Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Just used Z-7 Debonder. Excellent. Dap a drop. Let it sit 20-30 seconds. SGlue rubs away rather easily with Q-tip or scrapes out of tight spots with blade or needle file. A quick rinse in water with a brisk brushing with a stiff toothbrush and viola. No damage to the plastic and apparently with just...

The pic doesn't really show the residue. I posted the pic just give an idea of the type of part I'm working with. But it is there, in the deep recesses, in the corners. A shot of primer would make it quite obvious. Just fishing for tips on getting glue out of tight spots and possibly some info about...

Please note: Exhibit A Down in the crevices and in the corners of the instrument panel is, you know it: superglue. I know, i know... the best way to deal with that is not to get it there in the first place. But the pieces were tiny. I couldn't pick them up with tweezers, much less hold them to just ...

Do you use a pressure regulator? I've been thinking of finding one. Paache has an in-line that I've been looking at. I think that may help.

I sprung for a Silentaire Scorpion as I live in an apartment (I can hear my neighbor's TV right now). If I had it to do over, I'd find another set-up. Although it is MUCH quieter than a standard compressor, it is by no means "silent as a whisper" as advertised. And I have, at times, wished...

This is funny. I'm having the same problem with the Tamiya rally driver/co-driver set. I was hoping to use them as snowspeeder pilots, but the bodies are made of some sort of soft plastic. Polyethylene? I've never worked with anything like it. Flash isn't a problem. The problem is shaping then to th...

Nevermind. I've got this under control.

Sorry to bother...

O.K. So, I bought this CCFL inverter and power supply for a 4" CCFL. I ordered what they recommended. The inverter has a current draw of 375 mA, the power supply is rated at 350 mA. Now I'm no electronics expert, but shouldn't the current draw be LOWER than the source current rating? It works, ...

http://www.widgetsupply.com/page/WS/PRO ... bit/BDM101

The 0.3 bit drills a very snug hole for 0.25 fiber. I use a pin vise.

I've always been fond of needle (jewlers) files. But I recently bought a set of angled needle files - just a needle file with with about a 30 degree bend at the end. They are perfect for tight spots.

Perfect. I was wondering how I was going to do this AT-AT base. A little of this on the feet should look good as well.

That's pretty cheap. How's their shipping/handling?

Sci Fi Smoker wrote:I flat-coat all my sci fi models. To me it's just too unrealistic to gloss something so small.

Agreed. The only things I've ever left glossed are TIE panels.

I've been melting plastic with a hot knife for 20 years. No pro- <HACK HACK HACK sputter> -blems. No really, I do like to use a hot knife for certain projects, but I started wearing a respirator and doing it in the spray booth. Twenty years of cigarettes - now I worry about stuff like that. :roll: N...

Babaganoosh wrote:We're all friendly types here.

Hello, my name is Cliff and I'm a RageAholic...

We should all be happy that I missed this thread.

I can't say that I recommend the EL products from allelectronics... very very dim. It's more like a soft glow and hardly noticeable in decent light. A waste of $25.00. I contacted them to see if maybe I got a bad kit, but... nope. I have yet to find any EL sheet at jameco. I've mis-spelled electrolu...

DHMO?

SOLD!! I've been here and there and everywhere researching this stuff (I just can't afford experimental shopping). Of course, I can't speak with confidence until I get some of this stuff, but all I've found is raves. I'm hoping it's a little less sticky than milliput (my only real gripe besides avai...

Hmmm. How thick is this stuff? Can it be rolled out? I've never used anything that didn't come in two sticks or a thin putty like squadron.

...that stuff looks great. Is it sticky?

Can anyone recommend a good epoxy putty for sculpting/scratchbuilding?
I can't find a US online store that carries milliput and don't want to order overseas. Has anyone used Tamiya's putty?

I get telephone wire from radio shack. It's four tiny insulated wires wrapped in another insulated layer. Cut it open and you get four tiny wires perfect for LED wiring. All the wires are different colors too. It makes it a bit easier to keep up with multiple connections. Very cheap by the foot and ...

http://www.plastruct.com/Home.html Best "online" source for plastics that I have found. They only have clear styrene in .010 sheets, but they have several thicknesses of acrylic, butyrate and copolyester. Acrylic seems like it would be do hard to work with. I don't know much about butyrate...

http://www.widgetsupply.com/page/WS/PRO ... ist/BDM101

Best I've found anywhere. Much better fit if using fiber optics. Widget also has several standard #60-#80 bits. But I prefer metric.

One more classic example: Note the winner of Starshipmodeler's Star Wars Contest in the "Kits" division.

<bad link>

Mr. Wurth states that he lost 20% of his fibers due to damage from CA.

A very nice model - but could have been nicer. OOPS!

OMG thanks I needed a good laugh.

Hmm very interesting. Certainly the words "damage" in the same sentence as "resin" or "styrene" makes me nervous, but it's worth a test on a scrap piece of styrene to ascertain the damage. Surely the Mrs. has some polish remover around here somewhere. And yep, I glued m...

Yup, after much thought, I've settled on the same idea. I'm pulling all of the fibers and starting over. None of my fibers have broken other than the one I pulled on, but still... I'll feel stupid when it's all together and the lights start going out. I'd probably be able to hear the fibers breaking...

I've simply done too much too start over. Tyring to sand down all that superglue in the concave tie interior is more that I was bargaining for. Again, I worked pretty fast with the accelerator and there are only a few sections where the fiber seems really damaged. I may redo those highly damaged few...

Don't get me wrong. I love the RPF. I have amassed large quantities of info just lurking around that forum - wishing all along that I could post. Finally, they re-open registration for new members and I really have not gotten the response that I was expecting. Those are my unrealistic expectations t...