Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

So I have an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS now, and it is a wonderful precision machine. It's one the few really high quality tools I have in my possession. I mean, I have a guitar, but it's a cheap Ibanez. I have power tools, but they are basic Black&Deckers or Ryobi's. But this....THIS is an Iwata! It's...

I airbrush in my garage all the time. That is where my spraybooth is located. I've never had a problem with the paint adhering, and I live in Houston, which is crazy humid. I do tend to avoid airbrushing in the hottest months of the summer, mostly because it just gets too freakin hot in the garage (...

Whoo-hoo! My friend at Swagelok delivered my custom made fitting yesterday - on the house, no less, and it works perfectly. I tried out the Iwata last night. I went very basic at first, just sprayed some water-based craft paint thru it to get a feel for it. It seems to work very well, I was able to ...

Problem solved my friends! Like I said, I design hydraulic systems for subsea oil equipment, so after scouring the 'net for a cheap fitting and finding zilch, I emailed my contact at Swagelok. We use Swagelok fittings all over our subsea manifolds. Sure enough, he has the proper adapter, and better ...

I have checked Ebay. When I search for "1/8 to 1/4 adapter" all I see are 1/8 NPT x 1/4 NPT adapters. I need 1/8 BSPP male x 1/4 NPT female. While 1/8 NPT male will screw into a 1/8 BSPP female port, it will not screw in far enough to seal due to the taper on the NPT. If you do see the ada...

This is easier said that done. Hobby Lobby sells a Iwata hose that has a 1/8 fitting on one end (for the airbrush) and a 1/4 fitting on the other end, but I went into the store today and looked at it, and this won't work for me, because the 1/4 fitting is 1/4 BSP, not 1/4" NPT. I can tell becau...

Doing some research online now...I didn't realize I could cut the fitting off the end of the hose and change it out...I'll have to find the right fitting for that, but it sounds like the best solution so far...

My Iwata arrived last Friday, and what a beautiful tool it is. Very solid and sturdy feeling. I can't wait to try it out. However, I'm having a bit of a problem connecting the hose to my air compressor. The hose that came with it, each end is a female 1/8" BSP thread. This fits the airbrush jus...

For our 6-year anniversary, my awesome wife ordered me a new Iwata Eclipse HP-CS airbrush. I've been using the cheapo Harbor Freight knock-off type airbrush for years now, and while that has worked pretty good so far, I'm excited to see the difference. The Harbor Freight airbrush was a siphon-feed t...

OK, I got some photos up now. I just applied a thin coat over the whole model, nothing special. I think the lighter color will really help when I paint the final coat of German Grey, because that color is almost the same color as the plastic. I really liked how smoooooth the Acryl paint went down, a...

Oh well, I went ahead and painted with the stuff last night. It seemed the consistency of milk straight from the bottle, so that's what I did...straight from the bottle. It did fine until about 2/3 of the way thru, and then I started having trouble getting it to come out of the airbrush. After a whi...

I'm trying out Model Master Acryl Grey Primer for the first time thru an airbrush. Do I need to thin it prior to use? If so, what do I use to thin it? I'm guessing isoproply alcohol, but I don't want any adverse reactions. Thanks!

I use super glue that is in a tube kinda like nail polish, and it has a brush applicator. I bought it at Walgreens I think. I just noticed you are in the UK. Do they have Walgreens over there? Probably not, huh?

I believe I've seen those tiny cellphone/pager motors for sale in the Jameco catalog. I'm sure that other electrical component vendors would have them.

Does the added Future make the paint glossy?

Yeah, I saw that Liquitex stuff the other day, but it seemed so expensive. Looks like I'll be using one of Hobby Lobby's 40% internet coupons again!

I love Tamiya acrylics, and I use them almost exclusively now. The dry fast, look good, and are easy to clean up. But whenever I try to use them for drybrushing, it seems that the paint dries so dang fast, that the tiny amount of paint I have on the brush dries before I can properly wipe it on the m...

irishtrek wrote:Are you using acrylics or mineral based paint? You don't really need a respirator if you use acrylics or paint outdoors.

I generally use Tamiya acrylics, but I still have that "buzzed" feeling after airbrushing, and my nose sometimes burns a bit.

Do you? I've been considering getting one, because there have been a couple of airbrush sessions where I feel a little light-headed afterwards, even using a spraybooth. Do those little cloth/paper masks work OK, or does it have to be a full-blown respirator with filters and all?

I know some people will probably disagree, but the double-action, siphon-feed airbrush from Harbor Freight works for me pretty good. It only cost $16, so how can you go wrong?

I just realized that I'd like to have a removable connection between the BOP and its base, so I can periodically remove the ship and swoosh it around the room What kind of connector do I use?

Well, I just placed an order with Jameco.com. I ordered some red LEDs, a couple of switches, a battery holder, some resistors (dang these things are cheap!) and a few other things. I know how to solder, but I'm not very good at it, so I'm gonna practice first by making an LED flashlight out of a Ecl...

Thanks, dude! I hadn't thought about lighting up the interior of the ship and the windows. That would be cool, but I think I'll stick to the launcher and engines, since this is my first lighting job.

For my first lighting adventure, I'm going to light the engines and torpedo launcher of the AMT Klingon BOP with some red LEDs. I want them lit bright enough to see them easily in normal room lighting, but not SUPER bright that you can't look at them without squinting. Should I get standard, medium-...

Or medical swabs. They tend to be tighter bound. Where do you get those, other than swiping them out of the ER on your next visit to get a #11 blade pulled out of your eye (just kidding)? It's funny I asked this question about what to wipe off a wash with, and then that day I got my newest FSM. Rig...

I read that they are non-absorbent. Wouldn't they just smear the wash around, not lift it off? Also at $9.75 for 100, it could get expensive. I go thru maybe 30 or 40 per model. I read on this website about Q-tips from Japan, that don't fray as easily but are hard to find over here. Check out this w...

What do yall use to wipe off your excess wash? I've used Q-tips so far, but I don't really like how they fray and leave little tiny hairs all over the model. I do like how you can get down in tight places with them.

Thanks, I'll check it out. I think what I really need to do is just buy some LEDs, resistors, and wire and start playing around. These things run pretty cheap.

Through a little more research, I think I answered my own questions. 1. The voltage of an LED is the minimum required to get it to light. An LED does not burn out because it is supplied a higher voltage. It burns out because it has too much current running through it. Which leads to question 2... 2....

I'm probably gonna ask some stupid questions here because I'm just starting to learn about LEDs and lighting and wiring, etc. Just bear with me. 1. When an LED says 3V, or whatever, does that mean it takes a minimum of 3V to light it, or is that the maximum it can take without burning up? I know LED...