bigmikevee

Hello, guess I should tell a little about me....did first model when I was about 6 or 7, built anything I saw that I thought was cool...tanks, planes, cars, boats, whatever. If the box art grabbed me and mom said okay, I built it....poorly, but I built it. Probably built 20-25 models from young age until rock & roll, 1:1 cars, girls, bikes and other distractions or teenage dating rituals took over.
Bought a Badger 150 about 18 years ago, did a decent job on the old "General" locomotive by MPC, I think. Only model I still have, bought it in 1986.
Ok, now it is April 2011, thought I would update my profile. I have been hard at work trying to improve my basics and my painting skills, sold the Badger 150, and bought an Iwata airbrush, also upgraded my compressor to one with a better moisture trap, and an air regulator.
It seems to me that the most important thing any of us can do with our models is to prep them well, trim sprue points, trim flash, sand edges and mold lines, fix sinkholes, just make thing smooth and even, etc. Good preparation seems to really make a difference in the end result when it comes to fit and finish. Also, I have been spraying a lot of spoons to see how different paints react, and been spraying a lot of cardboard and paper to get my "handling" more precise with my brush, I use any cheap acrylic paints for this, not worried about finish, just practicing to see how movement, air pressure, distance, etc. affect my patterns.
Don't be afraid to try new things, Bare Metal Foil takes time to master, but the results are awesome when you get the hang of it. Polishing your cars with different grits and polishes goes a long way too, there are several great tutorials on the forums for more information on this.
If you are not sure about something, just ask questions, you will be surprised at the help you will receive. I owe all of my improvements to the kind folks here, I am grateful to a lot of people who have answered my questions along the way this last year, and I am just so pleased with all of the great people I have met on the forums. This is just such a great place to learn and share, take your time, be patient, have fun, and watch your skills improve.
Thanks to all who read this! Mike