Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

It sounds like you're doing it right. People say that you need to be careful when removing the salt, but that isn't exactly true. You want the salt to scratch up the paint when you scrub it off, that's part of the effect.

You could still heat form them as you mentioned, just make the center hole part of the buck. At the center of the tool you're using for a buck, put an additional small, raised disk. Then after forming, when you cut your flanged rings from the sheet, cut the center raised area off. It will always be ...

I agree with Wug. The weathering is understated but effective. For instance the rubber skirts look quite real.

That would be great!

I've had CA go bad on me many times. Especially the Bob Smith stuff, (That's the "local hobby shop" brand). It's exactly as you describe, they just lose their adhesive properties. Kylwell uses Mercury Adhesives CA, and I like that stuff much better. But my problem is I'm allergic to most s...

I have a Smithy 1220XL, like this one.

I use MM enamel over Future all the time, I haven't had any problems yet. Oddly enough, I do have trouble getting MM enamels to stick to Mr. Surfacer 1200. I've heard lots of theories as to why, I don't know which is right. But by putting down a barrier coat of Future over the Mr. Surfacer, the adhe...

I stick Dymo tape down to a piece of glass two or three times to reduce the tack.

A black undercoat makes the silver look much better. This is true with MM enamels, especially true with MM buffing metallizers, and it is required with Alclad II metallics.

This is very subjective. A lot depends on what the model is. The only general suggestion I can think of is, cheap craft store bases look like cheap craft store bases. If you're going to use a wooden base, spend a few extra bucks and get one that looks nice. Whether you use an acrylic rod, a wooden d...

You can also cut odd curves with cotton thread. I've seen auto modelers saw the doors off cars with thread. It takes some time, but it is a really neat trick.

There is another method entirely that might work. Since the detail you want to add is so thin and delicate, you may be able to add it with paint. Mask off the areas where you want to have raised panels and details, then paint on two or three coats of Mr. Surfacer. The paint will create a raised area...

Apsilon has a good point. 3M tape will work well. It may be more expensive, but it is very consistent. Cheap Chinese blue painter's tape, made from lead paint chips, you never know what you're going to get. Kylwell has the best idea though, Tamiya modeling tape. Low tack like post-it notes, and made...

As others have mentioned, airbrush at low pressures, and use small batches. I use a siphon feed airbrush, (old Badger 150), and can only get the pressure down to maybe 7 or 8 psi, but with a gravity feed brush you can go lower. Since the metallic pigments like to settle quickly, just use a few drops...

This is what I use to apply Ambroid ProWeld. These come in several different sizes, but I find the smaller needles work the best. They allow you to place just a tiny drop at a time, just where you need it. The only problem I have with them is sometimes capillary action will draw a drop of melted st...

Sounds like epoxy is the favored way to go. Especially if you're going to sand and polish the windows.

Depends on how big the windows are.

So, what are you going to use these on?

You ought to at least try the heat shrink tubing method. It is quick and easy, and works especially well with brass tubing. Much faster than stretching out miles of styrene tube.

I like the shapes of the SW pre-painted kits. But all of them need to be thrown a bucket of bleach right away to get the nasty pre-paint job off.

There's some really cool stuff there. I like the wooden barrels, and the telegraph poles with little insulators.

That's a pretty neat idea. How much does a chunk of that stuff cost?

It is extremely soft and crumbly. It will crush under your fingertips with even the slightest pressure. I tried to skin over it with both sheet styrene and epoxy putty, but it was hard to get anything to stick, even using 5 minute epoxy. The top layer will stick to the epoxy, but everything under th...

I would not use the green floral foam. I've tried that before, and it was way more trouble than it's worth. Blue or pink insulation foam is much better.

I have spiders living in some of my planes. They'll cover the whole thing in webs overnight. I can't imagine what ants would do if I invited them in with brown sugar.

Just about everything in Star Wars is Camouflage Grey. Only some of the Imperial stuff is a different color.

Thanks very much for all of the suggestions - looks like the SSM store has, well, bags of burner nozzles! Perfect! (Now, for the paycheck to come through...) Side question - what would be the appropriate forum for talking about the marking and ownership of fictional, 'realistic' spacecraft? This on...

.060 is pretty good for making bulkheads and internal structures. Or spend another twenty bucks and also get a sheet of .080. Or .188. My local source for FOR SALE signs is going to that cheap super thin plastic. Way too flimsy IMHO. So I need to buy a sheet in the very near future. Is .060 what you...

Carve one out of balsa or a cured chunk of Bondo, then vacuform over it. If you have never tried this before, you will be amazed at how easy it is. For big windshields like this you can use a piece of a two liter bottle. If the first pull doesn't look good enough, just keep trying, the plastic is fr...

If it is a common V-belt, you may be able to substitute a regular automotive belt, if you can find one the right size. Auto parts dealers like Napa have a huge variety of belts, and often cheaper than the ones from the lathe manufacturer.