schooner Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) Hi Gang ( Newbie ) :D I'm brand new at modeling and would like to know the following please. When putting together an airplane, which I prefer. What do you do first ? Of course clean-up all the nubs that on the aricraft after you dettach them. Now what do I do next ? 1. Prime ? 2. Do I sand ? and if so, what grid sandpaper ? 3. Paint ? I really don't know in what order I should do it ? Thanks guys Edited November 23, 2016 by schooner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Nardone Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 I gave a seminar on this at the National Convention in August. I'm trying to put it together and post it... The Readers' Digest version: 1. Remove the parts and clean up sprue nubs, mold marks, ejector pin marks, and any other molding defects (draft angle deficiencies, out-of-round, etc.) 2. Dry fit. If it doesn't fit, adjust it until it does fit. 3. Paint the interior areas. You can prime first if you like. Any light grey or white paint, preferably matte, will work (I like Tamiya's white primer in the spray can. And yes, I use the can--I don't decant and airbrush) 4. Install the interior bits and assemble the fuselage. Be careful to make sure all of the interior bits that needed to be installed were installed... 5. Allow to dry. Assemble the wing halves. 6. When the fuselage seam has dried, I dress the seam. I use one of those 7-grit nail buffers from the local Walgreen's or CVS. When I have to use sandpaper, I use 3M wet/dry, 320, 400, and 600 grit. Start with the 320 and work your way to the 600. Try to eliminate as much of the seam as you can without resorting to filler...more on that later. 7. Join the wings to the fuselage. Make sure they're at the correct angle--make a template if you need to, use a square, use a ruler. Straight, Square, and Plumb is the scale modeling legal team, and if you violate one of their laws, they will bust you! Let the cement cure. I use Tamiya Extra Thin, by the way... 8. Join the tailplanes to the fuselage. Again, make sure they are straight and square! Allow the cement to cure. 9. Dress the wing and tailplane seams as you did with the fuselage. Again, do your best to erase the seam without having to resort to filler. 10. Now, if you can't eliminate a seam and have to use filler, avoid using large quantities of putty. Sure, it is handy and convenient, but it shrinks as it dries and can fall out of the gap. if the gap is larger than say 1.16", fill it with plastic--Evergreen strip, stretched sprue, either work. Use the same cement to attach the shims, let dry, and dress them with the sanding stick/sandpaper. Putty should really only be used to fill small cracks and scratches... 11. Once you've dressed all the seams, you can paint. You can prime, if you want to. Painting is a subject unto itself--do you want to paint it with a brush? An airbrush? What kind of paint? 12. Once the paint is dry, apply the decals. That, too, can be a can of worms... 13. Final assembly time. Clean up, paint, and attach landing gear, propellers, antennae, gun barrels, ordnance pylons, etc. Remember our legal team--these al need to be straight, square, and plumb, too! 14. Touch up any paint issues, put it on the shelf, and contemplate the next one. This is, of course, quite simplified. Once you get started, you'll have questions. Post them here, you'll get many good--and equally valid--answers. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 You can't go wrong with Ralph's primer. He's experienced and knows what he's talking about. You can also use Google when you reach those areas like painting and decaling that Ralph had to gloss over (pun intended!) to get detailed info on "how to". Or, just go to You Tube and type "how to airbrush" or "how to apply decals" and you'll get plenty of video tutorials. There are also some very good "how to" books out there; several by Kalbach Publishing; the publishers of Fine Scale Modeler magazine. And, there are several modeling magazines that carry articles in every issue on various techniques. Our own Journal is one of the best values, though it isn't limited to just aircraft. Feel free to continue to ask questions here too! There's plenty of very experienced and award winning builders like Ralph who'll be glad to lend a hand, or point you to some help. GIL :smiley16: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonL Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 At first I thought this was a Zen question. Good primer by Ralph & Gil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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