Hi, glad to see you've joined the world of modeling


I'll be the first to say I'm no expert but my stuff comes out pretty nice. Here are some tips, but allot of it is simply trial and error plus practice.


1.) Prepare to get messy, no matter how clean you think you can be prepare for the worst and grab a newspaper sheet to spread out and allot of napkins.

2.) Get the right equipment, I.E. brushes, paint etc. I'd suggest some very fine brushes and take a glance at your local model/hobby shop for the right paint shades you like. Again this step is trial and error, your paints are entirely dependent on what you are painting.

3.) Have your paint thinner ready in a small container. Dip your brush in it every time you are done with a color, mushing it on the bottom lightly to really work the paint out. Then dry and repeat as necessary.

4.) When you are actually ready to paint decide ahead of time what you want to paint first, try to paint things that will end up the same color in the same sitting so as not to waste paint and thinner. and decide whether or not you want to wait till the model is assembled to paint that part (you should only wait till it's done if the part will be easily accessible, if not paint it while it's still on the plastic racks it comes connected to, then when dry cut it off and paint the spot that you cut.)

5.) This step is very important, Use very little paint on your brush, it goes a long way! I found this out the hard way. Wipe your brush on the side of your paint bottle after dipping and sometimes if you want a light coating brush the excess off on your newspaper.

6.) When ready to paint use a flat black on the areas of the model that you want a dark undertone on (I.E. Shadows worn down areas etc) then go over it lightly with the main color of the object, then if it's metal you can really make it look better by (VERY) lightly (and with a tiny amount of paint on your brush) brushing silver over areas that would be scratched etc.

7.) One more tip, when painting silver weapons paint the entire body black, let it dry, then lightly go over it with silver, it looks very nice in the end.



Hope these helped, and most importantly, Have fun! Models can provide hours of fun and an awesome product on your desk to stare at



Matt

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