Dear friends,

we build AFVs because we love them! This is meant to be a open poll...

Here goes...

a) Which is your favourite step of finishing the kit (building, priming, base color & camouflage, washing, chipping, final flat coat and weathering)?

My personal favourite step is when the flat coat is up, doing all that weathering and "mud"

b) Which is the step you dread most? (building, priming, base color & camouflage, washing, chipping, final flat coat and weathering)?

I simply dreaded pint -washing or wahing in any form- you have to persist for many layers to see the effetct


Of course, some modellers may differ in steps, please feel free to add them in...

Cheers
Music

My favourite part is doing all the streaking and weathering, both of which I am still learning on each model I build.

The part I dislike is washes. Now I am getting better with this after gloss coating my vehicles first, but still.......

Darryl

Favourite step: building.
Most hated step: washings and sometimes drybrushing, but I think I will start giving up using this tecnique...

Favourite: Building

Most hated: base color & camouflage

brakes of railcars!!!!!!!

Hi guys.

if washing is such dreaded chore? is there any easier way to wash or to subsitute it with efficient techjniques?

I use thinned oil paint and turpentine, which looks good when wet- but normally becomes flakey when dries (hence the wash breaks up into pieces of sepia/ black flakes rather than thin dark lines (grime)...

any way out?

Music

I agree with Jan- sometimes 3 tone camou can really get difficult, esp when I need to go thru several times to define the outline of the camou with thinned paint .

My favorite part is the actual upper hull and turret assembly.

My dreaded part is individual track link assy.

My least favourite part is decals. Not because I find them hard to do ... but its a step that can really make or break a model.
Eventhough I use the same steps and have become confident with that, each manufacturer´s decals has their own little quirks like; ... how long to you steep them for ... some seperate immediatly ... some need a longer time in the water ... some should be only dipped and left to the side for a minute ... etc. Some decals are thicker than others, some set better, some have better/more adhesive, some have more carrying film ... theres always an unknown quantity. I usually remove something like the kit name or some other piece that Im not using, and try this first on the bottom just to get an idea of what to expect.

Washes on the other hand, Ive only had problems when using other thinners than Humbrol enamel thinners. The paint/pigment seperated .... as described above. Using Humbrol thinner and Humbrol paints or oils, I never have a problem. Recommend you guys try this to see if theres a difference!!

My least favorite part is right after applying the base coat and or camo, and then spraying it down with future. Just hate to see a tank all shiny like that.
Favorite part though comes when I'm DONE and applying that final flat dusting overcoat over my FINISHED model!

Favorite: Washing, streaking, weathering, etc. Covering up boo-boos while actually enhancing the final look.

Not so favorite - painting rubber-rimmed road wheels. I have tried several methods, and find that, on any given tank, probably 85% of the wheels will look good, 10% will look not so bad, but not good, and one or two very prominent ones will look like one of my cats did it by holding the brush in her teeth...maybe the missing row of roadwheels on the much maligned Tamiya Panther A is not such a bad thing after all

Least favorite - Adding decals. If there are three markings to be added, I can almost always count on the second one going on a little crooked, and after racing to get the third one in place (not), the second one will resist all efforts to straighten, adjust, or cleanly remove it.

Guess that's why I like doing KV's - steel road wheels, minimal markings, got driven in lots of mud and dust

Favourite: Building

Most hated: Washes and weathering, it's a make or brake thing for me


redleg

hey,
most enjoyment would be the painting.followed by the build itself.

least favorite clearly the decals!,even after going threw all the steps,shooting it with clear gloss,ethier the decals don't react to the setting solutions,or fall off after they've dried,and even when you think everythings going to work out,you finish off with the clear flat coat,and that dries,the clear film around the smaller decals or writing(slogans) is visable,good thing we have the options of loading up a vehicle with branches,tarps,ropes/chains,sandbags,fuel cans,ive used some dry transfers thier good as long as its a flat surface,but problems occur with rivets, bolts,hatches.etc;

Joe

Decals
I've just spent THREE hours putting the decals on a Tamiya Centaur turret

Favourite parts are always building the kit and doing the base coat, camouflage and transfers.

I usually get bored during the weathering process as a whole (chipping, washing, drybrushing, pigments etc.) so these would be my least favourite

James

I really enjoy building up through basecoating and camo . I tend to bog down when it comes to decaling and washes only because of mentally being afraid of messing up the build.

I find weathering difficult because I'm still learning the techniques and I'm not quite sure I've got the eye for appropriate wear & tear. But, practice makes perfect.

I do have to say that putting that final flat coat on really puts the icing on the proverbial cake!

- Frank

Favorite: The building

Least: Probably the weathering/painting, which is such a many-step process for me that it becomes something of a chore.

Oh, one other thing....someone else mentioned how he hates how the kit looks after shooting the future on it....I kind of like that look! Makes it look like an indoor museum piece! But then I do like how you can take that and weather and dull it back down just like a real one. It's just such a process that I prefer the building of the kit.

Rob

Favorite: The build. I enjoy seeing the form come together from so many bits and pieces.

Dreaded: Weathering. Because I'm not any good at it. I can build a really good factory showroom tank, but I need lots of work to make it look like it's been outside for a day or two... I guess that means need to keep getting more kits so I can continue to practice and refine my skills...

Favourite part: building.
Most dreaded part: detail painting and filtering.

Favorite, the build, with the exception of road wheels. I seem to recall that Admiral Nelson once said something like when he died "lack of frigates" would be found cut into his heart. I think with me it will be "Road Wheels!"

Can you guess what is my least favorite? I hate cutting them off the sprue, sanding them, painting them, and installing them. They are one main reason I've never attempted a Churchill, WAY too many road wheels.

Mine has got to be when i have already applied the flat coat and is just dry brushing the corners to give it a really nice weathered look. To me thats when the kit really starts to shine!




Painting the wheels for the tanks. Im sure this sentiment is shared by many.

Favorite: The finishing, and knowing when to stop. (as I personally prefer lightly weathered models, unless I'm actually following or trying to reproduce a photo in 3D.) Also I'll list as a favorite is adding the little details to a basic kit.

Least Favorite: The prep work, filling sink holes, knockout pins, flash etc.

I have to say that I really enjoy the entire process from deciding what subject to build, the researching and learning of the subject, the build itself and trying to incorporate the various research elements into the subject. But I especially enjoy taking what I’ve constructed and turning those raw bits and pieces into a meaningful representation of a machine from the past and hopefully a meaningful piece of three dimensional artwork .

The best compliments are those that come from folks that know nothing of WW II tanks or model building, but if they see one of my tanks will stop and ask if that thing is really made from metal.

The exception to that happy place, road wheels!

Rick

I have to say that my level of enjoyment depends on the amount of progress in relation to time spent.
My favourite part will be using my silver colour pencil to create bare metal spots on the afv or plane.
My most disliked part is decals! There is so much waiting time! Presently struggling with brittle decals on my D520.

Like: Building

hate: indy links that come on sprues (cutting and cleaning over 200 of the same pieces is not exactly what I call big fun :-) )