Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Since Clisby went out of business it's been hard to find relatively inexpensive machine tools, but here is a source for a mill, drill and lathe: http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_related.php?RelatedID=1329164497 the basic machine can be converted into any of the three. The Little Machine...

Find an auto body supply store- they are out there, you just have to look for them. And get a 3 pound tube of filler putty while you are there.

Or deep space probes, system defense batteries, cosmic listening posts, what have you. I was always amazed at these things in the ancient long ago and am glad to see some preserved!
http://www.planetariummuseum.org/

For years I've used various sizes of countersinks to thin round open ended parts, especially engine bells. For a current project I needed to thin the open end of a thick plastic tube. I only have a 90 degree countersink in that size, and the end still looked too thick. So I broke out the step bit se...

The Glencoe blimp is pretty smooth. and what detail is there will come off with a few swipes of a piece of sandpaper. The Zeppelin NT is completely smooth, but is not nearly as bulbous- http://www.modellversium.de/galerie/18-flugzeuge-zivil/1907-zeppelin-nt-revell.html The NT hull also comes in thre...

You need a Glencoe Blimp:
http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/ ... 5504.shtml
At least I think it looks like what you are looking for...

I've been picking up conductor's punches, used to punch tickets on the train, whenever I can. I use them to make odd random shapes out of thin sheet stock to dress up anywhere that needs it. Today I tripped over a manufacturer with page showing all of their stock designs: http://www.bvtoolco.com/ass...

This book has some very good information: http://www.build-stuff.com/001book_vacuum_forming.htm As mentioned before, the heat source is is the tricky part. A heat gun only heats up a spot. The Mattell uses a metal plate to diffuse the heat evenly but industrial vacuform machines get by fine with a f...

For small parts I like my Mattell Vac-U-Form. The upgrade parts from: http://www.gaugepods.com/vacuform/ make it work a lot better than stock, and replace the usually missing bits. The Mattell is small, self contained, and easy to find relatively inexpensively on ebay. I keep mumbling about building...

Yes, yes and yes. But for your application you don't really need music wire. What size drill are you using? Ordinary straight pins are about the same size as a #70 drill bit, can be cut with nippers, and when chucked into a Dremel will nicely bore their own hole. For some more variety, use paper cli...

Are you just drilling in and cutting them off for antenna? If so. just use wire chucked into the drill- it will bore into styrene just fine, and is easy to cut. Paperclips, brass rod, whatever is the right size. For drill bits and music wire a Dremel carbide disk will work but watch out for creating...

If you are going to handle it a lot, I'd just use it as a pattern for a wood and metal prop. The Pyro kit looks cool, but it's light, flimsy and has limited play value. A passable gunstock is pretty easy to make from wood with a bandsaw and an angle grinder, interesting brass bits are all over bead ...

I use 60 year old decals all the time- sunlight will bleach out any yellow carrier, and a light spray of Krylon Crystal Clear over the sheet will keep them together- just cut the individual pieces apart before soaking. Soak 'em, Slide 'em, Stick 'em as the Jaco-Lac sheets say.

For tiny balls for rivets, Brita water filters are chock full of them. Just last week I picked up the Micromark knock off of Northwest Short Line's "The Riveter" and it seems to work very well. There is some information on it and other rivet methods at: http://15mmvsf.bagofmice.com/vsf/bui...

Those are a lot tougher than the silicon carbide cutting disks, but cut a wide and messy kerf. After learning patience I really like the brittle carbide disks better. Any side load and they will disintegrate on you, but make a nice cut.

Just use a pin vise to hold the drill and hold it in your hand. Resin is soft and easy to drill. If you need a big hole, drill a bunch of pilot holes first getting larger and larger, step by step....

I've seen the makerbot in action, and it seemed to do a good job. Various tech guys keep saying that there will be a $300.00 3d printer at Toys R Us for next xmas. I really don't want to learn computer modeling right now, so I'll stick to knives and sandpaper!

Lego parts can work too!

I'd start with standard evergreen tubing and round off the corners with a tool like this one: http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32682&cat=1,230,41182,41200 Take a close look- it's really pretty easy to make one out of an old hacksaw blade or some signode strapping. You'd probably have...

Is visible at: http://acgemarketing.com/display.php?M=9164964&C=5a79bc4656e91a8bca460d93b11c483a&S=67&L=94&N=35 I've been playing with some of this material, and it's interesting stuff, a lot softer than most renshape, harder, cleaner and easier to work with than polystyrene foam, mo...

Gasket punches have worked for me- there are some available with a center point that makes concentric rings a snap. Or if you can find a metal washer the right size, use it as a pattern for your plastic version.

Just get the TAP plastics acrylic cement- MEK is not nice stuff! The TAP cement comes in up to a quart can: http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=130& Unfortunately you will not find it at Home Labyrinth, but a pilgrimage to TAP or paying for shipping is worth the effort. In a real pin...

I'll take a box! Are you looking for anything in return? I'll send you a PM with my contact information.
Thanks!
Andrew

I like TAP Plastics acrylic cement- http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=130 Contains methylene chloride, so it works well on acrylic, ABS and styrene. And the big can is relatively inexpensive. In a pinch I've used purple primer for PVC pipe. It is dirt cheap, but will stink you out of t...

I've used Gator Glue for the few photoetch parts I've stuck on, and thought it worked very well:
http://www.gatorsmask.com/gatorglueorder.html

That is nasty! One thing that will work is to fill holes like that with baking soda and then solidify it with crazy glue. You can flatten and do some shaping of the powder as you are packing it in. I've never had problems with this method-I have one model that's 10 or 11 years old and is still solid.

Clean them up, blast on a thick layer of scratch filling primer from the auto parts store, then sand most of that off with 600 grit sandpaper. Repeat as necessary. If the holes are really big, wipe on some Apoxie Sculpt and clean up the resin surface with a rag, or use some glazing putty, also from ...

Something like a lab stand clamp could work-Here is a picture of a few:
http://www.indigo.com/science-supplies/ ... stand.html
These are made to hold glassware, but you might have to hold the clamp in a vise. I checked eBay and there are a bunch available.

It would be nice to have an 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of instruments, but most modelers only want one particular panel at a time. There are some good generic ones in the old Revell 1/96 kits like the XSL-01 and Space Station- scans of those sheets and others are at http://www.ninfinger.org/models/space_model...

But you can always open them up! The Pilgrim Observer has 3 bells plus one for the NERVA engine. The closed end might make the kit parts a better vacuform master. I'll dig some out at xmas and try it.