Miniatures starting kit

 I had a friend start in the hobby miniatures painting and I put together a basic list of simple items that they should think about having in addition to paints and brushes.  Some seem quite obvious, and some less so.  I share it here with you.

Good brush set - you don't really need a lot of brushes.  You can get by with three good brushes - a 1, a 000, and another brush for dry brushing.

Good paints - find a few that you like.

Liquid model glue - for styrene figures and models.  I use Plastruct but Tamiya is also nice.

CA glue - for metal and resin figures and moddels.  I used to buy Zap-a=gap but it always dried up before I could finish half a bottle.  I'm currently using Gorilla Super Glue in regular and gel.

PVA glue - for basing.  Most brands are fine. 

 

  

Emery boards – for sanding.  You can get a bunch in a pack at the dollar store.

 

Cheap brushes – for glue or terrain.  You can pick up a pack at the dollar store.  

 

Cheap paint – for terrain or bases.  The Apple Barrel or Americana type paints at Walmart, or dollar store.  At least a black, brown, and two tones for you bases.

 

Ziplocks bags – different sizes.  

 

Reaper (or similar) dropper bottles with a medium mix - for thinning paint.

 

A few slick mats for gluing on.  Like the kind stickers come on.

 

A few thick newspaper – for a drop cover to protect you r table from spills or splatters.

Plastic gloves - useful when priming.

Chip board sheets - like the back of a legal pad, or a cereal box.  Useful for crafting terrain or bits.

 

Paper towels or facial tissue - to remove paint from brush when drybrushing, and to clean up spills.

 

Possibly also get the following:

A craft knife and cutting board

Toolkit - or pencil/shoe box.  For holding your tools.  A container or spot for your paints is also handy.

Small holders for tokens/bits - the dollar store has many different types.

 

Also needs:

more brushes - larger, smaller, extras.

Small wire cutters - for cutting models, sprue, and wire for bits and pinning.

Side/flush cutters – for cutting sprue.

Dedicated water holder - for cleaning brushes.  Distinct enough to avoid drinking accidentally.

Tweezers - I don't really use them but some people really find the useful.

Clips/clothespins - for holding some pieces while the glue dries.

Toothpicks - for applying paint, glue, and for crafts in terrain.

 

Optional:

Wood rods/skewers

Silicon popit – for mixing paints

Bandages - have handy for when you cut yourself

Stir sticks, craft sticks (popsicle), wide craft sticks (tongue depressors)

Dollarama jewelry chains

Christmas hooks (instead of paperclips) - much easier to cut for use in pinning pieces together, or to replace hoses for the figures or terrain.

 

Later:

Figure holder – or blutac and cork or bottle to hold figure while painting.

Helping hands device - to hold pieces when gluing.

files - a flat, round, and half round.

Sharpener for craft knife - to extend the use of your blades.

Spare blades

Used blade holder

brush cleaner

Flashlight – for finding pieces that fall on the floor.

Nail polish remover – for fingers that get stuck by CA glue.

Cork sheets - for terrain.

Clip boards/hardboard - for bases for the terrain.

Foam core

Work tray? - to be able to move your setup easier if you don't have a dedicated spot to work.

Notebook – for marking down your paint mixes to match later.

This is only a start.  You may find other essentials as you work.  Good lighting is always helpful.

 

Lander - base

I noticed that the seam where the two parts of the base were joined left a straight line after being painted. It’s only noticeable from certain angles but, from that angle it is quite noticeable.

So I sanded along the seam with an emery board and then applied model putty.

After it dried I did a bit more sanding to blend it a bit better and then repainted.

It is better but still noticeable. So the paint needed to be sanded again. More putty applied, more sanding, and painted again.

Lunar Lander assemply started

I got a good start to the assembly on the Lunar Lander when I had time on the weekend of the anniversary of the Moon Landing. I put together the main parts of the upper and lower assemblies. I painted parts of it as I went – especially around where the clear pieces would go. The clear pieces were glued in with white glue to prevent crazing.

I got the basic structure of the upper module done as well as the bottom half. I had knocked over the liquid glue and had to go out and get more, as well as getting some copper paint.


I put the base together but the seam is still rather noticeable from certain angles. I may have to fix that.

While working on the lander, I watched a bunch of the Apollo 11 shows on CNN and NASA. I would occasionally pause the program and take a photo of the screen if there was a good picture for reference.

50th anniversary Moon Landing

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, I figured that I would put together this kit.

It’s the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander model by Airfix. It’s 1/72 scale so should be close in size for miniature figures. It seems to have all the parts, as well as the instructions and decals.
I had picked it up a few years ago at Value Village for $2.99. It seems to be worth a bit online, and I’m not sure I’ll do it proper justice, but I figured I would give it a go.

With plastic kits, it’s always good to give them a quick wash before starting. Using dish soap and an old toothbrush to gently scrub the mold release agent from the parts helps to prevent problems with painting later. It’s always good to wash the sprues in a tray or container instead of the sink itself. If a part becomes loose, it helps to contain it so you don’t lose a critical piece down the drain.

Make sure they are well rinsed and you can let them air dry or dry them gently with a paper towel.
Now it’s ready to start on the assembly.

Prospero achieved!

Our local Games Workshop posted that the Horus Heresy games have been discontinued and removed from the website. Even though they were released about a year apart, they discontinued both Betrayal at Calth and The Burning of Prospero at the same time.

Since I missed out on the Gangs of Commorragh, I will probably have to pick up the rest of the game (without figures) online cheap, and then have to buy the figures for a much higher cost.

I wanted to be sure that I was able to get Prospero without having to do that. So even though I haven’t been able to save up beforehand, I checked with the misses and got the approval that it wasn’t going to cause any problems to pick it up. I probably could have waited a little bit as they had six copies but I didn’t want to take the chance.

I also popped in to a new Hobby Store called Hobby Sense and picked up some glue as well as a Revel Nieuport 28 and Fokker E-III. They seem to be a nice new store with a lot of model kits.

Scale Model Addict - the next step

Scott Girvan from ScaleModelAddict has taken the next step. In addition to the videos, and the website, he has now made ScaleModelAddict into a bi-monthly magazine.

The first issue is set for January but they have already been printed so if you order he will send one out.

We wish him all the best in this endeavor. I’m trying to shuffle some funds to see if I can get a subscription – the magazine price isn’t bad but the shipping is a bit of a bear up here.

cubicly packed

It's a term I often used to describe my room. It's definitely appropriate to describe the closet. I had packed the closet with model kits. I mean seriously packed.

Home Depot is having a sale on bins. I had picked up 6 of the flip top ones to clean up the assorted bits from my desk and to have solid boxes to put on the bottom of the stacks. I had gone back and picked up some regular bins for the model kits. I don't need super strong ones as the model kits aren't that heavy. When I found some big ones for $3.99, I picked up 6 of them.

While it made a serious dent in the pile, it didn't clear out all of them. So I went back last night to get another six bins. I can't help but feel a bit of smug satisfaction when I think about all the kits I have stored away. That and a bit of apprehension about the amount of space the take up.

The boy has expressed an interest in doing some models when we have the time. That was part of the reason I had picked up all the kits when I could find them on sale. I figured they would come in handy at some point.

Buying in bits

I’m loving the ability to buy bits of figures. It’s easy and cheap to buy from GC-Minis. But I’ve gotten some models cheaper by buying in bits. It’s more work to keep at it trying to win all the pieces but, with a few sets, I don’t need all the bits for multiple models.

A Deff Dread from GC-Minis is the low price of $41.65 compared to the regular price of $59.50 from GW. My first one in bits cost me $21.53. My second one was $17.87. With another $11.14 in bits and the extra pieces from the other two, I can build a third.

My Stompa cost me $54.03 and my Battlewagon was $25.54 (compared to $52.15 at GC-Minis).

An Ork Truck from GC-Minis would be $27.65 and regularly $39.50 from GW. My first truck was $21.22, my second one was $15.06, and the third only $12.83.

Even if you factor in the exchange rate (GC-Minis are in Canadian and the bits are in US) and the shipping, that’s still some crazy good savings. It means I can buy more stuff sooner.


Then it’s just a matter of putting it together and painting it.

Ork Trukk instructions lie!

The one problem with picking up bits online instead of buying the models is that I don’t get the instructions. This isn’t a problem with most of the models I’m getting - especially as I’m getting Ork stuff. Plus Games Workshop has the plans online for the Stompa, Battlewagon, and Deff Dredd. The one that isn’t online is the Ork Trukk instructions.

You would think that it should be fairly simple, but it’s actually a tricky little model. Luckily, I was able to get a scan of the instructions. However, it seems that the instructions lie about where the driver goes. In the instructions he is shown on the left (as here in Canada) and he fits on that side – but his control stick needs a bit of work to squeeze in. I’m more inclined to believe that he fits better on the right side (as in the UK) and will try him there on my next build.

This will determine which side I put him on for the third build.

Time to get Addicted again!

Scott over at Scale Model Addict has finally started his new season. He's not doing the King Tiger tank though - he's sticking with something a bit more sci-fi. He's doing the Battle of Hoth - but not the little diorama kit, he's upsizing it with regular AT-AT models and some nice scratchbuilds. It should be a good season to follow.



My only concern, he seems to have jumped ahead a bit for the start - with a beatiful scratch built Ion Cannon and a very nice mini AT-ST already done. It would have been nice to see him start right from the box. Even so, I'll certainly be looking forward to see where he takes it.

Addicted much?

For those who followed Scott Girvin's X-wing build, or for those who didn't - be sure to check out the Scale Model Addict site. He's back after taking the summer off. He is easing back into modelling with a Gee Bee Racer plane before he starts in on the King Tiger tank.

Scale Model Addict

I've been following Scott Girvan's video build of Jek Porkin's Red 6 from a MPC X-wing model. He's from the East Coast and is accurizing the kit as he goes. He's got a good sense of humor and is trying things out as he goes. He's been pretty good about updating a few episodes every week.
Go Scott!

un-stuck on a horse?

I haven’t yet been to Michaels but did pop into Toad Hall Toys and picked up some 1/72 Airfix figures – cowboys and a wagon train. The figures are just shy of 25mm so would work with the Whitewash City buildings available from http://www.erichotz.com and would be easier to store than the 1/35 buildings would.

They are proving difficult to glue though. On models, I normally use liquid glue – either Testors or Plastruct, but neither seems to work on this. From the web, it seems that they are made from polyethylene. Other people seem to recommend using hot glue.

These are also supposed to be tricky to paint due to the paint flaking off the bendy plastic. Recommendations are to use a basecoat of gesso or acrylic paint. These don’t stick any better but rather form a seal around the figure that can then be painted.

magnets

Walmart has some of the small Magnetix sets (20 pieces) on clearance for $1.96. With a few kids swallowing the magnets they have reworked the connectors. I bought a bunch of the sets and have removed the magnets from 3 sets – giving me 72 of the mini NIB magnets (Neodymium Iron Boron).


This wasn’t an easy task. To remove these took 4 hours of work with a pair of pliers while watching TV.

However, now that they are out, I can use them for models. A number of people use them for attaching the various weapon variations to 40K tank models. These should prove to be helpful. Since the other magnets I can get are 8 for about $2-$3 they work out to about 25-38 cents each while these work out to about 8 cents each. Of course, I don’t have to remove those first.




Should I get around to making the Warhound or get into 40K tanks, these should prove invaluable for modding and make it easier to transport them.