Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Its a switchable power supply so it can do 6v, what is the advantage? I also dont mind wiring each in parallel with their own resistors if there a perceived benefit? The reason that i'm doing this is that after a 5-year hiatus in a dustry draw i pulled out the model and found that the LEDs were &quo...

looking for a bit of help verifying my lighting for a starfury.. going to be running it of a ac/dc adapter putting out 9v/600mA 8x 5mm blue superbrights... (2 per "engine" Blue 30mA 3.65Vf (typ) 4.2(Vf max) 5Vr then 2 x red ultrabrights for the cockpit Superbright red 30mA 1.85Vf (typ) 2.5...

I have a professional degreaser agent used by rolls royce engines (aerospace) which cleans pretty much any "Oily" residue off resin, plastic or metal. It will soften most glues though, including CAs... cant think how i'd get it to you in the USA though, however another solution is... "...

I don't have access to a pressure pot. Not that it would do me much good since I didn't vacuum the RTV. Vern well, if you get a pressure pot you wont need to vacuum the RTV moulds, just pressure-cast them also - job done. (unless you are using a really soft silicone then pressure-cast RTV moulds wi...

Would using a pressure pot at 35-40 psi work at pushing the resin/epoxy into the small details so there's no voids? yes, just make sure that the pressure stays on until full-cure. Personally I pressure clear-cast resin to 80psi because the pot i use for it (the heated one) can keep 80psi for a very...

been doing it this way for 4 years without any troubles at all.... cant explain why it went wrong this time.

Hi all, bit of an oddity today... i've pressure cast some of my production moulds "as usual" over the weekend.. however when popping them out of the pot this morning i have found 4 of them have huge (massively huge) pockets of air in them. My build process is the same: mould blocks for the...

depending on the density of the foam it will deform if you pressure cast the mould/master... the higher density foams, 52kg/m3 and higher are usually fine for up to 60psi or so, any higher pressure and they deform. the common craft foams and insulation foams are only 25-32kg/m3 and can deform at pre...

Question for UK availbility of insulation foam. My local branch of B&Q stocks varying thicknesses of an insulation material called Jablite. Referred to as a "low lamba EPS". Anyone know if this will be suitable for modelling purposes. probably OK, but you're better off with some floor...

I need a very slow motor or servo that can rotate a 30gram DNA double-helix "statue" on a piece of scenery.... it needs to be pretty small so that it can be hidden inside a low "hill", i have probably no more than 50mm height in which to hide it. couldnt find anything obviously s...

Joseph Osborn wrote:For worn-out paint, don't forget the old rubber cement trick

....?

Looking for suggestions for a water-clear resin for pressure casting clear parts please? Parts are down to around 3mm thick, I want something that doesnt require oven-heating afterwards to fully set, ideally with a set-up time at maximum of overnight (cna always leave the moulds in the pressure pot)...

Richard Baker wrote:I need to check at work Monday- we just engraved two 3/4" thick 4'x8' panels for edge lighting- looks like floating neon...

.

extruded acrylic isnt it?

A very nice alterate is sign making foam...urethane foam that is.....commonly used by sign makers. They often have scrap pc's. which are quite usefull. Poltester resin will not harm it. Use breathing protection tho....the dust is nasty. commonly called "foamed-PVC" in the UK I believe rat...

Aves Paste..... FOr a while (sacrilege i know) i reallys truggled with this goeey, messy, weird stuff. Kind of love it now though, even though its still messy tow ork with. Basic shape formed in styrofoam - then mix up the paste, slap it on the styrofoam, then using plenty of water, smooth it all ov...

Ever find yourself wishing for a perfectly formed parabolic antenna dish? I think I've found the answer: the bottom of a spray can. Find a can (paint, deodarant, shaving cream, or my favorite- whipped cream (I get to whiff the last of the notrous oxide from it, and it's not messy like spray paint!)...

CA = Death to fibre!

i sue 5 minute clear epoxy or canopy glue.

yeah, the bigger the sheet the bigger the problem. what we found was that the glue doesnt dry anything more than about 1cm in from the edge of the sheet, however the wet PVA inside that does a good job of keeping the sheets together via surface tension. if you try to split the sheets apart the glue ...

Modelnutz Mused You may have drying issues with white ( PVA ) glues...the air will have a hard time getting at the glue. Not as much as you might think, Ed. I've used it to laminate sections a number of times and while it will take about half a day for a good set, it does cure out ok. Honest! I beg...

well its up and running now - here it is on the still WIP landing pad fti:

thanks to everyone again for the help!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQNSQjie46g

Anyone stripped Alclad of resin? With Tamiya spray black underneath. If so, I need some advice; what did you use? simple green works fine, done this a few times with one particular model where the alcladII kept lifting off when removing the masking tape over the canopy.. ended up stripping the thin...

never done it personally but we own some metal-filled masters that were made for us a few years back. they are heavier and stronger than normal resin, but slightly brittle, but generally much harder wearing for production of production moulds from the metal-filled master. They hold the same detail a...

What about a little tape, or cable ties to bundle the fibers? As for securing them I'd do epoxy, after stringing them thru the holes...of course, that's just me... For bundling, I use low-temp shrink-tube It's also what I use to attach the bundle ends to the LED source - just use enough heat to shr...

professional figure painters almost always go from a grey up to a white top coat - which gives the appearence of white even though its actually very light greygray. for good blending (with acrylics) use Liquitex Slo-Dri Blending medium - it has retarder, matte medium and flow-aid in it... although p...

interesting discussion chaps... we're at the stage now where we want to start adding clear canopies to some of our (1/56th) wargames models - so we're looking at small items around 2x1 inches or so at the most.... There's a chap on eBay selling fully upgraded Mattel vacuforms for $125USD including p...

received this advice: The green LEDs are 3.3V each. Then their series total voltage is 9.9V. They will not light when the circuit is powered by a 9V battery that has a diode in series with it. Use a 12V battery, 3 green LEDs in series and no series resistor on each output of the IC. The current will...

got some confusing infro from elsewhere saying i need 1500Ω resistors, not 150k or 150Ω .....

any thoughts?

Compressed air bubbles are very buoyant, this is way scuba divers must where several pounds of lead weight, to make them neutrally buoyant. So compressed air bubble will float to the surface of a mold even faster when compressed. . (i'm qualified as a BSAC international level insturctor - so i vagu...

certainly does en'til zog - i've got some 150k resistors so can start now - thanks a lot.

you can use a pigment fixative that is applied before you use weathering powders. there are also some artists fixatives that can seal pastel/powders (they tend too be expensive mind you) - and to be honest you can get equal effects with a good aerosol varnish such as testors dullcote, so long as you...