ok, my first numpty question (there is going to be lots more...)

[tiger205]

Ok, Im now about ready now to start work on 205. She needs painting and reassembling as Tony had stripped her down when he got the metal hull, removed all the old rubber zimmerit and redid it the 'Crispy' way, as he called it. Shes now sitting here in 3 sections. Tony got as far as airbrushing her with a yellow ochre. I presume he was planning on airbrushing the rest of her. Im not even going to go there with airbrushing  I dont have the foggiest so it will be back to a good old paintbrush for me.

Now seeing as this is my very firstest ever attempt at doing anything remotely like this I thought I'd start with the 1/54 tank that I got Aeryn for her birthday. If I cock that up its not going to be quite so terrible as making a mess of 205  :-\

so 1st question. Do I need to lightly key the surface before applying paint? Tony always used Humbrol enamels. The surface of this little tank is very smooth

2nd question. As Im not airbrushing presumably I dont need to do an all over base coat

3rd question. How long roughly do humbrol paints take to dry and which would be the best colour to start with, the green, brown or yellow?

Thank you 

Alison

[Tankie]

No you don't need to key the plastic if using Humbrol enamels, but it doesn't hurt to gently rough up the surface a bit since real tanks were never smooth
No you don't need a base coat
Humbrol enamel paint is dry to handle after an hour at normal temperatures.  I wouldn't add another coat for 24 hrs though.
I Always paint lightest colour first

[Ex_Pat_Tanker]

Halfords spray primer should give you a reasonable surface if you apply light coats (as opposed to spraying it like deodorant!)

The airbrush would be a little tricky for a beginner to use on a small tank, but don't be afraid of trying it out on a peice of cardboard and get used to how it works. and how adjusting the needle effects the pattern size and flow. The only tricky part with enamles is making sure that you clean the airbrush out thoroughly afterwards!

The Tiger is a pretty easy tank to paint, lots of flat surfaces and external corners. Be sure to paint with the turret off, or else you will get an ugly outline of where the turret covered up the hull at the time (I've made that mistake too many times ::) ) The end result is work the little bit of practice and care needed to figure out how it all works tho!

[Crispy]

Alison, it always makes me smile when people refer to that zimmerit technique as  "Crispys" method, especially someone as talented and well liked as Tony    I'll have to tell my mum, she'll be so proud.

I used Humbrol enamels applied by good old fashioned hand brush for years and got really good results. Only moved to acylics as they dont smell so bad and are easier to clean up. Using primer on smaller scales will loose fine surface details and isnt really needed. Personally I dont use primer on the 1/16 tanks either and havent noticed any problems... but then I am a right lazy git

Best of all, we're painting WW2 tanks! They are supposed to look messy and rough and the real things often had their top coats applied with a bucket (no brush) in the field!

[tankmad]

One other thing Allison when you are painting by brush thin the paint slightly so you dont see the brush strokes good luck.
Stevie

[tiger205]

thank you everyone.

One other thing Allison when you are painting by brush thin the paint slightly so you dont see the brush strokes good luck.
Stevie

Just one thing Stevie. Im sure Tony has some thinners here but if I cant find any, as I havent seen any yet (he was never the most organised of workers ::)) is there a particular type I should be looking for to use with the humbrol paints?

[Ex_Pat_Tanker]

I used white sprits for cleaning brushes, make sure that the paint doen't get all the way up the bristles and it'll be easy to clean.

To keep the brush in shape after you have rinsed it, I saw an article in a model magzine once that suggested applying liquid soap to 'shape' the bristles after use - its worked for me so far

[tiger205]

The airbrush would be a little tricky for a beginner to use on a small tank, but don't be afraid of trying it out on a peice of cardboard and get used to how it works. and how adjusting the needle effects the pattern size and flow. The only tricky part with enamles is making sure that you clean the airbrush out thoroughly afterwards!

Ah Mart, I am just not going there, at least for the foreseeable future anyway, lol. I dont even know how to put it all together let alone work the little compressor. Knowing my luck I would probably end up blowing up the conservatory and that wouldnt be good  ::) For the time being I will stick to a brush, I think...


Alison

[Ex_Pat_Tanker]

If a drunken idiot like me can use one, then I'm sure you'll do fine

[tiger205]

Best of all, we're painting WW2 tanks! They are supposed to look messy and rough and the real things often had their top coats applied with a bucket (no brush) in the field!

geez, how on earth did they manage that??? How on earth do you paint with a bucket

btw Tony said your zimmerit was nothing short of genius, he was so impressed with it