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Butch Had Not

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Butch Had Not

Butch Had Not 2969

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Do any of you work with plastic models?  I had always wanted to get into model trains but that's a severe space eater which I don't have.  But always loved model planes and boats and thinking about starting up again (again meaning starting back from a childhood hobby). 

Please share your experiences, advice,  and pictures. 

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NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4974

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I spend all my time at work trying to figure out how to make better plastic, so I'll stick to the old balsa wood and cardboard tubes to make model rockets. It's funny how now that I've got kids I'm getting back into my childhood hobbies. Except now I have the means to take them to a whole new level. A couple weeks ago I was seriously looking into what it would take to build an amatuer rocket that could make it to the boundary of space.

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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Oh man yeah I used to love putting together those old AMT or Revell 1/25th scale cars.  LOVED 'em.

Haven't done much over the years, but when the boy was younger we got a few and did some.  Here's a Mustang we did about 10 years ago:

mustangmodel.jpg

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Butch Had Not

Butch Had Not 2969

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7 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

Oh man yeah I used to love putting together those old AMT or Revell 1/25th scale cars.  LOVED 'em.

Haven't done much over the years, but when the boy was younger we got a few and did some.  Here's a Mustang we did about 10 years ago:

mustangmodel.jpg

That's nice. 

I'll have to start buying supplies and have a refresher from 7th grade shop class but I think this might be the hobby that keeps me for a while. Something quiet where I can work without waking the kid or annoying the wife. 

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Fuck Tim Beck

Fuck Tim Beck 3815

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14 hours ago, Butch Had Not said:

Do any of you work with plastic models?  I had always wanted to get into model trains but that's a severe space eater which I don't have.  But always loved model planes and boats and thinking about starting up again (again meaning starting back from a childhood hobby). 

Please share your experiences, advice,  and pictures. 

Model trains are cool. But you really have to pair it with imitation crab meet to enjoy the full experience 

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Butch Had Not

Butch Had Not 2969

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5 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

The Battleship Missouri was my favorite plastic model in the early 1950s. Also put the aircraft carrier Hornet together, an Atlas ICBM,  then a Polaris submarine as my last one.

Carriers are awesome.  Would like to build one.  Built an a-10 as a kid. Might want to do that one again. 

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Loco

Loco 3752

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Young loco used to make plastic models (WWII) mostly.    I liked to get the models finished/painted and then take a needle, put the tip into a candle flame and them make bullet holes in the model.   Worked well and look cool.   /csb

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Shoxthemonkey

Shoxthemonkey 1976

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39 minutes ago, Loco said:

Young loco used to make plastic models (WWII) mostly.    I liked to get the models finished/painted and then take a needle, put the tip into a candle flame and them make bullet holes in the model.   Worked well and look cool.   /csb

Brother and I shared a bedroom and had more than 50 hanging from the ceiling. One big dogfight with bullet holes and battle damage. S.P.A.D.s attacking Bettys and whatnot. We had a larger B-52 with a stream of bombs coming down. He became an engineer for McDonnell and worked to streamline frontline repairs of battle damage, mostly for the Israelis. Early training.

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seven

seven 1367

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I used to do these as a kid. A few months ago I was bored and looking around for a hobby I can do while smoking weed and watching TV. I tried out a few of those cnc cut metal sheet models and found them interesting but too small for what I wanted to do. Then I moved to some of the $40-$80 Lego sets and really enjoy that but the time to price ratio is high. Got it in my head to try out a plastic model and ordered a paint kit, glue, small tool kit, and an AMT late 60's Shelby. Between waiting for paint and glue to dry, it took an evening to get just the first few steps done. I keep meaning to go back to it, but was a bit discouraged by the slow pace. 

One thing I noticed, and was surprised by, is there is no construction equipment available. Plenty of cars, tanks, and battleships, but no bulldozers, excavators, or cranes. I would much rather do that kind of stuff. 

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El Diablo

El Diablo 4232

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3 hours ago, Armybrat said:

The Battleship Missouri was my favorite plastic model in the early 1950s. Also put the aircraft carrier Hornet together, an Atlas ICBM,  then a Polaris submarine as my last one.

We had all of those except for the Atlas.

And glue. Lots of the good stuff.

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17658

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I lived out in the country so before I had my license, I ran around outside until it was too hot, then came inside to work on models.  I had like 80 something hanging and displayed around my room.  Had them all tracked by scale, kit manufacturer, type, etc.  I haven't touched a model until recently Chad Jr. coerced me into buying an Airfix diorama set with a couple tanks and a little village they could blow each other up in.  Got the Sherman done, but the Tiger is taking way more time.  Much more tedious road wheels.  

When I'm interested to see what others are up to, and remind my self I don't have the time to invest in this kind of thing, I go here:

http://www.hyperscale.com

 

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elfenix

elfenix 34221

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20 hours ago, Lat22 said:

I bet I built just about every WWII plane. I had a Zeke being chased by a Corsair hanging from my ceiling. I used my wood burning kit to make bullet holes. 

i had a whole bomber formation hanging from the ceiling.  couple B17s, a B-24, B-29, B-25, B-26 (maybe), along with a Black Widow and some assorted fighters (P38s, 51s, 109s, 190s, 262s)

i didn't get laid much.

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Butch Had Not

Butch Had Not 2969

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1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

I lived out in the country so before I had my license, I ran around outside until it was too hot, then came inside to work on models.  I had like 80 something hanging and displayed around my room.  Had them all tracked by scale, kit manufacturer, type, etc.  I haven't touched a model until recently Chad Jr. coerced me into buying an Airfix diorama set with a couple tanks and a little village they could blow each other up in.  Got the Sherman done, but the Tiger is taking way more time.  Much more tedious road wheels.  

When I'm interested to see what others are up to, and remind my self I don't have the time to invest in this kind of thing, I go here:

http://www.hyperscale.com

 

They have some serious modelers in the gallery.  So nice.

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AUinHsv

AUinHsv 579

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I had a lot of WW2 planes and ships but also had a balsa wood biplane that took a huge amount of time to build. It had some sort of paper that covered it and you had to cut and paste every bit of it. probably took 2-3 weekends to do the whole plane and house smelled like glue

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Chico_SA

Chico_SA 521

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.........It's funny how now that I've got kids I'm getting back into my childhood hobbies. Except now I have the means to take them to a whole new level.......


This is exactly what happened with me. I never completed the models or took the time to paint them when I was a kid. I was with my boys last year at Hobby Lobby and passed down the aisle. I have a little area for working on them. I just do a little every once in a while. I’ve only completed this one. Started the Spitfire last week.




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Judge Roybeanbag

Judge Roybeanbag 11819

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On 7/23/2019 at 1:11 PM, Armybrat said:

The Battleship Missouri was my favorite plastic model in the early 1950s. Also put the aircraft carrier Hornet together, an Atlas ICBM,  then a Polaris submarine as my last one.

My brother did a Polaris, the Washington I believe.  The final touch was gluing one of the little sailors taking a leak in the head. 

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Chico_SA

Chico_SA 521

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Hah!  Harder because my vision is worse, but easier because I have more patience now. Also, I really want to see a good final product so I'm taking my time sanding edges and stuff.  I hope to get better at painting.  I actually looked at an airbrush setup, but I'm going to wait to see if I stick with it.  I have another small WWII Era plane, and then a B17 I'll work on. 

 

 

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Chico_SA

Chico_SA 521

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1 hour ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Those old Revell kits are terrible. When I got back into the hobby a couple of years ago, I started with that same Corsair. It was a good way to relearn the basics because it required a ton of filling and sanding.

Which kits do you recommend?  Now I want to keep the same scale.  Seems that other brands use other scales.

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kangsta

kangsta 50

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Good call on the plastic model building vs. trains.. model trains are not only space consuming but also damn expensive now, good lord.  I have a large O-scale set that originally was my dad's when he was a kid in the 50's, i got it in the 90's and we started growing collection again and set up a train room once my older siblings began moving off to college.  Now i've got the whole collection in set of large boxes and get them out around christmas every year for my kids.

And every time without fail I think I can get back into it again and start looking to buy stuff.. and then it hits me that a locomotive is $600+ for a decent one, a box car is $100 and everything is run on new tracks now with Wifi and blutooth, etc.  And i need to put my kids through college so...

 

/csb 

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RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26376

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I grew up sitting on the floor sniffing glue and enamel paints, coincidentally building a ton of model airplanes, later tanks as well.

Then puberty hit and of course I smashed or burned them all, during the 5 minutes a day I was not wanking.

Now I am interested in them again. Built a car model (Man from U.N.C.L.E. sports car), that thing took forever. Bought 4 or 5 more I haven't even thought about building yet, as well as a used but allegedly complete Pocher Alfa Romeo, actual leather upholstery and such. I got it for 100 bucks and could probably flip it unbuilt for double that, but dammit, it cries out to be built.

And then sold.

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RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26376

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On 7/23/2019 at 10:53 AM, phdhorn said:

These things were like $1.50 in 1970.  Now they're fucking $15-$25.  I know inflation and all, but holy shit, I mean really?  Twenty-five Gumfaces for plastic?  Should come with a masturbation sleeve.

Around here the Hobby Lobbies will occasionally have 75% off sales on selected models. The ones they pick to go on sale seem just as nice as the ones that don't. If you need 6 examples of Lindbergh King George V battleship, let me know.

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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13551

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On 7/25/2019 at 8:15 AM, Chico_SA said:

Which kits do you recommend?  Now I want to keep the same scale.  Seems that other brands use other scales.

The Airfix P-51D is an excellent kit and super cheap if you use the coupon (see next comment below). The P-40B from Airfix has some fit issues but is decent overall.

Generally speaking, those old Revell kits are awful because many were originally designed and tooled in the 60s. The box art and decals get updated, but not the molds. A new tooling doesn't guarantee a good kit, though, as some manufacturers (e.g., Airfix) suffer from severe quality control issues.

Before buying,  consider googling the manufacturer name and model number (e.g., Airfix 05131 for that P-51D kit) and then checking out the related Scalemates database page. It will tell you when that kit was first tooled (such as 2017 for the Airfix P-51D) and usually includes several reviews.

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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13551

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On 7/25/2019 at 6:28 PM, RDCanecutter said:

Around here the Hobby Lobbies will occasionally have 75% off sales on selected models. The ones they pick to go on sale seem just as nice as the ones that don't. If you need 6 examples of Lindbergh King George V battleship, let me know.

Models are put on clearance when they've been discontinued, the distributor changes, or for poor sales.

You can also use the 40 percent off coupon on a model. Basically, anything in the store that isn't already discounted and that doesn't have a yellow "Your Price" sticker can be purchased at 40 percent off. One item per day, every day. The coupon code changes weekly, so you can print one out from the website or simply install the Hobby Lobby app on your phone.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89617

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My 6 year-old has just about reached the point where we're going to do some models together.  I've got decals for a B-17 my grandpa worked on (had them made by a friend), so I just need to find a kit.

Man, YouTube will suck you in if you start watching videos on model building and announcements and what not.

This is mainly based on my YouTube viewing, but it feels like we are in the midst of a renaissance or something.   The internet has apparently allowed a lot of companies to find the customers they need, and so they are making a lot of cool/obscure models (and accessories) that I don't recall from when I was a kid.  I need another hour or two in the day.

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RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26376

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1 hour ago, Butch Had Not said:

Dumb question. Watching the videos on YouTube I don't think I've watched anyone priming the parts. Is that something that's not needed?

What kind of paint are you using?

I used to never prime, but with recent models I do, often times because there are also metal widgets on the things I build.

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