Anime Model Kits, Goods and Figures

[Buffalobiian]

Question: Are compressors and airbrushes sold separately? So when they say "airbrush for $$$", it's airbrush only?

I'm looking at prices, and they range from 41AUD to 370AUD. I suppose entry level brushes will suffice?

Compressors also look really expensive, around the 200+AUD mark. Since I'm just starting off, I might consider a 425GM AIR CAN PROPELLANT for 20AUD instead. Any idea how long it'll last? Say, X no. of Gundams?

[Psyke]

Yes, they are sold separately. You should invest in a good set, as they can last a very long time with proper maintenance. I bought mine for around 500 SGD, which is around 515.637 AUD. Sadly its now residing in my storeroom. So make you're you're gonna use it more as it's an investment of sorts.

[Kraco]

It has got nothing to do with painting but how much power do those air compressors have? Desktop computers need dusting every now and then, and compressed air in bottles is the usual fare for the job. However, those bottles are pretty expensive and empty rather quickly so if the airbrush painting compressor could handle that, it would be two birds with one stone. And since it's for painting, I assume they are oilless compressors (is that the correct term in English? That is, you won't get lubricant particles mixed in the air coming out).

[Buffalobiian]

I'm wondering if this is actually worth the quality, or if it's overkill. I've never worked with airbrushes before:

http://www.hlj.com/product/aiwhp-bh

Or I can get this, a complete set, for half the price

http://www.hobbyone.com.au/product.asp?ProdID=41780

While here, I just see there's a huge range in prices:

http://www.hobbyone.com.au/category.asp?Code=F210



Don't know which one to get.

Edit@below: Thanks for the info Ryll.

[Ryllharu]

You want a double-action airbrush. You control the air flow and the paint separately. That gives you the same level of control the ubiquitous Photoshop tool (now known simply as paintbrush) does. You want to be able to control both the flow rate as well as the opacity.

Plus, you have the chance to shoot out all the paint from the brush when switching colors, or residue left over from some other reason.

With a double-action, you can begin and end shooting a stream of air, rather than paint.

/exhausts knowledge of airbrushes

I hope that makes the decision a little easier. But you can probably find one cheaper at a local art supply store than from HLJ.

[Psyke]

Some pics of the 1/72 VF-25S:

[Buffalobiian]

Very nice. I'm still waiting for mine to come through the mail.

[Harima Kenji]

I paint my models with a brush. I have some pics of the 1/144 Tallgeese in the gundam model kit thread. I like doing it with the brush, but I'm also considering trying out airbrushing. Luckily my father is into model kits as well (firetrucks) and he recently bought a compressor.
According to my father, you shouldn't airbrush inside the house, because of the fumes etc.. how do you guys do it?

[Psyke]

Your dad's right. The thinner can get into the air you breathe easily and it's bad for your health. Usually, you would either need to work in a well ventilated space, or if that's not possible, set up your own mini fan and ventilation unit. Wear a mask too if you don't feel safe.

[Psyke]

The cross-over merchandise are coming in fast and furious. Did Bulma even have that outfit to begin with? It would look cool though.

[Buffalobiian]

I read on Psyke's guide to use "the right type of paint" for your model.

Which is it - Laquer, Enamel or Acrylic?

I've got a whole bunch of acrylic paint, and apparently Laquer's supposed to be the best for spraying. I won't be considering enamel.

How do you guys do it?

[Ryllharu]

You don't have to use nasty solvents to wash out acrylic from the brush, that's a huge plus right there.

They also make Acrylic Enamel paints. I don't really know anything about them for airbrushing I'm sorry to say.

[Buffalobiian]

Well I finally got around to actually starting it. Ran into heaps of problems, involving high humidity and bad water traps.....

But that's more or less out of the way. One problem I'm having now is panel lining. There's no way the oil-based pen (which is what you're supposed to use on acrylic paint finish) will stay in the lines, and it keeps slipping out. Then it dries almost immediately ~1 second or so. How am I meant to go about this? Based on logic, acrylic being water based should resist oil-based ink, forcing it to go into the cracks, and making any outside easy to remove. That wasn't the case.

I've tried the rubber idea some people came up with. It doesn't work well. I think it might work for other paint/panel inks, but not the combo I'm using.

Can anybody help? One idea I was thinking of was getting some sort of oil to erase the bits outside the panel lines with, since you can use alcohol for the alcohol based panel markers. Thing is, alcohol evaporates off. I can't say the same for oil....

[Buffalobiian]

I had time to get back onto it again. (Macross kit)

After some rather unsuccessful attempts at spraying a few parts, figuring out how to use an airbrush and all, I've pretty much had to strip most of the paint off and start over. (This was like Feb 09 sometime).

For some reason, the black paint won't stick to the black parts. It just comes off with a bit of touching, and I'm having some trouble seeing the tone, so I opted to get some primer. Haven't used that yet though, as I'm still figuring out the instructions of the kit and what to build before painting.

I had a feeling it was one heck of a monster build when I opened the box, but it sure doesn't help being told that from an experienced builder, in his step-by-step guide here:

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/inde...howtopic=28142

Photos of the kit can be seen here: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10075554a/20/1

It won't take long for paint to peel neither with (not so) constant transforming, from customer feedback. Looks like when it's done, I'll be shelving it in Gerwalk mode. (my favourite, next to aircraft mode).


Thing thing's going to take me a year at my rate :S

I'd probably have better luck building my HG Eva-01 first instead....

[Buffalobiian]

Continued from: http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread...&postcount=238

I'll never understand how people could spend so much money on figurines

Well, i guess i kinda do. I would spend a sweet buck for one of those K-ON dolls, just because looking at all that moeness would always put a smile in my face

I window shop a fair bit, but I rarely fork out money for it. Of course, "rarely" and "fair bit" are entirely relative.

The "space" problem I had before was more because I like to put displays where I frequently look, rather than shove them where it's convenient. The lack of space is more due to general crowded-ness on my desk. (though partially due to existing figure there too.). Space will always be a problem until I figure out how to modify one level of my shelf into a display area with lights, and preferably (but optionally) a sliding glass against dust.

But robot figurines? What for?

Because they're cool.

[Ryllharu]

I'll never understand how people could spend so much money on figurines

Well, i guess i kinda do. I would spend a sweet buck for one of those K-ON dolls, just because looking at all that moeness would always put a smile in my face

But robot figurines? What for?

As for figurines, I buy action related pose ones. That's why I have a few Saber ones (even though I'm a bigger fan of Sakura), Shenhua from Black Lagoon, Alice from Pumpkin Scissors, etc.

The real reason to buy robot figurines is because you can disfigure them and feel good about it. Take a dremel tool, drill a few holes or a nasty looking graze, paint some appropriate contour shading and scorch marks, and now you've got something that really looks like it went through combat.

[Psyke]

Some new Bleach figurines I thought were pretty cool:

[Buffalobiian]

Can't wait to see Rin painted. It's a 98% must get already.

[shinta|hikari]

A friend of mine offered to get me that Hitagi fig for my birthday. I of course happily accepted. I just hope it actually happens.

[Buffalobiian]

A friend of mine offered to get me that Hitagi fig for my birthday. I of course happily accepted. I just hope it actually happens.

Lucky bastard.

GoodSmileCompany (the company that makes that one) really does awesome paintjobs. The colour tones are really appealing, as opposed to another Hitagi figure (by Kotobukiya) which looks a bit off.