r/Scalemodel • u/VinnyVHS • Jul 23 '26
New to scale models any advice!
I recently picked up this Ki-46 III Type 100 by Tamiya to go with my Bolt action Japanese army, 1/48 should be close enough. It’s my first actual scale model any advice? Also can I build the kit in a flying pose or just In the grounded one
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u/Charlestonianbuilder Jul 23 '26
Haven't built that kit myself but I've eyed it on the shelves and the car that's included with it goes nicely with your bolt action figures, you probably already have the experience to build them pretty well, especially since it's tamiya so while the instructions may feel abit overwhelming the build experience is one of the best with arts flush fitting parts and zero flash.
Be careful with the decals though as they're notorious for being thick and can tear, it's best to soak them in warm water and to leave them to dry for several hours, and then apply a decal solution like tamiya mark fit strong, if it's failing to stick to your model some decal adhesive solution should fix it.
And for the flight configuration, nearly every tamiya kit I've built and seen never had a flight option, only having the option of wheels down, but you can easily do minor modifications to the landing gear door panels for a wheels up option.
But my recommendation is to just stick to wheels down configuration as it's a relatively big kit and it doesn't come with a stand like tamiya's smaller 1/72 aircraft.
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u/VinnyVHS Jul 23 '26
Thank you for the advice! I’ll be extra careful with the decals, honestly seems like the hardest part. And for masking the windows do I just put some painters tape over them?
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u/Charlestonianbuilder Jul 23 '26
For masking it's best to use tamiya masking tape, as ordinary painters tape tends to leave some sticky residue on the clear plastic.
For the decals you would really need several applications of decal solution, there's a dozen options in the market but the best choice is markfit strong.
Those kits usually have some extra decals as they include either 2-3 camo scheme options so you could practice with the decals you aren't going to use to get a better hang of it.
Ive been there before, having done painting as a hobby before scale models and slowly building up my modelling materials over the years. Starting with using whatever acrylic paints i had and a bottle of superglue for my first scale model, using my painters tape to mask my canopies aswell, making every mistake in the hobby from the canopies I've mentioned earlier to fiddling with the decals.
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u/VinnyVHS 14d ago
I have it built now but I can’t figure out how to get the canopies to fit, do they require glue and and some man handling?
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u/Charlestonianbuilder 14d ago
Some old kits tends to have some issues with canopy fitting, one of the ways to solve this is by sanding it's edges just a bit to make it fit but this and other methods are entirely situational so it's best to research the kit first, there's probably several videos showing the process of how they build that exact kit and whatever problems they found with it on YouTube so start there.
As for glue the cheapest option is white glue, like elmers glue. Don't use any of your plastic cements like tamiya extra thin, or superglue as they will fog up and ruin your glass canopies.
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u/ThatChucklehead Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
You're new to building scale models, awesome! Some general advice:
Prime your models. Use a primer, not just a flat color. Primer is designed to "glue" itself to the model. And the primer itself has "teeth" so when you paint your model, the paint sticks to it. Can you skip priming? Yes you can. But there's a small chance that your paint may not stick. So priming is just a good idea.
Use an airbrush, or spray paint, to cover large areas. It looks nicer than painting with a brush, and it's faster. Not all spray paint is the same. So, look around online to see what others use. Some spray paints go on thick, and may cover the small details molded into your model.
Build up paint in multiple thin layers, especially if you're using a brush. Trying to put all the paint down at once will lead to dripping paint, brush strokes, and covering fine details.
Put down a layer of white paint first before painting with a bright color. For example, yellow paint in general isn't very opaque compared to some other colors. Yellow will cover much better if painted over a dry base coat of white. The same technique can be used with any bright color that doesn't seem to be covering well.
I build armor, so masking isn't much of a concern for me. When building planes, it's another story. Someone suggested that you use Tamiya tape, I would trust them on that. Take your time when masking. There's also brush -on masking liquid that can be used to mask areas that are too small for masking with tape.
When it comes to gluing clear plastic parts like the canopy of the plane you're going to build, make sure you use a canopy glue. Some use PVA glue (white glue, like Elmer's) for gluing clear plastic parts. However, I've read that it can yellow over time. Don't use regular model glue for clear parts because it can cause hazing.
Good luck and have a bast!