Paul-375833

I think the aerosols are great for primer. I'm building a Revell kit of a Kenworth Semi just now and there's nothing like real auto paint to get a vehicle finish.

The Hunter kit is a thing of rare beauty that I would love to have built (badly) back in the day. Perhaps it's as well that my lack of pocket money allowed some to survive. I did get to view the example that the aerodynamics research folk flew over Fife in 1982, from the air, as I strived to master the Bulldog. It was notably graceful even though a fair age by then. Amazing that they were still learning from it after many years service.

I can't see Airfix having made enough profit on these to sub free gifts. I bought a handful at Lidl for £3.50 each! I wasn't greedy and just got a few to make during the coming year. I needn't have bothered, the vultures had the rest on eBay a week later for £12 each. The Aldi kits were identical and 'unfortunately' I had bought most of the ones I wanted at £7 each before the Lidl offer week. I wasn't greedy there either and not surprisingly the remainder are on ebay too.

Flat rubber drive belts on ebay, common for record and cassette players. Wouldn't be surprised if there were toothed belts too.

It's courtesy to say thanks for advice received. I've benefitted loads from various forums, and often a short thank you generates even more useful info. All to often you see a one post question from a new member and no subsequent communication, makes you wonder what happened. Many have moved over to Facebook which is really disappointing as you can't see the 'library' of information the same.

Sometimes it's nice just to ask the question and interact with other forum members. Even if five people ask similar questions it helps keep forums alive. I've found it's often helpful to use a plastic primer, an aerosol from Halfords works fine for me. I like the old style enamel paints best but many get on fine with acrylics. I don't like the 'patchy panel' effects that many pursue in the quest for realism, I don't recall many real machines looking like that, but weathering, wear and chipping effects can work well. I use the YouTube videos as a source of new ideas and materials. The magazines are interesting too. There's been lots of new stuff in the last 40 years! Paul

I've recently 'returned' to the hobby and have also had a few issues with paint. Here are my thoughts although I don't expect everyone will agree! It's difficult to get a really good finish using the small acrylic paints. Not impossible but harder than it should be. There is an Airfix demo on building and painting a Lamborghini kit that's worth a look. The larger acrylics are better but vary a lot between colours. The old style enamel paints are miles easier to work with. Maybe not fashionable to say it but that's what I've found. They're not expensive, and can be cleaned with household white spirit, although if you want to replace all 18 in the set it will add up. They do last for many kits/years though. Aerosol plastic primer is worth using as a base coat particularly on larger areas (I use one from Halfords just now). I budget to buy a couple of new paints for each kit and now have a collection that covers most eventualities. It's worth watching a few of the You Tube videos, I've found a lot of new (to me) products and techniques such as the Tamiya extra thin solvent adhesive this way. Finally I think Airfix are actually a small and probably understaffed company so not the best at stocking replacement items these days. I like their kits as they are the ones I grew up building (a long time ago now) and find them a bit easier than others to work with. Amazon can be a good source but prices vary wildly. I would love a local model shop but my nearest is over 50 miles away. Perhaps I should open one when I retire. Good luck and don't give up. Paul