A fine collection of kits though rather expensive can be found in this site from your part of the world: Military Models and 1/35 Scale Models by Accurate Armour There's a good model shop in Edinburgh, I could take you there but I can't remember the street name. It's down the far end of Princess Street and turn left up the hill past the Usher Hall. E-bay has many kits for sale sometimes.
Ebay for the best bargains if you can be bothered to stay on the case, well worth it if you can. Try Hannants for the biggest mail-order selection. Wonderland Models are based in Edinburgh, I believe they have a large shop but their mail order has proved very efficient (and cheap) a few times for me. If you've got one nearby, support your local modelshop!, try and use that as they're a dying breed and much handier than mail order for occasional bits and pieces. Good luck. Adam.
buy some flames of war minitures they are 15mm and here is some sites you can buy it off Battlefront - Producers of fine metal and resin miniatures TheWarStore.com and from most local hobby stores.
Thank you very much for the quick replys and help will have a look in the morning Had a quick look through and was just wondering whats the best make and type to buy, iam a total newbie at this so please bear with me.
What do you fancy making Ian? Armour, Planes, boats, figures? What sort of scale? Tamiya probably make the most accessible and decent overall quality kits of all types (Brilliant new 48th scale armour range but no 72nd scale armour,). They're being overtaken by Dragon in quality but Dragon kits can be very complex and would certainly have put me off when I started scraping tiny bits of plastic again. AFV Club are also very good but probably would also do your head in as a first kit. A company called Trumpeter is churning out some cutting edge, cheap, and very well detailed kits of aircraft and tanks that are nowhere near as needlessly complex as some. Next best bunch are Italeri, Hasegawa, Academy, all ok with some fine kits but also some right old clunkers. (some Tamiya kits are over 30 years old as well and it's starting to show a little.) There's loads of new smaller manufacturers cropping up at the moment, many very very good. As this is in the 'land' forum (all need merging really) I'll guess you fancy doing some armour so I'd heartily recommend the new Tamiya 1/48th stuff, £12-£25 and all (that I've seen so far) of a very high and recently tooled quality without too much needless fiddling about, (they do need a little superglue though as they come with a metal hull that the normal cement won't work on). For a slightly more cautious dipping of the toe Italieri's 1/72nd stuff is normally good and about a fiver a vehicle. Hope that amount of rambling doesn't put you off. Cheers, Adam.
Thats a great reply and very helpful. Its armour which i want to start with so will have a look today and spend away Thank you Von poop EDIT: I was having a look and came across this model which looks a good start for me Tamiya 32519 1/48 U.S. Tank Destroyer M10 - £17.57 Would i need anything else to build this or will everything be included. Sorry for all the questions !
All you get is the kit mate, you'd need plastic cement ('liquid poly' is the easiest to use), some paint, brushes, and a smidgeon of superglue to build it, and a decent sharp knife, Stanley knives'll do to start off with.
For the knives and such get to your nearest Hobbycraft centre. they have a nice choice of craft knife. Then to your local Boots for a First Aid kit.
What poopy says. If your just starting on 72nd (I prefer 72 i dont have much space), i recomend you go with vinyl tracks. Seperate moulded track links will drive you nuts. Invest in lots of nice brushes, lots of different shapes. You want some stubby thick ones for base coats, long slim ones of camaflage, small thin ones for detail. dont skimp on brushes. Dont buy a flash craft board, waste of money. an old bread board is just as good. Like most Briish modellers I like Humbrol paints, dont know why, just tend to work well. In 72nd go for a Hasgawa, there often nice kits come with vinyl tracks and are easy and quick to do. And dead cheap too. More difficult is Dragon but they are just lovely. I like. http://www.modelsforsale.com Good service and often cheaper than EBAY, esp if you order 2 or 3. Oh yea and support your local model shop there will be none left soon. Kev
Like most Briish modellers I like Humbrol paints, dont know why, just tend to work well. Leave me out of this! I hate the sodding things, stupid pots and long drying times.... good for washes though. I'm 'acrylic boy'! Tamiya mostly, though they dry too quickly so hand-brushing with 'em can be a pain, brilliant through the airbrush. Citadel ones get high praise from many, very easy to find as Games Workshop now seem to be in every town and a good range (excellent metallics) but the pots drive me mad so I've only got a few. Recently bought a load of Vallejo acrylics as they're getting easier to find and they are superb, great colours, sensible pots, thin very well and such good pigmentation you can paint yellow straight over black in one coat.
I have now placed my order for my first kit which is a Tank destroyer mentioned in one of my earlier posts. However i have spent hours looking at and thinking about paints, tools etc for a beginner and also the glue which was recommended to me (plastic cement -liquid poly-). I cant actually find the plastic cement anywhere. If anyone can help me out by pointing me into the right direction that would be great. One last question what size is 1/48 ? just wondering By the way the help so far has been beyond what i expected thank you again
As a very very rough guide I'd say a 1:72 Pz IV model will fit across the palm of your hand, whereas in 1:48 if open you hand it will fit from your thumb to your finger tips. 1:72 will be much easier to keep in shelves, whereas 1:48 will take a lot more space but at much better detail. Although some of the newer 1:72s will have incredible detail. But what the hell am I talking about, I like 1:76!
Bog standard guide to glue etc. mate, Others may disagree but this is what I'd get : Main type of glue that melts the plastic on contact and forms a sort of 'weld' is sold in 2 types, normally by Revell or Humbrol, always in model shops but you can find it elsewhere, toyshops and craft shops often have a small selection (maybe if you phone the company you bought the kit it's not too late for 'em to chuck some glue in...at a price.). There are metal tubes of a more gelatinous consistency that has to be applied with a pin or something, to be honest I find it a real pain inevitably leading to a stringy mess. The other kind is liquid and comes with a brush(though an old paintbrush is always better) Humbrol Liquid Poly is the thinnest and best as far as I'm concerned, the revell version is a little thicker, I think it's called 'Contacta', there's loads of other glues that work in different ways (just counted 9 plastic glues and 4 different superglues in my modelling shed!) don't bother with 'em for now. Paint comes in acrylic or enamel, acrylic is 'water based' and can be thinned with water, you can also clean the brushes in water. Enamel is 'oil based' thin and clean with dedicated thinners, white spirit etc. For your M10 I'd say get an Olive drab green, a black, a white, a brown and a gun metal/metallic colour (trying to think what I've missed) That'll mean you can do the body, the open interior, tracks, mud and metal bits. If you get into kits you'll end up with every shade under the sun but you should be able to mix a lot of appropriate allied AFV colours from that lot (about a quid a pot on average) . I'm an advocate of buying one decent brush (size '0', or size '1') rather than loads of seemingly cheaper ones, cheap brushes are a total waste of money and you can get teeny ones if you really need 'em later, a good size 0 can do nearly all jobs. Keep it simple and then you won't waste too much cash if you never make another, don't get too pi**ed off or discouraged if it doesn't end up like you'd hoped (they rarely really do ) and most importantly, especially for a first go, have fun! Blah blah ramble ramble....
Thank you von poop,excellent reply. I Will have a look after i have my dinner cant wait to get started.
What was the name of the shop in Glasgow's southside which makes and sells resin 15 (20?) mm kits? I'm sure it's near Bellahouston park, and that someone posted a link to it in here a while back. Can anyone remember?
I only use 1/35 scale mainly because there is more detail and they look better with more detail when finished, what's the rush, most of the enjoyment is in the construction, painting and getting the right colours and signs etc. Besides they are easier on my eyes and shaking hands. Some of the cheaper kits are not very well made and are just too frustrating. The Accurate-Armour are expensive but they are British, full of detail and fit first time! Thought you might like to have a look at a few sites, there are lots out there but model shops seem to disappearing. Most people buy 'online' AIRBRUSH FORUM,GALLERY,PRODUCT REVIEW. One35th Modeling Homepage Armorama :: Military Scale Modeling Community - Model and Diorama Features, Forums, Gallery, and More.
Not much scope with the M10, colour scheme wise that is. Paint should be straight forward. what I enjoy is reading all about the vehicle, exploring different colour schemes, learning about the men, read the stories. So many of mine are influnced by where I am at that moment. What Im reading, etc. Ive jus finished Guderian's book so of course the Matilda had be done as BEF. Kev
