i am extremely new to modeling, and i was wondering if there where any websites or videos where they show the basics of putting models together and painting them but its mostly putting tanks together, which im soo stumped on.. I am an artist and history buff and always loved looking at models ...now i would love to built them from start to finish. so any websites or videos or pdfs that would help me start out, would be great. i tried looking on youtube and google for the basics of modeling but all i get are really nice examples of tank models already together and people painting them or putting washes on them....thats not really helping ...anyway someone help me !!

thanks

This forum is pretty good for finding build logs (you'll see them with a little "*" in a yellow box in the title). Another popular modeling magazine that begins with "FSM" has some downloadable articles in PDF format. They run around $2.00 per article and are decent, especially ones like "Back to the Basics" etc.

As far as kits, most here would suggest beginning with any of Tamiya's kits. They are well engineered, the instructions are most often very clearly laid out and the quality of the parts are usually very good. They might not necessarily be the most accurate for the rivet counters, but I for one enjoy building them on occasion.

Other than that, I'd suggest looking through either AMPS or IPMS to see if there is a local model chapter or club near you.

Matt

Hi John,
Well I hope you enjoy building your first one, if you look for a couple of books by shep Paine they should help with what I believe you are after they are about 30yrs old but ALL the basics & then some are covered & he is renowned as one of the first great master modelers, their is also a mid 90's book by tony Greenland called panzer master modeling class as well, from memory the shep Paine books are how to build diorama also covers basic kit building & armour conversions. Hope this helps & good luck

mike

thanks guys !!!

John, the first advice is follow some builds on the constructive feedback tab and on the Campaigns.
feel free to ask questions as you build along.

Some blogs:
http://panzerserra.blogspot.com/

http://www.pirespreto.com/

feel free to ask questions and post some pics about what you are planning to build

thanks for that post ..........im learning you have to start somewhere and crawl before you can walk

A great book with lots of illustrative pictures is "Modeling realistic tanks and artillery: an illustrated guide" by Mike Ashey and published by Kalmbach --- it's quite available at hobby/model stores.

I'd strongly urge you to check out Flory Models based in the UK (formerly ProModeller)http://www.florymodels.co.uk/. There's enough free content for you to get the idea. To access the entire site you must pay $5/month. The highlight of the board are the video builds: about 30 now and a new one every month. They're about three hours a shot and you watch Phil Flory (owner of the site and professional modeler) assemble kits. They're mostly aircraft but he has done two tanks. There are also excellent photo-builds that are rarely equaled at the bigger FineScale site. There are also a series of long "basics" tutorials both video and photo. Do note that you can buy DVDs on armor building made by MIG (Adam Wilder) and AK Interactive (Mig Jimenez) - they're $20 apiece and last an hour. (I like them a lot but they're not free.) Flory has far more video data available. I don't think any photo build can touch a video for basic instruction. Check it out for yourself. As noted there's some sample stuff available for free. If you decide to join, you can quit at any time. The board, although tilted toward aviation, is very good. It's about half Brit and you'll find the Euros take their modeling seriously.

Welcome to the looney bin.
Eric

I would just study all the build threads and see what can be picked up. Usually the instructions are the way to go, but every modeler eventually finds his own groove on the way it works best for him (or her) to build.

I have been building at least something all my adult life and still feel I am learning new things all the time.

HTH









~ Jeff

Hi John,

As already suggested, get a copy of this book:

Shepard Paine::Modeling Tanks and Military Vehicles

It's been out of print for a long time, so but it's a great book (combined, those two things account for why it's still pretty expensive). However, all of the basic skills that can be learned from reading are covered in it.

I know I owe Shep Paine a great debt for his earlier Monogran series "Tips on Building Dioramas." He was the guy who showed me that model-building could be more than just "sticking the parts together." His book is an expansion and extension of these pamplets that were included with the Monogram kits in the early '70's. You can't do any better than starting off with him as your guide.

After you've absorbed what he has to say in his book, then the overwhelming majority of what you'll learn is "experential." That is, you just need to start building and learning from your own mistakes and successes. Don't get side-tracked by all of the great models that you can find on-line. These are good for motivation and to show you what's possible, but don't expect that your own work will match those results any time soon.

Start with a couple of the older Tamiya kits - no PE, no turned metal gun barrels, no link-to-link track. Just well engineered plastic parts and clear instructions. Don't worry about painting except maybe to get a single color coat with some basic washes and dry-brushing. (Covered in Paine's book.)

Your learning curve can only be as steep as your abilities develope, but a common mistake is to try to run before you can crawl. This leads to disatifaction with your own work and often to quiting the hobby before you get a good start. I've seen it before.

Guys get all motivated and excited and want to start modeling after looking at some beautiful models on-line. They then go out and buy the latest cool German armor kit from DML, and then eventually throw the whole mess in the trash because they haven't mastered the basic, fundamental construction skills. In short, they simply can't build the kit because it's too complicated, the instructions assume a certain high degree of experience, and these neophyites lack the basic skills to fit and glue the parts together.

Learn how to clean up the parts. Learn how to dry-fit. Learn how to read the instructions. Learn how to glue. Learn about the importance of part alignment. Learn how to fill seams and use putty. Learn how to get a smooth even single color paint coat on a model. Learn how to paint detail parts with clean and sharp demarcations between the diffent colors. Learn how to apply decals. Learn how to paint and fit single-piece vinyl tracks.

Then worry about PE, link-to-link, tracks, pigments, color modulation, airbrushing, etc, etc, etc.

In short, learn exactly what you were asking about in your OP - learn "the basics of modeling" first.

So, while waiting for Amazon to deliver that book, get a good early Tamiya kit, a No. 1 X-acto knife and some spare No. 11 blades, a pair of toe-nail clippers to cut parts from the sprue, and some liquid plastic cement. Spread out some newspaper, and just follow the instructions. Trim off the part attachment nubs and any gross "flash" or excessive parting lines (the obvious lines around the edges of all parts where they come out of the molds) and just have some fun.

Build a few kits from start to finish and learn how the things generally go together. Expect to make some mistakes, but if you start with well engineered all plastic kits with good instructions, you should be able to finish them learning what you need to do to make the parts fit well.

Spend at least as much money on tools as you do kits until you advance past the basics. Good knives, spare blades, nice tweezers, good lighting, a sprue cutter, sanding sticks, needle files, and some magnifying glasses (if your eyes need the help) are more important than the latest expensive kit.

An airbrush is more important than the latest expensive kit, but only after you've learned to use rattle cans and brush paint.

At any rate, the best $30 you'll spend as you get started is on a copy of Paine's book.

The advice about joining a local IPMS or AMPS club is also very, very good! There's no on-line substitute for someone else showing and explaning how to do something in person...

Good luck and welcome to the world of plastic, glue and paint!

great advice and tips here. covering all forums has helped me greatly, and the guys and gals here are awesome with sharing knowledge and tips. welcome to the jungle!

reb

Ditto....it is an excellent book, great for beginners and novice builders, lots of great tips and advice.

thanks again everyone ....i had no idea that the forums would be this friendly

Were not all nice. Everybody here has an eyepatch and an axe to grind.

Ok, so here are some videos that helped me. Also, the build logs here are usually pretty detailed so have at it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfCLuzy0c0