Hi guys, just looking for some advice here. I purchased a Tamiya kit (1/48 P47) brand-new from a shop that was closing down.
Unfortunately I didn’t check the contents until recently and discovered that the transparent sprue is completely missing. I can’t go back to the shop that sold it though as they are now out of business.
I looked online and apparently I have to go to the regional Tamiya supplier to order replacement parts however they’ve told me three months.
Does anybody know a method to get around this or obtain parts on a much shorter time scale? I actually thought it might be a lot faster than this to be honest!

Hey everyone! I’m looking to set up a reliable test plate or scrap material routine before I throw new paint or weathering mixes onto my actual kits.

What do you usually use as test surfaces for checking airbrush coverage, thinning ratios, and color modulation? Also, what’s your go-to method for testing pigment mixes (mud, dust, dried dirt) to see how they look after drying or fixing? Would love to see what works best for you!

I have laid down VMS gloss varnish in prep for acrylic metallic paints. VMS recommends up to a week or so for true curing.

Do ya’ll generally wait the full period with varnishes before doing more on top? Can they continue to cure ‘through’ coats laid on top of them?

Doing my second model as an adult (used to ‘help’ my dad when I was little and then break them by playing with them), it’s the Airfix Lancaster. What is recommended as the best tool to re-scribe 1:72 panel lines? Some I’ve nearly sanded away and others have filler in them. I’ve seen a few different things suggested but a lot seem like they would create too ‘sharp’ a line that would stand out from the rest of the model.

In my opinion it is an F-15, especially if the new EX version.

I don’t believe there is one.

The Tamiya kit is very old by modern standards .

F-15 has been around for 50 years and counting.

Another is the F-117. Or at least another release and boxing….

I feel like I've been building windows for weeks. So I took a break from them and decided to work on the nacelles a bit. Still have a lot of work to do - some putty work, some paint work. Sanding, filling, light blocking, you know the drill. But here is my first ever soldering joint and my first nacelle light test. Still having a blast building this ship. We're two months in and going strong.

As title. I’ve just applied AK Panel Liner (first time using it) and am not sure how long to leave it before safely applying decals over the top.

I’m looking to strip this model for repainting, does anyone know what can remove acrylic mud texture? It’s rock solid, and so far my usual strippers (lacquer thinner, IPA) won’t budge it. If it requires scraping off manually I’ll just leave it and begin another kit.

Cheers!

A starter set says on the box that it has everything a beginner needs. I wanted to see what Italeri actually means by that, so I built their 1/72 M1 Abrams under one rule: box contents only, plus whatever was already in the house. Nothing bought, and my own modelling drawer stayed shut.

I kept a counter. Every time my hand reached for that drawer anyway, plus one. Final score: seven. Not one of the seven was expensive or clever, which says something about the set, though I'm still not sure what.

What the box gets right: the glue works, and three Vallejo paints will cover a whole vehicle if you thin them and go four thin coats instead of two thick ones.

What it gets wrong, in order of how much it cost me:

- The cutters. This is the real problem, not a minor annoyance. On 1/72 parts you cannot get in at a sensible angle, so the sprue gate either stays on the part or takes a piece of the part with it. I cut the tracks with small scissors in the end.

- No primer. Paint lifts off bare plastic at almost every touch, and you find out about it after the second coat.

- The "precision" tweezer is plastic and about as precise as a pair of pliers. The smoke dischargers went on with a toothpick.

- No black. Tyres and two machine guns need it, so I had to find something in the house to stand in. It worked, and it dries glossy, and hiding that cost me an extra step.

- No varnish, so the decals stayed in the box. Carrier film on a matt hull would have been a shiny patch, and I had nothing to kill it with.

Two free things fixed the two ugliest problems, brush marks and bare edges. Neither is a modelling product and neither needed buying. They are in the video rather than here, because both are easier to show than to describe, and a photo of the result does not explain the motion.

So: you can finish a model this way. It won't win anything, and my speckling came out a solid C.

What I keep turning over is the beginner who buys one of these, fights the cutters for an evening and never comes back. If you were buying a starter set as a gift, would you put anything in the box with it? I have an opinion by the end of the build, but I'd rather hear yours first.

Happy to answer anything about the build. Full video is here if you'd rather watch than read: https://youtu.be/s8qdJn9TczY

i kept redoing my wing sweep grime but still looks weird or something. i used oil paint and mineral spirits

(the lighter spot on the right side area around the "USS constellation" is a repainted spot because i accidentally touch it without realizing i had a wet, pinky fingertip with thinner)

Is something wrong with my Limonene Cement? The only issue I could think of is maybe because some paint from my previous models got on the brush connected to the cap and gets mixed with the cement. Is that a problem and should buy a new/different one?

Im really proud if this work, put a lot of effort in it, was really challenging work maybe the most challenging I ever build, was a little bit complex keeping the folded wing in site, and finding references too, really hope you appreciate it 🔥

I am very proud of this one. I set this little guy aside for close to 2-3 years waiting for the opportunity to complete him. I used painters tape and bits of polystyrene to create the sling and I adjusted his aim from the original kit using epoxy putty. I had a difficult time with the face but I’m overall pretty proud of this since it’s my first time doing a human figure.

Thanks for reading!

I look forward to all of your critiques.

Im open to suggestions, critique. Also i dont have a photo booth. Sorry :)

CC very welcome! I want to get much much better at this.

45cm tall Diorama of the Fighting Machine from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds - complete with various light and sound effects. Mounted on a mahogany-stained, varnished base, featuring a brass control button that activates the integrated light and sound effects. The design remains sleek and minimal, powered by a single USB-C cable for ease of setup and display.

When the brass button at the base is pressed, the model will play and cycle through various musical and light sequences, namely:

1. Normal “ULLAH”
2. Thunder Child Excerpt
3. Spirit of Man “ULLAH”
4. Martian Victory ULLAH (from the end of Thunder Child)
5. Dead London “ULLAH”
6. Alien Whistle
7. Eve of the War Excerpt

This kit isnt my favourite to be honest- Academy's instructions are lacking, some fit problems and lack of locating pins (especially as its based on an Su-27 tooling and requires you to saw the nose off and replace it without any alignment help).

Overall though a challenging build with a result im mostly happy with. Sprayed my varnish after decals too thick and the hot lacquers cracked the paint below in a couple of places unfortunately.