DiscoRover007

I am near the same way OP. I am obsessed with achieving perfection on models, or at least "visible" perfection. I do now try to let a few things slide. But things like body paint must be perfect. Luckily I now have a great success rate with painting and achieving realistic finishes. But it has taken a long time of experience. I think what it takes is a culmination of skills to finally put together the project you're happy with. I believe I can confidently say I can paint engine, body, interior and detail them with among the highly skilled in our hobby. HOWEVER The one thing that I have not mastered yet it window trim. I cannot mask and paint windows to save my life. I read the tutorials, I watch the videos, and I still cannot get the desired finish I want. It is without a doubt the one thing that is keeping me from finishing my models now. I can get a believable look if I hand paint them with vallejo acrylics and tediously scrape straight edges with a toothpick. But I dread doing it and it takes hours. For the hobby in general one thing I've also tried to realize is that in order to build a model properly, it takes time. Understand that it is a process. I try to look at models like paintings now. Everyone has their own way of doing it. I usually start off painting the body of a kit first. But I sometimes also like to paint the undercarriage first depending on the color. I then try to detail paint that and add the suspension bits and make it look realistic and interesting. And the thing is you can get away with a blemish or two because you can weather it, make it look driven, etc. Then before you know it you have a beautiful looking underside of a car. Half your build is complete and you are inspired to continue and match the rest of the kit with your previous results.

According to what though? When was the last time they took a survey on this stuff? Call it elitist but 1/24 is a superior scale in my opinion. I think most younger modelers like myself are seeing all of the brilliant engineering in Tamiya's 1/24 and now Aoshima and wondering why Revell isn't answering that call. The 1/24 platform is perfect for small scale models that don't compromise detail. 1/25 works in select kits where the actual is small but in any other instance I don't really get it. Plus they hardly have released anything modern that is cool. They tend to rehash old kits that only appeal to older generations. That's not me knocking muscle cars because I love them. but I think they had too many models of old cars. Then they try to compete directly with Tamiya on supercar flagships like the LaFerrari. The problem is though I'd rather shell out $45 for a Tamiya LaFerrari that I know is in a class of its own than buy a $30 Revell LaFerrari that will not be as crisp. Revell hit a slam dunk on the Porsche 918, and they had that all to themselves. I wish they would have pursued similar subjects. There are tons of new Porsche subjects that are not being capitalized on. Or even some modern sedans would be interesting. I'd love for someone to make a kit of the new Acura RLX for example, or even the Lexus IS 350. It doesn't seem like it was really Revell that was tanking, but still I think they had some missed opportunities.

So is the new Ford GT release still on hold? Certainly it is an end of an era. Sad to see. Was Revell suffering in sales? I thought that they had started to turn the corner in their offerings lately. Seemed to me they felt the heat from Tamiya and started putting out better quality stuff since the Ferrari California and the 599 GTO. I had always thought they would do much better if they made a full switch from 1/25 to 1/24 for all kits. 1/25 is toylike and loses detail in my opinion. I also think they missed some opportunities by not offering more modern selections. Why not make a new Viper model? Cadillacs? Saleen S7? New Land Rover 4x4s? Toyota Tacoma? 2004 Mustang?

Tamiya is drastically better. Especially in ease of use. However Testors still does have some use. Their acrylic line is quite decent. If you are good at mixing enamels with lacquer thinner you can get great paint jobs out of them. And their enamel line has a wide range of in scale flakes for metallics. IF you include Model Master Paints I would say Aluminum non buffin, buffing, and other various metalizers are essential to a model builders arsenal. I pretty much use Vallejo Air and brush paints exclusively for interior and detail painting. They are the best without a doubt in my mind. Spray painting bodies is Tamiya all day. Just wish they would come out with a Dark Green or Emerald Pearl spray to the TS line.

Which VA paints? I have both air aluminum and air silver. Would like to give them a shot soon.

Nice job so far. What kind of paints are you using on the engine?

I’ve always wanted to get this kit but I was never a fan of the one side mirror up high in the driver side. I wish the kit came with an option for two regular style side mirrors.

I see some of these on eBay too and a lot of them are rip offs. I see a lot of guys selling built Tamiya kits for anywhere from $50-$200 dollars. Mind you these are models with the mold lines still on, imperfections in the paint and numerous issues. I’m all for seeking built and completed models. But if you sell it for a high price it darn well better be a nice job. Alex Kustov could be selling his built models for $500 a pop at least by eBay standards. I only started noticing these because I buy used and completed kits sometimes with the intention of stripping them down for parts.

Would love to see the new Aston Martin DB11 in kit form. One of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen.

Hey guys was just wondering if anyone has used the Duplicolor sandable primer line? Not the grey filler primer. I’ve used that plenty but I am interested in trying the sandable black primer. Seems like it would be a good base under Tamiya lacquers to get some different shades. Or would I be off with something like stynylrez primer?

I do usually just go up to 4000. I use a lot of metallic paints. That’s why I go that high because I do notice a difference in the finish. If it’s a solid color I’ll go 2500-3600. The biggest difference of all is color sanding. It is especially noticeable with metallic and pearl paints. I highly recommend it before your last wet coat session. You can have a deeper and finer in scale flake look and practically eliminate any appearance of orange peel. Heres a picture of my latest paint job with the above method. Tamiya White Primer, TS-17 Gloss Aluminum, TS-13 Clear.

I use spray cans for paint jobs pretty much exclusively. Feel like I’ve got the hang of it now. I usually use Tamiya primer. I use micro mesh cloths to prep the surface and make it completely smooth. I usually go up to 4000-6000. When laying paint I spray in several mist coats to start. Usually 4-6. Enough to cover the primer completely and establish a base inside the panel lines. Then I’ll do one medium wet coat. I let that dry and then do a color sand(Dry and or wet) with micro mesh cloths. I’ll usually use 3600-4000. Then I’ll do one to two more wetcoats. This results in a deeper and finer finish, especially if using metallics. If I don’t have any noticeable debris or errors in the paint I’ll then mist coat one layer of clear coat within 30 minutes to an hour of the last color coat. Just enough to seal the paint. I’ll then let it rest a day or two before adding heavier clear coats.

Nice job! What color did you use? It’s pretty.

I’ve never used embossing powder. I like having real carpet like texture though so I stick to regular stuff. I use spray adhesive though and I think it works much better than the white glue method. You might have to apply it 1-2 times for full coverage. Anything you miss can be patched with the white glue method later.

After having both kits I would definitely argue that the Aoshima kit is superior. It is not as minutely detailed at the Fujimi kit but it is a better total package in my opinion. It is much better in terms of engineering and build quality. Aoshima knocked it out of the park. Good blend of detail and easy/well engineered assembly. It is a great example of a model that builds perfectly well as a box stock piece but can be detailed as much as you want. Very Tamiya 360 Modena like in my opinion. Fujimi Enthusiast kits are famous for their amount of detail. But it is also a very dated kit. Flimsy, warped and delicate plastic. You have to be very careful with test fitting and making sure parts line up right.