Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

I use those small plastic cups used to dispense medication. They have markings on the side for measuring out in various amounts, and are fairly inexpensive at drug stores.

Not exactly a model lighting question, but it's model related: I want to light my display cabinet with LED lights. Am I correct in thinking that LED lights will not cause any UV fading of models, books, etc? I plan on buying some of the strip LED lights off of eBay.

I have a handheld Mouse sander, and an orbital, but they're both way too violent to use on sanding models. I'm doing scratch builds now where I need to smooth large areas of sheet styrene, both flat and around curves. Using a sanding block or sponge with wet/dry paper works okay, but I was wondering...

I have one of the Grex airbrushes; side-feed, pistol grip and trigger. I like it a lot. It works equally well shooting large areas, and you can do fine work with it as well. While it's not a true double action -- more like a one-and-a-half-action -- it has enough control for me. I still use my Sotar...

Thanks. That's what I feared. I'm going to give it a try on a test hulk to see how much of an issue it causes. My alternatives are to either get the Floquil acrylic paints, or to do it old school with salt and sand paper, skipping the chipping solution.

I'm getting ready for stripes and such on my Fine Molds X-Wing. If I use the MIG chipping solution (similar to the hairspray technique), does anyone know if you can use lacquer based paints as the top coat, to be chipped away, or does it have to be acrylic? I've searched the 'nets to no avail, even ...

That might be the issue I'm having. My Part B has a bit of "oil" on the top of the container that I didn't mix in completely before mixing in part A. The test batch from last night worked a lot better, but it's still just a bit tacky. I'm assuming it should dry to the same density as the A...

I just did another test mix and see how that goes. I mixed it at least 4 minutes, so we'll see if that goes. The ratio's are always 1:1.

This batch is a few years old, so that might be it, too. I'll see how this test comes out, but otherwise I'll just order some more from the store.

I'm having an issue, and I think it's a bad batch, but I shall seek opinions. I've got a set of Apoxie Paste that I mixed a batch of on Monday evening and the stuff still hasn't set fully. It's very tacky, and if I rub my fingers over it (applied to butterboard to fill some gouges) it will roll off,...

I use their regular paints thinned with their Model Air thinner all of the time. Some of the thicker paints (whites, light grays, blues) you have to thin a lot, sometimes 75% thinner, but they go on wonderfully with low pressure.

I'm in need of a scroll or band type saw. I have very limited space, so I was looking at this: MicroLux Mini Scroll Saw Does anyone have one of these and can comment on it? I'm aware that compared to most power tools, it's tiny and limited in the size of materials that can be cut on it. I have their...

I use superglue for women's nail extensions. They come in small bottles, so you use them before they go bad, and I buy the hypo-allergenic brands, as they do not put off any fumes or fogging. Pick them up at the drugstore in the nail polish and emeryboard section.

Thanks, Joe. After building a USS Weehawken resin kit, in which I ended up replacing a lot of kit parts "just because I wanted to", I wanted to do my first scratch-build, and the hull on the City Class gunboats couldn't be simpler (parallel keel, main deck, and casemate roof for the entire...

Wow, that makes my work downright puny. Amazing stuff.

I went with the pink insulation foam. You can see my progress Here. I haven't sheeted it yet, as I had to put that project aside for a client build.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

I really like them as well. I did my Cylon Raider in about four different shades (hard to make out in the photos) and it turned out really well. Super easy to use, dry fast, and stick like glue.

What types of issues did you run into with it? One of my computer consulting clients is a florist and he gave me a few blocks to try. The one thing I like about it in initial testing is that the Tamiya liquid cement does not attack it.

Good idea on asking for the broken sheets. I'll give that a try. Andrew, thanks for the sign foam suggestion. Another option I had never even heard of. For this project I'm going to destroy the foam during the process -- kind of like the lost wax casting process, but with styrene and foam -- but I'm...

I had considered that insulation foam, as it seems the train guys love it for terrain modeling. I'd been avoiding it, though, as those sheets are huge and I only need a small piece. I didn't want to store all of the extra in my 2 bedroom condo. But with my search for alternatives running out, I thin...

I need some foam to work with, something that's easily carved and sanded. I've thought of floral foam (used in flower arrangements) but maybe expanding foam would work better. Does anyone have any recommendations for expanding foam that works easy after setup?

Excellent. Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I looked at my plans and what I need cut is really only 1 or 2mm wide, so now I'm not sure lasers and styrene are going to cut it (pun!), but I can get some estimates and see what the pros think.

Wow, that seems perfect. Thanks!

This is for a non-sci-fi build, but people on this board know more about this sort of thing than any other place I know of. I need to cut some parts for a paddle wheel, approximately 4" in diameter. Think of a wagon wheel with spokes, cut out of a sheet of .060" styrene. Does anyone know o...

Does anyone have experience or seen any reviews of the new Model Expo booth shown here? http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=HSE420 While I built my own booth in the past and it continues to work beautifully, this one looks like a good, smaller, cold-weather (no venting outside) piece ...

I'm interested in this as well. I'm starting a scratchbuild that will utilize a plank-on-frame approach using styrene for the frames and sheeting. Been wondering myself if thick or thin styrene is the way to go.

Kylwell wrote:I've found that the scriber gets dull rather quickly and a but of a honing stone works wonders for it.

It seems to me that the tips have a bit of a concave shape to them on the inner surface. I assume that using the stone only on the outside would sharpen just as well?

Not sure if I should tack this onto the tutorial or not, but it is about scribing. I'm sure someone will move it if need be. I have one of these scribers: http://www.micromark.com/PANEL-SCRIBER-FOR-PLASTIC-MODELS,7194.html Love the thing, it works really well for me. After doing a 1/96th scale warsh...

A buddy of mine did a test with Shure tape and Tamiya a few weeks back. His conclusion was to stay with the Tamiya, it's worth the extra money. His actual experiments are posted HERE.

Kylwell wrote:Ok, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Scales will be in: 1/20, 1/24, 1/25, 1/32, 1/35, 1/48, 1/60, 1/72, 1/96, 1/100, 1/144, 1/350, 1/700, 1/1000, 1/1400, 1/2500.

Any other scales people want?

1/200!

Another question about Mr. Surfacer:

It comes in grades, 500, 1000, 1200. I had been operating under the assumption that the 500 was thick, 1000 was thinner, etc. Someone mentioned that was the case, but ALSO the 1000 is finer grain pigment than 500, 1200 a very fine pigment. Is that the case?