Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

try this guy out...available at most LHS. http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/tes/tes2020c.htm has all of testors stuff...enamels, acrylics, metalizers, etc....along with some general FAQ. very good buy if you're trying to nail colors. The paint chips in the catalog are very close to the cards on the paint...

So I've set up a vacuum (and pressure) pot/chamber...but have yet to really use it (since I'm still working on a master). But after Sparky's and Valk's talks at the wonderfest seminars I thought I'd pull my equipment back out and fine tune it. My original first set up was only pulling about 27.5&quo...

futch, this isn't a SNAP application. i'm not MAKING strips. i'm ..."extracting" strips out of a larger piece. think thick grating..but instead of square holes, think long rectangular holes. no snapping off the edge--its extracing rectangles from the interior body. k'well, thanks for the w...

yeah...ran by my LHS...saw the strips. was pleasantly surprised to see so many different widths in each thickness. i'm seriously reconsidering using those precut strips...so nice and ready to use. just have to learn how to make perfect butted joints (with help of aves) to make it look like one piece...

i'm in the midst of doing some trial runs of a scratchbuilt and have an area where i want to make a "tread". imagine the tread on your shoe. i'm (most interested) using 0.04" thick styrene. i have a pattern to cut out (to make the "treads") then glue it to a backing piece. t...

is there a cheap way around this top?

say buying (3) 1/4 sheets of plexi and bonding them together ...around the edges..and maybe a grid in the middle?

where might i get these thin sheets? may a hardware store?
and what is best to bond them?

alright, alright... i'm going to make some calls....and price a clear lid. what should i be asking for? how thick minimum? and which type of plastic...plexi? anything else? (assuming diff materials may require diff thicknesses) many thanks forgot... everybody has been cool about giving options on th...

geez Umi, that tygon stuff is expensive....did you have it willed to you? even tho it looks neat and helpful, i'm wanting to keep things simple and easy and not use the plexi window top when degassing. is there a recipe for how long you pull the vacuuum...how many times you burp it, etc...while bein...

i wanted to say thanks to all of you for helping with these questions... however, i've stumbled onto a couple related issues: 1) are there special airlines that i should use for pulling vacuum? i'm afraid the ones i'm used to http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=54075 may...

(i don't have the tank beside me this weekend, but from memory)...the tank i have has a hard presta vavle (no line) on one end, and a 1/4" npt at the other end (no line)...with a pull-release "whistle" valve. seems like i remember hooking up an trigger air whose to clean. i figure wit...

i think its this tank..or something very similar http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=94399-33680-W-1010A are you saying, that once i rip off the brass head off that cat that the threads are typical for 1/4 NPT or something? i contemplated that a little...but doubted.......

since i wrote this... i've figured another way to ensure the "volume in time" concern. i.e....the problem of a compressor being able to provide enough pressure, but not provide adequate flowrate use an auxillery in-stage tank. i happen to have a 10 gallon air tank (from when i first starte...

sparky, what do you mean when you say "rolling a back down" on an open face mold? (haven't done it yet) but was think'g the best way to do an open face (even in a pressure pot) is keep it open....provide a small overflow vent (outside of the mold) then place a small piece of thick glass ov...

this may be a silly question, but while watching individuals scratchbuild, i noticed that the model was being primed, then additional details would be added OVER the primer. my concern would be the effectiveness of the detail/greeblie adhering to model (the plastic itself, as opposed to the thin lay...

M'nutz, How much did YOU use that airbrush compressor? Just wondering if you were mass producing kits and pushing that compressor every night? once a month...etc? And considering that the resin should set up quickly (20 min) compared to how long i may use the airbrush compressor continuously to pain...

I'm intending on pressure casting pieces in the near future. I'll be picking up the 2.5 gal pressure pot from Harbor Freight shortly. I was intending on using my airbrush compressor (iwata sprintjet). I see that it can supply the pressure I need, but I'm worried about volume. Not sure the flowrate o...

my 2 cents get the one erin/dasphule linked to i picked up the set futch showcases on his set.. found that the set of 0-11 was too small (may be able to use it later) ..but sent it back and got the set 0-23 ...(larger number = larger circle) PERFECT. (the group was "geiswien" or something ...

i think you're missing my point a little. here's a pic of the barrel i would like to cast http://www.dormoy.ca/3d/StarwarsTX130.jpg i want to do a two part mold. and i should add (that i didn't earlier) that i'm making this as a kit to sell, not just for my own usage. for this exercise i would only ...

in the near future I intend on casting a gun barrel (sim. to a modern tank). I always try to provide a relief channel at the "bottom" of my molds to allow the resin to work its way through and for trapped air to escape. I know this is a good practice, but if I'm pressure casting is this ne...

it (this post) was aimed at answering some concerns about CASTING resin in a PRESSURE POT. had nothing to do about one particular model, how it was cast, etc. message board etiquette suggests you stay (discussing) the topic at hand, but in addition you would likely get lots more responses to your ow...

bert,
thanx for hijacking this post.
next time....when you have a question totally unrelated to a topic, start a new post. thanx

watch what you're doing i did some quick research the venturi at HF took 4.2 cfm...to get up to 28" Hg.... my little iwata sprint compressor only pushes out something like 0.4 cfm...even tho it can get up to 58 psi... if i hooked up my comp. to the HF venturi....i would only pull 1/10 of what i...

i keep seeing the magic number of "28" of mercury"...i'm not familiar with that so much (i'm a structural engineer) but i do have a better feel for psi... and 28" of mercury is only 14 psi that doesn't seem like much at all would think a good shop vac could pull that.. and if a v...

umi,
the cup you had the RTV was in was one quart...or the whole pressure vessel was 1 quart?

and how did you rig the shop vac to the pressure container? i suppose i could get a thick piece of acrylic..and make a small fitting to capture the end of the nozzle of the shop vac?

umi, sorry not to follow exactly.. are you commenting on j'browns pressurizing suggestion? are you supporting the idea of pressuring the curing of the RTV? and it sounds like you're saying there WILL be bubbles left in the cured RTV once it is cured? isn't this the issue we're trying to avoid? to RI...

scratching my head... ... i understand the process of lowering the pressure of a liquid..to remove air entrapped...but how does pressurizing remove the bubbles?...when pressurized...bubbles would stay (much like a sealed coke can, until the top is popped) and if this is the poor mans' method...why i...

umi,
i was doing a search last night..
and seem to remember seeing one post where you thought a shop vac could pull the needed vacuum to degas...or get close to it.

have you tried this...or just theorizing?
and how would one make an adapter from plastic hose to pressure pot?

thanx

i'm wanting to up my casting game..but not sure i want to put down the big bucks yet for a nice vacuum pump. i'm looking at two choices... bombs away method or hooking up a venturi to my iwata sprint compressor. 1-am i loosing a lot of quality by using a prof. vacuum pump? 2-how MUCH am i loosing (n...

i usually hear of degassing the rtv..
you're saying i should pressurize it?

in the pressure pot..
let it totally cure while being pressurized?

how much pressure do i need to do that satisfactorily?

i was rethinking what umi said.. and at first was thinking of the barrel in terms of the barrel being cast on the horizon (in landscape....aka pointing left and right) the only way i can see the rod supporting itself is if the barrel was pointing straight up (muzzle at the top). but for this to happ...