Okay.. a bit of a cut n paste from a guide I posted to another user:
Mech production 101
Developing building methods, and accurate shapes has been something of a process of trial and error. There are very few good references out there that show good 3d models of these mechs.. You need serious patience to build these models - and also need to be prepared to throw away (okay well, discard in the hope of later being able to use) parts that don't
quite look right. Nothing is worse than being stuck with something that doesn't quite look right - and devalues all of the hard efforts you have made elsewhere on the model. Quality control is boss here - and you need to be hard on yourself to achieve anything good (The Timberwolves shown here are the THIRD variant I have tried to make (and one earlier example is shown in posts above).
Some generic quick notes follow:
Construction materials
I mostly use
Plastruct and
Evergreen sheet plastic - in various sheet thicknesses:
- 1mm for heavier structural components (legs!!) as you sometimes need to drill the joints and reinforce them with wire
- .5 ~ .13mm for detail and outer surfaces (that you see and don't hide). .13mm evergreen is also great for plate detail - but be careful with it as plastic model cement melts it - so instead use cyanoacrylate (superglue or contact adhesive)
- Tamyia 2-part Epoxy Modelling Putty (smooth surface) - for shaping curves - eg the centre torso/head of those Timberwolves
- Tamiya Basic Putty - for filling cracks and gaps. You can thin it with Tamiya cement to make it settle better - and use the surface tension to self-level it etc. It also sands fairly smooth and it relatively soft (so easy to work)
Always be in the lookout for useful bits and pieces.. for example - I used candy sticks (Chupachups) for my Timberwolves' arms. Be careful though in that these plastics don't often work well with model cement though, and you have to use cyanoacrylate superglue..
Glues- Tamiya Cement - for all structural plastics, and any plastic sheet thicker than about .3mm
- Cyanoacrylate (superglue) - for anyting metallic, or likely to melt with Tamiya cement - as mentioned above. SPECIAL TIP: KEEP IT IN THE FRIDGE: it will last for months/years once opened - whereas an open tube left at room temperature will dry up in a week. Note also that the higher viscosity of older cyanoacrylate, which has been open for longer, makes it very useful for slowly fiddling with part alignment. Brand new glue is very runny, and also sets extremely fast.. so you need to take care with for example surface mating - as the armour plate you are trying to fit may slide out of place and set permanently in a matter of seconds.
- White Glue (or PVA) - Excellent for gluing cockpit glass - because if won't cloud or fog it up - and if you mess it up - it's water-based so you can just wash it off and start again. Avoid using it on anything that takes any sort of load, though.
- Epoxy glue (Aidos, Araldite etc) - good for making strong bonds on load-bearing joints - hips, knees, legs etc - as it is less brittle than cyanoacrylate when dry - so is mechanically a little tougher
- Acrylic Matt Clear Dullcoat Varnish - works excellently for very small parts - for which the potential dab of glue off the end of a pinhead is likely to be much bigger than. Obviously it is the weakest of all on this list - and should only be used for very light parts that are unlikely to be touched. I personally use the Gungze Sanjo Mr Hobby brand. It sticks well and dries completely invisible.
Tools
Get youself a good
X-acto or similar blade. For making good straight edges when cutting plasticard - just lightly score a line with the blade (use a straight metal ruler) - and place the scribed plastic on a table edge etc, and break it down. The resulting fracture surface is always much straighter than when you simply cut straight through with the knife - avoid this where possible.
Also try and get a
small twist-drill with chucks to receive a variety of small drills (.13~2mm). Useful for pinning leg joints with wire (to make them stronger) - and boring out the ends of MGun and Laser barrels.. actually I mostly use a sharp X-acto blade point for that..
Tweezers - lots of tweezers. They come in various shapes and sizes - and case by case they are all useful
Finishing tools
Buy a good bag of files - in various shapes and sizes.. The Timberwolf torso process involves making a fairly crudely shaped (but accurate as possible) sculpture of Tamiya Epoxy putty - and then filing it very carefully into the correct ellipsoidal shape using files and sand paper..
Also invest in a variety of modelling sandpapers.. Tamiya finishing abrasives are particularly good..
Airbrush
I use an airbrush for my first coats. I highly recommend getting one if you are serious about modelling. I use a Tamiya HG spray gun (which can focus and paint a very tight line), and a separate compressor with moisture trap. You can pick up a basic airbrush and compressor for a couple of hundred USD - and this will greatly improve the quality of you work.
Paint Brushes
Buy good ones - art supply shops usually carry the best brushes (say, Da Vinci or Winsor & Newton etc) - the ones you find in hobby shops are usually much lower quality and are priced highly..
Paint
NB: Never use paint to try and cover poor workmanship. You will fail.
Paint and finishing are
hugely important, and there is quite a bit of chemistry to take onboard here, so read this carefully..
I use
Tamiya Acrylic for airbrushing - because it is designed especially for this, and it airbrushes exceptionally well (conversely it brushes very poorly - so don't even bother trying to paint it this way). Thin it with Tamiya acrylic thinner (which is mostly Isopropyl Alcohol - and pure Isopropyl Alcohol is a much cheaper alternative if you can buy it). Try to avoid putting any other brand or type of paint through your airbrush (including Tamiya enamels)
The thing to remember with airbrushed acrylic paint is its porosity - which makes its surface almost
chalky. Caution is required because the airbrushed acrylic paint is very soft.. but its porosity makes the surface ideal for handpainting (brushing) washes and detail atop of. Be extremely careful though in that
if you airbrush acrylic base - apply a thinned enamel wash. This is crucial, so that the solvents in the base coats, and in the washes do not interact with each other - and so that the layers of paint are incoherent. If they are coherrent - the solvents in the wet paint will delaminate the dry paint from your model - and create a huge mess. Wash Tamiya enamels thinned heavily with Tamiya enamel thinner for best results - wash mixes of black/brown etc to give a weatherly grimey battlefield look. Don't get carried away, though - a little goes a long way.
If all turns to custard - and you are forced to strip paint away - try and wipe it away with Isopropyl alcohol. If this fails, use brake fluid. Never use turpentines as they eat plastic. Always try to preserve the surface finish beneath the paint you are trying to remove - and only use sandpaper if you absolutely have no other choice.
Finally, because I obviously don't have decals to apply I like to paint details and markings and SOME camouflage details (most camouflage I airbrush - using a Tamiya Spraywork HG setup - which can airbrush a pencil line of spray if you use it carefully) with Citadel/Games Workshop paints. Citadel paints are water-based (don't put alcohol in them) - so if you are careful and don't scrub too hard - you won't dislodge your acrylic underpainting.. If the added surface tension of the water in the paint becomes too much of a problem (big drops on your brush) just add a
smear of dish soap into your palete's puddle of water - the detergent will lower the viscosity of the water and make it more manageable to your brush..
A separate note on Cockpit Glass
Again, very important and using clear/transparent plexiglass windows makes models look much more believable.. Start hording plastic
bubble packaging materials. Well, horde the thin ones - and collect a variety of shapes.. The Timberwolf cockpit glass came from replacement X-acto blade plastic packaging bubble/tubing, lol. Be very selective here, and make sure there are no scratches, dents or clouding present in the plastic. If you want to colour the glass (recommended) - be sure to paint the INSIDE of the glass with Tamiya Enamel clear paints (clear orange, or yellow, or blue, or smoke etc. This will ensure you have a nice surface finish on the side you actually look at. Also be careful no to apply too much paint - as this will render the glass too opaque - in which case you may as well have not bothered.
Again, and I stress this - only use white glue or clear varnish to stick your cockpit windows on - as all other glues will be prone to clouding the glass up - if even a little glue is put in the wrong place.
The solid struts/framing in the glass you can hand paint on the apexes very carefully with a small brush. Your other option is to construct very thin (.13mm evergreen) plastic fairings - paint these first and then glue them on - to give straighter lines. I did this in places on my Timberwolf..
Finally - in the overall process of building a mech - I usually come to the cockpit last; i.e.: after the mech is basically completely finished and painted - so as to not have to mask off, or accidently overspray opaque paint on my plexiglass. It is fairly easy to clean paint off the plexiglass, though, just sharpen a wooden toothpick to the shape you require with a knife, dip it in alcohol and scrub away and voila! clear plexiglass! (that's a very handy tip for when you come to detailing struts on the outside apexes with a paintbrush)..
And that is basically everything I know about modelmaking. There is probably more I could write in terms of finishing surfaces, plate detail and hiding joints with tinfoil.. but maybe any so concerned can just ask the questions and I'll be happy to answer them.
Edited by Joseph Ward, 30 November 2012 - 11:20 PM.
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http://img338.images...0/dsc04456j.jpg
you would make many many "trekkies" look like bloody noobs 
