Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Radio Shack is my source; the selection of colors isn't too good but the price is okay. I don't think you're gonna find stranded wire for use in wire-wrapping applications.

Bert, if it were me, I'd forgo the idea of white glue & water and instead use Future to make sure the decals stick to the model. I'd paint a little puddle of Future onto the model, apply the decal onto that puddle and use the corner of a paper towel to wick up the excess Future once the decal is...

I do quite a lot of home photoetching but I do not use the toner transfer technique, nor have I ever tried printing directly to brass. I would think the fuser unit in the laser printer would have to be very robust to handle anything more that the thinnest brass sheet. In all the reading I have done ...

Personally, I like metal toggle switches like this one. Very solid and reliable. I like to put my power source into the display base and then wire one of these switches into the positive side (works on negative side, too) with a plug at the end of the tube to interface with the model. This is a SPST...

Not sure if it should be posted here.... but following a thread on another part of this site... the discussion was about having someone making you a set of decals. Besides the two they discussed... who else is out there that can do custom work? I hve the pic and I guess... from what I have read.......

I have no direct experience with this specific paint brand, but fluorescent paints generally need a white primer underneath them. White enamel or lacquer is a great primer. The primer should be matte or semi-gloss to give the acrylic paint something to grab onto. Shoot light coats with your airbrush...

Just to throw out some ideas: You don't necessarily need a rotocasting machine to do a rotocast piece; you can turn it by hand and get nearly as good results. A rotocasting machine is great for mass production, but it doesn't sound like you intend to make a bunch of parts in a short time. Another al...

With the little experimenting I've done with this I've found that using coloured LEDs instead of colouring the strands gives the best colour. YMMV I'll second that. I've tried this before and unless your white LED is not very bright (there aren't any that I know of that are not fairly bright), it w...

If you haven't already found the A-151 adapter, I can send you one that I picked up on clearance at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago. Send me a PM and I'll get it right out to you. For free, of course! edit: I just noticed that this was quite a cold thread, but if you still need the adapter, it's y...

My original plan was to machine the mold out of aluminum, then use that to make parts out of sculpy. I'm getting the feeling that this isn't the best approach. Well, cost-wise I'd say no, it's not the best approach. You could machine your master from aluminum and make a silicone rubber mold, then c...

So I can't just pour resin or sculpy into my mold and go from there? What step is the rubber? The rubber is what the mold is made from. Unless you are using some other medium for your mold, which is outside of the scope of this thread. From your previous post, are you meaning to use a chunk of alum...

What about aluminum? I'm looking to make a bunch of small bases for various bits and my original plan was to have a friend turn a mold out of a blank that I have laying around. Simple shape, a short, wide cone with a wire to support various bits. Any thoughts? Specifically, what materials. What exa...

I suggest you go to Smooth-on.com and watch every video they have that pertains to mold-making. You will probably find your solution there. You can also go to YouTube and watch all kinds of different mold-making videos. There's no better investment than time spent watching something being done.

I tend to agree with the theory of air in the resin causing more apparent volume than is really there, and then being pressurized with not enough of a reservoir to ensure the mold is filled. Is your batch of resin getting a little old? Does it foam up if you were to try to cure it without pressure?

Yeah, this is fairly common. It's called "flooding" the interior. The LEDs don't necessarily have to be super-bright and you don't necessarily have to aim them at the window openings. You can also use white paint on the inside to evenly illuminate the interior.

They appear to be two LEDs stuck into either end of a plastic tube or something. You can do the same thing with a couple of LEDs and one of those frosted soda straws and you can make it any length you wish. The idea is to disperse the light from the LEDs inside the tube, sort of like a fiber optic s...

Well, it that case you're SOL But try to reduce the thickness of your sealer coat as much as you can; you could decant the Testors spray and shoot a couple of coats through your airbrush. The thickness would be reduced but the coverage should be good enough to seal in the ink.

Since these are laser-printed, I'd try skipping the decal bonder spray since it's adding thickness to the decal. The surface of the decal will be more fragile and susceptible to scratches, so keep that in mind when handling them.

Ya, Future will make a vac canopy look like the real thing. I prefer to use white glue or Micro Kristal Klear when attaching clear parts, but there are other adhesives that are appropriate. No Tenax or other liquid cement, though, because it'll craze the clear plastic and won't fuse to the resin any...

It's possible that these parts were meant to be like this to prevent breakage. They're from a kit you bought, right? Have you contacted the manufacturer to ask about replacements or if they are supposed to be this soft?

holt... GOOD NEWS! Yesterday my MicroScale Liquid Decal film came in. I brushed on a light coat over the Krylon UV Clear light layers. After 15 minutes of drying time, the decals worked just like stock ones! I did notice that papilio lists a similar product on their website in a 4oz container that ...

It is possible that your Krylon were from the same batch and were defective, i.e. no gas in the can, just paint. I prefer Dupli-Color paints myself, but I think Krylon's a big enough company to offer you a refund or something. I wouldn't try putting lacquer thinner on a styrene model to try to remov...

Ugh! I'm having this problem too. I printed out the reliant Pendragon decals I downloaded off of this site. I gave them 5 coats of Krylon UV-clear. I've tried everything from 10 seconds to a minute soak. The decal comes off the paper fine with over 6 seconds of warm water soak. My problem occurs wh...

Anyone have problems spraying Krylon gray primer in the rattle can? I have purchased several and most seem not to shoot when the button is depressed. This happens with brand-spanking new cans!! Very frustrating.:evil: And its funny because I never had problems with Tamiya sprays before I picked up ...

I'll tell you about another favorite primer: Floquil Railroad enamel SP Lettering Gray sprayed through an airbrush. Very little waste compared to a rattle can and the surface is just perfect. I cut the paint with lacquer thinner to give it that extra "bite" into the model's surface.

Mr Surfacer 1000 and 1200 in a spray is available from several places, including Sprue Brothers for a decent price. It's gray, but still good stuff.

I have a can of white Tamiya still wrapped in plastic; are you sayin' I need to put it on Ebay?

I would dearly love to know where you bought the Dremel accessory for the Taig tool post (or see some images of it so I can cobble one up for myself). That sounds like a really handy fitting. It would turn the laithe into a sort of mini turret mill. Paul Here ya go: http://alisam.com/page/1gu8y/Met...

I have a Taig lathe and I really enjoy using it. Cleaning up afterwards isn't much fun, but having nice round objects makes up for that hassle. If you haven't already figured this out, tooling for the lathe is gonna cost you about as much as the lathe itself! A couple of the most indispensable acces...

I have one of these that I bought a few years ago off eBay for about $20. It works very well for what it is, i.e., a cheap knock-off airbrush. It's not as refined as my Eclipse, but it's darn good for $20 and better than a Badger 150 for sure. All it really needs is a little polishing on the needle ...

Testors has an enamel retarder in their Floquil line. Its description is "Used to slow the dry time of Floquil Enamel paints" but is should work for any brand of enamel (NOT lacquer). http://www.glidescoperc.com/f110002-retarder-1-oz.html http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&...