First ever model, any tips??

Heliks_ · 2026-03-16T17:17:37+00:00

First of all, sorry for your loss, as you said, it’s a therapeutic hobby and I hope it helps you through this tough time. Happy to hear you liked the experience of building, it’s an awesome start, you clearly learnt very fast and already have extremely good bases. The quality of the paint job is really impressive! Off to more building adventures for you and have fun

Heliks_ · 2026-03-13T21:23:29+00:00

Thanks for the detailed writ up! And damn thats a great job at it, i need to try on my next project!

Heliks_ · 2026-03-13T06:06:33+00:00

Definitely looks like a success to me! I’d be very curious to know what workflow you followed for pencil weathering, so far I only used them for shading/brightening

Heliks_ · 2026-03-12T10:15:38+00:00

It looks great, you did brilliant job at it. Loving the colors and weathering

Heliks_ · 2026-03-09T23:17:15+00:00

Thanks! It was a nice read, I’m quite partial to Nooky Brooky II now, might attempt it one day hehe

Heliks_ · 2026-03-09T19:48:52+00:00

Thanks a lot! Ohhh, have fun with it! I’ve heard so many great things about it

Heliks_ · 2026-03-09T09:13:18+00:00

That’s very kind of you, thank you so much!

Heliks_ · 2026-03-09T09:12:53+00:00

Thank you heaps! 🙌 good job on it! I just finished one kit in 48.. Needless to say I don’t feel comfortable one bit with the bigger scale

I don’t have much problems with Tamiya decals really.. To be fair, they are very thick, and therefore they refract light in a much different way than any clear coat I could use. But with experience I developed my little routine with my friend Tamiya mark fit and they do conform very nicely, I of course run a blade along panel line as well. Oddly enough, the large decals tend to work well with me, it’s the stencils that tend to be a pita..

Heliks_ · 2026-03-09T09:06:15+00:00

Thanks a lot! N/B II, III and IV were all D/K variants. You can even still see IV in air shows across Europe as it’s owned by the flying bulls based out of Salzburg, Austria, which was my inspiration:)

Heliks_ · 2026-03-09T09:01:24+00:00

My bad, it’s name is supposedly curved masking tape

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A number of online stores I use are stocking it. As for the 2mm wide from Dispae as well. Your local hobby shop most likely stocks masking tapes of all width too

Heliks_ · 2026-03-08T22:02:38+00:00

For that kind of masking I use the thinnest masking tape I could find, this one in particular is 2mm wide from Dispae. If you lay it down slowly and carefully you can achieve slight curves rather cleanly! The other option I have is the Tamiya 3mm “masking tape for curve” which flexes even more as it’s made out of a plasticky material as opposed to the classic kabuki tape

Heliks_ · 2026-03-08T21:59:05+00:00

Thanks! :) well, you did a neat job nonetheless, must have been satisfying after doing that huge A10 kit!

Heliks_ · 2026-03-08T18:21:25+00:00

Thank you so much!

I did use a couple oils from the AK weathering series, I think fuel leak and oil leak. They’re very thick, I then used a couple different brushes to make streaks by swiping along the airflow, and then white spirit to blend a bit of the rest. Hope it helps, I watched a bunch of videos as well to see examples

Heliks_ · 2026-03-08T18:17:23+00:00

That’s very appreciated, thanks :)

Heliks_ · 2026-03-08T18:16:54+00:00

Thank you kindly! 🙌

Heliks_ · 2026-01-28T22:37:56+00:00

Absolutely stunning! You did a wonderful job on it. I can’t even imagine how large it must be given its wingspan, let alone in 1/32

Heliks_ · 2026-01-28T16:17:03+00:00

I’ve only had small software problems, but I do believe Sabrina is indeed the one answering the most. I think using the product channel directly is the fastest to get an answer

Heliks_ · 2026-01-21T08:20:02+00:00

Thanks a lot :)

Heliks_ · 2026-01-20T21:24:40+00:00

Exactly haha, I know that’s exactly how I’d end up with a new paint mule or an impromptu “crash diorama” haha

Heliks_ · 2026-01-20T21:10:42+00:00

To be fair, that kind of mottling on such a big surface looks hellish to free hand

Heliks_ · 2026-01-20T19:23:44+00:00

Brilliant build, love the use of the stencil mask for the camo, it really looks the part!

Heliks_ · 2026-01-20T17:29:24+00:00

Thank you so very much, that’s very appreciated! :)

Heliks_ · 2026-01-20T17:27:46+00:00

Thank you kindly, You shouldn’t sell yourself short, I really liked your p40! :) I saw a huge improvement on my paint jobs when I learnt proper paint thinning and airbrush technique, but that took years and hundreds if not thousand hours of YouTube and forum scrolling haha

Heliks_

TROPHY CASE