Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Well, I picked up the Gorilla Glue CA last week and got around to trying it last night, and I gotta say I like it! I like the fact that it's a little thicker that the thin Bob Smith stuff but not too thick, and it responds to accelerator well, making the longer setting time a non-issue for me.

One of the best things I love about the Gorilla CA, and Mercury & Wave Black, is the cap. Clogs so rarely I forget the last time I had issues with it. Seals tighter so it lasts longer, I usually empty the bottle before it dries out. Yeah, I absolutely hate the caps on the Bob Smith CA, which ev...

I just wandered over to my neighbourhood hardware store this afternoon and asked if they have Gorilla Glue. They pointed me at a rack with various types, including the CA. Surprise, surprise, it was the same price and size as the Bob Smith stuff I get at the Hobby store, so I'm picking up a bottle w...

I just had some custom decals printed up. I designde them at 600d.p.i (23.6 pixels/mm) composited them in Wardperfect and output them to .PDF. I found a place downtown that will print on my own decal paper with a Konica/Minolta laser colour printer with no charge for printing frm a file (take that S...

What scale figure did you use?

Here's an illustration from Star Trek: The Magazine with a figure to scale. Should be enough for a start...

http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/images/laser-cannon.jpg

Muffler tape (AKA aluminum duct tape). Cut with an X-Acto and a steel ruler, then apply. For permanence, secure with thin CA,

Thanks, John. I appreciate it. I'm working on a replacement set of wheels and suspension for the Aliens APC, among other things. I also have some bases to get up to you... And work goes sluggishly on the other stuff... I get my Hi-speed tomorrow, supposedly. Part of the higher expenses I mentioned. ...

Wrong type of Silicone. I was looking at getting a litre, but my expenses have just gone up and my allocation hasn't. I just need enough to make a few intermolds.

I'm on an extremely limited budget with my disability, Does anyone know of free samples of RTV Silicone available in Canada? E-Mail me please...

Well, I finally solved the age-old problem of how to get an acceptable gloss finish on a model car. I'm not looking to get a flawless show-room finish on a show-car, just a good-looking finish on a regular day-today driver. Finally I got an acceptable strategy. I lost my airbrush during the move, an...

RTV does and doesn't work over plasticene. Tin-catalysed stuff isn't too bad, but platinum-catalysed stuff usually won't work. The problem is the sulphur in many brands of plasticene. Platinum is used in catalytic convertors on cars to remove the sulphur, so it inhibits the catalysis. It's not so ba...

Well, I needed a few small parts cast and I didn't want to wait a full day for RTV to set up, so I took a tip from the Terragenesis site and tried some plasticene as a mould. The parts were small - two were 1/4" square and one was 3/4" square. Both had some detail, but were less than 1/8&q...

I note the OP lists his location as UK, so he's almost certainly talking about sheet styrene. Personally I like to use Testor's liquid cement for this. Just don't use too much on thin sheet. thin superglue would be my second choice, the Bob Smith blue label stuff.

It helps to know what the active ingredients are in chemical glues. Testors is MEK, or Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and is good for styrere only. Many hotter glues are Methylene Chloride, which will bond styrene, ABS, acrylic or any combination of the above. Plastruct's Plastic Weld is just MC with a thicke...

To keep modelling clay from sticking to RTV, two simple words - mould release . A good heavy application of an aerosol mould release - well, actually several light-medium coats - will cut down the amount of plasticene that sticks to the moulds. A good scrub with a toothbrush and a few drops of dishw...

Um, it all depends on what you're making. Most of my masters are ships or vehicles, so I mostly use styrene, with epoxy putty and other elements as required. Sculpey is a sculpting medium, so I's really think it to be good for figures and the like - organic stuff. Even then, I'd use epoxy putty inst...

Don't use it myself, so I can't answer the question about thinning, but I can tell you that yes, you need to mask the clear parts. Any dull or matte coating will frost the clear parts. This is inherent in a matte coating - you're placing a layer of granules on the surface to break up and diffuse the...

Only really thin stock(5, 10, 15 thou) will be able to be rolled i think(I could be wrong on this), and it would curve the sheet to do so. You can roll sheets as thick as .080" - the thicker the sheet the larger the diametre of the roll, of course, but as thick as .040" should only be abo...

Urethane resins definitely don't like water. I'm not sure about polyesters, but I suspect they'd have the same problem, plus the toxic smell. Have you tried an epoxy? There are several pourable casting epoxies available.

There's actually a real simple solution. The top ov the B/C Deck is rounded in the area of the opening, while the bottom of the Bridge Deck is flat. Take a sanding stick or file and very carefullt flatten out the area surrounding the mounting hole - be careful that you dont flatten out the whole top...

Looks like a standard methylene chloride cement, like Tenax or MBS or Weld-On's own #7 model cement. I got a gallon of methylene chloride from my local plastics supplier, cheap. One note about the applicator bottle - don't store your glue in it, always transfer it back to the metal can or a glass bo...

If you know of a large office building, the type with an ashtray of sand outside, try making friends with the janitorial staff. The sand used in this sort of ashtray is a very fine white sand, perfect for dioramas.

Just to clarify, Aves and Bondo are different types of Epoxy putties. Bondo autobody filler isn't an epoxy putty at all. It's a mix of polyester resin, styrene esters and inert fillers. It is a good filler, and cheaper than many others, but the downside to it being polyester based is that it stinks...

This is a risky procedure. One of the problems with tube glues is that they will continue to dissolve the plastic when used in thick applications such as this. They harden from the outside in and trap the solvents under the hardened top layer. People have had sinkholes appear in parts years after a ...

Arrrrrgh! Scientific illiteracy abounds. The proper name of that chemical is Hydrogen Oxide, not Di-Hydrogen Monoxide!

Actually, Babaganoosh's recommendation of priming over the original paint is probably the best idea. One of the big problem with repainting toys is the matter of primer compatibility. In this case, the original paint is a great first coat of primer.

Actually, the hobby shop is about the most expensive place to buy sheet styrene. Look in your Yellow Pages under Plastics Suppliers (and similar headings). You can buy large sheets (4'x8') of white sheet styrene in thicknesses ranging from .005" up through .250" for far cheaper. Some peopl...

Go to your local Michael's or other "craft" store and check out the range of plastic and silk ferns. Many of the smaller varieties are perfect for modelling with a little trimming and painting.

As I understand it, the problem is an incompatibility between epoxy casting resin and RTV rubbers. It's just chemistry. Not only does epoxy have the curing problems cited above, but epoxy will very quickly cause the RTV moulds to break down. I don't think the difference between tin- and platinum-cat...