http://www.inpayne.com/models/rufe1.html

Just wanted to knock out a simple 1/48 WWII kit to get something relaxing done. This is Tamiya's classic old "Rufe" floatplane fighter.

The decals were a bit old and unreliable, so I used aftermarket meatballs with the kit markings. I usually do open cockpits, but my desire to do a fast build led to whipping thru the interior with minimal effort and using the closed canopy to cover my tracks. Unfortunately I whipped thru so whippy that I forgot to install the gunsight.

The antenna broke off, of course, so I made a replacement with a pin and some plastic sheet. The pin really helps give it strength for tfishline antenna wire.

Nice weathering on the black nose just behind the propellor; is that pencil lead 'drawn' on, or a metallic paint such as aluminium or steel chrome ?
And are you able to display all your finished kits or do many have to be put away in boxes due to lack of space (like mine!)?

The "paint-chipping" on the cowl was done with a silver Prismacolor pencil. I've been doing that a lot lately, and I like the subtlety of the results.

Everything I have built, I have on display - but it's at the point where I'm not sure I'll be able to find a spoit for the next kit I finish!

Here's my shelves:
http://www.inpayne.com/models/shelves/modelshelf.html

The paint-chipping: I've just recently started buying modelling magazines for the first time in over 20 years, and I'm amazed at some of the tricks the contributors know for achieving paint-chipping effects. Silver gel pens, ordinary pencils, graphite, dark brown enamel to simulate bare metal, tinfoil, you name it!

The shelves: Wow. You've shown them to us before, as I remember the Monty Python Camelot figures, but I'd not spotted that you've built the Tamiya Brachiosaurus. That's yet another kit I somehow can't get finished.

The paint-chipping: I've just recently started buying modelling magazines for the first time in over 20 years, and I'm amazed at some of the tricks the contributors know for achieving paint-chipping effects. Silver gel pens, ordinary pencils, graphite, dark brown enamel to simulate bare metal, tinfoil, you name it!

The shelves: Wow. You've shown them to us before, as I remember the Monty Python Camelot figures, but I'd not spotted that you've built the Tamiya Brachiosaurus. That's yet another kit I somehow can't get finished.

You'll notice my Brachio is also unfinished? :) She's glued together, but that's all!

Another fun paint chip technique is the wet salt technique. First paint the areas to be chipped silver. Make a wad of wet salt, dab your brush in it, then dab it on the model where you want chips. After the blobs dry, paint the model as normal. After the paint dries, wash the model and rub the salt off. I tried it on Dick Tracy's fire escape and garbage can (using rust as the undercoat):
http://www.inpayne.com/models/dick1.html

Thanks, excellent idea, and it looks good on the garbage can in your Dick Tracy kit, with the paint slightly peeling at the edges of the rusty patches.

I stopped using something called Humbrol Maskol rubber solution to mask off painted surfaces, because it left flaky edges on the next coat when it was removed. But now I see it's the same principle as the wet salt technique, and can be used deliberately to create flaking around rust and damage. And I never realised until now...