Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

I personally use clean egg shells to simulate cracked earth. I lay down a thin layer of glue then lay down the clean egg shells and press into place. If I need more texture then press harder and cause more fractures.

Just my two cents.

Cool solution Ziz. I really like the use of the lid.

Lacquer thinner if fine for wiping the resin down but do not submerge. The resin is porous and so it absorbs most anything if immersed long enough. Thinners of various types will attack the binders in the resin and turn them to rubber or cause them to swell and burst. I had some great photos of a ki...

John, I have done my share of resin casting and I have added quite a few things to the mix for various reasons but never metal. One resin company I know offers metal powders additives that can be mixed in the liquid resin or dusted on the mold before pouring for a coated effect. While I have never u...

Great Find! I think I will pick up the 4ft (yes 4 FOOT) wide roll to mask up my 1:1 Scale Viper. Anybody want to come over and help me lift the 300lb roll? :help: Check out the foil tapes, they have a 1.5 mil aluminum tape that could come in real handy. I did not see an ordering page. Anybody know w...

Yep it is a gloss coating used to achieve a nice smooth finish for the chrome plating. How to get it off...... I think you are going to have to get a bit more caustic with your chrome removal solution. Something like "EasyOff" oven cleaner will work or my favorite Brake Fluid. Yep good ole...

...guitar and base strings make great scale ribbed tubing.... Hey I have used guitar strings too though it is a "ribbed" effect and not a "braided" one. You see more of the ribbed line in Mecha and the braided in military or auto models. I use both types of hose myself depending...

Dan, I don't know but it is possible though your cut may be a bit rougher than with high quality thread. You see it is not the abrasiveness so much as the heat generated that makes this process work. Actually you are melting the piece into separate pieces and not cutting them. I say give it a shot o...

I must have seen the same tutorial as Shinnentai because I now use that technique all the time for opening doors, hoods, hatches and trunks on various vehicles. It really works great and if you get a high grade thread it won't break nearly as fast. The cuts are so thin that rarely if ever need repai...

That same cord comes in silver. Hit it with a bit of matte clear and it looks great. Coming from the Gundam modelers, take the cord out of your old window blinds and paint them silver or black. The weave of the cord looks great as a reinforced braided hose and if you push a bit of wire up through th...

bob, take your white and add a bit of burnt sienna like 20 to 1. If that is too light you can always add minute amounts of burnt sienna. If you don't have burnt sienna it is a medium reddish tan color.

0 There are similar printers but it is the same thermal technology manufactured by OKI just with another brand name on the case. There are rumors about a white inkjet but they are just rumors for now. I follow this quite closely as I am in the printing business from 9 to 5 and we print on a lot of ...

…Personally, I like to use petroleum jelly thinned 1 to 4 with paint thinner (not mineral spirits).… O.K., enlighten me. Just what IS the difference between paint thinner and mineral spirits? Mark I have no clue but I do know that there IS a difference. I was told to use Paint Thinner specifica...

I cut mine into small chunks but first I pour a skin coat of silicone over my master and let it cure. This helps to ensure none of the little chunks of added silicone interfere with the shape of the castings. If I have a larger areas of void space I will use larger chunks of old mold silicone.

Empireman, this should work as long as you use a good release agent. Personally, I like to use petroleum jelly thinned 1 to 4 with paint thinner (not mineral spirits). You can airbrush this mixture on in a couple of coats or mix it 1 to 1 and brush it on. The bad thing is that the stuff in the caulk...

Actually I like the Klean Klay products. I used the extra firm but it is still soft and it does stick to everything but I just wash everything down in alcohol, water and dish detergent (my standard cleaning potion for cleaning resin). It is cheap and it gets the job done. Once you have reused the cl...

I cast small projects all the time and while the refridgerator trick does buy you a little extra time it is all relative. What you are doing is chilling the resin to slow the process but when using small amounts of resin it will come back to room temp very rapidly. I would mix larger amounts of resi...

I heard that lacquer thinner can damage seals/gaskets over time. There are rubber seals in airbrushes. Well it does not seem to bother anything that I am aware of. The needle seal is the only not metalic part that the lacquer can come into contact with on the VLS and it is nylon. Lacquer has no ill...

How could this damage your airbrush? I use mr. s in my vls all the time thinned with lacquer thinner and I clean it out with lacquer thinner. I have also cleaned up mistakes with brushed on mr. s using rubbing alcohol so you could try that as a thinning agent. The rubbing alcohol would be less harsh...