New to the Hobby, new to the forum

StickyFingers · 3 January 2026 03:06

Hello,

as my title already mentioned, I am new to the hobby. Although that’s not 100% true - when I was younger (around 12–18), I built some model kits (mostly tanks) with my cousin. I was never very good at it; I usually just glued everything together and painted it with a brush and whatever paint I had. It never looked good, and I was always jealous when I saw really fine models and wondered, “How did they do that?”

Back then, the tanks we built had only one purpose: to be used in “war” against each other. All of that was about 20–25 years ago, and I haven’t touched scale modeling since then.

I come from a diecast and LEGO background. In those two worlds, models are usually limited in color and/or style. With LEGO, some variation are possible, but only up to a certain point. What I like about scale modeling is the idea of having much more freedom - the ability to change and adjust things exactly the way I want them - especially when it comes to military models, I have a lot of ideas in my head.

My main limitations are my skill set and, sometimes, my ADHD. The latter can be very helpful sometimes, but also pretty challenging.

I joined this forum to meet new people and hopefully find help and advice when needed. I have a lot of questions, and I’m sure many of them have been asked before, but please bear with me, point me in the right direction, and don’t get mad or frustrated.

Oh, and I live near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, but I’m originally from Germany.

Dan · 3 January 2026 03:11

Welcome from MN!

Fanchmodel · 3 January 2026 04:02

Welcome! Looking forward to seeing your work and interacting!

Dioramartin · 3 January 2026 04:32

Welcome (from Oz) Toni. I’d never thought about it before, but Lego (and Corgi/Dinky die-cast) were my pre-teenage entries into modelmaking too. Although my first kit was an Aurora Mustang convertible during a sojourn in the USA in ’66 when I was 10 – botched, but it sowed a seed that’s still growing.

We’re all learning new tricks here, from a worldwide membership. Don’t be afraid of mistakes, you only have to look at what we all do to see we’re full of them – that’s how we learn, nobody learns anything from doing it perfectly first time.

SamS · 3 January 2026 04:34

Hi Tobi! Lovely to have you on board. You’ll definitely find lots of great advice and patience here, along with some amazing work to aspire to!

When you’ve time, let us know a bit more about your set up (for example I have 1/4 of the dining table to work on whilst others have almost industrial sized work spaces), preferred genre, goals etc….

Uncle-Heavy · 3 January 2026 10:04

Welcome aboard Toni!
As the others have already said: Ask questions.

barkingdigger · 3 January 2026 10:26

Welcome to the Forums! I think we’ve all had interests in LEGO and diecast, so you’re in good company. Don’t worry about skill or results - this is a hobby and we each do it to satisfy ourselves rather than anyone else. As the old joke goes, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” “Practice, practice, practice!”

As Robin says, please do ask questions here - there are no dumb questions, other than the ones you fail to ask! Be aware that answers about techniques are like snowflakes - no two are alike. All you can do is think about what others suggest, experiment a bit, and do whatever works for you. On that note it is worth buying a cheapo rubbish kit (the kind you don’t care about) to use as a practice mule for painting and weathering techniques. It’s far better to try something new on the mule rather than that expensive kit you jst built! And if t gets too cluttered just hit it with another coat of spray primer and it’s a blank canvas again. (I have an old Tamiya M3 hull that serves the purpose…)

Uncle-Heavy · 3 January 2026 11:53

On the subject of paint mules:
Food packaging, scrap plastic from electronic gadgets heading for the recycler,
broken CD-cases etc.
If paint sticks to it it can be used to practice painting techniques.

Old CD-cases are usually made of styrene plastic and can be used as a source of material for scratch building or simply to reinforce/straighten warped tank hulls. DVD-casings are useless.

Keep your eyes and mind open, plastic that feels dry to the touch can be used as paint mules.
Polystyrene products should have this recycling marker on them:

Products/packaging of polystyrene can be used for model building.
After a while you will be able to “feel” polystyrene just be touching it.
ABS can be used but requires more potent solvents to glue properly, useful for paint mules though.

RandyT · 3 January 2026 12:03

Welcome from bayside NY!

A lot of terrific model builders and painters. Ask questions and some one will help you.

Tank_1812 · 3 January 2026 12:30

Welcome aboard Tobi.

M70 · 3 January 2026 14:03

Good morning,

new attempt to post without sharing my unfinished unchecked text.

First off - sorry! I made a spelling mistake and accidentally named myself “Toni” - my name is Tobi.
Second - thanks a lot for all the nice welcoming words! It really feels like being in the right place!

A little add-on about me:

I grew up in a small town that was heavily influenced by the military back in the day. This resulted in a deep interest in military history for me, as well as many little battles with my cousin (these battles were always fought with plastic tanks and soldiers). Sure enough, I joined the military myself (12 years, German Army, E-6).

That being said, my main focus is military builds, although I do like cars too (and might build some as well). But it is important for me to say that, especially as a German, I am NOT downplaying anything that happened - particularly during WWII. I am NOT sympathizing in any way with any extremist or Nazi ideology. I am only interested in the military aspects: tactics and technology.

For me personally, I cannot understand any war or hate against people with a different mindset, beliefs, religion, skin color, sexuality, etc. I try to accept everyone and be kind — there is already too much hate in this world. Sorry for this short disclaimer but I think it’s necessary.

Room and Space Setup

When it comes to space - I do have a lot of space. I have a designated basement just for myself and all my hobbies. It’s fully finished, has an open layout, and is about 100 sqm in size.

I have three FDM 3D printers and a laser engraver. One smaller room is currently used for my gaming and racing setup, although I’m planning on selling the racing setup since I’m not using it anymore. My idea is to use that room as my video gaming / scale modeling room.

My biggest “problem” (more of a luxury problem) is that I don’t really like spending time in the basement. I’d rather take whatever I need and work upstairs in my office. I think part of this is that I’m not completely done finishing and organizing everything yet - it’s not cozy enough.

If any of you have recommendations for a good setup or ideas for gear, let me know. I’m pretty flexible when it comes to buying things or even building them myself.

Equipment Setup

I purchased a ton of stuff last year. I’m always living with the fear of “do I have everything I need?” I bought so many things, and I know many of you will think, “You don’t need that at all (as a beginner).” That’s exactly why I joined - to learn from you and get some guidance.

The internet is full of advice telling you what to buy and what to do, but there’s often a lot of important information missing.

I currently have:
airbrush, air compressor, spray booth, lots of paints, paint thinner, primer, cement, many small tools, micro drills, brushes, sponges, cotton swabs, small containers, a paint-mixing palette, cutting mat, etc.

It’s a lot, and I’ll take some photos for you all. Feel free to point out or mention anything I might still need.

Models

I already have a couple of models, though I need to check the exact names. They should all be Tamiya. I like the idea of having one or even a couple of hulls (or entire tanks) that I can use purely for testing.I did buy some plastic spoons; I’ve seen people use them for testing colors. I’m not sure if that’s the best method, but they were only 99 cents, so it wasn’t a big investment.

I also need to mentally train myself to be okay with just starting something, messing it up, and starting over. My mental health challenges me there - my brain is wired to want everything to be perfect.

Genre

As mentioned, it’s mostly military - more precisely WWII tanks and vehicles in 1:35 scale. I also like cars, so there’s a chance I’ll build some regular cars as well, like a nice Ford Mustang or a race car

Goals

Within the community:
Finding a good community, making new hobby friends, and having a good time with people who share the same interests.

Personally in the hobby:
I want to build models I can look at and genuinely be proud of. For the military theme, I’d love to build small dioramas based on real photos or iconic tanks in specific battle settings (mainly WWII).

I also want to continuously learn and improve, and maybe even help others at some point. One long-term goal is to join contests - not to win anything, but to share my work, get feedback, and see honest reactions.

This last part is especially important to me. I’m German, and I value full honesty. I don’t like being told something looks awesome if, in reality, it doesn’t. For personal growth, I need honest and sometimes harsh feedback - otherwise, I can’t improve. Seeing genuine reactions at real-life contests would be the best feedback for me to know whether I’m on the right path. That would be my ultimate goal.
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If there are any more questions for me or directions you’d like to guide me toward, feel free to do so
Btw, how can I add some space between different sections? I did add ** to get more spacing.
And yes, I do use AI to help me with my grammar and spelling otherwise it would be a mess. I do write everything myself, so don’t worry I am not a AI bot I am a real person
I can leave the spelling and grammar correction out but I am worried that it will be too confusing for all of you.

Uncle-Heavy · 3 January 2026 16:20

The grammar and spelling in these forums are sometimes “creative”.
I will, very seldom, edit the posts of others when it becomes to difficult to understand
or ask the poster about it. I will correct topic titles to make them searchable.
A post about building a model of the Titanic will be easier to find if the name is spelled Titanic instead of Titnaic …

Tip: Use a digital camera, most phone cameras are good enough, and take photos of your models. Then you study the photos to find mistakes, I promise, we all make mistakes and they
are a LOT easier to find when looking at photos instead of the actual model.
I think it has something to do with how our brains interpret what we see.
The real model will be interpreted as a real object and a photo will be seen as a surface with properties. The connection to the real object, a Sherman tank, will be ignored when checking the photo. The photo also allows zooming in (enlarging) which makes it easier to see details and mistakes.

ScaleSapper · 3 January 2026 16:22

Welcome to the forum, and back to the hobby. The great models you refer to come from much trial, error and practice. For someone returning to the hobby, I strongly recommend linking up with a model club near you so you can benefit from their tribal knowledge. I know of a few in your area if you are interested. Also, the web is loaded with many great resources (Armorama included) where you can ask questions and get written or video answers to the “how to do” learning. Lastly, there are some fine publications that have helped me significantly. Among them are the Weathering Magazine and the “Solutions” book series. Perhaps the best tool for learning how to improve your builds is to join judging teams at local model shows. Serving as a judge is a learning event where you see and hear what makes a model look good. Reach out here and many will be willing to answer your questions and help you develop. Welcome!!!

Tank_1812 · 3 January 2026 16:44

Honestly you probably don’t need any more at this point. As you search this site you will see every modeler has their own style on how they build and what tools they find that fit their own personal style/abilities. As you start to develop yours you will find what tools might be needed to assist you. To sand a barrel, you might be good with just sandpaper or need a flex file or curved scraper. Part of the hobby/art is your own personal journey which can only be achieved by you.

“For personal growth, I need honest and sometimes harsh feedback - otherwise, I can’t improve. Seeing genuine reactions at real-life contests would be the best feedback for me to know whether I’m on the right path. That would be my ultimate goal.”

There is lots of good contests on the East Coast, that said unless your an extrovert and the builder your looking at is around and also an extrovert your probably not going to get the result your looking for.
I would recommend going to a local club like

@ScaleSapper is the point of contact for the club.

Those club along with this community can help you improve more than just attending contests in my opinion.

Grab a kit you have the old Tamiya kits are great for this, build out of box ie no extra aftermarket bits and focus on just basic construction techniques everything with build on that.

Hope that helps.

TopSmith · 3 January 2026 18:10

Ok I see another potential stash builder.

Evidence item A. “I live in fear of not having everything I need”.

Evidence item B. “ I have plenty of room, 100 Sq Meters.”

Evidence item C. There was no SWMBO mentioned in the intro.

I think “Uncle Heavy” may have the largest collection of unbuilt models. ( I think he uses them to insulate the walls of his house, living in Sweden an all.) SSG Tom and some others are also “collectors” of model kits. Me, I choose to define myself as a potentialist, as I have a large number of potential builds I can choose to do at any one time.