Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Where is our administrator (onezero)? I tried emailing him, but it bounced.

Andrew Gorman wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 9:59 am How long do you need them to be? For those diameters you could stretch some black sprue. Black seems to be more available in ABS or acrylic. Just use a hotter solvent and those could work.

I’ve thought of sprue stretching. I’ve not see any black plastic rods that small.

Does anyone produce small-diameter (i.e., 0.010 inch and 0.020 inch) styrene rods in black? All I can find on-line are white (Plastruct and Evergreen brands). But I recently purchased some new old-stock Contrail styrene rods on eBay, and they were black, unlike the gray styrene I remembered from yea...

Humbrol enamels must be well-stirred prior to use. I use a Badger battery powered stirrer. If the paint has been stored for a long time and the pigment has settled, I use a small screwdriver to chop up the settled pigment before applying the stirrer. I then re cap the tin and put it on a paint shake...

I’ve got 60-year-old Humbrol enamel still as fresh as the day it left the factory. Humbrol is my go-to paint for just about everything.

The answer is here:

https://www.anovos.com/blogs/news/where ... come-from?

This is the report, as posted elsewhere: "This is unofficial information but I've been informed that Rustoleum, as of today, May 7t, 2020 is stopping the entire Testors product line. I doubt anyone within the hobby industry has any desire to buy the Testors dead horse it's become. So this is ve...

Never mind.

naoto wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:51 am the recommended background music for the task?
https://youtu.be/Y2CWfSLyjx8

"Like" button pressed (repeatedly!).

Kylwell wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:49 pm Odd that you'd bring this up, as I've been working on some decals for instruments like these.

Where'd they go?

I don't think I have ever painted enamel or lacquer over acrylic. I have painted acrylic over these paints. Since acrylics are water based they don't interact with enamels. Not all "acrylics" are water-based; there are acrylic enamels and lacquers. Tamiya "acrylics," for example...

Check general aviation magazines such as Flying for ads for electronic flight instruments and engine management system panels. Scanned and reduced, these make good sci-fi instruments; they can’t be recognized for what they really are in small scales. Ad photos for sound gear (mixer boards, amp contr...

https://time.com/5619823/paint-fumes-harmful-research/ "The new study isn’t proof that paint and related chemical exposures cause autism, and should be “interpreted with caution,” the authors write. But the findings are in line with previous studies that found an association between paint chem...

Plastruct makes fluorescent acrylic rods in various diameters. These absorb light along their length then emit it from the end. They're available in red, blue, yellow, and green. These might be ideal for your project. One or two LEDs in an accessible spot might be enough to provide the light level y...

Another thread that needs to be permanenced/permanentified is the ongoing thread on the 1/350 K'Tinga.

Cut off the location pins, then sand the mating edges of both halves flat on a sheet of sandpaper taped to a flat surface. It shouldn't take much sanding; just move the parts in a circular motion on the sandpaper. Assemble carefully.

NEVER touch decals with fingers or hard object to slide them off the backing paper. Instead, use a soft, quality brush, such as an artist's sable hair brush. Buy a small one and use it exclusively for decals.

I own a Diamond Select/Art Asylum Star Trek "40th Anniversary Phaser Pistol," bought shortly after it was released. It worked perfectly. But not having a place to display it, I put it back in its original box and stored it away in a closet. Upon recently moving to a new house, I unboxed it...

FineScale Modeler did a glue review a while back, but i don't remember which issue it was in.

seam-filler wrote: ↑Tue Oct 02, 2018 2:47 am

SpaceRanger1 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:08 pm Setting solutions can sometimes cause brown stains to appear under the top coat, especially if the water in your area is hard.

Try using filtered water or de-ionised (battery) water.

Yep. Shoulda mentioned that, because I use distilled water from Walmart.

After decals have thoroughly dried and before applying any clear top coats, you might also wipe the model down with a soft damp cloth to remove any residue left by the evaporation of the Micro Set and Micro Sol. Setting solutions can sometimes cause brown stains to appear under the top coat, especia...

It is my understanding that vinyl masks have a "shelf life" of about two weeks, in that they will gradually shrink from their edges, making them unusable and unsuitable for long-term storage prior to use. How true is this? I have several projects in mind that will require the use of masks ...

This is how it was done prior to the introduction of after-market decals, home computers and graphics software, ALPS printers, and blank decal paper. From the "Model Talk" column by Geoffrey Norris, RAF Flying Review (International Edition), May 1960, p. 45. "You need: a sticky label ...

This one: http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?products_id=35&osCsid=00c2df7dfca32256e27c466bfe916ea7 See here for additional blades and other options: http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php?cPath=21_28 A Google search for "photo-etched craft saw" will turn up other option...

You can make your own from an inexpensive battery-powered electric toothbrush.

The decal manufacturer will usually recommend clear coating, but I'm unfamiliar with PNT decals. Clear coating generally does not affect the application of decal setting solutions. Micro Set and Micro Sol are, in my opinion, invaluable and work with 95% of the decals available. Some decals might req...

I wrote this some time ago, but it's still applicable: The best way to avoid large gaps is to carefully test fit parts before assembly. But if you have a very large gap in spite of your best efforts, it's best to try to fill it with styrene plastic rod/strip and liquid cement, allowing it to dry tho...

Estes, the model rocket people, makes a wonderful cylinder marking and fin alinement kit. I have one and it is worth having if you never build a model rocket that takes engines. It is great for keeping the lines straight on cylinders. I'll second that. For larger sizes or longer lengths, you could ...

Tesral wrote: ↑Thu May 10, 2018 12:59 am Estes, the model rocket people, makes a wonderful cylinder marking and fin alinement kit. I have one and it is worth having if you never build a model rocket that takes engines. It is great for keeping the lines straight on cylinders.

I'll second that.

HO model railroad detail parts also make good 'greeblies,' steam engine parts in particular.