Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Nice concept.....just a couple of words of advice and warning. You do need at least 25" of Hg to degasse rubber properly. That hand vac pump would be to difficult to use to degasse resin before it started to cure. Also that GLASS fish bowl :shock: .....man you are asking for trouble there. If y...

I would have to agree with everyone here.....The Chopper II is the way to go. I bought mine from a LHS that was going out of bussiness :( so I got it very cheap. I absolutely love it, it's one of those tools that you ask yourself how did I get along without this thing. So in short :thumbsup: :thumbs...

I bought one of the cutters from Micromark....It works Great for cutting thin sheet. I needed something I could cut .030 and thicker though. I came up with this Cutter I made it out of 2 carpenters squares and a piece of laminated MDF board. Works Very well....Great for thicker and larger pieces. It...

Anyone have or have used one of these? Strip_Cutter I was thinking about getting one to try to cut my own strip styrene. I don't have a LHS or anyplace relativly close by so it has been mail order only for styrene strips. I thought this might work for cutting my own from thin .001-.003 styrene sheet...

Has anyone used this stuff? Is it really an acrylic putty? I was thinking about using it to seal foam that I have cut to shape for models.

There are two different kinds
Green
Blue

I didn't want to just go out and buy it...almost $20/tube just to try it.

Pete

There was an article a long time ago in FSM on lighting the ETRL Enterprise D with flourescent lights. You had to canibalize some flourescent flashlights. Each tube required it's own mini ballast if I remember correctly. LED's were not as readily available back then...or at least not as cheap. So to...

Frisket is used better for making low tack templates..not decals. Get yourself some decal paper....just do a google search for waterslide decal paper...or inkjet decal paper. Also...Photoshop is not one of the best programs to use to make decals. Try Corel Draw or Some other Cad program. You want to...

acrylic paint + Dishwashing soap + a little water = SLUDGE

It was an article in a FSM. Not sure what issue though.

I spray into a funnel....and YES wear a latex glove.

Or take the nozzle off a can of WD40....you know the ones with the straw built into it..and replace the paint can nozzle with the WD40 nozzle. Only works on the cans that have a removable nozzle though.

You can also use these....
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=93062

I picked up a pair and they work very well. They are cheap too.

Sounds to me like you didn't mix it up in the right proportions. Shouldn't take that long to cure...even at a cooler temperature. I also do most of my mold making in the basement...cooler than the rest of the house. I have never had any problems with cure time. I do use the Mold Max Fast Cat so my m...

I've never personally used the Tamiya putty. But if it is like most epoxy putties it should have little to no shinkage. Maybe someone who has used that putty will have a better answer for you. I have used the 2 part plumbers putty before when I didn't have anything else available. That worked out re...

Both squadron green and Bondo glazing putty shrink when sprayed with primer. I had this same issue myself once. What I was told is that I 1) I could just put another coat of bondo/squadron on and resand and reprime untill the seam is gone. 2) Use a acrylic primer. 3) Use Aves epoxy putty and not hav...

It is addicting isn't it


Already started mod'ing the thing......Cam release for the tail stock.

And a bunch of other little mods I found on www.minilathe.com

As for a mill.....I've had my eye one one of those for a while too.

That darn Tim the Toolman syndrome



Pete

Kylwell wrote:and spend another coupla hundred on accessories.

Yep, I went out and bought a new 6" bench grinder and a bunch of tool blanks today....there goes another $50.....isn't our hobby fun


Pete

That's a wood lathe all right.....Didn't have a need for just a dedicated wood lathe. Nice thing about the 7x10 metal lathe is that you can buy a wood working tool rest to take the place of the metal tool bit. So you can still turn wood if the need comes up.

Well I finally went out and did it. What you ask......I went and bought this. NEW_TOY Harbour Freight had them on sale(ending today) for $369.00 So I bit the bullet and bought one. Now I can finish a couple of projects that I have waiting. Just have to clean all the Nasty Red grease off of it. Pete

While opening Christmas Gifts, one of the presents had this cord wrapped around it. Not sure what else to call it. With a little painting it makes for nice simulated hose.

Hose




Pete

Sometimes they are unavoidable.....but form what you describe it sounds like they needed to de-air the rubber before pouring the mold.

Yep airbubbles in the mold causes them. They tend to show up more if you pressure cast. And mostly along a seam or on a sharp edge.

Sounds like you could use some flexi-files. They work Great on rounded surfaces.

I have recently started using Smooth Cast 305 and I gotta say I love the stuff. If I need a little more working time I use Smooth Cast 310. Both of these have produced excellent results for me. I was previously using Alumilite Regular....too short a potlife and too many bubble (even under pressure c...

Well......I baked the part. I had the oven set at 275 and I baked the part for 15min. It worked quite well. All I really needed to do was harden the Scupey a little so it would hold it's shape. I'm using the part as a master for a new mold I'm making. The heat didn't seem to affect the resin. I stil...

I was wondering if anyone has ever put resin parts in the oven? The reason I ask is that I made a master for a part I needed multiple parts of and I cast them in Alumilte resin. I needed to add some detail to the parts that I made out of sculpey.....can I bake the resin part with the sculpey on it o...

Oops Not Used. ........USE. They are like a very fine buffing cloth. You polish the paint...then put your top coat on. They also work great for buffing model master metalizer paints.

If you are looking for an Ultra smooth finish on already painted models used coffee filters as your final buffing before gloss or dull coating.

Are you looking to make a lid out of clear plexi? Why don't you just go buy a sheet of 1/4" and bond the pieces together to form a thicker lid? I used some acrylic solvent from plastruct to make a 1" thick lid. A heck of a lot cheaper than trying to buy a 1" thick piece of plexi.

Thanks Guys......

Now once you have it all ground up do you just add it to your mixed RTV?

Won't it mess up the detail of what you are trying to make a mold of.

I have a question on what to do with old worn out or no longer needed molds. I have heard that you can grind them up and use them as filler. What do you use to grind them up? Do you just add the ground up bit to the rubber you are going to pour or do you place it in unimportant parts of a new mold? ...

Found this with a Google Search.....I havn't tried it yet. But it sounds promising if you only need to make a short life mold. Thinning Silicone Caulk Sources on the internet indicate that Distilled water, Naphtha, Toloul or charcoal lighter fluid can be used to thin silicone caulk in a tube. One su...