Master Class Model Building Videos
is a new enterprise and this DVD is their first endeavour in providing the
modeler with a video resource to aid in their building. It is produced by
modeling enthusiasts who know what modelers would like to see.
This
first in hopefully a long series of instructional videos covers the
building of the Hasegawa Bf-109G-6 in its entirety starting from right
after the parts are removed from the box through basic assembly, painting,
and final assembly.
When
I was in radio control years ago, I had bought a number of instructional
videos when I was going to try out different aspects of the hobby, I was
never satisfied with those videos as they were usually short, poorly
produced, and sorely lacked enough information for you to finish a new
type of model, their hope was you would buy more videos. I was pleasantly
surprised to see this new DVD set consisted of three DVD’s, was
professionally produced with model master builder Floyd S. Werner, Jr. (
Floyd has a number of articles on this site) building the model. This DVD
set is a whopping 5 ½ hours long, here is what you’ll find on the
different volumes:
Volume
1
Washing
Parts, Removing Parts, Assembling Cockpit, Pre-shading Cockpit, Applying Oil
Wash, Weathering Cockpit, Detail Painting Cockpit, Assembling Fuselage, Filling
and Sanding Seams, Scribing Panel Lines, Using Putty & Mr. Surfacer,
Installing Cockpit, Dealing With Fit Problems, Assembling Wings
Volume
2
Finding
and Fixing Hidden Flaws, Assembling Airframe Components, Installing &
Aligning Tail Planes, Fixing Flaps, Building Wheels, Adding Airframe Details,
Preparing for Paint, Applying Primer from a Spray Can, Mixing Paint for the
Airbrush, Pre-shading Airframe, Masking With Tape, Painting Camouflage, Mixing
Acrylic Paints, Mottling, Post-fading, Using Black Magic Masks, Painting Details
Volume
3
Masking
Wheel Wells, Finishing Landing Gear, Attaching Flaps, Masking and Painting the
Spinner, Applying Glosscoat With Future, Painting and Weathering Exhausts,
Removing Clear Parts, Using Black Magic Canopy Masks, Applying Decals, Applying
Flat Coat, Adding Oil Wash, Simulating Oils Stains, Paint Chipping Techniques,
Creating Exhaust Stains, Weathering, Final Assembly, Attaching Clear Parts,
Adding the Antenna
A
lot of us have been building models off and on for quite a few years, myself for
around 35 years, but I learned a technique or two on the basic building section
that should make my model building easier and hopefully a little more neat. I
have seen frequent questions on our site on pre-shading, using an airbrush,
using Future, and a multitude of other questions, a lot of those questions are
answered on this video in a very clear manner by Floyd. Watching Floyd’s
techniques with the airbrush makes it look easy although I know it takes lots of
practice, but seeing how he achieved the different effects has finally prompted
me to pull out my airbrush and give it a try.
Floyd
builds the model right out of the box, the only aftermarket item he used was
some aftermarket decals by Eagle Edition. There is an area on the side of the
flaps that has a gap and isn’t the easiest to fill, the video has an insert
card with information on what is on each DVD, there is also a template for
cutting end caps for the flaps out of thin plastic for an easy solution to that
problem. Also included on the insert card is a suggested list of tools and
paints to finish the model.
On
the DVD’s I was really impressed by the section on airbrushing, mostly because
that was pretty much a black art to me. Floyds technique for weathering the
model in multiple steps was simple but so realistic. I have read numerous
articles and threads on message boards on how to achieve these effects, but it
wasn’t until I saw it actually being applied that I finally understood how to
do it, nothing really beats seeing it done. Also covered in detail is weathering
with pastels.
The
DVD will run nonstop from start to finish, at the beginning there is a very easy
to use menu with each section so you can always come back to review a section
without any hassles, I know I will be going back quite often. Sometimes there is
a problem living in one part of the world and buying a DVD from another, the
publisher took that into consideration and has made this set so it will be able
to run on 95% of the DVD players around the world.
I
hope more videos come out in this series, even to people who have been modeling
for years, there could be something to learn to help make your model just that
much more realistic. For a beginner or someone just getting back into the hobby
after a long time off, this would be invaluable. I learned quite a few things
and a number of times found myself thinking that’s an easier way than I was
doing it in the past. After I finished watching it I made a trip to the hobby
store to pick up more supplies, I even picked up a Pro Modeler 109 to try my
hand at it, it was that good.
Highly
recommended.
I
would like to thank Master Class Model Building Videos for the review sample.
http://www.masterclassmodels.com/