Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

I have an EMCO compact 10 like this one, onthe maker's cabinet stand, minus the milling head attachment; http://www.lathes.co.uk/emco/page7.html EMCO not ENCO! enco= China, EMCO= Austria= awesome! I have owned it for about 17 years, bought it used, never a single problem and accurate as hell! It has...

Hey B, Someone talked about using this stuff last year. MEK is used to dissolve various foams and plastics in the electro-plating process, amongst other things. It does a great job of dissolving and it has carcinogens in it. I use Rez-n-bond. I buy it by the gallon because I use it professionally. I...

I can vouch for Matt's work.

The balsa railings on his site were created for my HO scale Noah's ark, and they look great!

Scott

The best Dremel to use is the old school foot control with the flex shaft and hand piece. The smaller self-contained drills do not give you the ultimate control, but if you take your time, you'll do fine.

Ditto on all the advice. Good luck.

Scott

Yup, what they said. Slower speed is the key. Also, use a pointed tool to start a small dimple for the bit to guide into.

Scott

Me to, no 'pickie no lookie".

Hey John, I am only some-what familiar with that vehicle. If there is a plane where all of the angle terminate, such as where the body starts, you could create that as a flat plate, and then create a nose plate. that would give you a start and finish point. You could also do as I do in these cases a...

Hey TH, Your hands & fingers must be screaming after all of that x-acto work. I would suggest you purchase a jewelers saw with a heavy, course blade. Rough cut your shapes. Use a disc or drum sander to finish the shapes. I also see that your flat plan view sheets are warping as well. Make sure y...

Five minute epoxy will be a pain to clean up if it squeezes out of the seems, and it will not have the holding strength you are looking for. Using liquid solvent ( Tamiya Thin) will hold the best if you use the proper amount, not to much to melt though. Super glue will hold as well, but it does not ...

You may end up melting or distorting your parts. The water can get very hot, even on the 'normal' selection or low heat. Fore-warned is fore-armed

Scott

Yup, Licking the paint brush is the best way to keep the shape, natural brushes only. That technique is not as effective on plastic bristles. The brush is clean, of course! I use this technique on all of my fine brushes. You actually slightly spin it like a lolly pop while pulling it from between yo...

Hi Alan, The only way to remove the yellowing is to remove the yellowed layer of the plastic. I work with styrene, ABS, and other plastics all the time. As has been suggested, carefully sanding down the top layer is the best way. You will loose any shine the surface has, but you can buff the plastic...

Mr. B is right, I forgot about the collets, but you only need the import selection of collets to give you what you need, or you can buy just a couple. If you use the 1/4" collet, you won't need aluminum or steel plates. Take a 1/4" dowel or styrene tube or rod and super glue it to a thick ...

OK wug, If you want to be accurate, purchase these tools that I have, they will make life easier, and they are not expensive. This page, if it works as a link, will show you a indexing tool for dividing circles. All you would need is a pointer on a base or a hieght guage and you can have an accurate...

Try... www.acmedesign-inc.com

Don't know about price or availability, but they do nice work.

Scptt

Try... www.acmedesign-inc.com

Don't know about price or availability, but they do nice work.

Scptt

I think that there is a better solution than custom gearing. When working on toy prototypes, the trick was not to re-invent the wheel. You can purchase motorized bases for display models and jewelry and the like. Search motorized bases. If you locate a base or turn table, you don't need a custom rin...

Hello Leo, What you need is a flat surface long enough to lay out the balsa piece. I agree that steam bending is the only way to create the bend you need. I assume that you have a blue print that shows the cruve you neeed to attain? Lay out the blue print on your flat surface. On this table, you wil...

About M.E.K. Methyl-Ethyl-Keytone. As previously stated, very nasty stuff. It is used to disolve plastics and foam. I have used it in the past for elector-forming. Once you have grown metal around an object, you introduce MEK into the form to disolve the foam or plastic. It turns everything into a '...

I also use a pair of 6" Brown & Sharp dial calipers. I use these everyday, all day! They will last forever if you take care of them, even if you drop them. They are supposed to be shock resistant, and they are, I know! :oops: I also have a cheap pair of digital calipers. This allows me to m...