope you enjoy the hobby and that it will give you hours of fun - as it has for me over 45 years or so.

[Vikingmike]

Thanks Eric,

Annoyingly I was at the RAF museum in Hendon about 5 weeks ago!.
I will be having a look at Hannants website in due course.

Mike

[splash]

Hi Mike

One thing they always say is, wash your kit in detergent and water before you start, to clean off any release agent left on the parts, when it came out of the mould.

Now I’m a lazy sod and very rarely do this, but on some occasions it has come back and bitten me, for example on the current Swordfish GB, I had to remove all the fresh paint I had applied on the wings because I hadn’t washed the parts first and the paint was repelled from the plastic by the release agent.

I only use acrylics so stripping the paint off was as simple as spraying the wings with Flash cleaner and giving them a wash under the tap, If I had used enamel paint it would have been much worse.

Regards Splash

[AndrewR]

Hi Mike

One thing they always say is, wash your kit in detergent and water before you start, to clean off any release agent left on the parts, when it came out of the mould.

Now I’m a lazy sod and very rarely do this, but on some occasions it has come back and bitten me, for example on the current Swordfish GB, I had to remove all the fresh paint I had applied on the wings because I hadn’t washed the parts first and the paint was repelled from the plastic by the release agent.

I only use acrylics so stripping the paint off was as simple as spraying the wings with Flash cleaner and giving them a wash under the tap, If I had used enamel paint it would have been much worse.

Regards Splash

Washing the kit is always a good idea. Just don't lose any bits down the plughole!

You always get some grease on the parts from your hands, but most paints can tolerate a slightly oily surface. But as Splash says, sometimes there can be a terrific amount of grease on the kit, and then you are in trouble because the paint just won't spread out on the surface. Water based acrylics are more prone to this than enamels.

cheers

Andrew

[Beowulf Shaeffer]

You always get some grease on the parts from your hands,

and thats my tip...........wash your hands before you do any modelling!

i have to pass the bathroom on the way to the bench so its habit to wash them

[Vikingmike]

Thanks Guys,

Was going to ask somebody about washing the kits because I am sure I saw a video on Youtube were somebody said they wash there's in a bowl of warm water and washing up liquid?

Will start to do that from now on.

Mike

[Eric Mc]

I always intend to wash the bits before I start and almost always forget. On the whole, I haven't encountered too many problems when I leave out this step.
I do try to keep my hands clean when modelling so will wash my hand every so often to take away any paint smudges or other stuff such as glues or varnishes. I always wear vinyl gloves when spraying.