Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

I used my 2 Paasches mainly to shoot thinned Tamiya acrylic. I used alcohol to thin it down. They worked very nicely, although they were a bit touchy if they weren't cleaned regularly. From time to time I also used lacquers. I've changed to a different brand of airbrush now, but the Paasches worked ...

I think Kylwell's response is the way to go here. That is nasty!

Interesting, I've never thought of preshading Alclad, must give it a go.

Just saw a new shipment arrive at my LHS. It looks like it's been repackaged slightly.
Can't seem to get the Dupont mentioned above locally, so Mr Surfacer is the only game in town...

Before applying my decals, I will put a coat of Future and let it dry. Then, after soaking my decal in water, just before to put it to my enterprise model, apply a fine coat of Future and then put the decal over it. As has been said, if the surface isn't too convoluted, it's actually a fantastic wa...

As the subject goes. I've experimented with this. The real problem is that for delicate coats of acrylic, say your doing a gradient of colour, the lacquer gloss topcoat seems to dissolve it. I can do flat coats of acrylic and put gloss lacquer over the top, but anything else, and finer airbrush work...

Wow, I used to play Renegade Legion back in the day... lots of hovertanks there! I like the idea of not using an existing kit. Looking forwards to seeing what people bring to the table!

It's been a few months since I've done any modeling, so I was looking forwards to doing up a Superslyph Yukikaze. Here's what I've done: - Washed the resin - Airbrush and masked various hues of Tamiya acrylic Then, the problem.... ...I've put on a few layers over this of Pledge One Go (Future) which...

This is the stuff you need.
http://www.gssupplies.com/cement_hypo.html
Jewellers use it to anchor gems in metal. I bought some a few years ago, and have only just run out. It even comes with its own applicator that does not clog up. It's awesome stuff!

Now that's logical
Always on the look out for a Tamiya tape replacement. I love the stuff but its quite expensive where I live...

Thanks Erin!
Now, where's your address so I can invoice you when it lifts?


No, seriously, thanks Erin. It's for a competition in a couple of weeks, and I just wanted to be sure. First model comp I've entered for.... 15 years.
Now I can mask with confidence! Thanks again.

Hi Folks About to do some canopy masking - and since the masking tape is likely to be on the canopy for about 2 weeks while various overcoats dry, I'm getting a bit worried. I've never left Tamiya masking tape on for so long over Future. Future's been curing for around a day or so, so far. Before I ...

'Ultimate' Finemold Falcon Lighting kit. Balok made an excellent one for the engines, which he's not offering anymore, unfortunately. But a really good engine one, and other nav lights would be right up my alley. I've seen one using a lightstrip for the engine, but it didn't seem to have the intensi...

Pledge One-Go in Australia is NOT a rebranded Future equivalent. I know it's listed as such on Swanny's website, and a few other places of information, but I've tried Pledge One-Go extensively. Firstly, unlike Future, it has a pale brown/yellow colour to it. I does self-level but is extremely 'thin...

Wow, a useful post, thank you! Nothing like some real research to be able to make a judgement. Oh well... Still, I'd like to get my hands on some, just to see. Tamiya is wonderful stuff, its just so damn expensive.

Or if you can find Shur Tape, it seems to be Tamiya tape, just more of it, and cheaper! Probably the same manufacturer, just rebranded.
http://www.shurtape.com/Default.aspx?Ta ... ductID=153

It really depends on what the paint is. If you're brush painting Tamiya acrylics for example, I usually leave it for 20 minutes. It should look dry at least. If you're doing thick layers, perhaps a few hours. The masking tape you use should not affect the paint underneath at all... if it does, you n...

I don't think acrylic washes are every really successful - at least not compared to other methods. Some people have got passable results from thinning with alcohol, or using detergent, but I've never really got a better wash than using oils + varsol over a clear acrylic.

Anyone stripped Alclad of resin? With Tamiya spray black underneath. If so, I need some advice; what did you use?

I need to remove lacquer from resin. I'm leery of using lacquer thinner to do this, as I'm not sure if it will attack the resin. I often use Easy-Off for acrylics but it sounds like it's not so good for lacquers?
Any suggestions?

Thanks Sparky, I knew about general shrinkage, but I wanted to know about the air bubble component - thanks for your data.
In anycase, casts were done, and shrinkage due to collapsed airbubbles was negligible.

My 10L pressure pot arrived yesterday. I managed to hook it up and have found a bit of a pressure leak, nothing huge, a couple of PSI over half an hour. I've got some plumbers tape to go around the valve ends. Hopefully that should sort it out, but I'm open to any other suggestions, if anyone has an...

ArcadeKidd wrote:2nd, is it possible to paint over alclad with water
based acrylics (tamiya)?

After coating Alclad with Future, I did a number of masks and coatings of Tamiya Smoke, and Clear Blue. Adhesion was perfect and maintained the Alclad metallic 'look'. Pic here.

I'm planning to do my FM Falcon this Christmas.
What options are there for lighting the engine? Balok on these forums (I think) was offering what looked like a really good kit for a while, but he's no longer making them.
Any thoughts? I want it blindingly bright! (well maybe not blindingly)

You can't trust any visual 'colour matching' on a computer monitor. I've spent hundred on calibration software and hardware... it's hard enough with them, if not still impossible in reality. There's too much variation between different monitors, individual settings and lighting conditions. Also, the...

I've had similar issues. The resin was definitely cut with kerosene to save on casting costs...
I found that Mr Surfacer flaked off on mine, whereas after a good clean with dishwashing liquid and a lot of scrubbing, Tamiya Light Primer worked a treat.

As mentioned, I've seen all the stuff on ARCforums. Great resources and articles, but none give the 'shimmer' that Kylwell put so succinctly - they are more focussed on a colour. I'm after a definite metallic specular behaviour, while still retaining some transparency. Here's what I have tried, and ...

I've noticed on some current jet fighters they have a slightly reflective, gold canopy. I've tried a number of ways to duplicate this but the following problem come up - any gold metallic I have - inks and acrylics - usually have too much 'grain' in them to be useful. I've asked on ARC forums, and t...

The key to getting the illusion in my experience is different textures. You need different texture on your fuselage area - say, matt, and a different texture on the 'glass canopy' which should be highly, highly glossy. A couple of coats of Future may do the trick, or your might want to build it up a...

kenlilly106 wrote:Note that vector does not work well for art that has gradients or any kind of shading.

Going to have to disagree there. Adobe Illustrator in particular has excellent gradient control. In fact industry standard Postscript software like Illustrator rely on precise gradient control.