Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Funny that this has come up this month, I also have found a need to get a couple small parts etched. I came here to look and lo and behold...seems like we're in the same boat! I'm frustrated because all I need to etch is one tiny oval 'hoop,' but such is life as they say. I ordered my starter suppli...

Has anyone tried using Future as a sealer for inkjet-printed decals prior to application? I don't really like using aerosol "acrylic" sprays, since they don't lay down all that great.

THAT'S the link I was looking for! Thank you sir. Bussards for the Daedalus....check!

I thought there was a sticky for this, but I haven't been able to find it (and my Google-fu is very weak today apparently!) but can someone direct me to a good inexpensive source for some clear 1" diameter plastic hemispheres? Amazon used to be a good source, but the smallest I can now find is ...

You shouldn't have any problems - I've molded against Future with a platinum based rubber. But if it's glass-smooth finishes you're after, nothing beats wet sanding down to superfine grades. Future doesn't *always* cure perfectly smooth.

Holy crap! The weathering is fantastic. Nice job!

Hey Bambam, where do you get your MPK rubber from? I found them on http://www.hobbysilicone.com , but the rubber seems pretty soft and the prices aren't any better ( and sometimes a little worse) than smooth-on. For instance, the 10 lb MPK standard tin cure extra firm only has a hardness of shore 36...

Nope, the drive belt is a special toothed belt that connects to a stepdown pulley, and you can adjust the speed by moving the v-belt (which is fine) to different positions between the drive, the stepdown and the tool pulley. The good news is that the motor also has a direct pulley to connect to the ...

Kylwell wrote:Well maybe you could form some kid of rudimentary lathe.... oh come on, you all know you wanted to say it.

LOL You got me.

You could try rigging a temp one out of an old pair of nylons... if that helps. I'd also order 2 belts for when the next one goes. Double check all the pulley surfaces and surrounding areas to make sure there's nothing around causing premature wear. How did you know I wore.......??? Umm, nevermind....

:evil: So I finally got to a point where I'm getting some serious work on the Spacedock done. I've got my stock for the connecting tubes pre-formed to a close size, and I went out to the lathe for the first time in what seems like forever. Chucked the stock in, centered it nice and even, and turned ...

Funny, mine links without any hotlink errors. But thanks for the heads up, I know it happens sometimes. Mtyler, way back in the day I too toyed with doing a 1/2500 scale station. The thought of an almost 5 foot diameter by over 7 foot construction in my home (then a college dorm) was a pretty convin...

Believe it or not, but the Jackill's blueprints come closest to replicating the correct angles of the stations upper section. The "official" side image (the first link in Ex Astris) is pretty much wrong in every angle. I've been collecting every image I can find of this for the 1/10,000 sc...

I too would recommend the smooth-on, but be warned about Oomoo! It's great stuff -- especially for beginners -- but don't expect to pull many castings out of this stuff. Because of its easy mix ratio and the thin viscosity, the rubber doesn't hold up well in the long run. Expect to be able to pull m...

No frakkin' way. Is that a LIT Akira? Did you vaccumform the whole thing??? If you haven't shown this pics to Starcrafts, you really should.

.........that's really something, dude.

Many thanks. As it happens, the WW that I'm using is a variable-output variety that even has a polarity switch on it, so I think I'm good to go!

OK, this is going to sound silly, but here it is: I'm finally stepping into the world of LED-lighting for some buildups I have on the bench. I've done my homework, checked out some how-to sites, used the LED calculator, and finally bought the LEDs, resistors, wire-wrap, etc,etc, etc. I'm going to us...

I was browsing a link provided by PerfesserCoffee over in Hobbytalk, and discovered this:

http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/Castin ... smooth.htm

Has anyone (Hey, Joe Brown!) tried this? It's description sounds really promising!

I built one for the Negh'var main hull when I was casting that -- it was way too large to solid cast it, and I didn't have the funds to go out and buy one. Mine was entirely people-powered, though. I stood there and turned the frames slowly and evenly to get full coverage. The ones that other compan...

I believe Micro-Mark and the Compleat Sculptor both stock that book....and they both have web sites. You may want to check there also.

My wife regularly attends the Vulcon Orlando conventions with me, but we won't be making W'fest (again) this year. She has always been really supportive of the hobby, though I've heard her muttering under her breath "$150.00 for a piece of plastic?? " more than a couple times..... ;-) Last...