Greetings from Finland!

[Marko Nykänen]

Hello,

Have been building model kits every now and then, just had unintentional 10 year break from building. Back then I started several kits, practically every one of those were left unfinished because the painting. I don't know why, but it just seems to have been the biggest obstacle for continuing/finishing the builds.

 

I don't enjoy the painting even now, but it's manageable nowadays. And I (custom)paint motorcycles, helmets, cars etc. for a hobby and side business. So model kit painting should be a walk in the park. Of course there is no room for error, becuse object is so small.

 

And yes, I'm a collector too, specialized in Harley-Davidson model kits and other interesting motorcycle kits. I also have some sort of collection of cars also. And some figures. And few planes. I'm not really interested in planes or tanks and other "war machines".

 

Here some old pics from my collection, it hasn't grown very much lately but some "must have" items of course which I have found in eBay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other hobbies; hifi/home theater, cars in some way. And custom painting as said before.

 

Link to my paintings gallery:

https://jva0316.1g.fi/kuvat/Maalaukset/

 

And my loved ones:

 

[PappyD340]

Welcome to the forum Marko

[peteski]

Welcome to the forum Marko. Nice collection of models! Those Tamiya 1:6 Harleay Fat Boy kits are rare nowadays and can fetch $500-$600US! And you have 2 of them. They are great kits with metal frame (which is much better than plastic for such large models).

 

So you do custom helmet painting, but are afraid of painting 1:24  scale models because they are small?  You shouldn't worry abut that - your models are large!  Here are some small (N scale or 1:160) models:

These are small models, but still got painted.   If you think about it, motorcycle helmets and fuel tanks are not all that larger than typical models.  If you are worried, buy some inexpensive model kits and practice painting on them, or even practice on some plastic soft drink bottles

 

[Marko Nykänen]

3 hours ago, peteski said:

Welcome to the forum Marko. Nice collection of models! Those Tamiya 1:6 Harleay Fat Boy kits are rare nowadays and can fetch $500-$600US! And you have 2 of them. They are great kits with metal frame (which is much better than plastic for such large models).

So you do custom helmet painting, but are afraid of painting 1:24  scale models because they are small?  You shouldn't worry abut that - your models are large! ...  If you think about it, motorcycle helmets and fuel tanks are not all that larger than typical models.  If you are worried, buy some inexpensive model kits and practice painting on them, or even practice on some plastic soft drink bottles

 

Thank you.

I might have three of them nowadays, I'm not totally sure. One is anyways WIP, several years now. Should re-chrome all parts, and before that do the sanding and priming and... Yeah, paint. I have bought those over ten years ago, when they where available in reasonable price and shipping fees from USA were really low.

I'm not actually afraid or worried about the final result, but these model kits have so many parts and everyone of those should be painted at some level, with brush or airbrush. Feels so exhausting even to think about it :D It's so easy to hang 1:1 motorcycle parts and just paint them. These miniature plastic parts are always "gone with the wind" when painted with airbrush. Oh well, luckily this is only a hobby.

I have been painting lately quite successfully few model kits. Been trying to get used to cleaning the airbrush thoroughly after every session. Will post pics of some recent and some older kits I have built.

[Ramfins59]

Welcome to our plastic playground Marko.

[peteski]

8 hours ago, Marko Nykänen said:

I'm not actually afraid or worried about the final result, but these model kits have so many parts and everyone of those should be painted at some level, with brush or airbrush. Feels so exhausting even to think about it It's so easy to hang 1:1 motorcycle parts and just paint them. These miniature plastic parts are always "gone with the wind" when painted with airbrush. Oh well, luckily this is only a hobby.

I have been painting lately quite successfully few model kits. Been trying to get used to cleaning the airbrush thoroughly after every session. Will post pics of some recent and some older kits I have built.

Yes, it is best to paint all the model parts that are not plastic on 1:1 car.

I airbrush most of the parts in my models, and yes, the small parts need to be mounted on something for painting.  I find multiple ways of holding the small pats for painting.  Here is a recent thread showing one way to hold small parts.

As fro airbrush cleaning, I keep hearing people gripe how they hate cleaning their airbrush.  I only fully disassemble and clean my airbrush probably one time a year.  But I give it a good cleaning for every color change (and when I put it away).  But the way I do it only takes about 1 minute to clean. Easy and painless.

I described my method on another forum, but I should really take a video of how easy my cleaning method is.

Click on this text to see how I clean my airbrush.

I also suspect that since you likely already use an airbrush for your helmet and motorcycle painting, you have a quick and easy way to clean it.

[eldiablo78]

Welcome Marko and have fun

[slusher]

Welcome Marko!

[vamach1]

Welcome.  I hope the next build is easier than the troubles you had with the Eleanor you built.  You did your homework and it showed which military modelers can relate to a lot.  I like cars because except for race cars and factory stock there's a lot of room for creativity.  Sometimes the model companies take care of that part by putting in an "incorrect" engine in the kit (e.g. a Boss 429 in the Testors 72/73 metal and plastiic kits).  Enjoy the hobby and the best part is on the boards there are a lot of knowledgeable people on almost any vehicle topic or building tips and tricks.  We all help each other out whether it's trading parts or telling people where you got something (resin parts, paint, etc,) or difficulties you had with a specific kit.

[peteski]

Judging from these responses Marko is a well-seasoned plastic model builder (and painter).

And here I was trying to show him some basics.  Since he was a bit apprehensive of painting, I was trying to give him some ideas and encourage him. Seems like he doesn't need any help - he could probably teach me a thing or two.

[Marko Nykänen]

On 5/27/2020 at 9:43 PM, peteski said:

Judging from these responses Marko is a well-seasoned plastic model builder (and painter).

And here I was trying to show him some basics.  Since he was a bit apprehensive of painting, I was trying to give him some ideas and encourage him. Seems like he doesn't need any help - he could probably teach me a thing or two.

I might have misguided little, unintentionally though. Yes, I can paint with small and big airbrushes and pinstriping is one hobby too. It's the amount of "work" (this is a hobby) what "freightens" me. Somehow.

With normal size airbrush, or is it spraygun(?) I have been using several years now 3M's PPS system. It makes everything so much easier and if you feel lazy, you can just leave the paint in the cup and clean only the gun. Even though they are meant to be used only once and disposed after use, I often clean the cups and lids and use them later for filler or something not so important paintings. I have three different sizes, smallest is attached to the gun in the pic, two bigger on the table.

 

 

I always disassemble airbrushes and sprayguns after use, spraygun is also storaged disassembled, removable parts are in thinner can. Even the needle return spring.

Here's todays work:

[peteski]

36 minutes ago, Marko Nykänen said:

I might have misguided little, unintentionally though. Yes, I can paint with small and big airbrushes and pinstriping is one hobby too. It's the amount of "work" (this is a hobby) what "freightens" me. Somehow.

With normal size airbrush, or is it spraygun(?) I have been using several years now 3M's PPS system. It makes everything so much easier and if you feel lazy, you can just leave the paint in the cup and clean only the gun. Even though they are meant to be used only once and disposed after use, I often clean the cups and lids and use them later for filler or something not so important paintings. I have three different sizes, smallest is attached to the gun in the pic, two bigger on the table.

I always disassemble airbrushes and sprayguns after use, spraygun is also storaged disassembled, removable parts are in thinner can. Even the needle return spring.

Here's todays work:

 

Don't be afraid - just think of each of the model's subassemblies as a separate model by itself.   It is not "work"  - it is a pleasant (but sometimes frustrating) task.  If you consider model building as "work" then I think you might want to get another hobby.  Hobby should be relaxing, and give you pleasure most of the time.  Especially when looking at the completed model.

As for airbrush cleaning,  it is really *NOT THAT TOUGH*!  Don't be lazy.  I posted a link to my cleaning method - it takes less time to clean my airbrush (between colors or between models) than it will take you to read my description.  Don't be lazy - most good modelers are fastidious.   Again, "clean" does not mean full disassembly of the airbrush - just running some lacquer thinned through few times.  I do it every time.  But I always use solvent-based (not water-based) paints - those are easier to deal with.

[eldiablo78]

It depend on type of paint you use ,

1= water , you can use solvent or airbrush cleaner or Windex the blue one ( Canada ) i dont know if have Windex in Finland.  It need ammonia inside.

2= oil , it need solvent, and on . . . . . 

 

Every time  i use my airbrush bottle or on top with Tamiya paint i clean it with Windex it work just to remove the needle everytime .

[D. Battista]

Nice stuff...!    Welcome to the forum Marko...!

[Husky1943]

Welcome Marko!  My advice: relax and enjoy.