Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

All, I have a handful of small (1cm long or less) resin parts that have so much "give" to them, I can't even gently shave off a bit of flash with a brand-new #11 blade. When I try, the whole part simply bends like a tiny piece of rubber. Some of these parts can be replaced with styrene rod...

Has anyone used Windsor & Newton's Artisan Matte Varnish -- the stuff for their new (?) "water-mixable" oil paint line?

I nabbed a bottle yesterday. I shook the life out of the bottle and brush-painted it onto a spare part. It's flat, alright! No say on its durability just yet.

Thanks, all. I tried applying very, very thin vinyl strips from a scrap Aztek Dummy set, and here's what I have: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5376162894_65e64e5c94_b.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5241/5375564009_9639e56c63_b.jpg I did my best to work my little camera :| This paint's a li...

Thanks, Robiwon! I got lazy several weeks into the project, but I won't make the same mistake with this Gizmotron Bird, which is a real beaut. The main body and baffles are fully painted and begging to have wings attached to them. Moving on: Future as ersatz glue? Fascinating. I never considered tha...

No, Tenax or other styrene glues wouldn't help. Depending on the work, rubber impregnated CA or super thin CA would be my choice. The rubber impregnated allows for jiggling into position where the super thin tends to set pretty instantly but with less residue. That's a darned good thought, K. I'd n...

Gents,

I'm using CA. Since I'm attaching these little bits to resin, I never considered Tenax or the like. Would that even work?

I'll look into finer applicators, but as you said, K, sometimes there's no way 'round the hard way.

All, Years ago, I detailed an Adversary Set BoP to the hilt with strip styrene bits. The bits themselves were entirely too thick and tall, but in person, the model looks OK. Some friends have had positive things to say about it. Here's a decent shot of her: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1094/512382...

That's a start, Joe :) I am a little surprised no one here's at least tested Mr. Color Clear Flat in lieu of the traditional Testor's fare. For what it's worth, I'm quite sure I applied my own Mr. CCF too heavily, so the result was appreciably flat if granular. Is this product worthwhile? Or am I gi...

*Bump*

Anybody?

When need be, I tend to just brush Future directly onto my models. Putting it on "thick" -- i.e., straight out of the bottle -- CAN lead to difficulties. For example, if you apply overly heavy lacquer flat coats to that surface, you'll have some unique abnormalities. Sadly, these can happe...

That's seriously bizarre. I use my utility room, where the clothes' washer and dryers are, to do my airbrushing, lacquer flat coats, etc. It's closed off from the rest of the house and I can easily vent the room out by opening an outside door. It is pretty cold here right now. I think the low this m...

I love the stuff. I spray at about 12-15 psi. (My pressure gauge is old and not very precise below about 20 psi, so I'm guessing on that count.) I'm working on a Klingon subject right now that has an Alclad II chrome base color (my thread about that one might still be buried somewhere here in Finish...

Has anyone tried Mr. Color Clear Flat? I've had great success with Mr. Surfacers 1000 and 1200, so I nagged a bottle CCF from the LHS.

Minor update: I'm still toying with practice pieces. The most recent round were airbrushed with Alclad's Polished Aluminum. I'll let them dry and then apply various kinds of protective coats; e.g., Dullcote, handbrushed J&W's Right Step matte and maybe handbrushed Future with a little Tamiya Fla...

Careful, now. Syfy (tm) is the legal trademark of the wrestling, horror and reality show channel formerly devoted to Science Fiction. From those folks, input would be something to avoid. :8) LOL :) True, that! The only reason I wrote sci-fi that way's because sci-fi wouldn't fit in my subject line....

I was told that oils on lacquers were a no-no but have since been told that they're fine over lacquers. My only personal experience was bad so I coat everything with an acrylic or polyurethane clear coat before oils. Robb, That sounds sensible. By any chance do you remember a video put out in the m...

The MM thinner is paint thinner, petroleum distillate, it'll take damned near anything off anything. About the only thing harsher is lacquer thinner. :shock: Dang, I didn't know that. No wonder it cut through. I've got plenty of odorless turp, so that's not a problem! Back to oils. The finer grades...

What are you thinning the oils with? Never had an issue with odorless turpenoid thinned oils over Future. I cut these particular "Artisan oils" with the thinner that Winsor & Newton recommended. Unfortunately, said thinner's packaging has NO ingredients. As I said, however, Model Mast...

Gents, I'm thinking about using Future as a protective coat for oil washes. After applying the Future (probably by hand, incidentally; it brushes on soooo beautifully), would letting it cure for 48 hours be enough? If it helps, I'll probably leave the part in my food dehydrator for an appreciable le...

You ought to at least try the heat shrink tubing method. It is quick and easy, and works especially well with brass tubing. Much faster than stretching out miles of styrene tube. I agree. I have to build a second, identical piece before long anyhow. The main reason I went with the melted plastic tu...

All, I tried a few things. *I tried lathing down pieces of plastic and brass rods, respectively, mostly to see if I could accomplish anything with the limited tools I have. That was a bust. *I also tried the masking-and-priming method. It was a bit messy; I'm pretty sure I couldn't get that to work,...

Tons of great suggestions. I'm not sure which I'll start with, but I'll be sure to give you gents an update.

Thanks, all of you. I knew you'd steer me straight

Many thanks, y'all. In truth, I was a little afraid you'd say something about artist's oils I used to absolutely adore them but, after years of other washing methods, I've all but forgotten how to use them. Time to do some research and practice -- get back into the swing of it again!

Guys and distinguished ladies, Some of you are no doubt familiar with Starcraft's amazing new "Early Klingon Bird of Prey" kit. Well, I'm torn all to frack in trying to duplicate the unique finish we see on that ship's studio model images. I'm particularly keen on these beautiful shots Dou...

All, Assume I have a very thin brass rod, maybe a mm or two in diameter (?), that's about 1.5" long. I need to add very slightly raised detail to this rod -- and when I might slight, I mean I can't find any metal or plastic rods that fit the bill. Even cylindrical craft beads from Hobbyslobby w...

Terry, Many thanks. I've seen photos of your work; I know it's not like seeing the stuff up-close, but still -- yeah, you know your stuff ;) What do you use to think PollyScale flat? I've heard the following recommended: *Windex *water and isopropyl mix *Model Master Acryl thinner I'm leaning toward...

While I'm at it, a related question: I find that very, very light misting with Dullcote preserves washes, pastel powder work etc. superbly. The only problem is that such a super-light coat leaves thousands of little specks instead of a uniform, dead-flat finish. Further very light coats (holding the...

Apologies if this has been covered before, but ... I overdid the Dullcote on a model and damaged some of the underlying paint. I'm stripping the model now. A lot of local guys LOVE Polly S Scale clear flat. One of them told me I should try airbrushing it for my flat coats. He recommended I spray it ...

starmanmm wrote:Ok... but I don't think this does answers my question of can pastels be put on Future?

They can be, but a flat coat on top of the Future would really help the pastels stick better in my experience.

All, What thinner-to-paint ratio would you use if you wanted to apply a few translucent flat [mediumish] gray MM enamel coats? The model I'm thinking about trying this with will be blue-gray with very dark green highlights. I want the green and underlying blue-gray still somewhat visible, but darken...