Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

How does future effect cleear parts? I am working on a 1/1000 NX-01 and have decided to try future as a clear coaat. Do I need to mask the clear parts like you do if using a dull coat?

Does Hobby Lobby carry any good airbrushes? They always have that 40% off coupon, so I thought I might be able to get one pretty cheap there.

I have started playing around with airbrushing and I am really diging it. I am using an old Testor can propelled one that I got YEARS ago and never opened. I would like to get a better one and would like some suggestions. - I need one that is as easy to disassemble and clean as possible because I on...

As the topic title suggests, I am wanting to know the best way to glue 2 painted surfaces together. I traditionally user Testor plastic cement which only really works well when the 2 surfaces are unpainted. However, sometimes it is simply too much of a hassle to scrap/sand away the paint to get down...

What is a good way to apply plasic cement to long seams or joints. By the time I get to the end, the first part has dried up and won't stick when I put the pieces together. If I put it on thick enough that it doesn't dry up, then it oozes out. Suggestions?

I use scotch tape and have never had issues except on really irregular surfaces. Since scotch tape is semi-transparent, it is pretty easy to telll if you have it pressed dowwn all the way. the only downsides that I have discovered are that it can be difficult to get a hold of an edge to pull it off ...

Maybe it is just me, but it seems like red paint is much harder to clean out of my brushes than other colors. Why is that? Is there a trick to make it easier? What is the best way to clean brushes in general?

I have had good luck with Testor Plastic Cement, however, it works best when the surface being glued hsa no paint. It basically welds the plastic. It will still work on painted surfaces but it is much weaker.

There was a post a while back about using Super Clean to strip the paint. I believe it is an automotive cleaner.

1. What is they best way to keep lint and such from sticking in the paint? I always use some canned air to blow off the lint and dust before spraying, but I still end up with little pieces of lint stuck in the paint. I think it may be partly because of static electricity, but I don't know a good sol...

Here is my question. I have sprayed the moddel with gloss coat and am getting ready to apply the decals. The final model will be sprayed with dull coat. Do I need to spray it with clear coat again on top of the decals or can I forgo the top coat of gloss and just spray on the dull coat? I want it to...

I would like to salvage some of my old paint bottles and reuse them to mix paint. Is the an easy way to clean the old, clumpy, dried paint out of them? I tried some thinner, but that didn't work all that well. Is there a solvant or something that would work better?

Is "Pledge with Future shine" the same thing as Future floor polish? The tag below it called it Future floor finish, but I was not sure if it is the same.

Believe it or not, I have had really good luck with scotch tape. Since it is clear, it is easier to tell if it is taped enough to prevent the paint from seeping. I also run a toothpick around the edges to make sure it is down really good.

So, this may seem like an obvious question, but how long should you let a coat of paint dry before putting on a second coat of the same color? I am referring to brush painting in particular. My next questions is how long can you leave masking material on a model without affecting the paint underneath?

Would the curing time of the base coat underneath effect the top coat as well? The area with which I had the most trouble had been painted with a base coat 2 or 3 days earlier, but the sections that had been painted much earlier have done better. What is a good retarding medium to use for Testor/MM ...

Since I do not have an airbrush, I have to brush-paint my models. Most of the time, the brush strokes are not too visible, but occassionally the paint will have very noticable brush strokes when I am done. Is it possible to smooth these out, perhaps by buffing the area with a rag with a bit of thinn...

I know from experience that flat/dull coats will fog up clear plastic parts, but what about opaque parts with a coating of clear paint? I was considering trying the "clear red over silver/white" trick for my AMT Defiant's engines, but I am wanting to know if I need to wait and do it after ...

I am using testor brand and brushing it on. I use it straight out of the bottle, but it seems to dry so fast that if I even think about rebrushing an area I painted 15 seconds earlier, it clumpss and leaves really bad brush strokes. I have tried thinning some oldder bottles with water in the past bu...

I have always tried to avoid using acrylic paints in the past because I have always had bad luck with them. They are either too thick and clump, or too thin and take multiple coats. Even using the multiple coat technique, it always comes out wavy and not nearly as smooth and even as enamels. Is ther...

Do you guys usually aapply the tape or film and then trim it or do you have another meethod of cutting it prior to applying to the model? My big problem is getting a smooth cut when I trim the tape after applying it. I have some nerve damage in my hand so it is not the most steady with an exacto.

What is a good method for masking off curves and other irregular shapes? I have tried applying take and then cutting in the curves with an exacto, but the shapes never come out the way I want. Is there an easier, more efficient way of going about this?

What is the best way to prevent an "orange peel" texure with spray cans? I have been able to accomplish it on occasion, but it seems like you have to apply the paint at the perfect thickness which is hard to accomplish on larger models. Suggestions?

I tried a can of Krylon satin a while back and it just gave the model a frosted look. I went back to good old (and expensive) testors/model master clear coats.

TER-OR wrote:http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorchart ... charts.asp

Here's a very useful site.

How well do the color swatches match the colors in real life? I downloaded the Testor catalog a while back and found that the color swatches were not even close to being reliable for choosing colors.

Rubber bands are bad for me. I only have one hand so it is difficult for me to stretch them out to get it around the piece I am gluing. I have used scotch tape, but if you are not careful, it can take off the paint/finish.

I am looking to pick up some clamps (currently I only have clothes pins and some cheap dollar store clamps), however I need some clamps that will work well for odd shaped models. A problem I have had in the past is trying to glue rounded pieces together. There is often not enough flat surface area f...

I actually try to avoid mixing paints simply because my free time is limited and the paints often dry out before I have an opportunity to finish w/ that color. Granted, keeping track of the formula helps, but even then, you sometimes are not able to reproduce it exactly as before.

Hobby stores are few and far between in my area so I was looking to order paints online. I downloaded the Testor product catalog, but I am wondering how much I can rely on the color samples shown. How different are the color swatches in the catalogs of various companies compared to how they look onc...

I have been dabling in weatheering to bring out some of the details in my models. One method I would like to explore is preshading the panel lines and detail. What are some good tutorials that I could reference. I aam particulaarly interested in wwhether this is a good method on models wheree the de...