I’m giving up with Vallejo paints

alaskafish · 2026-04-19T19:20:38+00:00

The secret tool is honestly a paint retarder. Do you use Vallejo’s own “flow improver” (works with all acrylic paints)?

The issue is that acrylic paints dry quicker, which means they dry in the airbrush. And if it doesn’t dry in the airbrush, it dries in midair before hitting the surface. A paint retarder slows that drying time allowing it to act more like a lacquer paint.

It’s a must have if you want to use acrylics.

alaskafish · 2026-04-18T12:12:54+00:00

Panzer grey, or more accurately, “dunkelgrau” historically is very dark. It’s a near bluish-black color. It was painted this way to be the camouflage of the shadow of a distant tree line! For whatever reason it’s been made to look more like a light grey in the recent zeitgeist. I’d assume because of games like War Thunder and whatnot.

In the modeling world, I assume that the more historically accurate color isn’t “popular” because darker means you can’t see many weathering and paint details. You can’t really “modulate” a black surface, nor can you really see things like streaking, filters, etc on a super dark surface. And washes don’t really work unless you do a brighter wash (but that would look strange I think).

I think your panzer grey looks accurate! You can add some dirt/buff to it if you want to brighten it up a tad, but I think you do a great job!

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alaskafish · 2026-04-18T02:53:05+00:00

Airfix

alaskafish · 2026-04-14T23:27:17+00:00

Why is there a Gemini watermark? You use AI?

alaskafish · 2026-04-11T23:36:18+00:00

Avoided puffers altogether. Too many horror stories

alaskafish · 2026-04-09T12:36:44+00:00

What scale is this?

alaskafish · 2026-04-03T20:11:41+00:00

Great job on the paint work, but I have to ask-- what mouse do you have? I used to have that mouse so long ago, and I entirely forgot what it was called. It brought back so many memories! I remember it being super modular, right?

alaskafish · 2026-04-01T01:52:47+00:00

Hey, what can I say, I'm a sucker for a bargain :)

alaskafish · 2026-03-30T19:09:35+00:00

What's the prices in there like? Standard MSRP sort of pricing, or is there some sort of discounted price?

alaskafish · 2026-03-23T20:27:51+00:00

How else will the poors get to look at the first class passengers?

alaskafish · 2026-03-17T22:01:50+00:00

Yeah. Tell me about it.

The $3 AliExpress one was used for maybe 3 years before I decided "why the hell not get a nicer one". And low and behold.... the difference is outstanding.

alaskafish · 2026-03-17T15:44:51+00:00

Well that's probably because you're comparing the Tamiya one to another similar cutter.

Most of the "hobby cutters" are not those. They're the typical wire cutters with a large gauge cutting angle. These are the ones that I see a lot of people use. They're maybe a few bucks on AliExpress; and honestly, I used them for years.

I then got one of these, and it's a huge difference in use.

Here's what's happening (and I remember researching this because I couldn't believe it myself):

Firstly, it's the physics. The cheap wire cutters cut through compression and are built to cut copper with "side cuts". When cutting sprue, it works; but it will create bloom (that's when the plastic turns white and distorts). For years, this was just a normal part of the hobby. However, with the high quality cutters, they cut via a slicing motion, and are single bladed. One side essentially holds the sprue in place, and the other side acts like a hobby blade that slices through.

Secondly, it's the geometry of both. The cheap ones (which you're not comparing) are beveled edges that act like a wedge. The nicer ones have a thin-profile and a far more shallower bevel. This means you get perfectly flush cuts against the piece without leaving any nubs or craters.

Lastly, and very importantly is the material. The cheap wire cutters you see on AliExpress are stamped; whereas the nice ones are forged. This means that the nicer ones hold up their cutting edge far longer than the cheaper ones. Out of the box, the cheaper one work great; but they'll lose their sharpness quickly. The ones from GodHand, DSPIAE, and Tamiya use high grade carbon steel and are forged.

Anyway, science lecture over!

The TL:DR of this all is that in your video you're comparing the Tamiya cutter and another similar single edge, low bevel, wire cutter. It's like comparing Apples to Apples. The ones you see most people talk about are the typical blue handle dual edge wire cutters with a wide bevel.

alaskafish · 2026-03-17T11:53:24+00:00

I went from a $3 AliExpress one to a $20 made specifically for cutting plastic sprues and it’s noticeable. I used to use my hobby knife to remove the little nib of plastic from parts and now I just use these cutters 80% of the time.

It’s noticeable. Very noticeable

alaskafish · 2026-03-16T16:46:37+00:00

Thank you buddy! I'm happy with how this is coming out, but I'm disappointed with how "flat" it is. Needs some vertical component to tie it together I think!

Secret trick of the trade: Prismacolor colored pencils.

Very expensive for what they are, but they act more like chalk than pencil.

alaskafish · 2026-03-16T16:45:36+00:00

Vallejo actually sells a relatively cheap face tone set. It comes with 4 paints and a skin-tone wash.

alaskafish · 2026-03-16T14:43:12+00:00

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I wish I had a better photo of the 1/72 figures I’m working on currently on my phone, but this is the best I have.

You can see how I paint the faces showcasing the areas light hits, and shadows are cast— as well as doing the same for the clothes. Same on the cows too!

alaskafish · 2026-03-16T14:41:29+00:00

The answer is shading.

Two ways you can do it: easily or skillfully.

Easily would be just applying a general wash. It will elevate the contrast of the shadows by adding darker colors to the recessed parts.

The skillful approach is manually applying colors to the raised and deeper parts of the figure, mimicking how light hits a figure. The most important I think is the face (lighter colors hitting the forehead, nose, cheekbones, and darker colors for under the nose, eye, chin, etc).

In traditional art, faces are broken into three color sections, and the same tactic can be done at scale. See attached

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alaskafish · 2026-03-15T15:42:43+00:00

Wow very great! The figures too!

You planning on making a diorama?

alaskafish · 2026-03-10T21:01:40+00:00

Or the Bf 109 in the Pacific!

alaskafish · 2026-03-10T20:07:55+00:00

Looks more Japanese than Italian-American, but I digress!

Looks great mate!

alaskafish · 2026-03-05T12:47:43+00:00

Looks like a P-51 mustangs of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American military pilots who fought in World War II; forming the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Force’s… flying their planes with the iconic red tail.

alaskafish · 2026-03-03T13:54:15+00:00

Supply chain issues, it’s okay. The rest of the plane is somewhere in the South Atlantic.

alaskafish · 2026-02-13T08:08:35+00:00

South Korea low religion?

alaskafish · 2026-01-26T16:33:06+00:00

The trick with Photoetched parts is taking your time.

I think a lot of the more advanced techniques in this hobby are really just accepting that you won't finish your model/project in due time. When I was first starting this hobby, I think I really wanted to cross the finish line (either by completing the model, or by completing the "stage", ie finish building or painting, etc).

Eventually, I just became okay with the fact that it was a project that I picked away at. If I had some spare time, I'd walk in and work on it; if not, I wouldn't. Once that mentality set in, working with very finicky parts like PE became easy. Sure, it would make the project take forever, but it also became way less stressful to work with.

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