Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

I've just been corresponding with Greg (Turkeyvolume guessingman) about this very issue. I tell you what I told him. I've had success spraying microscale decal film through my airbrush. I have a .3 mm needle a d went at around 25 psi. I didn't thin at all (affraid extra iso alchohol might encourage ...

A neat trick we use to use when I was in the rapid prototype industry was to heat the Vaseline in an oven till it turned liquid. Much easier to get thin even coats that way.

For tiny roundy cylinder bits I take apart old lighters and mechanical pencils.
Dunno if that will help at all.

Yep, in tooling set up and marking out they call 'em surface plates. Usually made from granite, glass or sometimes cast iron. For plastic model building a granite floor tile would be a good substitute. I wouldn't put the tape underneath the sand paper though. I'd make it smaller than the surface of ...

As far as the material for casting your grill I don't really have any suggestions or info other than I have heard that small batches of water clear polyurethane resin can be a bit tricky to mix up correctly so maybe consider mixing a larger amount than you need to get the ratio right the first time....

http://sugru.com/ Thinking I might try it for making small one piece moulds anyone have any experience with this stuff? I also have a link to an instructables article on making your own http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Your-Own-Sugru-Substitute/ Gonna try this first to see if it will wor...

I usually place the cans in HOT water upto about the half way point for 5-10 minutes after I've shaken it for a solid minute. Then I shake it for another minute before I begin spraying. The Tamiya spray cans are terrific, but I try not to take their great performance for granted.

perhaps try an acrylic smoke after the future? test it out on some sprue first perhaps?

So as i finally have an airbrush and compressor it's time to star thinking seriously about a spray booth. I figured since there wasn't a sticky here I'd start a thread and ask everyone who has a spray booth to post some pics of your set up and some details about your booth. The kind of stuff I'm int...

Typical methods include sanding the parts,or alternatively Krylon makes a frosted glass spraycan that is available in N America.
If you have acces to a sandblaster they work great!

Thanks guys.
Space Ranger, I've used acrylic retarder in the past, never heard of enamel retarder. Where might such a rhing be found?

So anyone ever use enamel paints instead of oils for a filter?
Does the enamel thinner react with (or eat away at) a future clear
coat?

So what happens if I paint the refit with a pearl white>Future>decals>then a flat clear to seal it all up? Does that not cancel out the 'pearl' effect? Anyone have experience with this? I've never used pearl paints before so just trying to get my head around it. It for the 1/1000 PL kit with the wal...

Have you always gloss coated with Rustoleum? Why not go with Future - less chance of it reacting with whatever is underneath it I would think.

Anyone have experience with Grex brushes or compressors?

Check out the different techniques this fella uses to scratch-build hollow star-ship hulls that have complex curves. very educational LINK I suggest going through the first few pages of each build to get an idea of what he does. Just scroll down a bit and you'll see the links to all the different pa...

Thanks a bunch fellas. I'll look those up.
Anyone ever use enamels for the filter over acrylics?
What's the advantage of oils here?

Not sure I've got the name right. Its where you use many mulch-coloured dots and then streak them to simulate mild discoloration due to Rain etc. Anyone heard of this? Got any links to how to articles?

Yes but if you consider the 'scale effect' or what artists call 'atmospheric perspective' the colour of the model should probably be a little paler anyway. There - you had 6 of 1 and I just gave a half-dozen of the other, So Bob's yer uncle !

I use a brush and future to seal the decals and it usually goes on thick enough to eliminate any edges left that the MicroSet/MicroSol combo doesn't. Don't know that future will stand up to odourless turpanoid though. Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks! Sounds pretty sensible.

So, umm, yeah, can the oil filter technique be done after decals have gone down?

They are a little large, but I've got a lot of old baby food jars that I use.

Just had to post that Paul is sending me out a new strip and I'm sending him back the one that I've been trying unsuccessfully to resuscitate. Great guy and great customer service! I'll be doing more business with him.

Thanks for the tip Paulbo Ièll have a go with the soldering iron and see what comes of it. I purchased these from the SSM store not directly, if that makes any difference, I'm not sure. But I'll get back to you via email soon.

I have a strip of 18 blue LEDs (easy LED from Paragraphix). I've soldered the leads on and used a 12v 23 AE batt. and at first they all lit up fine. When I removed the batt. & did some location tests (moving the strip around) then put the batt. back in place I only have 6 LEDs lighting reliably....

You're welcome Darth, but as I stated there are some inaccuracies in that post. The link in my second post has more accurate information. Please read that if you have any concerns.

Isocyanates can affect you when they evaporate into the air you breathe or when they form a mist or a dust in the air, or if they come into contact with your skin. Evaporation happens without burning, no? When part a & part b are mixed together is there not heat given off? Regardless if you know...

Due to some inaccuracies in my last post (its been a while so I'd forgotten some things and remembered others incorrectly. Here is a link to a fact sheet on isocyanates. Its 23 years old, but its accurate and still very useful. http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/hesis/Documents/iso.pdf If you use polyu...

the dangerous compound in polyurethane resin is called isocyanate. it is colorless odorless and extremely hazardous. it can be absorbed by breathing it in and also through contact with the skin. It will not kill you and the danger is not an acute one. it is a cumulative effect. When it is absorbed i...