Hi All,

Over many years of model building I have seen various tips and techniques discussed and illustrated in print and on the various web forum sites. Always on the lookout for good information to use in my chosen modeling endeavors, I often checked them out, tried them out, and sometimes chucked them out after trying them.

The purpose of this posting is to more or less show how I and others approach various aspects of ship building to provide information for new modelers, intermediate modelers and even some of the old hands who might be looking for a new wrinkle on an old subject. I invite all hands to contribute to this for the benefit of everyone.

To start the ball rolling, my first entry will be on the subject of glues and some handy tips that I use on my bench to apply, remove and deal with this basic material. It is not meant as an end all, be all approach, there are various ways to do things and what brands and types may be available in your particular part of the world may be different than what I have access to here in the desert hinterlands of Nevada, USA. So, first off a picture to illustrate the rest of this with.



As you can see, I mostly use two types of glue. The first in the upper left corner being Testors Liquid Cement. The second to the right is what you would normally see and purchase in the hobby shop or dime store. While they also make a tube type glue for modelers and it does have a place in model construction, for the most part I prefer the Liquid Cement. As it comes in the small bottle with an applicator brush in the lid it is quite usable but I have taken it a step further as is illustrated in the upper left hand of the picture.

To keep it from tipping over on the bench and creating havoc with any styrene pieces that it may come into contact with I have made up an over sized and bottom heavy bottle holder. I took a 5 gallon water bottle cap from the type used on office water coolers, put a layer of lead shot in the bottom and then filled it with ordinary modeling clay finally stuffing the bottle in the clay and working it up with finger pressure in a shape to hold the bottle. As you can tell by appearances, this has been in use for a long time on my bench in this form.

The second thing that I did was to drill a hole in the original cap leaving the soft plastic brush holding base inside the cap. While the brush that comes with the glue in the cap is okay to use if you want to spread a lot of glue over a broad area, I prefer a much more pin point application with a OOO sized artist brush made out of red sable. After all, the size of the majority of parts you will add with a 1/700 scale ship model being what they are, a lot of glue isn't needed. Keeping the soft plastic brush holder in the cap serves to act as a washer to seal the lid and also makes a seal on the ferule of the brush to keep the liquid cement from evaporating away.

Liquid cement works mostly by what is called capillary action. Put the two parts together, apply a little glue with the brush tip and it gets sucked in the mating surfaces, melts the plastic of both parts and then hardens. The resulting joint is pretty sturdy, the chances of excess glue running anywhere else is reduced and you can clamp the assembly and set it aside to dry or harden up while going to the next thing to do. A note on capillary action, if you are not careful when holding the parts it can also be drawn in between the part and your finger tips. While not exactly harmful to the finger tip, it will leave a lovely finger print on the surface of the parts, never a good thing and best to be avoided with a little care in application.

The other glue that you see in the right hand side is good old Super Glue or CA (short for CyanoAcrylate). Right next to the glue is the Super Glue Remover, always a good thing to have on hand for many reasons but mostly to unglue your fingers from what ever you have managed to glue them to in the process of using the product. It will also remove excess glue from styrene without harming the styrene if you make a slight error in placement or quantity applied. Not that I have ever had such things happen to me, yeah right!

You can purchase Super Glue in all sorts of different containers from tiny little tubes, small plastic bottles and even larger containers. I prefer to purchase the one ounce sized bottle as it lasts quite a long time, stores well and is a lot less expensive than if you bought several of the small tubes. There are a number of different formulations from super thin almost instant cure as you see here to a much thicker slow curing almost gel like type. Over time as you use the super thin instant cure from the bottle it will slowly thicken as the volatile component of the glue evaporates and it will become the thicker slow cure type. So keep the bottle capped when not in use. There are accelerators that you can get also that speeds up the process when required if one to three seconds is too slow to suit you. As I have a slower "Southern" Approach to most things in life, I haven't had much use for them.

While most super glues come with some sort of handy spout attached to the container that would lead you to believe that this is the way to apply the product, it ain't necessarily so. My chosen application method is to apply a drop of the glue to a cast off plastic bottle cap and use any of the three instruments below the glue and above the bottle caps to do the actual application. Most of the time I am using this product to attach Photo Etched brass parts to each other or my model. As such, just a tiny amount is needed to perform the deed. I have an extra metal drawing compass tip that has become my favorite method. I am considering making a wooden dowel handle for it for this purpose. I like it mostly because it has a nice sharp point to dip into the glue droplet on the cap and transfer just enough super glue to the parts to do a neat job. It also has the benefit of quick and easy clean up by just scraping the hardened glue off the point with a hobby knife. In a pinch you can also use a round pointed tooth pick that can be tossed aside once the glue builds up on the tips or even a hobby knife tip. The point being the nice point on all of these things to limit the amount of glue that is transferred to the surfaces being glued.

While there are other adhesives that can be adopted for modeling as well as a multitude of brands within each type, these are the two types that I mostly turn to in day to day modeling.

Thanks Jay.

Great stuff indeed.

Very informative and insightful.

Cheers

Sean

Great idea, Jay!
I "Stickied" this thread so it will show up on the front page of the Carpenters Shop for ease of finding, mate...please, do continue!

Cheers,
~Gunny

Thanks Guys,

I appreciate the title shortening by the way, didn't realize there was a limit to that one, I also appreciate the sticky feature being turned on.

As a sort of continuation of the glue topic, I want to touch on another one that has found its' way onto many modelers' benches, White Polyvinyl Acetate. Commonly known as Elmer's White Glue here in the US. But don't let the familiar brand lull you into thinking that it is the only game in town. While not really good to use to join styrene parts, it does serve to bond wood and paper, as well as Styrofoam products that might find their way onto our projects. There are several products that are similar in appearance, they all share a low or no odor formulation, are relatively non toxic and can easily be cleaned up with water. Here is a shot of the ones that I keep on hand on my bench and I am sure that others can probably add to this list with regional or personal choices.



I have used Elmer's products for more years than I care to think about from an introduction to the product in Kindergarten. While it has been around and used to stick paper to paper, paper to wood as well as pottery materials it does have a longer drying time from 35 minutes to overnight. Weighting or clamping is suggested to keep the materials you want to bond in close contact. Over the years the company has formulated other types such as the Carpenter's Wood Glue in Interior and Exterior variations which is somewhat stronger but still shares the Non Toxic label. While it's chief use is sticking things together, it can also be used to form weather covers over Photo Etched Brass railings and filling up the interiors of small boats to make them appear as if they had a canvas cover over them in storage on deck. It can also be used to form Blast Bags over the barrels of gun turrets that don't have this feature molded into them and even spent shell catch bags. In use, you will discover that it does have one small drawback. The stuff shrinks as it dries. This means that you may have to reapply successive applications to achieve the desired appearance. It does dry more or less clear from it's white opaque appearance in liquid form.

When I delved into making paper models I discovered another brand of more or less the same material in Aleene's Tacky Glue. This brand is somewhat thicker than the Elmer's product, it shares the same non toxic nature as well as no odor problems. By being thicker in nature it does dry a bit quicker in application but overnight is still the best bet for a full strength bond. Both products also "skin" over as they dry from the outside in. This can be a handy feature if you would like to add a few wrinkles to the appearance of things like blast bags and magazine spent casing bags. The thicker formulation is handy in that it does tend to stay more or less where you put it rather than gravitate to lower areas as the thinner Elmer's product does.

While I lump Gator Grip in with the various White Glues mostly because, well, it is white and does dry clear. It is a bit more tenacious than either of the other aforementioned products and used for attaching Photo Etched Brass Railings to ship models. It does have a brief bit of time before drying which lets the modeler adjust the fit of railing sections, it does dry quickly and holds a bit better. It is available from our own Kenny Loup (Gator) by contacting him through his website.

Beacon's CraftFoam Glue is one of the similar formulations that works a bit better than plain White Glue when joining Styrofoam products. Weighting and or clamping is recommended but the stuff is strong enough that once set, the Styrofoam will tear or break before the bond does. This makes it ideal to use when hot wire trimming Styrofoam to shapes desired. And don't think that making a base is it's only use, one can use it to make up a hull form that can be covered over in styrene or wood.

Last on my list of White Glues is Walther's Hob-e-Tac Adhesive, I discovered it in a sortie into the rail road modeling world. It shares the dries clear and non-toxic nature of the other white glues but has one other interesting feature, it will remain tacky after about fifteen minutes. This makes it into a sort of White Glue Contact Cement. While it does remain tacky for a while eventually it does dry hard. Originally intended to be used to add foam and fiber landscaping materials to landscaping, it does have uses in ship modeling. In making shore side type scenes vegetation can be added to various spots and then covered over with whatever product you care to use to make the water. The tips of the grasses will remain upright poking through the top of the water. It can also be used to add figures to the decks of your vessels.

Application of all of these vary from sharp pointed items to apply limited amounts to brush application all the way to dump and spread depending on what you are doing. But the beauty of these glues is in the quick and easy water clean up of application tools as well as cleaning up any spillage or over flows that ooze out from the edges. Once applied they are still susceptible to water which can be a good thing to correct errors or a bad thing if you spill water on the project so it is a good idea to seal them over with an enamel or lacquer based finish once all the dust settles and you are completing your project. That touches on another plus for these products, once completely dry or cured, they can all be painted over.

Great thread; its all - or 99% about the basics....! One problem I've had with one piece of your advice is that when trying to apply thin CA with a metal point (or only somewhat less with a wooden point), it will spread up past the tip and not be present for application at the pointy end. If fluid contact can be made with the desired surface, it will try and all flow down - too much. Capillary action is good - once you get the CA on; beforehand, its a mess. Is there a surface or surface coating that will allow the thin CA to be present as a droplet on a pointy tip?

Stephen

Hi Stephen,

As you observed in your question, the wooden pointed toothpick seems to be a bit better in pin point application of thin Super Glue. I suspect that it may be a case of the wooden surface delaying the movement of the CA up the shaft of the item used, metal being smoother. While beyond the scope of basics, I have also used paraffin wax coating on the metal point to help in that respect. An old trick pointed out to me by another modeler was to use a small piece of wax paper to place the drop of Super Glue on as it seems to keep from drying out or curing as fast. That pointed me to using wax as a coating to aid in keeping it on the point of the metal applicator.

Another item I have used to apply Super Glue is the head of a sewing needle with the very tip end broken off. This provides a small space between the ends of the metal tips that form the "Eye" of the needle to hold the CA in place while you apply it. Digging through the sewing section of various stores has provided me with a selection of different sized needles to experiment with for this type of an applicator. Being metal they also offer the benefit of easy cleanup by scraping the dried CA off with a hobby knife blade. I have three of these in different sizes that have been adapted with handles from either the shaft of an old BIC type Pen or wood dowel to make handling them easier.

I am always on the look out for tools and devices to make to aid in model building and the sewing needle trick is one that I was saving for a later posting, but since you brought it up........

Hi Jay: Your paraffin tip sounds like it will work; I'll try it! That gets me thinking about other anti-wetting surface treatments - but hard, not oily ones. Like Rain-X maybe, or the dry anti-static teflon spray coating used for lubricating machinery (guns!) in dirty environments (Wurth # 0893 550 - U at www.wurthusa.com). Unfortunately, I'll be away from my workbench for several weeks and will not be able to comment more until then. But I look forward to catching up on more tips and sharing my own user reports when I get back! Stephen

Modified sewing needles to apply cyanoacrylate glue, good idea !
Rather than breaking off the end of the eye I used a Dremel tooll with a fine grinding stone to trim the needle. Easier to control, for sure.

andy

Hi Andy: I've tried that, too, worked ok for a while then I went to other methods. But I wonder - since I was never smart enough to use the Dremel on them - if you have any tips on how to profile the split end of the needle so as to best retain the CA and also have it handy for release? I mean, like have you experimented with a sharp-edge straight-across cut, or a concave or convex beveled tips, etc.? Just wondering....my needle supply is, well...hers? Stephen

I shouldn't need to mention this but ,
When you grind anything - anything, reach for the eye protection FIRST !
As far as the actual shape of the eye, I am still experimenting. A thin cut-off wheel lets you get in there.
As far as a source of sewing needles - go to any dollar store. Two or three bucks will buy you a life times supply. And they come in convenient indexing circular plastic cases no less.

Heh heh heh heh!

Raiding the significant others' stash of supplies is never a wise choice. That is unless you like a "Honey Do" List long enough to keep you far from the modeling bench for several days.

Actually, I tried shaping the ends of the needles to a few different configurations, square, rounded, pointed, angled and so on. For the most part pointed seemed to work okay on the larger sizes while angled to one side was pretty good for the tiny ones.

And as Andy pointed out, if you are working with a Dremel or any other motorized equipment, eye protection is a serious "must have". If you don't have access to a Dremel Tool, a set of sharpening stones will also work to shape the eye of the needle.

Making a handle is also a good idea since you will be dealing with such a small sized item. Using the barrel of a spent BIC type pen is the quickest and easiest one I have found. Remove the pen and plastic ink magazine tube by pulling the over sized insert that holds the pointy end by pulling it out with a set of mini pliers. Cut the barrel in half with a razor saw or rotating it around the edge of a hobby knife a few times to score it then snap it off to give you an appropriate sized gripping surface. Heat the needles' pointy end up with what ever heat source you have handy and insert it into the plastic head of the barrel before it cools down. If you make the hole over sized accidentally you can CA it in place or insert a piece of styrene rod in below the soft plastic end of the pen and CA that inside so it doesn't move down inside and use it for a further surface to hold the needle once you heat it up.

Hi All,

Since I have been tinkering with the photo etched pieces for my IJN Light Cruiser Oyodo build it dawned on me that one of the things that I do with things like the Instruction Sheets and Photo Etched Parts is catalog them in loose leaf notebooks. Once upon a time long ago I used to just stuff the instruction sheets into a shoe box. When it grew to the point of three shoe boxes, I knew that there had to be a better way. That, and a fellow modeling buddy asked if I had a copy of the instruction sheet for a model that he had picked up at a yard sale for dirt cheap and it did not have the instructions. He knew that I was a pack rat and had the same model in my collection. It took a couple of nights of digging through the shoe boxes to come up with the instructions, so I decided right then and there that my present system wasn't such a good one.

A visit to Office Depot provided me with a trio of loose leaf three ring notebooks, a box of Clear Sheet Protectors, and a package of Dividers with small plastic tabs on the edge. Thus armed with a number of evenings time, I managed to catalog all my old instruction sheets. At the time there was quite the collection of different sorts of models from Autos, to Armor, to Aircraft, to Figures, to Ships as well as more than a couple of different countries involved for each subject. It finally grew until I had six different loose leaf notebooks full. But most importantly, I could actually find what I was looking for amongst all of those printed bits of paper.

Taking it a bit further as Photo Etched Parts started becoming a part of my modeling habits, I decided right off the bat that cataloging them was not a bad idea at all. It also provided a place to store all of them quite handily. As I have been at this hobby for a long time, I can only urge you to start doing this sort of thing if you plan to keep the hobby going. But it sure does make life easier to be able to put your hands on something you want by just flipping through a few notebooks. When you take into consideration the amount of money you can spend on these things, it also makes more sense to handle in this manner or some other of your own design.



I would be interested in hearing how some of you deal with this particular little subject.

Hi All,

Carrying on with this little thread, I thought I would delve into one of the common subjects of our hobby, Paint. Admittedly, when I got my hot little hands on my first model around age 7 or so, the excellent looking box art of the subject contained therein held little relation to the actual project that I managed to accomplish, but then who can say their first efforts at most anything in the hobby comes out looking like those often romanticized visions of drama and excellence.

PART ONE

To start off with here are the most common flavors of paint that I use on my bench. I am sure that others probably have their own pets and this is by no means a complete depiction of what is available. Honestly, there are tons of new products in all sorts of use in the hobby and paint is no exception.



When I decided that I wanted to make my model look more like the box art, paint was one of the things that obviously came to mind as a way of getting those models closer to that idealized vision. As you can see in the photo, I have two types of enamel, Testors and Model Master as well as two types of Acrylics, Model Master and Tamiya. Also note that behind the paints are the proprietary thinners for each brand. When I started out about the only thing that was available were the tiny Testors 1/4 ounce bottles for modelers, short of going after various paints in auto paint shops or paint stores. As most models are made of styrene readily available in hobby shops, there are also wooden and resin ones and each has it's own painting particulars.

As to styrene, be warned, that all those true to reality colors available in auto paint stores also are designed to be applied to metal and fiberglass subjects over coats of painfully worked over layers of primer. I learned this the hard way when at an early age I shot a gorgeous coat of Auto Lacquer out of my first airbrush onto a carefully built car model body and watched it shrivel and warp into a lump of something that was no where near what I had wanted. Most auto paints, be they lacquer or enamel are way too "hot" to be shot onto bare styrene and do require layers of that primer before they can be adapted to our hobby. That said, they can be adapted but require special treatment to the styrene first. You will notice that I placed the word "Hot" in quotes, that is because to our styrene subjects that is exactly how they perceive auto paints and how they react. Model paints are specially formulated to be used on styrene and in some cases, even they require those same coats of primer be applied before the full appreciation of that particular type of paint you have so carefully chosen can be realized.

Before I completely lose everyone, primer is not a requirement, it is however a very good step once you get to a point in the hobby where you want to produce a superior paint job. Most hobby paints can be applied directly to styrene without hours of labor in preparation other than a simple wash of water and dish soap to remove the oils from your fingers as you handle the parts or remove the manufacturers products that they used in making the kit parts. As you apply multiple layers of primer and paint products to the surface of your model, you are also adding covering layers that in very small scales that can hide some of the fine detail that you have so laboriously applied in your attempt at realism. Limiting how many layers you apply is a choice that you will have to make in this trade off game.

You can apply paint with either a brush or an air brush or the ever popular spray can. Each one has it's own particulars in application. Most often hand brushing is how everyone gets started in applying paint to models. I have a number of different types and styles of brushes for different things. I would warn you to not even bother with the inexpensive plastic handled "Model Paintbrushes" that you see in most hobby shops and dime stores. They will get the job done but they also have a number of draw backs that limit their usefulness. While they are inexpensive and readily available, that is about their only good parts. Just move on down the aisle and look at the other brushes offered. I prefer Red Sable in various sizes and styles for my brush painting. It is commonly available, when taken care of by cleaning immediately after use and stored with the brush tip upright in what ever you chose to use for storage, they last for years and provide a economical choice. There are newer synthetics that have been designed for modeling use and these are also a good choice for some things but just starting out, I would still stand by Red Sable as a superior choice for long lasting quality and excellent finishing results.

Spray cans are often another choice in paint application and enamels and acrylics are both offered in these devices. I own a number of air brushes and still use them all the time, but even so, a "Rattle can" will still be my first choice at times. When used properly, they can be a quick and easy way to shoot on a coat of paint that eliminates a lot of hassles. For primer coats they can eliminate having to gunk up your air brush with thicker type paints that primers usually are. For a base coat they offer an easy no clean up method to get a uniform color overall in a limited amount of time.

They do have a few requisites that you need to be aware of, shaking them until they are thoroughly mixed is something that you have to do before use and during a long spray session is sometimes necessary. Holding them a distance of 6 to 10 inches away from the subject, read the label to get the best distance according to the manufacturer, is also a requirement in their use. Too close and your paint job will be rough like the surface of an orange when it dries, hence the title of "Orange Peel" for this effect. It also leads to runs and sags when you hold too close to the subject. Neither of which is insurmountable but who wants to strip and re-shoot the subject when a quick and easy job was what was originally intended. Also sanding out the "boo-boos" is another way of dealing with this issue, but in small sized projects this can be more trouble than it is worth. Too far away from the subject and you wind up with the paint drying before it actually hits the surface. This makes for a very rough finish that looks a lot like sand paper. Again, stripping and re-shooting is about the only remedy.

The last method of application is the tried and true air brush. This is an investment in your hobby and the selection of brands and types is like everything else in life, a personal preference. Once you graduate to the point that investing in one plus the equipment to make it work, do your homework, look at a number of choices, try them out using friends set ups if possible or if you belong to a modeling club talk to other members to see what they like. There is also the possibility of them letting you have a go with their gear before you plunk down your dollars. I would recommend that you just consider the purchase of an air compressor as part of the purchase of the air brush. The alternatives of "canned air" are really an unnecessary expense and do limit the number of things you can do as they don't really have a way to dial in pressure. They also have a an inconvenient habit of running out as you are in mid project or in the middle of cleaning your carefully chosen and purchased with hobby dollars air brush. There is also the use of various storage tanks for compressed air that you can get and these also share the inconvenience of running out at inopportune moments, not to mention lugging it down to the gas station or dive shop to refill during a busy day.

Now on to Part Two where we can get down to the actual business of PAINT

Part Two

The two most common types of paint for models breaks down into Enamel or Acrylic types. Enamel has long been used for the hobby as it offers quick and easy application, flows out nicely and covers the original surface changing the color to what you actually want versus the color that the styrene was molded in. It also has a few drawbacks that you need to be aware of. First and foremost is the smell. This is due to the medium that the colors are bound with, it is aromatic and in large quantities can be detrimental to your breathing apparatus and domestic tranquility. Brush painting limits this exposure to some degree as you are not generating as much of the harmful components into the air. Spray Cans and Air Brushes are the big generators of this problem. A spray booth is one way of dealing with this issue, opening a window in the area where you spray is another, or just taking it out side is also a good choice. This does lead to temperature coming into the picture not to mention dust or grit being introduced into your paint job. We can't always come close to the temperature requirements of the paint when we add the great out doors to the mix. A spray booth is a good choice if you can manage it. A spray mask and safety glasses are also smart if you are handling things that can harm your valuable self. Having worked in the Auto Body industry, I know what I am telling you.

With all of these problems, not insurmountable, but there none the less, enamel does offer a wide choice in colors available, excellent characteristics in application as well as near permanent and stable finishes once applied. For years they were the only game in town as far as modeling was concerned. They still offer a good choice as long as you are aware of the limitations and safety requirements involved.

When you are using enamels be aware that you should also use the same makers types of thinners for them. These thinners are required for air brush use as most paints as they come out of the bottle are too thick for good application with an air brush. Thinner also has a place in brush painting, it makes the paint, well, thinner, and allows it to flow out better as you apply it. This limits brush strokes and lets you get close to but not right on surfaces that may be another color or in a direction vertical or horizontal to what you are painting. You can hold the brush tip off from the edge of what you are painting and it will flow up to that edge without creeping up or along it. As the paint dries it will also smooth out and even it self to provide a nice even surface. It also has a place in special effects such as washes where more thinner is used than paint to dilute it down and let you apply translucent coats that can be used to shade aspects of your projects.

In all of this, please note that I said to use the paint manufacturer's own thinner. Paint formulations are different from one brand to the next. What will work with one, does not mean that it will work with another. Not playing well with another brand can lead to all sorts of problems you don't really want to deal with. Also be aware that mixing in thinner will totally ruin a bottle of paint for future use so do all your mixing in another container, not the paint bottle. Thinner accelerates the drying process, once you add it, it kick starts this process. Your bottle of paint will soon become a bottle of hard stuff that can't be used again.

When using enamels or any other types of paint for that matter,

DON'T SHAKE THE BOTTLE TO MIX THE PAINT!!!

While paint stores and auto shops use this method and they are the pros for this sort of thing, this ain't the way modelers need to do it. And yes, I know that you can buy miniature paint shakers too. Stirring the paint with a toothpick, a spare bit of old sprue or something is the better way. When you shake the bottle, not only are you mixing the paint, you are also coating the inside of the lid. When you unscrew the cap, paint doing what paint does very well. spreads out and coats the inside edges of the cap liner and lip of the bottle. If not cleaned up, when you screw that cap back on you are coating the threads on the top of the bottle as well leading to the need to use pliers or even a set of Vise Grips to remove it again. While you can clean this mess up by wiping the surfaces clean, save yourself the aggravation by stirring the paint to mix it up. And this is a very real necessary step as paint does settle into it's component parts while it sits on the Hobby Shop shelf and in your paint locker. Stirring it before use mixes everything back up so that the colors are uniform and come out to be what the manufacturer intended and the reason you chose it to go on your project.

Turning to the more friendly side of the paint world, we can take a little walk on the Acrylic side of the paint booth. Acrylic paints are rapidly replacing the hold that enamels have had in the hobby. They are a lot less aromatic ending the domestic issue for most. Clean up is easily accomplished with a little soap and water in most cases for your brushes and air brushes. The number of manufacturers is growing which is also leading to an increasing number of colors available. Health and Safety issues that were a given with enamels is reduced but even so, venting the area or use of a spray booth is still a good idea if spraying through an air brush or using a spray can. The use of a spray mask is also a good idea with any type of paint. While they don't share the aroma that enamels have, you don't want to coat your innards as you spray the outside of your model. And technicolor snot is not the way to go either.

The same issue with thinners is also shared with acrylics, use the manufacturer's brand for the paint that you are using. You will be much happier with the results. Any yes, I am fully aware of all the home brews that everyone suggests from tap water, to distilled water to rubbing alcohol, soap and combination's there of. If you are just starting out, you haven't done the experimentation to discover what works with what and don't really want to spend your hard earned hobby dollar on a model only to have it ruined by Joe Blow's suggestion of what works as a thinner for acrylic paints. With all of the variables that are possible, eliminate as many as you can by sticking with what was made for what you are using.

As you get into the world of painting your models you will discover all sorts of tricks and everyone had a tip or two. Experiment on old kits to see if what they recommend is going to work as you want. When it comes time to work on a project that you have labored long and hard upon, stick to the basics until you get some experience under your cap. Most manufacturer's have a website that can help in selection of colors, some provide hand out paint charts that you can obtain. There are also places that you can find conversion charts for various brands and colors. For military subjects there are a number of systems in place for color selection like the FS (Federal Standards) system used by the US Government. Some paint manufacturers have used this as a way to help modelers select the right colors for their subjects. There are also European and Asian manufacturers who have systems in place to accomplish this same task. The more information that you can get only helps to ease your choice of selections.

The forum site here is a great place to cruise through and learn about the various ways of paint application, choices, and selection.