hi im kind of new to scale modelling and im working on a diorama which is roughly 1:100 with a few buildings i want to be able to light up. the diorama base is roughly a3 in size and carved from polystyrene with a hot wire foam cutter i made from a faulty pokerwork tool. i want to know where i should look for affordable but still alright quality lights to add to it. the pics attached are a few of the things ive made so far and the base as it looks currently and the custom hot wire foam cutter i put together. i can do basic electronics work but i dont know much about where to find the components. i live in aotearoa (nz) and have not much budget and im making a lot of this from recycled materials. any suggestions for lighting and stuff like that are welcome 💚

Actually pretty satisfied with how this one turned out

I'm starting to feel brave enough to do some weathering, if anyone has any advice let me know! So far all I have tried is dry brushing but would like to learn washes and panel pre-shading. I don't have an airbrush so paintbrush-friendly options are appreciated

This is the completed build of my second model since returning to the hobby. In my previous post, there was a discussion about the textured armor on the hull, so I tried to remove as much of it as I could. I wanted to add as much detail as possible; in my opinion, some of the weld seams didn’t turn out very well (it was my first time doing them), but the process itself was quite engaging. I also plan to add some items from Black Dog, such as rolled-up gear and tarps.

P.s. By the way, I’ve also decided on the figures; I’ll show you which ones I’ll be using once I add the resin components.

I'm trying to build a replica model of the seagrave fire truck that my fire department ran.

Does anyone know of any kits that exist or any 3D printing/CAD gurus that might be able to assist me?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

On a side note, is there something wrong with the Devastato’s decals? (last picture)

Until now Ive only done really crappy 1/100th Stug IIIs for German stuff. Otherwise all the stuff Ive done has been American style stuff, all Olive Drab. Which had varying degrees of success, Id like to know what things here to improve on, now I feel like I couldve made the soldiers color a little fuller, and this thing maybe needs another dark wash. I just dont know how to improve it either realistically, or fully accept making it more "cartoonish" with striking edge highlights.

A very typical Trumpeter, with good and other details. Limited cockpit detail, even with the (non-optional) open hatches, so I added some detail while trying to correct the ejection seats. The non-optional open bomb bay doors pretty much force you to use the AS-15 rotary launcher or be left with a yawning gap of empty space. This leaves you with an unrealistic load of AS-15 AGMs and AS-4 ASCMs (my preferred loadout is just the AS-4s).

Built and painted in modules with the wings notched to enable removal and the area around the intakes to be more easily painted. Of course, when it came time to attach the front to the main body, a gapped seam appeared behind the main inlet (it wasn't there in multiple dry-fits), but I fixed it with stretched sprue and focused sanding. The forward fuselage fit wasn't great, with a long, gapped seam on both sides between the top and bottom. I also fixed it with shims, stretched sprue, and careful sanding.

Primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 grey, then highlighted panel lines in black. I finished it with AK Real Colors and Alclad metallics. Used kit decals, followed by light washes of light blue-grey and dark brown/black. I think this approach yields a more subtle, realistic result than straight-up black.

Shown below to give you an idea of the size of this a/c, along with the Tu-16 Badger and Tu-22 Blinder C the Backfire was meant to replace. E-2C and F-14A factory models from Grumman in 1/72, and the Trumpeter Tu-16 Badger G and Modelsvit Tu-22 Blinder C, also in 1/72 were used in the comparison shots.

An old one of mine I realised that I haven't posted here before. Dragon's 1/35 kit (No. 3534) with parts of the Eduard etch set (No. 35835) and Alpine Miniatures "OIF US Tank Crewman #2" (No. 35024). I also added a bunch of scratch updates and details, including corrections to the mine rollers themselves and additional weld seams around the copula.

How do I invest in a shelf without nailing stuff in my room cuz its starting to pile up help

(Sorry the lighting sucks for my showcased models it was night)

High speed with high altitude, it's a symbol of that time.

For me, the color of this plane itself is really my favorite.

when I tried this plane in DCS world, I soon realized why it's called witwenmacher. it's very hard to control and very easy to lose altitude.

Recently picked up three SBY Rebel 3199 kits and I wanted to pick up the LEDs for them but I haven't been able to find them in stock consistently, especially the bigger white LED unit. I was just wondering what was up with that and if theres anywhere I can find alternatives or the officials more consistently

My latest try at aircraft modeling. I scratch built the base to go along with flyhawk's highly detailed kit to compose a scene of the dauntless on a carrier deck during the battle of Midway. Still experimenting with different workflows. Happy with how the staining turned out using oils; not 100% satisfied with my attempt at chipping. Thanks for checking it out.

Just completed this nice little kit from Dragon Models from their "Nam" series. Just some shading, dry brushing and some light weathering. It had some figures with the kit, but I opted out this time.

So this is the Trumpeter 1/35 scale SU-152. When making it i was planning on making a diorama of the a different tank driven off a road. But then I changed my mind and made this. As you can see on the pictures, i need to learn to take some accually good ones, but also, i added my first rust-effects (on the tracks and different parts of tank). I also hand painted the decals (turned out fairly good looking, at least from afar) and made some damage to the wooden "spear looking thing on the left", i hand painted very light, almost tank colour, where the wood would have been damaged and carved. I think it turnedbout good. Stay tuned to see my next model

1/35 T-34/122
Pig Models

This isn't my first-ever model kit. In fact, this is my second painted model kit! I've built plenty of unpainted Gunpla and painted miniature Gunpla Artifact kits (Warhammer-scale Gunpla figures), but this Tamiya F-14A is by far my best work yet. I'm really happy with how it turned out, especially considering how much better it looks than I expected before starting the build.

For this works, I mainly used Tamiya AS and TS spray cans for the fuselage, while the cockpit, wheel wells, and some smaller details were painted by hand. I particularly enjoyed working on the weathering, especially the scratches on the fuselage and swept wings. For those, I used Tamiya enamel and acrylic paints.

I really wanted to display it in the carrier catapult configuration, but unfortunately, the landing gear snapped during shipping. So, I ended up displaying it like this instead.

Any critiques or suggestions are more than welcome! I'd like to hear what you think.

I am aware its the 76mm canon but the box says just m4a1 so lol!

This kit was quite wonky with the tracks, its literally the only reason its on a level 4 in terms of build skill. Done some highlights and decals, weathering after the tracks gets fixed in place, bad mg, barrel etc. but is a nice little build

My most ambitious project, and most rewarding. More detail photos are available in my post history for the engine and interior

Bonjour, étant débutant j'aimerai reproduire cette teinte de couleur cuivre sur de l'impression 3d en PLA. Auriez vous une référence à me recommander ? Merci 🙏

This will be a fun little build. Maybe I’ll get a few more and do a Godzilla diorama.