Geoff Mazeroff

Bobby Waldron put together a phenomenal set of 26 videos (over 13 hours) of a 1/48-scale Hobby Boss F-14D Tomcat. I picked up so many tips from this set, I decided to make a table of contents. (I know I’ll need it, and I’m sure others will find it helpful.)

• Read the instructions to understand options and gotchas.
• Look at the pieces for mold lines, defects, and things you’ll have to clean up later.
• Use a hobby knife to cleanup pieces after snipping them from the sprue.
• Sand pieces after cleaning them up after trimming.
• Trim photoetch pieces using small, sharp scissors.
• Use cyanoacrylate (CA) glue (Super Glue, Zap a Gap) for photoetch gluing (instead of a clear liquid plastic cement, which has less adhesion); put it on masking tape (as a palette) then use a toothpick for application.
• Glue assembled pieces with Tamiya extra-thin cement.
• Don’t glue everything on the instrument panel too soon; you need access to paint.
• Leave parts of the sprue on pieces so you can hold them (alligator clips, reverse-action tweezers) while painting.
• Note the level of detail decreases around curves of the fuselage; you’ll need to rescribe it later.
• Thin templates/guides can help for panel line rescribing.
• Use putty (e.g., Blue Tack) to hold pieces in position.
• Make rivets stand out using a pin inside a small hand drill.
• Wet a toothbrush and clean up after rescribing and sanding.
• Use CA glue to attach photoetch seat belts on the ejector seats.
• Use putty to hold pieces for painting.
• Airbrush a light coat of blue-gray on the cockpit pieces.
• Use thinners to do a paint change for the airbrush.
• Keep partially completed parts in a covered bin (to prevent them getting dusty or lost).
• Mix acrylic paints with thinner on a palette to prep for hand-painting.
• Hand-paint the controls black first to lay down a base coat on the instrument panels.
• Apply a setting solution on decals using a paintbrush (typically only used for decals); this helps the decals conform to the surfaces.
• Use a toothpick or size 00 paint brush to paint instrument panel buttons.
• Clean and condition your brushes after you paint with them.
• Apply a neutral wash to bring out details when you have dark and light colors; only use enamel washes (e.g., from MIG Productions) on top of acrylic paints or it will muddy everything up.
• Rub the surfaces (with a cotton swab) you’ve applied the neutral wash to so you can blend and clean up.
• Alternative: Use enamel thinner to clean up excess wash by rehydrating it.
• Use masking tape to hold pieces together while the glue cures.
• How to drill holes
• Seal in small gaps using putty, and wipe away excess putty with a cotton swab.
• Use a paper towel to help expand shell pieces that are a bit too close together for piece fitting; masking tape helps hold everything together after gluing.
• Cut out pieces that fit on top of one another (but create an unwanted step) using a micro saw.
  • A panel line scriber helps with long straight pieces.
  • Draw a red line on pieces you’re removing.
  • Clean up the cut out pieces using a blade, then coarsely sand afterward.
  • Use masking tape to hold pieces together, then gently glue pieces using extra-thin cement.
  • On the underside of cut out pieces, use CA glue to make a strong bond that .won’t shrink like plastic fillers; apply an accelerant to help the glue cure instantly.
  • Apply a good amount of cement to make sure everything is in place.
  • You may need to sand some of the glue to get clamshell pieces to fit together using some skinny sanding sticks; a blade may be needed too.
  • Use clips to hold clamshell pieces together after gluing.
  • Use an old hobby blade and CA glue to apply the glue precisely along a join line (e.g., flaps).
  • Wet-sand the cured CA glue using a coarse sanding stick; then work down to finer grits to smooth out the scratches.
  • You may need to use a guide to rescribe panel lines removed by the sanding process.
• Sand out the seam lines using a fine-grit sanding stick.
• Use a wet toothbrush to clean up all the dust created by sanding.
• Fill in small gaps with CA glue and a hobby knife.
• Rescribe panel lines and rivets after sanding; you may need to let glue cure for up to 3 days if rescribing joins that have been glued.
• Airbrush black paint on glued/filled areas to see how the surface looks; this is useful when the joins feel good to the touch, but may look different once they have paint down.
• For the F-14 with movable wings, you can clip the ring where the wings attach. This allows you to paint the wings and fuselage separately, then push them into place.
• With a hand drill and blade, you can make rectangular notches that need to exist for mounting other things such as pylons.
• Green putty and lacquer thinner help fill larger gaps; the thinner helps keep the putty soft while you apply it. Push the putty into the gap instead of spreading it.
• If you’ve closed up panels, you don’t have panel lines — you have glue lines. You’ll need to rescribe them so that the weathering will look consistent. Leave it 3 days for the cement to cure, or you’ll be scribing into soft plastic.
• To make panel pieces easier to hold, you can drill a small hole in the area that won’t be seen so that you can hold it with a toothpick during painting.
• Curved pieces (like the air intakes for the F-14) may have a mold line that needs to be sanded.
• A razor saw can be used to rescribe panel lines across a curved surface. You can then go back with a “p-cutter” panel scriber to make it more precise. (The alternative is to use a template to line it up.)
• After rescribing use a fine-grit sanding stick to clean everything up, then get a wet toothbrush to remove the dust.
• Add several coats of white paint inside the air intake.
• Skinny sanding sticks are good for removing ejector pin marks.
• Paint a thin filler on top of putty to fill in the minor gaps.
• If you need to mask inside of a shape, measure out the masking tape on the outside of the shape.
• To sand inside a tight space, use a skinny sanding stick with some other metal tool for support and pressure as you sand.
• Use the handle of a paintbrush to apply masking tape in cramped areas.
• Some leftover foam core helps fill up areas you don’t want paint in.
• For round pieces that are coupled for gluing, add some plastic strips to help support the pieces to increase stability.
• When gluing pieces that would seal up a space (i.e., no air to circulate), drill a small hole to help it ventilate.
• Test-fit big “clam shell” pieces together; if they don’t quite close up, see if there are adjustments you can make on the inside.
• For long sections of clam shell pieces that need gluing, hold the two pieces together with masking tape.
• Use a saw (in this case part of a panel-line scriber tool) to create some panel lines free-hand; once the lines are started, you can use a rescribing tool to deepen the grooves. Go over the final work with a fine sanding stick.
• Polish joins around leading wing edges using CA glue and a fine-grit sanding stick.
• Until you get some black paint on the join lines, you won’t know how it will really look.
• A paintable filler, such as Mr. Surfacer, can help with seam lines.
• Rescribe panel lines using a template; remember that if you’re going over panels you’ve glued together, give the glue at least 2-3 days to cure.
• To hold a piece into place where you need both hands, use tacky putty.
• When rescribing panel lines around a curve, hold the scribing tool still and rotate the piece under it.
• If you make a mistake while panel line scribing, use filler to undo the work.
• Do panel lines and gap filling first, then do rivets last (they get covered up by the first 2 actions).
• General tip: get all the individual assemblies “perfect” (filling, sanding, scribing) before putting them all together because it’s easier to do than when they’re all one big piece.
• Wrap a rubber band to push pieces together to help with gluing..
• If pieces don’t quite fit together as the instructions say, you may need to trim them up a bit.
• For really big gaps that are beyond regular fillers, use polystyrene plastic sheets and trim to fit.
• Sometimes putting all the pieces together isn’t the best choice. Leaving pieces that create gaps out can be taken care of by fillers.
• Canopy cleanup
  • Use a sharp hobby blade to remove the flash / seam line down the middle; this will need sanding later.
  • Wet-sand the scraped-off seam line using a progressively finer grit set of sanding sticks; this smooths things out, but will make the plastic a bit murky. The final grit will be a buffing grit; it should sound squeaky.
  • Alternative: use polishing compounds to buff out clear plastic parts. If using your own cloths, use microfiber. Apply some compound onto the cloth, then rub it onto the parts in a circular motion to spread it evenly. Get a clean part of the cloth to rub off the remaining compound.
  • Use some tacky putty to hold the parts in place so that you don’t squeeze them too hard when buffing.
• You can create your own canopy masks using masking tape instead of buying pre-made masks, which may not be available for your kit. Do this to mask up what will be clear (exposing what you want to paint).
  • Pinch the tape to work around corners.
  • Make small incisions to give the tape more room to bend around surfaces.
• Painting ejector seats
  • Use a light gray on top of the base black to act as a primer color where you’ll be painting lighter colors later. Otherwise, you’ll need 3-5 coats.
  • Use a dark wash to weather the seats
  • The other areas of the seat that are still black can be highlighted either through dry-brushing with silver, or with a gray or neutral wash.
  • Once everything dries, rehydrate it with lacquer thinner via a brush or cotton swab. (This is because we over-weather first, then clean up later.)
• This kit required some scratch building for the cockpit covers.
  • Masking tape can act as a building surface that looks like a fabric.
  • Use a pin to poke in rivets.
  • Paint on the masking tape.
  • Apply a wash to bring out the texture.
  • Bring out raised areas with dry-brushing.
  • Thin the paint, then go over the creases with a fine brush.
• If you lose your inspiration during the middle of the build, find some things to help you relight the fire. Learn about the vehicle on YouTube and Google. This helps keep your models off the “shelf of doom.”
• Canopy assembly
  • Glue the front canopy section using a welding glue (Tamiya extra thin). This works better than something designed for clear parts, because it makes a neater seal and fills in some gaps; however, if you use a clear-parts glue, the seal isn’t as tight so you can get into the cockpit should you need to.
  • Use a rubber band to apply pressure.
  • Wipe the inside of the canopy with a clean cloth to remove fingerprints; use the airbrush to remove any dust from the cockpit area.
  • Paint the unmasked parts of the canopy (cross-bars).
• Weapons and other underbody load-out
  • With a clean blade, scrape across to remove the seam line.
  • Use a small sanding stick to refine the pieces.
  • You’ll also likely need filling, sanding, and rescribing on pieces that have halves that glue together.
  • Reminder: Read the instructions first to look for pylons that may need drill holes.
  • For masking all the way around, use a small-width masking tape.
  • Toothpicks hold pieces for easier painting.
  • Leave part of the sprue attached to hold things while painting.
  • A toothpick combined with tacky putty holds oddly-shaped pieces.
• If there’s a large hollow area you need to fill, putty isn’t the best approach. Trim out some polystyrene plastic to fit the area.
  • Draw a template using a pen; this is for the general area.
  • Use scissors to trim down the shape.
• To texture a surface…
  • Lower the air pressure in the airbrush to “spit” the paint out.
  • Dab a paint brush to apply some liquid filler.
• Preparing for main body painting
  • Use water and a toothbrush to remove any loose filler and sanding dust; otherwise, the paint will turn this dust into filler, thus making the panel lines and rivets get washed out.
  • Use acrylic thinner to remove any residue on the model.
  • Before painting anything white, put down a layer of primer; otherwise, you’ll need more coats of paint.
  • Start with a light coat, and then go back with thicker coats.
  • Apply a gloss coat over the wheel wells (alternatively use floor wax). This protects against scratches, masking, etc. messing up the paint. NOTE: Make sure the paint has cured (24-48 hours) before doing this, or else the paint may crack unless you go really light on the gloss.
  • Cut some packing foam to fill in the wheel wells that won’t be painted the primary color; masking tape or tacky putty is also useful.
  • Prime the model; go light on the first coat. Keep putting coats until the coverage looks even. You won’t know the results of your sanding, filling, and rescribing until the primer is on.
  • Let the primer dry 24 hours before doing anything with the primed surface. Now you can inspect the model to find any problems that need fixing. Here’s an example of a problem being fixed. Look for anything that needs a buff sanding. Rub any sanded areas with a fine cloth.
• Airbrush tip: Add thinners to the paint cup first, as the first liquid to go in the cup heads toward the needle tip. If it’s paint only, the airbrush has a tendency to clog up because it’s too thick.
• Shading and painting
  • (You don’t have to be neat; weathering isn’t “neat” — it’s random.)
  • Follow the panel lines with black paint.
  • Option: try other colors in odd shapes to create a mottled look.
  • Go a bit lighter (e.g., 60% thinner, 40% paint) on the first coat of paint to make it a bit lighter. If you put too much paint on, you’ll cover up all the pre-shading.
  • Keep adding coats until you get the look you want.
  • Lighten the color and add more thinner (60-75% thinned), then airbrush the panels (in between the panel lines); don’t be super-neat, as this is weathering. Think figure-eights and Tetris pieces. This is called “bleaching.”
  • For a second layer of bleaching, go even lighter with the paint, and find odd areas to make lighter.
  • For a third layer (post-shading), go darker than the body color (add black) and make it thin. Go along the some of the panel lines just like you did when you pre-shaded. This should still be somewhat random; not all panels, not super-neat.
  • Simulate some repair spraying (done in the field with ground control to prevent corrosion) by going darker like with the post-shading around some of the panel lines. Next, use the original paint color (40% paint), follow the areas that were just shaded. This will reduce the exaggerated effect that the first darker color produced.
  • Reminder: The weathering at this stage will look exaggerated; the decals, weathering, and matte finish will blend and soften the colors.
  • Put on a gloss coat for any paint work you want to save.
  • For metallic paints, they can blend well with the colors done so far.
• Tip: When positioning long pieces of masking tape, hold one end and then get the other end situated (instead of bit-by-bit).
• Sometimes the paint recommended by the instructions will end up “out of scale.” This is because the aircraft is observed outside in natural sunlight; however, the model is observed inside under electric lighting. This changes how a color looks.
• If you’re mixing colors, do so in a separate container instead of the airbrush paint cup. That way if you run out, you won’t have two separate mixes.
• Airbrush tip: If you see bubbles in your paint cup while spraying, your needle tip is starting to get blocked.
• Exhaust painting
  • Tip: Mask as you normally would, and to deal with overspray tape on some paper towels.
  • Spray the surface black first as a primer. Add Vallejo Gloss Varnish into the paint/thinner mixture. (This could also be accomplished by using a gloss black paint.)
  • When using metallic paints, shake them well because most of the “important” part of the paint settles to the bottom.
  • Lightly spray aluminum over the primed black surface.
  • Next, spray burnt iron to darken up the surfaces.
• Load-out painting
  • For a bare metal look, use “exhaust” color (Alclad or Model Master).
  • Prime areas that will receive lighter colors like yellow and red in white. Otherwise you’ll have to put on several more coats than you expect. Avoid spraying onto other areas.
  • Sparrow and Phoenix missiles have non-painted ceramic surfaces, so a white-gray works well.
• Once the primary painting is complete, put on gloves (prevents fingerprints) and wipe the model down with an anti-static cloth.
• Spray on the gloss coat; make the first one misty and light at first. (You can use floor wax like “Future”, which is considerably cheaper.) Leave it for 15 minutes, then put a second, normal light coat on. The goal is to get everything ready for decal application. This may take 3 or 4 light coats total. Finally, let it dry 24 hours. (The temperature plays a role.) If the gloss hasn’t cured, the chemicals used for applying decals will eat into the gloss.
• Decals
  • You can make an arrangement that uses a tealight candle to keep a container of water just above room temperature.
  • Use a sharp pair of scissors, and cut out the decal. Angle the sheet around to make sure you don’t cut into the decal film.
  • Place the decal face-down in the water; if face-up, the decal will curl up.
  • Micro Set — helps the decal adhere to the model. It softens the decal to make it conform to the surface. This is especially useful when applying decals over raised features on the surface.
  • Tip: Have a paintbrush handy that you only use for decal application.
  • Paint on some Micro Set to the surface first.
  • Slide the decal off the backing using your finger. You can use a small tool to maneuver the decal more precisely.
  • Tip: If you make a mistake, re-wet the decal with water, and slide it back onto the backing.
  • Brush the Micro Set on top of the placed decal.
  • Roll a cotton swab from the middle out to the edge to remove air bubbles and moisture. (Don’t drag the swab, or you’ll move the decal.)
  • Micro Sol — helps soften the decal even more. It will wrinkle the decal a bit and sink into the features of the surface.
  • Let the decal sit until it looks dry, and then reapply Micro Sol. Do this for a total of three applications.
  • For panel lines and raised areas, use a hobby knife to lightly help the decal to conform. This releases any air bubbles underneath. Apply another round of Micro Sol. (Don’t be too aggressive with the brush or you can upset the decal edges.)
  • If you don’t get all the air out, you’ll get silvering under the decal. Should this happen, use a hobby knife and make small incisions in one direction, apply Micro Sol, and try to fix it.
  • After all the decals are applied, use gloves and clean the model with water and an anti-static cloth. This removes any contaminants (fingerprints, dust, decal solutions) before the next three sets of gloss coat. This final gloss protects the decals from the weathering to come.
• Hand painting
  • Mix some thinner with the desired color (Citadel in this case) on a palette.
  • You can paint with the tip and with the side of the brush.
  • Recommended item: Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes
  • It’s easier to clean up mistakes while the paint is still wet.
• Salt weathering (useful for vehicles on or near the ocean)
  • Rock salt acts like a masking tape.
  • Add warm water to the airbrush paint cup, then get the model wet.
  • Grind up the rock salt all over the model, then from a distance spray some more water on it.
  • Use a hairdryer on a low heat setting, and not too close, to dry down the rock salt. Note: Once dried, you may think you’ve ruined things, which is not true. (If you wanted, you could take a damp cloth and get it back to the way it was before you started salt weathering.)
  • Spray a medium Air Force gray color with some white that’s very thinned out (20% paint); use a low air pressure to keep the salt from blowing away. Bleach inside the panels instead of all over the aircraft. Go lightly at first because you can’t really tell how well the effect is taking.
  • Add some burnt umber paint and some black to the airbrush to make a grimy color. Think “post-shading.” Spray along a few of the panel lines — no need to go overboard and do all of the panel lines. You can focus on a certain part of the aircraft, like the back panels.
  • Make one more pass with the hairdryer on low heat to ensure everything is dry before removing the salt.
  • Use a large paint brush dipped in warm water to remove the salt. Be gentle so that you don’t scratch the paint work. Lightly wipe things down with a paper towel to dry.
  • Finish the process by using the hairdryer, then sealing the paintwork in with gloss coats.
• Pin wash weathering
  • Use odorless turpentine and oil paints to create a mixture in a paint jar.
  • Tip: You can get odorless turpentine from art supply shops for cheaper.
  • Squeeze out equal amounts of brown and black oil weathering pigment into a paint jar. Add some turpentine, then mix it up.
  • You’re looking for a coffee consistency. It’s not thick like a paste.
  • Use a size 0 brush and tap the recessed panel lines in places. (This is why it’s called a “pin wash” because you touch small places and then capillary action does the rest.)
  • Note: I think this is the same as using something like Tamiya Panel Line Accent.
  • Work in small sections because when it dries, it gets more difficult to work with. Aim for 10-15 minutes.
  • Dip a cotton swab in the turpentine, and remove the excess onto a paper towel. Swipe/streak the swab up and down the model — this cleans up the excess wash, and also creates light streaks.
  • Pinch the tip of the swab to get into nooks and crannies.
  • Oil takes longer to dry, so there’s a risk of getting fingerprints on your model as you work. Use the airbrush (air-only) to dry the turpentine first, then give the model a light coat of gloss.
• Landing gear
  • You can also simulate grease/grime and shadows on the landing gear as well.
  • Roughly glue in the tail pieces with CA glue; then go back with a welding glue (like Tamiya Extra Thin Cement). Do this before your matte coat because the glue can discolor things slightly.
  • Continue using CA glue and accelerant with the landing gear; this holds things in place until you can give it a bit extra with the welding glue.
  • Make sure your landing gear is level and even. Should you need to break the CA glue bond, it should be clean, allowing you to redo it.
  • Reinforce the wheel well tabs with a bit more CA glue.
• Streak weathering
  • Put some oil paint for weathering onto a scrap piece of plastic. You don’t need much to go a long way.
  • Thin the oil with turpentine (not too much) and make a streak with a size 0 brush. Next, use a flat brush, hydrate it with some turpentine, blot it with a paper towel, then give it a single flick along the path wind would take over the body to smear the oil. Keep the brush clean using the turpentine and a paper towel. Go back over the streak to make it look more like what you want.
  • Once the oil streak looks good, lock it in using a light coat of gloss.
  • With your work saved, you can start adding another color on top of it to give it more depth and character.
  • Repeat this process in areas where there’s likely to be oil and grease (e.g., flaps).
• For small pieces that stay put without glue, use the extra thin cement.
• Post shading
  • You can thin black paint (90% thinner) or use something like Alclad Transparent Smoke. Target certain areas like the flaps.
  • Darken the nose cone.
  • Streak the wings.
  • Don’t forget the underside of the aircraft and the load-out.
• Apply a matte finish with about 20 psi on the airbrush. This is where the weathering and painting comes to life.
  • Product recommendation: Winsor and Newton Matte UV Varnish
  • Scale effect… If the real aircraft is glossy, make it satin. If the real aircraft is satin, make it matte. If it’s matte, make it as matte as possible.
• Clean up the canopy clear parts after removing the masking tape. You can also use the point of a toothpick to remove any paint that got onto the canopy.
• Lights and other clear parts
  • Add some silver behind clear parts that represent lamps.
  • Use acrylic smoke tint on clear parts to give them a tinted clear glass effect.
  • As an alternative for gluing in small clear lenses, you can use a glue that’s intended for clear parts. The glue will dry completely clear.
  • For green-tinted parts on the cockpit canopy, you can get acrylic paints fit for the task. Thin it out first, as it’s easier to go too transparent at first; you can always add more coats. Don’t go nuts, and work quickly while it’s wet so you don’t get brush strokes. Avoid pooling; if this happens, wipe your brush off.
  • Paint the navigation lights. Thin the paint so you can get capillary action, almost like the pin wash. With lights behind clear parts, paint the model, not the clear part.
  • Small clear parts can be very fiddly.
• Exhaust
  • Leave the metallic paints until after the matte coat, or the effect will be lost.
  • Start with stainless steel; reminder to use a lower pressure (10 psi). Apply a light coat inside and all the way around the outside. (Assumes the piece was primed black.)
  • Note the “biting point” for the airbrush; where you start to get paint emitting from the nozzle. This will help you get the lightest coat.
  • Apply a light haze of copper next.
  • Use a cloth and lightly rub the paint; this will shine it up a bit and give it a nice metallic finish.
  • Apply a pin wash over the exhaust fins.
• “Remove before flight” tags
  • You can buy aftermarket photoetch “remove before flight” tags.
  • Use a metal file to remove the tabs.
  • Use metal lead wire; note that this will bend/break easily.
  • Twist the wire, then bend the tag a bit to make it look more like fabric.
  • Affix the tags onto the aircraft; ideally find some place where you can hook it.