All due respect, but those are extremely basic paint jobs. For more sophisticated work, an airbrush is indeed an awfully good tool. If you don’t like them, fine, to each his own. But the airbrush is a mighty tool.
Sounds far fetched to me. The soviets were very focused on volume of production, and hand-painting every tank would take forever, slowing production.
I don’t disagree with you Dan; for the really top of the line, most sophisticated German camo paint jobs an airbrush is absolutely necessary.
My point however is that there is an awful lot of basic, more simple paint work that ends up delegated to the airbrush when a good quality spray can would “get 'er done” and do the job quicker, with less hassle (clean-up) AND cheaper.
And as also stated; your viewpoint tends to mislead new comers that they have to spend $100 to $600 on the tool before they can hope to produce something satisfying (or award winning) and that is honestly NOT the case here!
You are lauding the almighty airbrush by referencing those complex examples that only represent the top 20% of the model work and I am referring to the other 80% of what needs doing on the model workbench!
And on a related note: if you (or I, for instance) are modeling mostly WWII US vehicles and doing your (my) weathering primarily with pigments then even owning an airbrush (IMHO) is more or less a waste of money!
I simply take a different path than you do. As you say “to each his/her own.”
Shucks & I came back here for a good fight but all I see is general agreement. My own opinion based on experience is (a) airbrushes are awesome & well worth practicing with to get perfect finishes (b) if they don’t sell the colour you want in a rattle-can, they’re mandatory (c) airbrushes are an expensive pain in the ass, give me a rattle-can any day if it’s the right colour (d) for ANY used military vehicle with some level of weathering, all I’ve ever used is a good $10 soft sable brush to apply my own mixes of base coats AND camouflage, in a series of dilute layers to avoid any brush-strokes showing.
Practice makes (im)perfect, unless the model has just come out the factory why on earth would you want a perfect (sprayed) finish anyway? I don’t want to photo-bomb this thread again (see my 223 near the top of this thread as an example) but I will if anyone dares disagree! Hah just kidding guys, one thing we must surely all agree about is what both Mike & Dan have said - each to their own.
(PS Nightgaunt – about the position of that box on the rear port-side fender, the box-art tells you it’s parallel to the body – I’ve never seen a ref photo showing it skewed) 
The box doesn’t fit in that position, a very large portion of it would hang on thin air. I saw other modelers putting it like that so it must be a common issue with the Tamiya kit.
Anyway, I’d rather have a little “un-historicity” than “historical ugly” 
By the way, I was wondering about the length of thread wire provided with the kit.
It has two plastic hoops (which I have no clue on how to glue on the thread wire) and it seems to be placed on the front bumper hooks.
Any idea on the placement? Also, is that supposed to be rope or metal wire?
You don’t have to spend a fortune on an airbrush anyway. Model shops and Hobbycraft carry cheap airbrushes that work off canisters. These are fine for single colour schemes or can give good results on multi colour schemes with masking. In fact, I’d recommend playing with one of these before embarking on the major outlay of a good airbrush and compressor. You can even use them for “dusting” effects when weathering with care. The major drawback of these cheap brushes is that you can’t do German WW2 three colour freehand, which is why I went to something better 30 years ago.
1 Like
I haven’t misled anyone., and I’d appreciate it if you’d acknowledge that. What I said, exactly no more and no less, is that an airbrush is a great tool. To each his own, but I think it’s illogical to use really basic paint jobs as proof that an airbrush is somehow a waste of time and money. It’s a bit like saying bicycles exist, therefore cars are a waste.
I also don’t know where you get those clearly made-up percentages. I do a lot of monochrome models and airbrush all of them…because nothing is really monochrome.
It all depends on what you’re trying to do. if not airbrushing is your personal preference, that’s totally fine. No one is in a position to criticize that. No one else’s opinion about your models matters one bit. As you said, you take a different path.
But let’s not pretend that anyone’s personal preference is the same thing as saying a tool is useful or not. I like painting figures in oils, for example, and I don’t really want to paint them in acrylics. But that’s simply my preference. I would never try to claim that acrylics are wasteful or unnecessary just because I don’t use them.
I’ll continue to tout the mighty airbrush.
1 Like
No probs… on your work which looks great…
But… I like the airbrush… for me it’s easier…saves time and I am betting it pays for itself in paint economy…
1 Like
What you’re describing sounds like the tow cable. It would have been made of steel. I use super glue to attach the eyes on the ends. Sometimes a drop on the end to hold it from unraveling then jam it in place with whatever small pointy tool you prefer, and secure with a drop or two of super glue.
Dan
Not saying you personally have mislead anyone or misrepresented anything. So I am certainly not trying to offend you on that score.
I am just saying that the almighty airbrush in IMHO is way over rated, and not actually required for doing a great percentage of the mundane, straight out model paint jobs.
I will take my 10 second color change and my 5 second clean-up over what I see as the hassles of dealing with the airbrush for MUCH of the model work.
Yes, but its an expensive way of doing it in the long run, plus finding a supplier for the cannisters can be difficult sometimes. I started out doing this and very soon worked out that within 18 months, what i’d spent on cannisters would have bought a decent compressor.
I had a mate who used an alternative method. He worked in a large shed and actually had an old tractor wheel, which when fully inflated gave him literally hours of consistently pressurised air. The big down side (now I think about it) must have been that there was no way of seperating out any moisture from the air.
No, it really isn’t.
Providing i’m using the same medium, I can go between colours and clean ups in not much longer actually. The airbrush itself needs a strip-down maybe once or twice a month. Hardly a chore.
1 Like
Alternate view point - mine and yours.
My airbrush experiences are grossly different than yours. Color changes were a pain. I was wasting a lot of paint and thinner and i would experience the need for a complete tear down probably once or twice an evening.
I admit this was all well before acrylics became so popular/necessary.
My only mission here is to say “it ain’t the only way to skin the cat” and that newcomers can achieve satisfying results even before taking the plunge into what is usually an expensive brush and compressor.
Yeah, i get that, but I think one must admit that to declare that “the almighty airbrush in IMHO is way over rated” is disengenuous at best.
I still use a good old fashioned brush for fine work, but for consistency of coverage, and colour modulation, its very difficult to better the results obtained with (even a cheap) airbrush.
2 Likes
Yes! That is their other big drawback! But when I had one the steady drip of the canisters was easier on the pocket money than the big expense of a compressor. We are talking 40+ years ago… I tried the tyre method on the spare from my Dad’s car - he wasn’t impressed, nor was I, I had to pump it up again!
1 Like
I used to sit the cans in a tray of hot water to try and keep the pressure up longer.
Back to the cable, I decided to make it dark iron and glued the plastic hoops with super-glue.
Now, where to place it?
I saw most people sets them around the hooks on the front, but I also saw someone looping it around the gas cans rack to hold them in place and it looked cool.
Not sure what the situation is like in Europe but hobby distributors in Canada are running very low on propellant, especially Testor Aztek. My guess is that most major retailers will delete them from inventory entirely by 2023.
1 Like
Blimey, that’s a bit harsh…
Hopefully I’ll be able to post the final model after this weekend.
This little thing has been my most time consuming model so far…
1 Like