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Newbie that loves Japan cars


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Hey Darren, welcome! Don't worry, there's a section in here that'll cure the tuner car blues quickly - it's called the "drag racing" section. B)

j/k! I went through my Detroit muscle car days in the 70's when I was younger and those collections were MUCH cheaper than now! I too was a big STI fan during the 2005s-2008s before my back went out and I sold every thing to stay afloat, including a 400hp awd 2006 STI.

Anyway, are you completely new to modeling? I'm asking because there a lot places to start in modeling, from the simplest tips on washing everything plastic (short of the model's "glass" and decals) in soapy water to using toothpicks to apply glue, a reasonable set of fine tipped brushes, studying up on enamel, acrylic and laquer paints to determine what's best for your particular application. I could go on for days and miss something.

Give us an idea of your experience level and people will join in with more assistance!

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Hey Darren, welcome! Don't worry, there's a section in here that'll cure the tuner car blues quickly - it's called the "drag racing" section. B)

j/k! I went through my Detroit muscle car days in the 70's when I was younger and those collections were MUCH cheaper than now! I too was a big STI fan during the 2005s-2008s before my back went out and I sold every thing to stay afloat, including a 400hp awd 2006 STI.

Anyway, are you completely new to modeling? I'm asking because there a lot places to start in modeling, from the simplest tips on washing everything plastic (short of the model's "glass" and decals) in soapy water to using toothpicks to apply glue, a reasonable set of fine tipped brushes, studying up on enamel, acrylic and laquer paints to determine what's best for your particular application. I could go on for days and miss something.

Give us an idea of your experience level and people will join in with more assistance!

You are right, I am completely new to modeling plus I am bad in DIY.

Now I need help for selection of paints - Are Tamiya's Acrylic paint okay to start with? I don't know what kind/size of brush should I get, how to place decals...

In short, I am kind of screw up by looking at the box set/instruction.

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Darren:

I used to use Testor's and Model Masters (almost entirely enamel) and I've been slowly switching to Tamiya due to the fact it's acrylic and cleans up with water if you don't let it sit too long (makes easy brush cleanup). I generally build pro stock or pro mod, as opposed to my 2nd most radically build car which was the 2006 STI. I'll wash the parts out of the box with warm water and soap, using a toothbrush for the parts on the parts trees that I treat gently. For the body, fenders, etc, I'll scrub a littler harder with soap & water to remove mold release. Very importand step to avoid paint problems later!

Alot of kits like Aoshima I would assume contain little English if any and I'm not sure about how much detail is in text on the instructions in any language. The pictures are fairly self-explanatory and I'm guessing you can find Revell kits for F1 or sports cars too.

Glue:

  1. Testors or similar "styrene" (plastic) glue, to be applied with a tootpick for best and cleanest results.
  2. CA or "resin" glue, used with a separate "accelerator" spray. CA glue is used to adhere rubber fuel lines, metal fuel fittings to plastic. The accelerator will speed up the CA glue's drying from 1-2 minutes to 10 seconds! Be sure you are ready to glue before you mix those two. You add a small drop of CA to one side and the spray to the other side of an object and secure them together. They will hold tight.
  3. Again, Tamiya small detail paint bottles contain acrylic paint which is water soluble, enamel and laquer are not and will need paint thinner to clean up brushes with.
  4. Painting: I paint larger pieces (non-body) like the chassis with spray flat black or aluminum, etc. Using a brush on large areas creates a poor appearance.
  5. Brushes: I usually buy red sable (horse hair I guess) and buy very small detailing tips. I will have a few larger ones, but like I said, if painting all the pieces of a roll cage, I'll paint them with a can spray so they look even. Using brush and paint to touch up glue mistakes will show.
  6. There are as many opinions on body preparation and painting as fish in the sea! If you are just starting, stick with rattle cans (shaker style). Depending on your goals, Model Masters, a group from Testors has great spray paints in many colors. The most important thing is the body preparation in cleanliness: use latex gloves, wash thoroughly many times during priming steps, try to remove mold imperfections and lines. This will ensure a good base color spray.

As far as DIY, depending on the kit(s) you are choosing, there are many builds here and at www.autoforums.com, which seems to lean towards foreign builds of performance cars. Good luck!

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