Bolleken's 1:72 stuff

[Bolleken]

Thank you. Have you ever tried different tapes—clear, masking, duct tape—in a sectional pull-away method with the topcoat. Press a piece of tape onto the surface of the airplane model kit and peel off fast. The tape should pull up some of the color, leaving the underlying aluminum to show through.

Yes. This variant leads to more randomly results. Salt is easier to control. When u sie tape, the removed color areas have sharp edges. Corrections might be visible. You can also try Vaseline or Maskol as variant. Or a professional solution: Three is a liquid stuff by AK interactive:
AK Interactive Worn Effects Acrylic Fluid 35 ml

[speedgraflex]

Thanks so much. A lot of ideas! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I know you have studied many of these ideas. Kari also mentioned the effectiveness of salt chipping. I would think the crystals need to be somewhat larger to melt the salt in the water. Maybe not. Perhaps a warm water. Hm. What Kari discussed about using saliva as a fixative, perhaps indicates warmth is necessary.

[Bolleken]

Bruce, to be honest: Do it as simple as possible. Do some trials. Using salt and water is no rocket science.
I am pretty sure you will love it and you will do a brilliant job.

[speedgraflex]

Bruce, to be honest: Do it as simple as possible. Do some trials. Using salt and water is no rocket science.
I am pretty sure you will love it and you will do a brilliant job.

Do you mean “Don’t overthink things?” I can do that... I think. Seriously, thank you for your advice. Great. Thank you.

[Bolleken]

Bruce, to be honest: Do it as simple as possible. Do some trials. Using salt and water is no rocket science.
I am pretty sure you will love it and you will do a brilliant job.

Do you mean “Don’t overthink things?” I can do that... I think. Seriously, thank you for your advice. Great. Thank you.

I just wanted to say you might discover this new experience. My experience is that it sometimes makes more fun to do it as I think. No big research just do it. Often researches lead to questions which lead to even more questions. When I work on my kits I want to have fun . Sometimes I fail, sometimes I learn new things.

[speedgraflex]

Fun.

Fun?

I think so.

I find myself choosing kits with more or less a community based mindset, but building them in my own way.

I think... my thought is, and this is not to answer your question directly, but your ideas made me think about advice received in art school to “go in the kitchen and paint with peanut butter and jelly,” just make anything on the shelves work, not to worry about having the right this or that product or techniques; just try something out.

Does this make sense?

[Bolleken]

Absolutely.
I want to have fun, I want to process my kits, I want to make my own experiences and learn new things. I want to be humble enough to discover that my solutions and techniques are not the best.
Remember, it is just plastic.
Today you can buy perfect accessoires, prepainted, preassembled. But is buying things a real challenge?
I wanna do it my way. "Yes (I) we can!"

[speedgraflex]

I thought about your reply a lot!

Beautifully expressed! (It’s not just plastic, is it though?)
I see a time machine! I only am partly in jest, but I am grateful for your advice and kindness. You always show new ways of making each project. I particularly enjoy the cockpit details, modifications and speculations. I enjoy watching you problem solve, too. Problem solving is fun. (There: that word.) The last time I had modeling fun was brush painting silver metallic on a Revell Horten.

[Stikpusher]

Absolutely.

Today you can buy perfect accessoires, prepainted, preassembled. But is buying things a real challenge?

Now where is the fun and fulfillment in that?

[Bolleken]

Absolutely.

Today you can buy perfect accessoires, prepainted, preassembled. But is buying things a real challenge?

Now where is the fun and fulfillment in that?

I can't see both. That's why I do it my way.