Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Why not just use plain old tap water?? Yes, water usually works well enough, but I'd prefer to use de-ionised water or at least purified water over tap water - there's an awful lot of chemicals and salts in straight tap water which can lead to patchy blotches forming as the paint cures. How about l...

I know this is a little off topic, but I have a couple multi-media kits.A combination of vinyl,metal and resin cast parts(and I have kits that are all vinyl).Superglue is mainly what is recommended for the vinyl kits,however...I have been wondering if other adhesives might be used (and/or in combin...

Given the abundance of ABS in toy applications, we should probably add to this thread how to deal with ABS as well (hec, the cheap Revell SW snap kits are ABS as well). I managed to get Cyanoacrylate to work with it, but fill was really difficult. My go-to for sticking ABS is EMA's "Liquid Sol...

RTV rubbers are so susceptible to contamination that can affect curing time (including whether or not it cures at all), strength, flexibility, durability, etc. and each brand, type and sub-type seems to have a different sensitivity to different contaminants. I would suggest experiment on a small sca...

Congratulations!

Thanks. That is very interesting and well worth a read, but I was looking at getting a ready-to-go kit. The one I've seen produces the 6V I think I need for my lighting.

It's more the actual application in a model I was after.

A project I'm planning needs fairly simple lighting (no flashing, flickering, fading or sequencing). The usual options are - - Power supply outside the model with model permanently wired through the base - Power supply outside the model with some sort of plug & socket - Power supply inside the m...

Thanks guys, it might be worth a trial.

Most of the issues with pressure drop when triggering your brush disappear if you use an air tank. So does pulsing. While I still consider myself a beginner with an airbrush, everything has improved since adding an air tank and I'm using the airbrush much more than I ever used to.

Has anyone tried Mission Models Paints yet? https://www.missionmodelsus.com/ I'd be interested in any feedback on these. They have become available in the UK and, ounce for ounce, seem very competitively priced and a really extensive range. They also appear to do a chrome finish system along the sam...

I've recently been using Windsor & Newton's Galeria acrylic varnishes. They may be a bit pricey, but they are very good and go on with smooth, even coat. They are also excellent over decals, metallic and weathering finishes. The matt is a very nice dead flat. The satin leaves a good sheen and th...

Lookup florymodels on YouTube. He has a video named Kleer but he talks about the pledge product on there. He feels it’s the best thing since future and actually thinks it is future. Kleer was, may still be, the European version of Future. Never though to check if they had changed the formula. Yes, ...

A hair drier also works well. I suggest you wear gloves as the resin can build up quite a bit of heat.

Future was made for coating for vinyl floors. Pledge Floor Gloss appears to be for wood floors. Does anyone make an acrylic coating for vinyl floors? I also wonder if other brands of acrylic clear perform similarly. There do, indeed, appear to be several brands of acrylic floor varnish out there - ...

Kylwell wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:49 pmThe trick is that "properly applied".

Agreed - it's all in the application & preparation of the black undercoat. Two particularly good (IMO) videos...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShXwlemJQUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDZqwW9yFLU

Dettol is just a disinfectant - it might strip some acrylics but I wouldn't expect too much. To repeat, I used it on some of my auto models dating from the 60s, painted with Testors bottle and spray enamels, and it worked for me. I discovered it by searching the 'Net for paint remover suggestions a...

Dettol is just a disinfectant - it might strip some acrylics but I wouldn't expect too much. A paint stripper will more or less have to be caustic, which means that products may mot be shipped internationally. Expo do an excellent model stripper (EXPO 44500 - Model Stripper) https://www.expotools.co...

Leave the windows unglazed - just shove some blu-tak, silly putty or plasticene in the hole. Paint & when dry, hook out the putty and use glazing liquid/gel (like Micro Krystal Klear, Humbrol Clearfix) or even good-ole PVA for a transluscent window.

FIW I use an electric paint stripper gun. Used at about 10 to 12 inches away, a wide nozzle, a fairly rapid sweeping motion, somewhere safe to dump the gun as soon as the plastic starts to sag and a good pair of heat resistant gloves it is tricky, but the results are pretty good. Admittedly, a secon...

What about just plain clear polystyrene? Is that what after market manufacturers use for making canopy's for WW-II & modern aircraft kits? Do you know of any potential issues with this material? Polystyrene needs a bit more heat than PETg - that can be hard to control in the home environment, b...

If it suits your purpose - fine. However, I find that blister packs often end up with a grainy look and aren't all that clear. But, as you say, you're often working with smaller canopies where it might not matter as much. But I do stand by what I said when I warned that the additional coatings (if p...

The clear plastic used in blister packaging is usually PVC. These often have moisture barriers consisting of a film of PVDC (Polyvinylidene chloride) or PCTFE (Polychlorotrifluoroethylene). Get the temperature for thermoforming wrong and these added layers can cloud. Blister packs for pharmaceutical...

I seem to remember that there already exists an RC Seaquest sub. I think I've seen it on youtube. Try there first, I think I saw it when I was researching the Monogram Seaquest Stinger model. And as if by magic... https://www.rc-submarine.com/product-page/seaquest-dsv-in-1-300-scale (edit) They're ...

I've found that fixing transparency film can be a bit of a swine. Few adhesives stick to it and the few that do often damage it. My way round is to print onto decal film then apply the decal to a standard acrylic, ABS, PET or styrene sheet.

I'm pretty sure that yellowing (especially in the bottle) must be largely controlled by storage conditions, presumably air, moisture, light and temperature. I stocked up when Klear (as it is called in the UK) was about to be deleted from the range over 10 years ago. So I have ended up with four bott...

A safety consideration would also include possibility of fire caused by sparking in motor possibly setting off flammable paint fumes. An excellent point, especially if you're planning to spray more inflammable lacquers & enamels. Centrifugal fans are often used here because the motor will never...

True to an extent, but blade pitch, blade surface area and number of blades are equally important to determining airflow as RPM - perhaps even more important. Think of a variable pitch propeller on an aircraft... If you've got the prop in feathered config (blades at almost 90 degrees to direction of...

Agreed - CFM is the more important. The difference in the two units you quoted is probably in the design (or even type) of fan the slower one obviously has a better, more efficient design of fan.

Be aware that colours are not equally bright. Blue is brightest followed by green. Red is the least bright with purple a close second.

The hard plastic is, as you suspect, almost certainly ABS. the softer, more rubbery, plastic is probably polybutylene terephthalate or, much less likely polyethylene. Both ABS and polybutylene terephthalate (PT) are thermoplastic polymers. I don't know of any thermoset plastics (resins) that behave ...