Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Here's a neat little procedure you can do to find out if a material you'd like to try in the laser contains PVC. I've used it a few times, and it actually works!

burnination

Hi Paul, There are people working on this, including myself (I make the displays). Unfortunately, I just haven't had the time to get it all together yet. I think what it's going to amount to is a micro controller running an LED matrix. Hardest part of using this method is writing the software. Slowl...

Corect me if I'm wrong...but, I don't think the lights on the fantail are supposed to flash....at least they don't in TMP. They're always steady-on. Just watch the flyover at the end of the movie.

I sanded the lens flat on 3mm LED's, then attached the kit supplied part to the top. Worked out quite nicely.

Actually, looking at the Duplicolor can and website...nowhere (that I can find) does it state that their sandable primer is a lacquer or enamel...or watercolor for that matter.

I guess that's why some of it is called Acrylic Lacquer, eh?

Either way, I switched from the Duplicolor primer I was using to Plasti-Cote and haven't had a problem since.

Got a mystery LED laying about? Not sure what the forward voltage is? Stick it in a curve tracer and find out! This one looks like 3.3 volts at 20mA.

Tracer

I love surplus store finds like this one!

Ok, I had an interesting development as I rebuilt my port nacelle. So here goes. There are two purple LEDs wired in series for the warp drive, with 17 mA flowing through the circuit. I let it run overnight for the past two nights with no problems. After completing all the wiring in the new nacelle, ...

Yeah, it's a heavy brute. It won't power the completed model, but I use it on the bench for all of my testing. I've noticed that most of the online vendors don't seem to disclose the manufacturer of the LEDs they're selling. So, who knows where they're actually coming from. I would have thought that...

A. some led suppliers are more reliable than others. B. check the specs of the power supply. Switching power supplies frequently do not have good regulation if the current being drawn from them is less than some minimum value - typically 10% of max. Can you name a good supplier? I believe the LEDs ...

It's a 30 amp power supply. It should be able to supply all the current these little circuits can suck. I did pull out the o-scope, just in case, and checked it for noise or excessive ripple.

I think I can safely rule it out.

Yeah, everything is checked individually.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I've had several random LED failures during my current project (PL refit). The first couple of times it was easy enough to repair. This last time is going to require the building of a new nacelle. I know my resistor values are correct. I've even me...

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 . I'll second your friend's results. I've been playing with the Shure tape for a while now, and it's definitely NOT ...

The MAC valve works by regulating the air pressure directly at the airbrush, rather than having to reach over and adjust the compressor regulator. My Micron has one as well. I thought it seemed an unnecessary feature. But, it's turned out to be rather handy. It's quite helpful when "fine tuning...

Kitty Thanks for the info on the arduino boards. I have often wondered why a system could not be designed to provide navigation lights, tos nacelle effect ,strobes and interior lighting without having to buy 3 boards to do it. Seems like this product could be the answer. How bad is the learning cur...

Just picked up a big roll of this at the local Sherwin Williams. If it isn't the same stuff, it's a darn good knock-off. Same thickness, same tack, same color. I'm sold!

I'll give reducing the pressure a shot. Although, I'm not sure about top-coating. The clear that I'm mixing the pearls with really is a topcoat in itself. But, then again, maybe mixing the powders with it changes its properties. Hmmmm...I wonder if too much powder added reduces the integrity of the ...

Generally between 20-25 psi. They do seem to go on wet and shiny,

especially since I switched to the slower thinner.

Lately I’ve been sharpening my Aztec painting skills on everyone’s favorite 1/350 starship. I’ve decided to use automotive lacquers just as was done on the original studio model. It’s been working out reasonably well except for one annoying problem. Paint lifting. I’ve tried a number of things to el...

I've used these with a fair amount of success. I'm sure an automotive paint store would stock them, or something similar that will work just as well.

Hey Pat, If my memory still works, a 1458 is pretty much the equivalent of 2 741 op amps in one package. So I'm guessing they would be pretty much interchangeable except for the obvious differences in pin-outs and package size.

Short the switch out to ground with a piece of old wire. Nothing beats the real thing!


ok, ok, I'm only kidding

Honestly, I've used CA on quite a few projects, and have never seen it attack the wiring. In fact, it works great with accelerator for tacking down lose wires.

I ordered a few of the new omnidirectionial LEDs from http://www.superbrightleds.com/ . They have a yellowish phosphoescent coating that allows them to glow evenly in all directions. They should work quite nicely for illuminating internal spaces. They are also available in other colors as well as a ...