What part do you lack Skill?

Sitting here waiting for my microsol to dry, and i thought of a thread. I just want to ask what do you guys have the most flaws in? I mean what is the hardest part of making the model? I personally lack skill in putting on cf on irregular surfaces, and making the ride height perfect. Also whats everyones personal prefrence on putting on cf? I guess you need a lot of patience and microsol. I must have used almost 2 sheets of cf on one part!!! Its frustrating and it still shows flaws. Oh well i guess practice makes almost perfect. Am i the only one with this problem?

Clear coating (based on a slight cockup just now)

Just about everything... He he.. Decals are hard for me. I just HATE applying them. But I think that applies to us all..!!

also drilling holes for some odd reason.. just cocked up my fuel line holes for the Honda I'm building. It'll do, but it will never win any awards other then holes made by someone who looked to be drunk..!!

Not much cop at scratch building either, and putty work is erm, interesting at best from me..!! Not too good at cutting body panels off either..

Just cut the hood off a Revell C5-R and erm, not the best..!! Just about the start working with CF decals and P/E.. Hmmm... Watch this all end in tears...!!

Perhaps I need a new hobby..!!

painting window trim. I don't have a problem with BMF, but its when I have to mask it all off and paint it black. no matter what I do the paint always runs. I hoping a switch to an airbrush would help solve this. now all I have to do is learn how to use the airbrush

Painting the window edge black. Not the trim, but that *%&$ black edge along the window itself... it really is a bitch to do, and I always get the windows all greasy... :banghead:

I wonder how some people on this board keep their windows so amazingly clean! :confused:

I would say complex decaling. But not CF. I'm good with CF. Just kits that are completly recovered by decals

any and all window trims.... ruined models because of it....

I just want to ask what do you guys have the most flaws in? I mean what is the hardest part of making the model?

Finishing it

Finishing it

hehe, that´s a good one!

I think my biggest issue is making smal details(engine wiring etc.)
And also keeping everything clean, including my working desk :icon16:

Keeping dust out of my finishes... maybe because I have always painted in my garage, where all of my father's woodworking tools are. :icon16:

Also masking. I always seem to get one edge or corner that lifts right before I start painting... even after I burnish like a banshee!

Building something stock.

Making it look crisp/clean. I seam to have a real hard time getting small parts installed without making a mess. Attaching hoses and wires never seems to work out very well (they never seem to look realistic to me...)

I seem to do an OK job of the various individual pieces, but when I bring it all together, I either 'rush' it or mess it up somehow....


Murray

Window masking!! ( Clear part ) :banghead: :banghead:

Window masking!! ( Clear part ) :banghead: :banghead:

oh yea me too ! :lol:

Even with masking, I just can't to a clean job. I need to try my airbrush next time.

Getting car ready for paint, painting it :lol:

oh yea me too ! :lol:

Even with masking, I just can't to a clean job. I need to try my airbrush next time.

I too hate masking.. But with an airbrush and light mist coats I can "most" of the time get a semi decent job done.

Forgot about dust though..!! Yep, I always get dust in my paint jobs as I too spray in the garage..!! Grr..!! Always in a clear coat as well. And ALWAYS smack in the middle where you can easily see it.. Why, Why..??? Everytime..!!

And I too agree that hoses, fuel lines etc are a total git to fix. Just attached fuel lines tonight, and you need so much time, and yet so little glue..!! I bet they fall off as I attempt to attach the part to the engine.. Grrr..!!!!!

lol im with mike, leaving things stock just doesent work for me. it seems as if im wasting my money on a model. im not the greatest at cf but iv only done it once and im not bad so i dunno

my biggest problem is being impatient. I always try to rush things and end up with blemishes here and there. This year I'm going to try and be more patient and effective.

I'm like Murray Kish. I always do a pretty good job and then in the rush to complete a model the final steps get mucked up. I'll detail paint something and get some paint on my thumb, for instance, and not realize it until there's a black thumb print on the roof of my white car. And door. And back bumper. And on the wheel. And on the glass. Then I sand the thumbprints off, and I break the muffler, for further instance, and it never goes on quite right ever again. I don't know what it is, the last step or two are doosies.

Following kit instructions.

i think i lack the ability to polish and wax my model bodies. i always manage to polish through either the paint or the clearcoat and the original color comes through

haha i just noticed the thread title!! See i can't even do simple things right, i also seem to polish my models and get through into the primer. And for window masks i usually spray a mist or two with clear just to seal the edges, haven't had problems ever since.

Making the panel lines.

I'm like Murray Kish. I always do a pretty good job and then in the rush to complete a model the final steps get mucked up. I'll detail paint something and get some paint on my thumb, for instance, and not realize it until there's a black thumb print on the roof of my white car. And door. And back bumper. And on the wheel. And on the glass. Then I sand the thumbprints off, and I break the muffler, for further instance, and it never goes on quite right ever again. I don't know what it is, the last step or two are doosies.


Hey hey...that sounds like me!!!!!!

staying focused, well, look at my S13, it's still just how it was in the last update.

and, maybe painting bodies, when i do it on the S13, it will be my first paintjob on a body.

haha i just noticed the thread title!!

What was it supposed to say?

I have to agree with several above that my biggest lacking is in staying focused enough to get something finished. Other than that, masking is a tedious process that always gives me headaches in some way or another.

As for the other question concerning carbon fibre, the answer (for me at least) lies in using masking tape for making templates. Freakray has a tutorial about it in the how to thread.

1. I lack the ability to stop buying kits that I will never have time to make :)

2. Trying to use techniques that are too advanced for me so that a single build costs me a bloody fortune and takes 12 months (but it's fun trying ;) )

I'm kind of bad at everything... but I have patience so my kit turn out OK ! I hate black trim around the windows, in the clear parts. I hate panel lines... and yet, on the last built (Porsche GT2 club sport Tamiya), I had a difficult time putting the mirors on... don't know why but they did want to get in place and stay there !

So for me, every model is a a discovery of what could go wrong ! Still loving it !

My biggest problem is having hands like a bunch of bananas! Holding tiny parts - they just seem to fly out of my hands never to be found again!

Oh and CF - hate the stuff, really take my hat off to the people on here as I've seen awesome results!
Not me though!

My #1 skill that I lack is patience.

I can do just about anything model-wise and enjoy paint/body/finishing details, but there are things that drive me fucking nuts (tiny parts-especially photoetched, and decals hate me as much as I hate them) that I simply do not have the patience to muck with to make them just right. I get frustrated easily, especially if I've tried multiple times to solve a problem and it keeps reappearing or reoccuring. I have not worked on any models for a month now because I had so many recurrent paint/filler problems with one hood on one model that just wasn't coming out, so I just put everything away until someday when I feel like dealing with it again. When that day is, who knows?

Yep, no patience at all :uhoh: :biggrin:

Attaching clear parts in general, but especially windows. They never seem to stay put while the glue is setting up and I always seem to get a big thumb print right in the middle.

I can't do with Vac forms, I can't do good with CA glue, I can't build nothing from scratch or make any bigger putty work as good as it should be and I am as messy as wild pig haveing lunch after few days starving.

cleaning my airbrush, I HATE it .... especially when just painted one small part :evillol: :evillol:

Finishing it

AMEN, Brother!!!! I have yet to finish a single kit for over a year now. I just don't seem to find the time. but my SR project is getting me back into it pretty well.

other than that, I'd have to say detail painting, such as interior panel parting lines, and photo etched parts. I haven't used enough CF to say that I'm good at it, but my hood turned out nicely on my sileighty :rolleyes: . oh, and painting the center of wheels, when there is to be a polished rim and painted or "cast" finish to the center.

I tend to have too many unfinished kits. Hit a wall and move on to another in-progress or new kit. I have only finished one this year but I have four more at about 80%. I hope to finished these four this year. I have three more at less than 25% and a couple more just started. I would invest more time but with the job and family it's difficult.

At the moment probably p/e parts. I know the techniques but theyre just so damn fiddly and small that it gets annoying.

Masking windows

umm i dont know if it lacking of a skill but im always rushing my models for some reason and puting on small pieces :mad: i always loose or break them

paint, if it ever gets that far.

2. Trying to use techniques that are too advanced for me so that a single build costs me a bloody fortune and takes 12 months (but it's fun trying ;) )

I dunno- if I don't spend a year building a kit, it oesn't really feel like I've finished it. :grinno:

And I hafta agree with racer917- too many unfinished kits. Way too many. At last count, 1/24 car kits alone, I have at least 8 started and unfinished. :uhoh:

I would like to be better at body painting. Everything else I usually feel like I can swing (usually), but I'd always like to be better at body painting.

seems i have a problem with carbon fiber decals. 1st attempt was yesterday. it looked decent but there were a couple of wrinkles on the edge. i think next time i'll leave a little material hanging off the edge and then cut off excess.

I'll detail paint something and get some paint on my thumb, for instance, and not realize it until there's a black thumb print on the roof of my white car. And door. And back bumper. And on the wheel. And on the glass.

:lol2: That's funny but true...... the gift that keeps on giving. It seems like when you get paint on your thumb it never runs out and never dries..... it gets on everything.


The worst thing for me is window trim on both the body and clear parts. I can BMF with no problem, but black paint around the windows never comes out as clean as I would like it to.

My biggest problem is all those kits I still have to build.

I have to stop myself starting a new kit every other day because every time I look in the closet, I want to pull one out and start working on it.....

Finishing it

:rofl: Yes i know the feeling! I've got 7 kits on the go at the moment. I've only compleated 3 this YEAR!

Window trims (the rubber on real cars) is a b*tch. I cheat an use a perminent marker. Thin for fiddly bits and a thicker on the rest. The felt nib, if pushed hard will get a groove in it that stays perfectly straight. It looks great on my builds. They don't fade either thankfuly. So, no more p*ssed lines on my cars :iceslolan

painting the body. Never perfect no matter what. Now Im going to sink hundreds more into an airbrush to see if that is the missing link.

converting wheels from female to male to female. You think being a male myself I would be careful about snapping off those penis's. :lol2:

and yes, window masking the clear windows themselves. Very non-fun.