New to the hobby any ideas?

Hey peoples.

I am very new to the hobby, A quick run down i made a few models when i was yonger in my late teens. Seemed none of them ever took more than a couple of days to complete and allways had lots of left over parts!

Recently, Got married we are expecting and the Doctor says i need a hobby! Being that modeling is something i have allways admired I really want to get back into it.

I have done a ton of reading over the last couple of days and have found out that some people spend months / years on a single model and i find that very hard to comprehend however its true! I was doing something seriously wrong when i was making them so i would like to start off fresh and see what i can get out of it all :D

I bought my first model however i am thinking that to prevent from rushing it i might need a couple on the go at the same time.

My first attempt will be the NISMO R34 GT-R Z-tune (http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/24282nismor34/index.htm)After all my reading i think i determined that the Tamiya series of models would be easist to work with as they are typically molded better and fit right, i went with this one after spending hours at the hobby store as it seemed to be alittle simpler looking and not as much details as some of them.

Well i hope by the end of this weekend, to have my very first "In Progress" thread going :D

Thanks for everything i hope to get here and if someone want to share some more good reading i am more than happy to take the advice!

Regards,

Michael Lambert.

Hi Michael-

Welcome to AF, and to the hobby!

Great choice for your first build- it would be tough to come up with a better option.

Certainly not everyone spends months/years on a single build. Some like to pour as much detail and complication as they can into a build, some don't get alot of building time, and some of us are just bloody slow. Build at your own pace. You'll enjoy it more and do your best work that way.

Theres lots and lots of advice to be found here. If you have a question, the best thing to do is use the search feature. Most questions really have been asked and answered here before, so the forum is a terrific reference library. But if you can't find an answer, feel free to ask! Specific and detailed questions are always best- they'll give you the best and most useful answers.

Good luck and enjoy!

I am in the middle of the same build, however it is winter where I live so progress is slow becasue I need to still airbrush some parts.
The best is advice is be patient, If you want supreme build quality you must be extremely patient and careful. Get good tools and good paints, tamiya makes great paint.
Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Aww yes it is winter here to, however i think i can rig up something to vent out the crap from spraying.

My biggest issue thus far has been finding a hobby shop who wants to give you a min of there time and a peice of advice that they don't expect your left arm in return.

I have hit 3 local hobby stores in the last couple of days and it has ranged from being advised i need to spend $60-70 for the kit and needed goodies to spending several hundred dollars.

I have made it clear to these shops i am new, this will be my first offical build and what do i need to start. The last shop i made it to i feel has been the best for me, he took the time to go through things with me, he opened the kit and went through all the parts making sure everything was there and advising me on some tips and then sold me a few items listed here, please let me know if i am missing anything.

Kit
- Larger can of Grey Surface primmer ( tamiya ) as i am painting the car silver he said this was my best bet.
- can of Matt Black ( spray ) he figured starting out i would be best to look into a compressor and spray kit at a later time
- can of the silver paint recommended on the kit box by Tamyia
- can of Clear coat, Somthing i think i needed however he suggested i really did not need, But bought just incase.
- Small (Tamiya) containters of all the colors required on the kit box and a couple of other common colors. ( acrylic)
- thing of Tamiya acrylic paint thinner ( shop owner said i will use it more than i think )
- Container of Hobbico MasterMask liquid masking film - this was something he said he likes to use. one of those tools for the tool kit.
- 40mm masking tape
- a mixed package of different sanding papers and a container of model putty
- a hand full of brushes going from almost 1/4 inch tick right down to a almost looks like only a couple of hairs. lol,
- he mentioned wax? However he was out of stock and would call me when it came in. He said this would be why i dont need the clearcoat but not sure.

Is there anything i seem to be missing?


The other good thing was that he talked me out of buying another model. lol, Said that i had my hands full with what i have and to buy a book for in between coats.

Regards,

Looks like he steered you well indeed- especially with regards to the paint. Good stuff, looks like you got most of what you'll need. To this list I would add a good hobby knife (Xacto style is terrific), and a set of sprue cutters to remove the parts from the runners.

Tamiya thinner is useful for thinning, but too expensive to bother with for cleaning. To clean brushes, I use a small bottle filled with Windex type glasscleaner- absolutely perfect for use with Tamiya's acrylics.

Personally I'd have recommended a set of sanding sticks over sandpaper, but the paper will do.

Start with the bodywork. That way you can do the cockpit/chassis as you wait for the paint to outgas. Inspect the body, sand off all the mold lines, and lightly sand the whole thing with fine sandpaper to give the primer/paint some 'tooth' to hold onto. Then scrub it thoroughly- I like to use an old toothbrush with a little dishsoap. Prime it, inspect it, prime it some more, and sand the primer nice and smooth with 2000 grit paper. Then you're ready for paint. Build it up slowly and lightly. Same with the clearocoat. Then set it aside for a week or so to outgas. Prep and painting should probably take about a week or so, plus outgassing. Meanwhile you can work on the other bits. Or read.

Wow,

Really, Paint the body and then let it sit for a week? Does that go for all parts painted?

So working on the body should be the first thing to do so i would do it in this order

- Open and wash with soap and water / Sand mold lines and imperfections filling in anything that needs to be and then sand them / Wash again to remove the debrie and do a light sanding over whole body ( i bealiave i can use tooth paste for this stage?) let dry / light coats of primer untill covered / inspect again for imperfections and fix if need/ wash again and apply paint again in light coats and then do i apply the decals then clear coat or clear coat and then decals?

Painting the body takes much longer because the paint is thicker and you are using Tamiya TS spray paint, correct? which takes longer to dry than the acrylics. Since it is multi-coat (primer, paint, then clear), it must dry for longer to avoid damaging it while you are assembling. Other stuff, painted with bottle paints (X paints) should only need to dry for an hour or less.

I would NOT wash the body after sanding/filling; dust it off but no water. I would also not use toothpaste but rather 2000 grit sandpaper to rough up the body and finish off the putty if you need any (but use rougher sandpaper to work the putty to shape).

After dusting it, primer as you said. When the primer is dry, I would WET-SAND with 2000 grit. That is, immerse the model in some water with maybe a couple of drops of dish soap, while you are sanding. This will help wash away the sanding debris and keep the model from getting scratched and the paper from getting clogged.

Once you are entirely done with the primer and it is dry, paint, let the paint dry (I can't give you a good minimum time estimate for that...someone else?), then apply clear coat in light coats. When the paint is fully dry, I would apply decals and then a few more coats of clear, but use LIGHT COATS!! Tamiya TS-13 clear is "hot" paint and heavy coats can eat through decals--bad news.

MPWR is certainly more experienced with painting than me so he should correct me if I am wrong anywhere, but I think this is pretty solid advice. Good luck!

Alex

If i have one bit of advice, it would be to just dive in.
You can ask all the questions in the world and list every step for every thing that you'd ever need but you will learn so much more by simply doing.
In short, don't be afraid of getting it wrong because in reality, there are too many different ways of doing things, no matter what others tell you, you will without doubt, find your own way of getting things done.

My very first car kit has never been finished.
In fact, it doesn't even resemble a car now that i've scavenged parts off it as well but, it is still where I "learnt" how to do things and, perhaps more importantly, how not to do things.

By the way, you might want to get more of the smaller sized brushes.
A decent pin vise and a couple of sets of small modelling drill bits are also very useful.
In case you missed it, kitchen cleaner is a good cleaner for tamiya pots of acrylic.
A metal rule is also useful and personally, I've always got a stash of them sticks you get from Starbucks for general use.

Glues:
Thin type polystyrene cement, preferably not from a squeezey tube. (I tend to use Plastic Weld)
Thick type super glue (Zap-O)
Clear drying, non solvent glue (Formula 560)

Welcome! Your story is eerily similar to mine: my wife was expecting our first son and the doctor told me to get a hobby since she would be bed ridden later on in the pregnancy! Anywhoo, I hope you enjoy your stay here! :sunglasse

Nice to have you back in the hobby. As you've already figured, starting the hobby is expensive. You not only buy a kit but buy all the tools. Most of the tools you'll buy will last forever when properly cared for so your wallet will bounce back eventually.

The best thing you can do for starters is to just start building. I wouldn't try for perfection; just get a model finished. You will most likely find that a completed model with some visible flaws is much more satisfying than a model box full of half finished parts because you weren't happy with you initial results. Build, build, build. Perfection will come later, naturally.

The tool list you've mentioned is comprehensive, but you'll find that more tools will be needed as you build. Buy more tools as you go and you'll have a good inventory of tools after a few builds.

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but consider using super glue for your general purpose assembly work. It makes your builds much faster. 1/2-oz (14g) bottles of medium viscosity glue will do the job. However, you may still want to use model cement for body parts and definitely use white glue for clear parts.

http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/tutorials.htm

Few tips from me. Hope this helps - and welcome to the wonderful hobby.

Re: waiting a week for the paint to dry. I know that's hard to believe but it's very true.

Technicially, you will probably *think* it's dry after a few hours, or by the next day. You'll likely even pick it up and say "What are these guys talking about, it's dry already??!!"

However, the reality is that it's not. The paint is dry to the touch, but still very soft. It is very easy to leave a fingerprint, or rub paint off without even knowing it. AND, if you want to do any polishing of the paint, don't try this until the paint is fully cured. If you do, it will just muck up the paint. (Yes, I've tried to push the envelope far too many times...)

The way I tell if the paint is fully cured is to smell it. If you can still smell the chemicals, then chances are it's still curing. If it doesn't have that tell-tale odor, then it's likely good.

Some will dry/cure quicker than others. Silver is notorious (in my experience) for taking FOREVER to cure (like, longer than a few weeks the last time I used it...). Some brands will also be quicker than others, but a week is a pretty good amount of time to let it do it's work. The Tamiya spray paints are about as good as you can get from a spray can. Many will testify that they may even be BETTER than other paints you have to airbrush. It's a good choice/recommendation for a beginner (I know the cost of Tamiya paints is a bit high, but personally, I feel they're worth it. I've had nothing but grief with generic brand spray paints - likely that's due to the user, but I choose to believe otherwise...;))

Good luck, and all I can suggest is to take your time.... A nice clean build looks really good, regardless of how many extra little details and modifications you made. There's lots of out-of-the-box builds that are done really clean, and look absolutely stunning.

Concentrate on cleaning up the mold lines, sanding the attachment points, and assembling it so there is NO visible glue anywhere (it's not as easy as it sounds). All this stuff is what takes more time than you think. If you find yourself saying "I wonder if that paint is dry enough for me to just glue that part to this one??"..... walk away. Trying to put things together that aren't dry enough to handle properly is a disaster waiting to happen (at least at my bench it is....) That said, you likely don't need to wait a full week for most of your parts to dry after painting - but definitely wait on the body - the other stuff is likely able to be gently assembles after a day.

It'll be hard to 'wait'.... but it's one of the most important parts of getting a good result.

Good luck. Looking forward to seeing it in a WIP, and then finished!!

Murray

After quite a long stay at AF's, i must say i m very impressed by most builds and the way people are exceptionally helpful here.
the advice given (both by shop and here) is spot-on. You need just a minimum to make good looking models, and well, everybody learns by making mistakes, but that's what kits are for, i for one have made a lots of models (relatively speaking) and like Enzo said, my best model is my next one.

There is a lot of tremendous advice here! Seems like the guy at the third hobby store steered you best and got you started on the right track.

In addition to what you got from him, I would HIGHLY recommend a hobby knife, as mentioned before. I got a long fine for a long time without any sprue cutters - just cut the part off the sprue with the knife. You'll notice that between the sprue and the part is a little tab - I make the first cut on the end of the tab adjacent to the sprue, then when the part is separated form the sprue, clean it with my knife and sandpaper; this makes a nice clean cut without special tools.

Other than that - well, just take your time. I wouldn't bother sanding a lot on this model, or puttying at all. There should be a minimum of mold lines on the body, which should clean it mostly up, and adding "bite" for the primer isn't that necessary (that's what primer's for!) and adding "bite" on the primer for the paint isn't that necessary either (that's what primer's for!); but feel free to do what works best for you. Just try not to over complicate things!

Since painting the body is, for most people, the hardest part to get right, don't freak out if it's not perfect. And here is a great tutorial with pics and a video (which I found astonishing and surprisingly informative):

http://www.tamiya.com/english/scale/beginner2/2.htm

And more info about other aspects:

http://www.tamiya.com/english/scale/beginner2/index.htm

And always keep in mind that if you enjoy this, you'll have plenty of time to accumulate tools and paints. Just get started and have fun! There's really no right or wrong way to do it. If taking only a couple days and leaving out a lot of parts is fun for you, then you're doing it right!

my advice - when starting, keep it simple. build a few kits box stock, and focus on improving one or two areas with each build. i went nuts with my first build and got Tamiya's Williams-BMW FW24 Formula 1 kit and the Scale Motorsport super detail kit and it nearly drove me nuts. i thought i could be alex kustov or andy matthews on my first build. :lol:

also, invest in good tools and brushes from the start.

oh... and read everything on alex kustov's italianhorses.net site. there's a wealth of invaluable information there.

(no, i am not being paid to endorse alex's site. :lol: )

well i took the advice of many here while in my new hobby store :D Yup found another one even closer to work called "Advance Hobbies" now they are more RC based however have a ton of modeling supplies. So i found a model i wanted, however remembered i still have like 6 at home so i bought supplies!

- Picked up a couple of these Tamiya Modeling Brush PRO's
- Picked up the Tamiya Compound and applicator
- Picked up the Tamiya Modeling wax and applicator
- Picked up a Proedge sanding stick with extra belts
- Picked up a Model Master Micro Shear Sprue Cutter
- Picked up Proedge 6 assorted Files
- and i picked up a package little strip styrene ( to fix the window apanel i busted on my camaro)