Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Thanks, SpaceRanger,
And what do you use as a primer before using enamels? I'm resigned to having to use a primer, so I'm looking now for a good Bandai-plastic compatible primer.

Thanks! I've used Tamiya acrylics and Gunze acryclics and I'm comfy with them and llove hoow Tamiya sprays through my airbrush and goes down and seems to stick well. So a primer/barrier of those and then I'm safe to airbrush my final colors with Floquil enamels?

Is Model Master Acryl an option?

I understand you can't use enamels, lacquers, oils, or even alcohol thinned paints on the Bandai Star Wars kits. What does that leave me - water-based acrylics? Can someone suggest a good acrylic base coat or maybe a couple of options that can be sprayed through an airbrush and will allow me to spra...

Thanks all!

How can I best extract paint from what I think is a dead can? I've got a nice can of Krylon silver metallic. I thought the nozzle was clogged. I checked a couple of other spray cans and made sure their nozzles worked pulled them off and tried both on the dead can and it was still dead. That's why I ...

Is there non-modeling (less expensive) source for very fine FLAT metal mesh? I'm thinking a couple of square feet. I need it for a 1/350 lunar landing zone diorama. L'Arsenal makes some very nice 1/400 scale mesh. But $8 for 2.5x3 inches seems high for the volume I need.

I'd like to cover some models with aluminum foil. Is there a way to get a weathered, oxidized look (without destroying the adhesive)? Some kind acidic wash?

A question: Say some idiot put his decals on upside down and overcoated with Future/Tamiya flat and now they're dry. What's the best way to apply replacement decals: 1. Sand lightly till the overcoat and decals are removed, gloss again and decal and overcoat again. 2. Just repaint the area again (wi...

There's a new- er - ish company called Airscale that offers a variety of different instrument decals from 1/48 to 1/24 from WWI to modern jet and every Allied and Axis air force. Lots of folks carry them. Ebay's a good place to see a bunch. Also, Paragrafix makes a set of various sci fi markings fro...

What experience do you have using neodymium (rare earth) magnets? There must be hundreds of uses: attaching battery doors, hatches, weapons, docked shuttles, and so on. I shamefully confess a certain affection for the "toylike features" of yesteryear's models. I've bought neodymium magnets...

If your paint with acrylics and weather with oils, what kind of clear coat can you seal it all with?

I realize the trend seems to be going toward acrylic paints, but I have an investment in enamels already and would like to try some of the prepackaged washes, etc. So if I paint a model with MM or Floquil enamels, can I use Testors/FX acrylic washes over them? Can I use acrylic paints with acrylic t...

Thanks. If I wanted to use some of the new 'pigments/powders' for streaking rust or grime over an enamel base coat, can I: a. use the pigments dry, then seal with an acrylic clear coat and then do an oil or enamel wash? Or b. stir the pigments into some acrylic medium like water, alcohol, Future, et...

Thanks. Several good silvers out there. I liked how buffed out Old Silver looked like oxidized aluminum. I have a spray can of I think Rustoleum silver that looks great but doesn't buff out.

Now that Testors has discontinued its Floquil line, I'm looking for a substitute for Old Silver and Bright Silver that performs the same, i.e. that can be buffed out shiny and easily masked over. Anything out there? P.S. I'm not talking about Metalizer or Alclad, etc. that have to have a gloss black...

I sprayed an AMT 18" Enterprise Pactra aero blue at least 4 decades ago, and, while it was better than bare plastic and better than white, it was very much blue.

OK, another Mr. Color Primer 500 question. I'm going through the 10-dollar cans briskly now that I buy cheap(ish) WSF 3D printed models that have to be primed. I heard some rumor that all they do is repackage some brand of Dupont primer in a gallon can. Is there such a thing? Does it or some equival...

Thanks, folks. Formica may be the cheapest, altho I wish I had a Restore nearby. I may look for something similar. There are some 'odd lots' and other cutout type stores where you never know what you'll find. The main requirement will be the ability to take any paints and thinners and be cleaned up....

What's the best, toughest, non-reactive surface for cutting, sanding, and painting? My longtime table is a classic wood drafting table with white vinyl underneath a glass sheet. I don't know of anything better but thought I'd ask I recently came into an 18-foot work table that has basically a partic...

I guess my trusty ol' MPC Falcon is about to earn its 'hunk of junk' nickname while I work out this process. Any oils' compatible flat coat recommendations anyone?

Sounds like an adventure. So I need an ACRYLIC matte coat? OR is there another option? Got any recommendations? I've been using Future and Tamiya Flat Base so long that I don't know anything else. But that uses up a lot of Flat Base in the process.

Thanks. Got it. But if it has an acrylic overcoat, does that ruin the weathering effects of the oils? I'm not just doing a wash, but as the video shows, an overall wetbrushing of turp on the surface followed by streaking and brushing thinned oils over the whole surface.

After watching FicthenFoo's Millennium Falcon weathering tutorial, I decided I wanted to try it and that the perfect test case is a 10-15 year old MPC Falcon buildup. I painted it in either MM or Floquil enamels with no overcoat. Then I come here and the first thing I read is I can't use oils. The t...

Gunze Mr. Resin Primer 500 works nicely. Sanding that nylon is like sanding rubber.

Well, I'm back at it, trying to take a vintage model back to its pieces. Do I recall something like brake fluid or transmission fluid working?

Does anyone sell small quantities of CA glue in various thicknesses? As of today, I'm done with large expensive hobby shop bottles of CA. I get them for one project. By the time I'm ready to use them for the next projects, they've cured entirely solid or - worse - they're still liquid and I used the...

Thanks. That's also good intel. Seems like I always read people using Tamiya metallic and figured it was fairly fine grain. It looks fine grain in the bottle. But that Alclad tip is supreme. I did the base finish in MM Light Ghost Gray. I've applied the Acreation rib and panel decals. Do I need to s...

Thanks. That saved me much grief. I may try an experiment with Tamiya and Future, but it sounds like the best course is an enamel mist coat.

I've applied the Acreation panel decals to the Moebius Galactica and sealed with Future. Could I give the whole thing a light dusting of Tamiya metallic gray thinned with Tamiya thinner or would that do terrible things to the Future and the decals? Thanks.

Very helpful and good catch. Is there anything in injection plastic, resin or vinyl models that is polypropylene or polyethylene? Says it won't work for those.