is it windy yet?

Mike I went back to the art supply store at lunch today. The needle cap the most extreme exposed piece of the airbrush was only $7.76 CDN. I think the iwata prices are alot lower in canada than the usa. And that badger stuff is cheaper stateside than here. Which isn't really that suprising, import duties into canada on hobby related stuff is quite a bit lower than in the usa, and badger stuff would have no duties on it in the usa. So that would explain our differences on pricing and our divergent views. I checked out your website, I like the leopard you did. I was thinking of having so

Mike Yeah, thats right I played floor hockey with my 150 and stored the Iwata on silk pillow. Do you really think I'd treat two tools that I have radically different? They were treated the same. It doesn't matter because its a comparison. If I was abusive towards my things then both were treated the same and then Iwata still wins because it surrived the abuse without needing parts. Now I'm not in habit of destroying my own property and both brushes are used with the same care and cleaned properly and stored in their box in drawer. As for quoting prices the prices that I reffered to are

That depends on the paints used and the tip/needle combination. What "regular maintenance parts" do Badger's need? Also consider that when you do need a part for that Iwata it will be triple the cost of a Badger part.

I use polly scale mostly. Model master acryl, and gunze are good too, and usally easier to find. I've heard that aeromaster paints are back again. These are very similar to polly scale. Actually model master and polly scale are owned by the same company RPM. They are however different formulations. Ron

The Hp line sprays hobby paints with no difficulty. There are about 4 model clubs members including myself that have them and we rave about them. In addition to my best freind that bought his 2nd hp-c yesterday. The eclipse and revolution are also very good brushes too. I prefer gravity feed to siphon models. In kingston I was looking at lunch today the HPB was only $30 more than the eclipse. The best part about any of these brushes is that they don't need regular maintenance parts like cheaper badger and aztek models Ron

can't help you with a cross reference but the names of the paints you are seeking for a early wildcat would be USN Blue Grey its pre FS number and goes by an ANA number. The underside it USN light grey. I'llcheck at home if no one else helps out before I can to get the specifics. I'm not sure model master makes these colours but polly scale does. Ron

If you put them on to soon I find them more likely to leave residue behind. Ron

I wouldn't call using the Polly Scale produced and packaged thinner an attempt at outsmarting the instructions. Ron

Thats really odd The paint must have frozen enroute, or be really old and dried out. I use polly scale almost all the time. You could try mixing it with its thinner the blue stuff or windex or windsheild washer fluid. Sounds like the first release of model master acrylic, the stuff that turned into a rubber ball in the bottle Ron

I'm an iwata fan. I find the extra money is worth it. Mine have never need any replacment parts over the years that I've had them. MY badger 150's and 200's were always needing replacement needle bearings, seals, washer and tips. The cost of maintenance was greater than then extra money for an iwata. I'd also add get a gravity feed, use less pressure and have more control with less bulk. Although you get accustomed to what you have. Don't get talked into a single action brush to learn with you'll outgrow it in no time. Start with double action and stick with a slightly longer learning

It can be used without the powder, and the powder can be used without the paint. If you're after different looks without the powder use another metalizer on that area. The SnJ is tough as nails you can mask all day long on it. See if you can get some powder from someone else. The ratio of paint to powder that comes in the kit is two kits worth of paint to 56 years worth of powder. I've given out lots to other people in my model club and still have tons left over. See if you can find someone close to share with you. I'm assuming that you're in NZ with a name like kiwi. I'd rather not se

vinegar I would have never though of using that. It makes a good household cleaner. Thanks Ron :lol:

White glue if strengh isn't an issue. If it is then I use watch crystal cement. I got tube at my local hobby shop. Its like tube cement but without fogging. Ron

Warm water with dish washing soap. And a good set of airbrush cleaning brushes. The paint can't be dry. Thats all I've used for years. Ron

All you can do is to try. I use only acrylics, so I don't know if it any different for other paint types. I use very thin paint. 60%-70% thinner and 40%-30% paint. Sometimes even thinner. Another method is to use a paper mask to control the overspray. Take a piece of paper make a few random holes in it. Making the holes in the paper look right I find harder than painting freehand. Just stick with whatever method you choose. I to often get discuraged part way through a project because it doesn't look right until the whole plane is covered. Ron

I wouldn't run out a buy a gravity feed just because they do use less pressure. I would and did replace my badger 150, 200 siphon feeds with Iwata HBC and eclipse when the were due for replacement in their natural life cycle. Ron

build in what ever order makes sense to you. If you think things would be easier to paint fully assembed then do that. I personally paint small parts as I go, and then paint subassemblies, like the engine and landing gear etc. Then add them to the completed kit. Glue. I use tennax myself. The liquid poly you have is fine I'm sure. Super glue gets used to for photo-etch and other detail parts. White glue gets used for canopies and clear parts. Ron

It's rare to have bleeding with tamiya tape. Just make sure you have the edge down, and give it a good rub to seal it. Spray the edge with a clear gloss or dull coat to seal any small leaks if you find it necessary. Ron

Just make sure that the cleaner doesn't end up in areas that you can't repaint later like the cockpit. I find that with oven cleaner when I rinse it off the kit the water and cleaner mix and run into intakes and cockpit and partially strip the away. resulting in me having to break the kit apart to redo the cockpit and other parts Ron

I like to paint the parts first then add them to panel. I find that the attachment points are so small that touching them with the paint brush after knocks them off. I assume that you are talking about painting the back of instrument film and white paint not sticking. Paint doesn't stick to this stuff. My solution is to apply it to the instrument panel first then paint the back afterwards to minimize handling. The paint will just crack and fall off if you handle it too much. Another solution is to use artist oil or arcylic tube paints since they dry very slowly and very thick they cover

I haven't heard that you can use future. It does say for some that gloss acrylic is whats needed. And future does match that description. I'd test it out on a scrap kit first. Ron ;)

Yes you can, but why? I find that once you seal metalizer paint it no longer looks like metal. It just becomes paint. I decal right over top of metalizer, SnJ, and Aclad II. No sealer ever. Trim your decals before hand and if necessary dull coat them before you apply them. I will agree that model master metalizer does benefit from a sealer for handling and masking purposes. But for decaling I just find it unecessary. I will also add that some marking just won't work this way. usally low quality decals or too many and large decals. Ron ;)

Blue tac is my method. But the paper masks are commonly used with great results. Ron

Please post your results. Again you could be onto the next best thing and as usual I forget to think of the obvious. If tamiya sold it on wall at my local hobby shop I'd have 1/2 adozen by now. Ron

If you are concerned about pop out of an internal window. You can use super glue provided you can still have access to both sides while it dries. You can polish the haze off the window if you can get to it. WHich would work just fine for your b-17. Otherwise I use watch setting glue. I got it from a hobby shop in kingston. But I saw the glue at the squadron website. Its super tough. I can't get the canopy off my 1:32 109 to display it open now. It does not craze clear plastic. Its like a thick tube cement so it to has limitations. Ron