newbie modeler needs help!

wassup guys......im sort of a newbie modeler and i was wondering what kind of "tools" i should have before starting a kit......sort of like a start up kit for modeling or something.......i don't want anything too expensive or anything.....im a high school student and this is a hobby of mine......but a frustrating one.......it's a love/hate relationship for me and models.....i love them, but i can't seem to make them look nice. and i always seem to need to go to my local hobby store........SO....can you guys make up a list of stuff for example what type of paints, air brush, brushes, etc.......specifics please!!!.......one revell ITR and a mugen ITR have been murdered.......don't just do it for me, do it for the models........

Maybe this will help.
My opinion.

Work on your frustration. Keep in mind that you don't have to finish a model within a given time.
Building models is a hobby, an a hobby should be for fun.
Take your time. Relax, enjoy and try to make the best of it.
Accept that some things don't go right the first time. Try. Learn from errors, learn from what worked well.

This advice is sponsored by another newbie modeler.

And read the first 4 sticky threads at the top of the page, that will tell you what you need to know!

my bad.....rite after i posted this......i looked up and saw the thread.....very informative........i appreciate that except for the file that supposedly tells you everything you need to know......i can't seem to open that......what kind of program do u need and where can i get it?.....tahnks

It's a .pdf file so you need Acrobat reader.

Originally posted by Guiddy
It's a .pdf file so you need Acrobat reader. I just edited in the link to the download page in that thread, but here it is again:

www.acrobat.com

thanks for the help everyone.......one more question....sorry about all the questions, but this forum has got me crazy for model cars......i'm always asking my mom to take me to our local hobby store.....i just sit there and look at them........~drool~.....anyways.....my question is.....has anyone ordered models from hlj.com in the states?......california more specifically?.......how much was shipping.......thanks.....

I've ordered from them a few times. Shipping's not cheap, but not outrageous, either.

The only one I can remember specifically is when I ordered my Castrol Mugen NSX kit, it was on sale for 1400 yen instead of 2000. At the time the exchange rate was pretty close to $1 = 100 yen, so that was just about $14. I remember the total charge was just over $18 shipped, so that makes it $4 for one kit.

I believe that shipping gets slightly cheaper when you order moder stuff at once... Not by much, though.

For the most part, HLJ's cheaper prices will be balanced back out by the shipping charges, but it will still be less than you will pay in a retail store here.

BTW, what shops do you go to in Long Beach? :D

actually.......the only places i know of are in bellflower, not too far away though.......they're called hobby warehouse and hobby people.......it's funny, two different hobby stores on one street about 5 city blocks away from each other.....pretty cool stores, but models are extremely expensive.......tamiya mugen nsx is 24.99 at hobby people and the tamiya (i think it's tamiya) 01 rally ford focus was about 40 bucks!!!!!......yea......i just might order from HLJ..........thanks......