Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Any progress on the "Shield" lately? You are off to a good start.

Ditto to all. I also find old computers and printers to have lots of parts for greeblies. Lots of gears and such from printers and some very unusual parts from hard drives. And I find it fun to take them apart. If one gives me too much trouble I can go "medieval" on it and get computer rev...

Where is a good place to buy lighting materials? Any links to good write-ups would also be helpful. The lighting forum here is invaluble. They also list places to buy LEDs etc. I've had good luck with American Science and Surplus and even Amazon .com. This wizard is very helpful to me... http://led...

...The amount of work involved on a large project seems to be exponential factor over a smaller one. Hmm; this got me thinking. I suspect it goes up as a square. For one thing, a model that's three times as large has 3^2, or 9, times as much surface area to greebilize. And the underlying structure ...

Good choice! It looks like a workable scale to me. It could be an impressive model on its own. The amount of work involved on a large project seems to be exponential factor over a smaller one.
Once you get this done and work out the bugs the larger one should go quicker.

#2 gets my vote also. #1 was a little too busy. The overall shape is looking great. I know you're not anywhere near the greeblie stage but I would suggest keeping some areas clear so you don't lose the sleek look you have going. You could try creating visual interest on open flat surfaces with a few...

Here is a wizard I live by. http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz Make sure you know the input voltage of the LED, the current in mA and the supply voltage you are using. Other than that read the threads under lighting, and plan your work carefully ahead of time. I find American Science and Surplus and Ama...

Ditto all above. Use gloss paint or clear gloss finish before decals or they will silver no matter what you use.

These strips look a lot more useful than what I bought at an auto parts store. I say go for it.

Well I just lined the lighted area with mirror tiles. They really bounce the light around. Situation is much improved. Will also use some polyfill. Thanks for the tips!

One thing I have learned is plan your lighting as carefully as you plan the structure, or even more so. I kept thinking of more lights to add which would have been much easier to run in the beginning of the construction. Perhaps running tubes as conduits instesd of fishing wires and FO through the m...

When purchasing more LEDs from superbriteLEDs.com I found 360 degree LEDs. Of course that's after I had installed the regular ones I bought months ago. I'll try your idea with the lampshade although I'll have to find a different shade as I used 8mm instead of 3mm. The polyfill is an option also.

By the way, I used Gorilla glue wood glue on some FO and it is holding very tight. Not the kind that foams up but is more like white glue. Time will tell but it looks good so far.

Sacrificed a stuffed toy for the polyfill. Works great. (No, I didn't steal the toy from my kids, it was forgotten in the basement.)

I may do that. The brush in the lid seems to waste more than you use.

I don't know if anyone else has tried this yet. Found 4 oz bottles of liquid tape in the electrical section of the local home center. Comes in standard colors, red, black, green, white, etc. Very good for coating otherwise difficult to insulate wires. Comes with a large brush in the bottle lid but a...

modelnutz wrote:Polyfil ( pillow stuffing material ) will act as a light diffuser as well...lightly pack the interior to remove hot spots ( bright areas near the LED's )

The LED's make the polyfil glow quite evenly

Thanks for the replies. I will find some polyfill and try that, sounds like a good trick.

I'm hoping someone here has tried this before. I'm thinking of lighting some windows by having super bright LEDs inside the model shining towards the windows instead of running FO. The plastic is thick and I sprayed inside with silver paint to block light from escasping. The windows will be small an...

I have just taken the Phillips screwdriver to an old cheapie 35mm camera we had lying about -- we haven't used it since at least 2003. Gears! Lenses! Itty-bitty electric motors! Greeblies galore! Huzzah! There's at least two broken digital cameras at my house...... I also took apart a rechargable e...

I may try the foam with a rod through the middle and chuck it in a variable speed drill. I'll place it in a jig to hold the drill and the free end. The project wouldn't be all that big, 12" x 3" or so. Lots of great help here, thanks a lot!!

Has anyone ever tried turning a foam shape on a lathe? I want to make a round fuselage shape like the space ark or Mercury 9. Perhaps you could use hot-wire cutter and rig similar to is described in article titled "How To Make Your Own Custom Foam Nosecones" http://www.apogeerockets.com/e...

Has anyone ever tried turning a foam shape on a lathe? I want to make a round fuselage shape like the space ark or Mercury 9.

There are different styles of hinges at a home center for kitchen cabinet doors. I'm thinking of hinges for the tip out drawer front that goes in front of the kitchen sink. Many different types, if they aren't too big for your project.

Don't forget found parts from everyday objects. Electronic items have many useful parts inside. Also wire and solder for piping.

I found a package of four plastic "trophys" at Wally world for a couple bucks. The cup part of the trophy was 1.25 inch high by 0.75 to 1 inch wide but you could cut it down if you needed.
Also, check the thread on this forum, New Guy seeks Engine/Thrust Bells

Shaff wrote::http://eveart.l3ds.com/pics/Caldari/Rokh1920x1200.jpg It's a 1920x1200 image, so it's pretty large.

That is an awesome and ambitous build. You are going to be cutting lots of those angles. I want to see more!

Or you could just cheet and call them geodesic domes.
http://i624.photobucket.com/albums/tt32 ... 0_0856.jpg
Found in the cake decorating/wedding craft dept.

This is why I don't do airliners!

I tried this last night, worked pretty good. Get a real drafting compass, not the kids craft kind. Replace the pencil lead with a frisket cutting blade. This will appear to be at right angle to the line you will be cutting. Drill a small hole in whatever plastic dome or sphere you wish to use. (Hobb...

You're mad you know, totally mad. When you're finished what dockyard will you store it at?
Seriously, I've always thought some thing that large and in charge should be displayed someplace public, like a library, to inspire kids to read the stories.