Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

pump up the volume... Put the tool to the metal Put the tool to the metal Put the tool to the metal And Cut cut... do it do it do it yea yea yea yea Turn it down, Tu tu turn it down Turn it down, SNAP!! Oops cuttin' too fast... Spin it, cut it , real fine control Tolerance, is so fine, can you say ....

I haven't bought a lathe, as I am pretty confident that once I buy a lathe, I will be short a few hundred dollars in tooling. :| However my friend is planning on upsizing to a larger lathe, and he offered me his, 7x12 Grizzly, when he finds "the one" he want to buy. It will be all "di...

You needed to order this with your EL sheet.
http://store.yahoo.com/e-clec-tech/elpowersupply.html

Priming is the best way to find flaws in the Master.
If you are happy the way the model primes, a fine wet sanding may be all you need before you set it up to make a mold.

I don't think you are wasting RTV at all. The Vacuum process "de-airs" the RTV. This pulls all of the large and small air bubbles that get mixed into the RTV as you stir it. Once you take it out of the vacuum, it cures a bit denser, and stronger. If you pressure cast, any tiny air bubbles ...

Antenociti wrote:Sintra is a closed cell PVC, same as Celtec Umi.

I *think* that Forex (UK type) is also the same.

I must have read the "Sintrex" def.

Is "sintra" the same as "celtec"? :oops: Nope, I guess Sintra is foamed polystyrene , and Celtec is foamed PVC . I wouldn't breath any of the fumes if you use a hot wire to cut either. I've had a look at some Celtec samples, my impression was that it was lighter for its thickness...

Bondo is often a polyester based resin product.
It will attack and melt down styrene and foam.

Be sure to test it on some scrap and let it sit over night before applying it to a styrene model.

Thank you very much Macfrank...

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=447591

Everything worked just as described.

8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

The only thing to be concerned about it knocking the tank over with such force that the valve on the top gets broken off. If the kids are that rowdy. then its the kids that need to be chained up, not the Co2 tank. If you want to use the tank for air brushing then any regulator from the paint ball gu...

Tap Plastic products are an off the shelf thing in my area.
Good for RTV

http://www.tapplastics.com/


They keep a simple guide on line also.
http://www.tapplastics.com/moldmaking_guide/index.php?

(I do not recommend their clearcast product.)

Welcome to Starship Modeler. You aren't next door to Woozle are you?

I don't recall who first posted this, but
I thought EVERYONE had this bookmarked already...

http://www.realmcommunications.com/rbla ... udcalc.htm

8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Actually what you do is apply heat to the wires and touch the solder to the wires till they are hot enough to melt the solder. I prefer to use a "western union splice" when twisting wires together. It is a cleaner more continious joint. But what ever is easiest will work, especially if you...

BJB makes several formulas of "water clear resin".
http://www.bjbenterprises.com/
They can be a bit syrupy, so design your molds appropriately.

JKL makes some. http://www.jkllamps.com/index.cfm?action=fam&tid=3&fID=40 I bought them at Fry's electronics. Even though these run off of 6-12 volt batteries, note the starting and output voltages, and be careful. Even house current is only 115-120 volts :wink: They measure 1-3/4" x 3/...

All craft stores sell two or thee different colors of sand.
I bought 2lbs of "Estes Art Sand" for a model base several years ago.
I still have 1.99lbs of the stuff.
It should come in Grey, white and beige.

Laquer thinner is the less strong version of acetone.
It is not acetone, but does the same work.

You can also use a piece of brass or steel tubing as a punch, which could save you a trip to the craft store. Andrew Go to the hardware store and buy the brass tube that has the same outside diameter as you require. Use an x-acto knife to bevel the inside edge of the tube. Do this until the end of ...

BJB makes several different hardness and texture of polyurethane. I tried out some of their TC - 9460. The difficulty I had was that it pours like molasses or honey once it is mixed up. I had to "inject" the mold using a syringe, and even then it tended to back flow rather than move into ...

Unbend a paperclip and then form it to match the outside diameter of your rocket bodytube. Insert the three engines so that one end of each igniter wire faces into the center of the cluster. Twist the three centered wires together. Bend the other end of each igniter wire out and then around the pape...

For some reason I just assumed you had them wired in parallel.

Running the bulbs on higher voltage will burn them out faster. The 6volt bulbs may not handle it at all, and may need a voltage regulator to prevent instant burn out. Additional heat also becomes a factor. Tyrell: The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long and you have burned so ver...

Tap plastics.

http://www.tapplastics.com/

Look under fiberglass fabrics.

If you want to go Kevlar, go to the auto junk yard and look for deployed airbags.

It seems like cobywan was mixing alcohol or something into his RTV and getting a large shrinkage in his molds from pour to final cure. Not quite 50 percent, but quite a large value.

Depending on the strength and type of magnet, and how deep you bury it in the model, the magnet can easily lose up to 75 percent of its "grip". Regular refrigerator and hardware magnets are affected greatly this way, and would require a magnet on each side. Neodymian magnets are so strong,...

A "GOOD" local hardware store will have "wire numbered" drill bits. A bad local hardware store will try to sell you what is on the shelf... I need an 21/32nd inch drill bit. Store guy: What size was that? 21/32nd inch. Store guy: (picks up conversion chart) Hmm, thats an odd size...

Perhaps this is a good point to mention that, while EL light sheet, and florescent tubes can be run off of 9 - 12 volt batteries, the output of the inverters between the battery and the light sheet, or tube, can run from 80 - 280 volts. And up to a 500volt start up spike. :| You know, that little ci...

Well, yeah, you could, but,...

Do you want that kind of high voltage connected to your glasses?

Uhm... "alternate history" regarding to what? The history has to be different than the timestream that really happened, whether that timestream is the one we inhabit or a fictional one. So, in your example above, an alternate history for Perry Rhodan would be that Perry went to the moon b...