Hub Hobby Shop

Weathering & Detailing


Applying Decals
by Chuck Theidel: “Rub the decal with a burnisher or ball point pen. When you think you’re finished, slowly peel the tape back on itself. If you notice that not all of the decal has transferred, stop peeling the tape: Re-lay the tape and rub again. The tape holds the decal’s original position.”

Building the Hasegawa 1/48 F8 Crusader by Jack Hollander “Overall it was a good kit that went together quite easily. Although some of the reviews said that there were sink-marks on it, I didn’t find any.”

Building a 3ID M1A1 Abrams by Brian Cavet: “While it’s not perfect, it’s close enough for a good starting point. I did a few minor changes to get it more accurate.”

Weathering & Detailing

Building the Tamiya 1/32 F15E Eagle by Jack Hollander: “The nose of the F15 pops off to reveal radar and the antennae array which is on gimbals and MOVES! Two other panels open to show the black boxes.”

Building Tamiya’s T-55A by Phil Novak: “For being one of the most widely produced tanks in history, it is about time we received a decent kit of it. Tamiya’s kit is a beauty, and with all of the painting options, I just had to build one.”

Building the A6M5 Zero by Alan Greenstadt: “Like many of you I always wanted to build an F4U Corsair. I finally completed the task and hunted for my next prey. Quite simply, my next prey was the Corsair’s prey, and vice versa…..the Mitsubishi A6M5 “Zero”.

Building the Type IXC U-Boat by Marco Beltram: “Fortunately the kit is split at the water line and the lower hull is a solid piece. This makes it very convenient to paint the lower and upper hulls. This also lends the kit to be assembled and displayed as a waterline kit should you so decide, even though the manufacturer did this so you could replace the batteries should you choose to motorize the kit.”

Bulging Tires by Jens Brandal: “Generally, I find that ready made bulged tires are too exaggerated – especially if you are working in 1:72nd scale.”

Cleaning Parts Prior to Assembly by Chuck Theidel: “Wash off each tree in warm water; you might add a little dishwashing liquid. This will remove any mold release agent, grease, or dust.”

Color Modulation on Tamiya 1/35 BT-7 Model 1937 by Phil Novak: “When I started this project, the goal was to attempt to work with the color modulation technique and apply it to a 1 tone vehicle.

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Color Under German Wings by Charles Metz “To simplify greatly: a light greyish-blue called “RLM 65″ was used on Luftwaffe fighters with two-tone green or grey & green upper surfaces until around 1941.”

Color Under Zimmerit by Bruce Burden: “According the Tom Jentz, red-oxide is the proper color for any areas that weren’t accessible for painting. He contends that the red-oxide was applied at the plant where the plate was cut, then shipped for assembly.”

Converting the Monogram AT-37 by Walt Moore: “Interestingly, the auxiliary fuel tanks were molded on the kit’s wing tips; this becomes the major part of the wing’s conversion. Once the wing halves are glued, cut the tip tanks off with a razor saw, lightly sand the exposed edges to square them and glue some solid plastic strips of the appropriate width and cut to length.”

Creating the Chipped Paint Effect by Phil Novak: “As I was looking around for a semi-interesting paint scheme for my Marder III, I happened to come across a well used vehicle with winter whitewash. Well, some of it was whitewash.”

Detailing Interiors by Walt Moore: “With all of the aircraft specific publications, there are those that include excellent photographs or drawings of the instrument panels and radio panels of the subject aircraft.”

Double Cloud Painting Method by Bill Wolfe: “The idea is to just let enough of the base coat show to give the impression of dark corners and shadows.”

Dry Brushing and Washing Your Model by Chuck Theidel: “Dry brushing is a very important step in any model or figure, because it brings out a great deal of hidden detail that otherwise would not be noticed”

Eliminating Seams by Michael Smolek: “The key to a tight seam is in the preparation of the pieces before gluing them together. Be sure to dry fit your parts.”

Fieseler Fi158 by Leo Cox: “Dental x-ray lead foil was used to fabricate the parachute straps and helmet.”

Italeri 1/35 LVT 4 by Richard Reggio: “The breech that came with the kit was awful so I used the breach from a Sherman kit.

Henry Morgan Pirate Ship by Shane Trosclair: “I left the sails as they were, using a brown sharpie pen for the lines.”

Hobby Boss 1/35 Hi-Speed Tractor by Gil Gonsoulin: “Since I wanted to build it as a WWII vehicle so I could have it tow an 88, I sanded the vents off of the ammo boxes.”

Link-by-Link Track Made Easy by Bill Wolfe: “I knew I was going to have to deal with them sooner or later, I have done the link by link thing on a few models but the ‘Nashorn’ showed me that I didn’t want to do it very often. I had to find a way to make this part of model building quicker and a little bit more fun.”

Metalizing the JUMO 004 Axial Flow Turbojet by Pat Donahue: “Verlinden tells you to use some DML parts for some tubing and the accessory frame on top of the engine, but these are only included in the single seat 262 night fighter If you don’t hhint165cave this kit you are on your own and will have to scratch up these parts.”

Monogram EA-6B Prowler by Alan Greenstadt: “The most significant problems with the Monogram kit seem to come from the upgrade from their A6 Intruder. There’s virtual no armor on the EA6B.”

MV Products: Lens Applications: “MV Products lenses provide the ultimate in realism with a lens system consisting of a 12 to 15 thousandths thick parabolic metal mirror and a solid lens made of a hybrid polymer. The lenses are available clear or tinted in red, green, amber, blue, or black (IR). The lens system is designed to pick up and reflect all available light providing a prototype appearance to the model.”

P-47: Tale of Four Jugs by Alan Greenstadt: “Tales of Four Jugs: “This was the first effort at aging metal parts with combinations of paint and rubbings. Shadowing was as interesting, although as my use of washes has improved I can see where it would have helped.”

Painting a Winter Scheme by Bill Wolfe: “The first thing to do is paint the whole tank with white paint. I used Humbol 22. This model became an experiment as I purchased gloss white rather than flat as I would usually!”

Panel Line Washes by Bill Zuk: “The techniques are applicable to any type of model, however. Craig’s basic technique with a recessed panel line is to add a watered-down ink line in the recess.”

Panzer Colors: “When you get right down to it, it doesn’t matter as much as you may think because the colors used in real life varied so much. The actual shade depended on the method of application and the amount and method of dilution.”

Panther Late A by Richard Reggio: “The engine hatch was left open because I added the Verlinden engine, which was really tough to fit in.”

Photo Etched Parts by Phil Novak: “Some of the parts are so small that doing the job with your hand is next to impossible.”

Removing Resin Casting Plugs by Chuck Theidel: “I have noticed some people have tried razor saws to remove the plugs. This can be a costly mistake resulting in damage to the figure.”

Revell 1/72 Tiger II by Phil Novak: “As a modeler of primarily 1/35 scale armor, I was a little hesitant to try 1/72. However, once I saw how nicely molded the Revell kit was I had to try it.”

Revell Monogram F105G Thunderchief by Jack Hollander: “A drawback to the kit it that there wasn’t a really decent way to attach some of the parts, such as the horizontal stabilizer and the weapons payload.

Roden 1/72 Pzk-2 by Leo Cox: “100 plus parts were added to each engine, such as the valve train, spark plugs and wires. I used 15-plus parts to remake each throttle body.”

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Roswell 1946 by Leo Cox: “The burn marks around the edges of the saucer and of the damaged top section I airbrushed Tamiya Clear Red, Clear Yellow, and Clear Blue.”

Sag in Tracks by Mike Kendall: “Try tying the tracks to the upper return rollers with thread. You can get some sag if you pick the right holes in the track to pass the thread through, but you can go crazy getting the thread in there. Super glue will hold painted tracks that don’t have too much tension on them. I use it a lot.”

Securing Figures for Painting by Chuck Theidel: “After you have assembled the figure, mount it on a temporary base for ease of handling during painting. ”

Sherman Rescue by Roger Gentry: “One thing I wanted to use after Katrina, was one of the older AFV’s that I found in our flooded Gentilly home. Boy were they weathered!”

Simulating Realistic Aircraft Skin by Walt Moore: “Being a builder of model warbirds, primarily 1/48 scale plastics, I use an airbrush and spray a darker shade of the surface color narrowly along the panel lines in each major section of the aircraft “skin”.

Staples of Modeling by Walt Moore: “What “staples…” refers to is the use I make of paper staples to fashion connector ends for lap belts and shoulder harnesses, throttle quadrants, levers, and other handles, that require very narrow gauges not easily attainable by stretching plastic sprue.”

Starship Kelvin – Rip in the Fabric of Time and Space built by Brian Hirsch: “While spraying it, a problem developed in which the propellant attacked the earlier coats of paint.”

Tamiya 1/35 Marder IIIM by Joe Baudier: “It came with a photo etch screen in the kit, but it wouldn’t hold it’s shape.”

Tamiya Sturmgeschutz Ausf G by Lane Lorre: “I built this Stug as a portrayal of one that would have participated in the bitter battles in the hedgerows of Normandy.”

Tamiya 1/35 T55A by John Daniel: “The rear un-ditching log has been distressed and weathered, yielding a highly realistic finish. Metal tow cables replaced the kit items.”

Tamiya 1/35 M26 Pershing by Brian Cavet: “Tamiya’s 1/35 M-26 Pershing to represent a tank used by the Marines in the summer of 1950 in Korea.”

Tamiya 1/35 M4A3 Sherman by Brian Cavet “The kit has been improved with extra detailing, including adding correct raised weld seams where needed. I also added the sponson fillers.”

Tamiya T34/76 by Bill Wolfe: “In the following text we’ll take a look at the Tamiya Russian T34/76. This is my most recent build and it was quite enjoyable. A great many after-market parts were used and those will be discussed as well.

Taming the Hellcat by Bill Wolfe: “Some builders will stop here, but with experience, one starts to see that the model needs more work to look weathered and realistic. This is where things started to get a bit tricky and where the ‘HELLCAT’ started to earn it’s name.”

Trumpeter 1/32 F100 D by Jack Hollander: “For contrasting shades of Aluminum, I didn’t use Future floor wax on the horizontal stabilizers, ailerons, or wing tanks.”

Trumpeter 1/32 F105-D Thud by Jack Hollander: “The nickname of this Thud is “The Polish Glider”, so called because if the plane lost power it went down like a brick.”

Using Four Kits to Create One F4-U Corsair by Alan Greenstadt: “After I initially got started, I decided to scratch build a lot of the model, as the quality of the Revell parts was not very good.”

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Using Flat Black as a Primer by Chuck Theidel: “If you’re not careful when using washes, you may have problems with the wash lifting up the base coat and sometimes attacking the plastic. Instead of priming your tanks and AFV’s in gray or white, use a Flat Black!”

Using Anti-Skid Paste by Phil Novak: ” Applied to most of the horizontal walking surfaces of the vehicles, it keeps the crew from slipping off the vehicle when climbing on it, especially in wet conditions.

Using Masking Compounds by Chuck Theidel: “Brush it on like paint over the area to be protected and let dry. Once it has dried it may be cut to shape with a hobby knife.”

Using Model Railroad Parts for Armor and Aircraft by Chuck Theidel: “Sometimes even train parts themselves can be cut apart to form parts for your tanks and aircraft”

Verdun Stormtrooper by Roger Gentry: “All the pieces are resin. The trickiest part was detaching the rifle from the resin plug.”

White Armor on Campaign by Augie Rodriguez: “The first step is preparing the surface of your figure to represent the condition of the plate you will be depicting.”

Zimmeriting German Tanks by Phil Novak: “Zimmerit is a very eye catching detail to add to one of your models, and its ways of application are numerous.”