A few years ago, I found a screaming deal on a gently used Iwata CM-B Custom Micron. Did I need it? Not really. But I’d been hearing Custom Microns talked about in reverent tones and was curious if the hype was real. Was it ever. I’m something of an airbrush whore, so I’ve sprayed a…
Category: Painting & Airbrushing
Airbrushing – Cleaning the Damn Thing
After my deep dive on airbrushing, I’ve received several requests asking for me to discuss my cleaning process. I get it. Cleaning sucks and it seems like it’s probably one of the top three stories people throw out about why they don’t like airbrushing. So what the hell. Let’s talk about cleaning. First, a story…
Airbrushing – A Deep Dive
UPDATED – AUGUST 2018 This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a long time. After all, airbrushing is probably my favorite single aspect of modeling. And, with all the airbrushing talk that’s been swirling about the interwebs lately, it seems like the time is right. So what is this? It’s a deep…
Test Drive: Mr. Paint
Recently, I was testing out a few new metallics, trying to sort out what exactly I want to use on the F-104. In that test, I came away rather impressed with Mr. Paint’s Super Fine Silver. This little revelation stirred conversation about the brand itself, how it paints etc…especially since many people have never heard…
Painting Tamiya’s 1/32 F4U-1 Corsair
With each new build, I try to push myself outside of my comfort zone (RELATED: Where the Magic Happens) in at least one area. Test a technique. Try a new paint. Experiment a little. But every so often, a build comes along that’s more than that. That kicks me into an entirely new level of…
Tonal Crush
I’ve touched on the idea of tonal crush in a few posts here and there, but it occurs to me that I’ve never stopped to fully explain the concept – or its implications for modeling. Time to fix that! A Brief Explanation Tonal crush is, at its most basic, the apparent loss of tonal variation…
Technique: Black Basing
UPDATE: I’d recommend checking out the Black Basing video: I’ve never been a big fan of the standard pre-shading, where you trace panel lines in black and then try your damnedest to cover the gray primered areas without completely blowing away all that fine airbrush work that went into the preshade lines. It’s a very…
How To: Give Your Cockpits More Depth
Over my past several builds, I’ve become increasingly disenchanted with my cockpits. Despite the usual weathering, they’ve all appeared too…clean. So, with my current set of builds, I’ve determined to see if I can’t add some depth and variation from the get-go. There’s still a lot more I can do to add visual interest…
How to Mask Fuselage Bands
Masking is an inseparable part of modeling – particularly when aircraft are involved. Canopy glass, wing stripes, camoflage…it seems like even on aircraft that are just one color, there’s always something that needs masking. And one of the more frustrating masking jobs – at least for me – is fuselage bands. Wing stripes are a…
Doogs Models 