12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #9

Day 9 and a book recommendation! It was time to continue with the Airfix 1:72 Typhoon. The topsides had been washed with Flory Models Dark wash, mixed with the grey wash, a slightly darker mix than I’d used for the undersides. It took a few hours of meticulous cleaning before I got it to a point in which I was happy with it.


The undersides I’m really happy with, I’ve not gone for heavily washed panel lines, rather a slightly weathered and dirty finish that you’d expect a used combat aircraft to have. Topsides, I honestly think there’s little you can do here, mostly just adding a tiny bit of contrast to the grey areas but again, trying to make sure it doesn’t look overdone.

I was about to seal it all in with a flat coat, but then, searching through my bookshelves (in an un-related clear-out) I found I book which I’d forgotten about, Osprey’s Painting and Finishing Techniques by Gary Edmundson. I’ve spent so long looking for articles on the internet that I forgot I have everything I need right here!

After a brief introduction to some fundamentals, the kits used in the book, paints and the tools used, it works through the various stages of painting and finishing. Focusing primarily on 3 model aircraft, (plus a couple vehicles and a small piece on figure painting towards the end) it works all the way through step by step, painting shading, camouflage, weathering, dirt, panel lines and more. Most of paints used are Tamiya, and there’s a preference towards using oil paints for panel lines and weathering, rather than clay washes etc. but it is well explained with plenty of photographs for each stage.

The 3 aircraft are a WWI Albatross, a Bristol Beaufighter and fortunately, a Hawker Typhoon. After reading this it’s finally persuaded me to try using oil paints, so my Typhoon build will be taking a little more time to complete.

For me has been an extremely useful (re)discovery which I’d highly recommend. So much so I’ve included a link below should you wish to purchase it yourself. As I said, I’d forgotten what it was like to have all the information in one place, easily to hand. I think there’s a tendency for us, when using the internet, to pick up little bits here and there a lose sight of the complete process of painting and weathering a model from start to finish. Having said that I think book can allow you to pick and choose what to try so, in my opinion, it is book suited to all skill levels.

In the next few days I’ll pick up some oil paints, and with any hope, I’ll have some good daylight (which I think is essential for this stage of finishing a model) and I’ll show you how I got on.

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12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #8

Day 8 and I’ve actually reached the end of the time I’d set aside for this modelling challenge, mostly due to what’s becoming a Christmas tradition, a dose of man flu. I’m going to extend the challenge through the rest of the month although it’ll be strictly weekend endeavours for the rest of the month.

I wasn’t feeling like airbrushing, as coughing and sneezing tend to upset precision painting, so I thought I’d sit down and chop up some plastic. After completing my test Empire miniature I set about raiding my bits box with the intention of creating a few figures for a Mordheim war band.

As I’d previously mentioned the Empire State troops are somewhat limited in poses, or more accurately, pose, as there’s only one. The Empire Archers set, mixed with a few different sets of Empire arms, however offer much more flexibility and as I want to paint up a wealthy band of Marienburg Mercenaries the long, expensive, coat look fits very nicely with the theme. These guys are going to be better dressed swords for hire, a cut above your average militiaman.

I really like to spend time testing poses and trying to make the figures look dynamic. This set, of which I had a nearly complete box of, offers plenty of opportunity to create such figures. After an hour or so of test fitting this is what I have, heads will be added later once I get more of a feel for the each figure.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #7

Day 7. I was happy enough with how the grey wash, that I tried on day 4, came out and so started washing the undersides of the Typhoon. Even though I'm still waiting for it to dry I can see a huge difference, it works really well on the panel lines, much more subtle than the dark wash that I've used previously.

I also got the Bandai Y-Wing started. Black undercoat to start with followed by several lighter shades of grey before a very light coat of white. And then, a coat of grey wash, which may or may not take it all the way back to being grey again. Guess I'll find out when it dries.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Days #5 & 6

My Christmas modelling challenge continued on day 5 with the completion of the Airfix Typhoon's decals, no pictures as there's only so many pictures of an unfinished model that a man can take...

After that I started adding the missile racks under the wings which usually the kind of slow and fiddly task WWII modellers get to avoid, but not in this case.

While I was waiting for the glue to set I started test fitting another model, a Bandai 1:144 scale Y-Wing Star Wars fighter, that I'd recently received from Japan. In fact it went together so well that it turned into an accidental part-build!

What a kit! Just four small sprues (plus a sprue containing a stand) but the amount of fine detail packed into such a small scale is incredible

After a few months of modelling malaise I find, suddenly, in such a small kit, my motivation comes surging back. If this kit is anything to go by I can't wait to try out a few more Bandai Star Wars kits. As well as the detail the way the kit is engineered is simple brilliant. For example, the two engines on a Y-Wing, at first glance, look the same. But actually there are slight differences and the kit is engineered so that the internal clips, pegs etc are shaped and positioned in such a way that you can't get them the wrong way round.

I honestly can't see myself bothering with any of the Revell offerings now.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #4

Between ongoing decals and paint stripping I decided to revisit a few miniatures tasks I'd been meaning to be getting on with.

First up was finishing off a test paint scheme for some Warhammer Men-at-Arms. I was reasonably please with the colours, green and purple, so I think this has potential for a future Mordheim, or Frostgrave, war band.

As an aside these Empire State Troops, or Freeguild Guard, as they're now called, paint up nicely. You're pretty much limited to the pose above, or swaping out the spear for a sword and shield which is the only downside, if I was going a war band I'd want a bit more variation.

Next up I decided to do a bit of base work. You may remember my moving skeleton diorama, I've disassembled it with a view to updating the base and reusing it for a new, yet undetermined, diorama while the skeletons will be tidied up and individually re-based.

After repainting the individual tiles to add more variation I gave them a wash with Flory Models Grey wash. Firstly this was to see if it improves bases and secondly out of curiosity as I want to use it for the first time on the undersides of the Airfix Typhoon to compare with the Dark wash which I've used before.

Now I just need to let it dry and see if it adds anything to the base.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #3

Day 3, one of those tasks that just has to be done, paint stripping...

I've got a large number of second-hand metal miniatures that need paint removing from them and that meant sooner or later I was going to have to break out the Dettol (for those in the UK, it's the orange liquid antiseptic disinfectant).

Dettol liquid antiseptic disinfectant

Dettol is my preferred paint stripper for removing acyclic and water based paints.It's pretty simple to use, submerge the models, leave for 24 hours, then scrub with toothbrush in the Dettol to remove the paint. Leave the models  to dry before brushing off any remaining paint residue. One thing to remember, don't add water to the mix. Adding water to any paint residue will turn into into a very sticky substance which is very hard to remove.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Days #1 & 2

To get started I decided to tackle some of the growing number of unfinished kits I have lying around. Airfix's 1:72 scale Hawker Typhoon is probably the best painted model I've done so far, yet despite this I hit a brick wall and to date it remains unfinished.

Painting was complete it was now time for decals. I really like models that come with not only markings but stencils and this kit packed in a large number of decals for it's size. This meant it would be very time consuming to apply them all, but worth it in the end.

Unusually for Airfix I had some problems with the decals. One I lost, probably stuck to a finger while handling, which is entirely my fault. However I had two decals break up on me. Fortunately I have a spare decal sheet so I'll have to get replacements from there. Otherwise that would have written off the model as one of these decals was not something that could easily be replaced, a unique ID number for the aircraft I'm building.

So after two afternoons work I'm about 80% of the way through the decals, just the replacement decals and the undersides to do.

12 Days of Christmas Painting & Modelling

It really not worth me doing a yearly review as my modelling output has been dismal this year, in fact I’ve not even sat at my modelling desk for several months now A total of one aircraft model complete and a couple of miniatures painted is all I’ve managed. OK, so the Airfix Defiant was probably the best model I’ve made to date, but that success seems a distant memory by now.

However as Christmas approaches, my workplace is closed for a couple of weeks so I can hopefully free up a bit of time to finish the year on a slightly higher note.

I’ve decided to try and devote a bit of time each day, for 12 days (not necessarily consecutively, as I have a few commitments over the holiday period), to painting some figures, finishing off a few unfinished kits and maybe starting something new so I can take some momentum into a new year and hopefully achieve a bit more in the way of modelling successes in 2017.

Day #1 to follow shortly.