| Many years ago Sterling had a wooden kit of | | | | dry between coats. Sometimes that might take |
| the USS Missouri in a fairly large scale. | | | | a day or two. A trick that a friend uses for |
| Unfortunately Estes bought the assets of | | | | his funny car models is to use finger nail |
| Sterling and the Missouri is not currently | | | | polish as it dries very smooth. |
| available. I hate to think what one might run | | | | |
| on EBay. About the only option today would be | | | | I have managed to get fairly smooth finishes |
| a plastic model and about the biggest is 1 | | | | by polishing the surface prior to my first |
| 350th. Tamiya has a good kit, but if you want | | | | coat and building up the paint in light |
| wood you will pretty much be out of luck. | | | | layers. I also sometimes use flat paints and |
| | | | a final gloss coat that usually results in a |
| While I have seen some hand painted models it | | | | smooth finish. There really is not a science |
| is a skill I have never been able to develop. | | | | to good paint finish; it is more of an art |
| Most really bang up jobs are done with | | | | that each person develops on their own. |
| airbrush. For that I would recommend a | | | | |
| Paasche model "H". It is good, durable | | | | I am not sure what scale architectural models |
| airbrush that is packaged with three | | | | are build to, but 1:200 does not equate to |
| different tips. It is cheaper than an Iwata, | | | | inches very well. 1/48th works out to 1 |
| though some Hobby Lobby stores carry both and | | | | 4-inch equals 1 foot, and 1/72 equal 1/6 to |
| you can usually score one during Hobby | | | | one foot. The scale should be divisible by 12 |
| Lobby's 40% of sales. | | | | (i.e. 1/144th scale would be 144 divided by |
| | | | 12 which gives 1/12 of an inch equals one |
| Acrylic paints are something that I have not | | | | foot). You could always go with 1/192 (1/16 |
| gotten into and do not know much about. The | | | | of an inch equals one foot), which is a |
| advantage is that you do not have to use | | | | popular scale for ship models. Another choice |
| special thinners. Some modelers use Windex to | | | | would be use metric where 1/200th would work |
| thin. My experience is mainly with enamels. I | | | | fine. |
| have a friend that uses finger nail polish | | | | |
| thinned with lacquer thinner on his cars, as | | | | As far as materials you have a good choice. |
| he likes the range of colors and fine grain | | | | There is always the old standby: balsa wood. |
| of the metallic/metal flake ones. | | | | Balsa is light and easy to cut. A better |
| | | | choice might be plastics, in which case I |
| You do not have to have a compressor, some | | | | would recommend using plastic from Evergreen |
| people prefer to use a CO2 bottle, but that | | | | Scale Models. That company produces a wide |
| seems somewhat expensive. Some of the | | | | variety of shapes (sheet plastic, I beams, |
| discount tool companies (like Harbor Freight) | | | | corrugated, etc.). Plastic also produces |
| stock inexpensive compressors. Probably the | | | | plastic in many construction type shapes. |
| most import thing to a good finish is good | | | | |
| surface preparation. In other words a good | | | | Three possibilities come to mind. One is the |
| clean. Smooth surface. As I have gotten older | | | | old standby balsa wood. Balsa is fairly cheap |
| I have developed a tendency to prime the | | | | and easy to work with. Several glues can be |
| surface and after that dries well to sand it | | | | used with balsa: Elmer's, wood glue, super |
| with very fine grit paper. Try 3200, 2500, in | | | | glue and even an adhesive that is used it |
| that range. | | | | wooden model construction. Balsa can be cut |
| | | | with an Exacta knife, or razor blade using a |
| Afterwards I wash it and allow it to dry | | | | straight edge for straight lines. Sheet |
| thoroughly. Thinning the paint is an art, not | | | | plastic is the second material. |
| a science. That is something you just have to | | | | |
| experiment with. | | | | Super glues, or solvent type glues work |
| | | | fairly well and plastic is very easy to cut |
| The best (smoothest) finish should be | | | | in straight lines, you need only score it |
| obtained by applying a good color coat first. | | | | with the blade and then snap it along the |
| After that has dried well you can polish out | | | | line. The third possibility is solid foam |
| any irregularities with fine grit sand paper | | | | like that used in insulation. The first two |
| (2000, 3200, something of that order.). If | | | | are available at any hobby shop and the foam |
| additional coats are needed you can apply | | | | is available at a hardware store. There are |
| them lightly afterwards. I would wait for | | | | always the old standbys paper and cardboard, |
| clear coat until the finish is blemish free. | | | | but they do not offer any more ease in |
| If you are using gloss paint for the color | | | | construction and will not have the strength |
| coats make sure that the coats are thoroughly | | | | of the other three I mentioned. |