in need of some guidance

this is probably my first 'official' post, or one that has anything to do with modelling anyway. i recently ordered 3 tamiya kits (opel astra v8, calsonic gt-r[r34] and 2001 subaru wrc) which should be arriving soonish:). just curious as to what colors i should buy for each one as the hobby shop is an inconvenience to get to for me, so i only want to make one trip. im not new to modelling, though i dont go to many extremes as the other people in here, such as after market parts. i didnt even know they existed, and its opened up a whole new world of modelling for me :D

also, i have a pugeot 206 '99/'00 (cant remember the year, the white with blue emblem on the bonnet) that i 'accidently' smashed with a tennis ball. most of the car is salvagable, but the wheels/suspension is royally boned. any suggestions?
thanks

For the Subaru, go with Tamiya Mica Blue and clear coat it. For the astra and R34, go to http://www.plastic-models.com and search the model. When you find it, there will be a guide at the bottom of the page that tells you how to paint it as shown.

As for the Pug, maybe you could try fixing it (I would), or use it for spare parts.

For the subaru the MICA blue only comes in spray cans (TS-50 I beleive) and if you don't have an airbrush you might also want to buy semi gloss black in a spray can (TS-29) too since you'll need that to paint the inside of you windows and some of the interior.

That's the only car I can help you with it, have fun with it (I know I had).

thanks. i dont have an airbrush, but if anyone can direct me to some info on them it would be very much appreciated :D
other cars ive currently built are:subaru wrc '99 nismo skyline GT-R clarion LM, ford forcus wrc '99 (poorly, no painting, not even done with the racing decals!) i also help my brother build his models, which are mostly american muscle cars:o ...

Hi

Welcome!

Love your avatar! :D:D:D :devil:

hehehe, thanks. my signature is better, it doesnt seem to work right now though, maybe this post will bring it up...

It works just fine now. ;)

Originally posted by twizm
thanks. i dont have an airbrush, but if anyone can direct me to some info on them it would be very much appreciated :D
other cars ive currently built are:subaru wrc '99 nismo skyline GT-R clarion LM, ford forcus wrc '99 (poorly, no painting, not even done with the racing decals!) i also help my brother build his models, which are mostly american muscle cars:o ...

Here is a couple of links on airbrushes.

www.badgerairbrush.com (http://www.badgerairbrush.com)

http://www.paasche.com

thanks for the links, now all i have to do is afford one!:(

I think a singele action airbrush will do just fine if you're going to use it only for cars. If on the other hand you're also into modelling army vehicles (especially the WWII ones) you'll probably need a good double-action w a good compressor to paint all those camouflage schemes, weathering the models and stuff.

im not into army stuff, just cars. what will i need to get for a basic airbrush kit?? and can i use paints straight from the pot?

A simple single-action airbrush will do fine, if you won't be using it that much I would go for those bottles with compressed air, otherwise you might consider buying a compressor. (I beleive Revell sells sets with an airbrush gun and bottles of compressed air and some additional paint bottles, but IMO it's better not to use the Revell paint cuz I think it's crap). I used to use only Revell 5 years ago and since I got more interested in modelling I switched to Tamiya and I immediately threw all my Revell paint away.
As for paint, never use it straight from the bottle. You always have to thin the paint. If it's an enemal paint (oil-based) I thin it with the thinner tamiya makes for enamel paints (don't remember the number), if the paint is acrylic you can simply thin it with water or even better with some sort of isoprpyl alcohol.
As for how much thinner and how much paint, I think different people will tell you different mixtures but I almost always go w 1/3 paint and 2/3 thinner for enamel and vice versa for acrylic.
You can find more info in this airbrush faq:

http://www.io.com/~fazia/arbrshfq.html

thanks heaps for all this information, ive looked everywhere online and havent found much at all :( i actually found this forum while searching for pictures of scale models, which was a bit bizaar!