SPA Modeler

SigEp Ziggy wrote:My wife bought me an airbrush, Badger 200, at Micheal's. This will be the first time I have used one. I have worked on the Belle and will post some photos soon.

They are pretty straight forward! Now as your skill increases with using an airbrush you will find that you will want a dual action with gravity feed airbrush but do not discard this one when you upgrade since these still have a lot of uses to them!

Single action airbrushes have their advantages in working larger areas such as simple monotone schemes or single different upper and lower color areas.

I've been a big fan of single action airbrushes for years. My goto is the Paasche H - 99% of what I paint is with this. I have a couple double actions and just haven't spent the time to master - but I have a few Luftwaffe birds that will require it. As a single action guy - you learn masking techniques Here's a few:

Stikpusher wrote:Single action airbrushes have their advantages in working larger areas such as simple monotone schemes or single different upper and lower color areas.

My first thought was for shooting gloss and flat clears, but you bring up a good point about the simple paint schemes too.

Either way, I have seen too many people pitch (sell or give away) their single action brushes (I was guilty of this too) when they get their double action only to realize later that it was a bad decision.

I would also say you chose wisely with picking your wife!

I did this all freehand, with a nearly identical single action airbrush ((Chandler & Thayer) Model. The only masking was on the canopy, and area like the stabilator undersides & drop tanks, where I had overspray concerns. Planning your paint application, and airbrushing techniques can minimize the need to mask.

Those are some amazing paint jobs! I hope I can come close. I'm trying to build a paint booth so I can practice with new my airbrush.

I have worked on the Belle and will post some photos on Saturday. So so, work. The mold is dated 1962 and the model is dated in the mid 1980's. Not real accurate. I will be getting after-market propellers and definitely replace the wheels. First time out and I'm doing a metal finish !

Above all, have fun while you’re trying out new tools and techniques on this kit. You’ll be fine, AM, or no AM.

A little friendly advice when considering bare metal finish; particularly during WW2... I use Tamiya Bare Metal Silver. This gives it a true finish since no WW2 aircraft stayed shiny throughout the war. I used it in my Tamiya P-47 Thunderbolt kit and it looks great.

This and what Stik said are sound advice! I will add that the metal finish will make you a better modeller since it will show off any flaw that either the model or you do/have. Don’t get discouraged by it, just take it as the paint is helping to guide you along in what needs fixing. I did the 1/72 Revell B-17G and I was fixing seams left and right but it was worth it in the end.

Thanks for the great advise all, honey-dos kept me from posting. I will see if I can get to it today?!?