Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Well...I'm familiar with the acrylic they're using for these LEDs. There are two flavors, one optimized for edge lighting, and another optimized for diffusion with back-lighting. I'm thinking warp grills and such cut specifically to size and shape for specific models might be quite useful to a lot ...

The only thing I would use over an acrylic is another acrylic. But you can always test first on a piece of scrap plastic.

Look for Lipton's Tea in the pyramid bags. The bags are made of a very fine plastic mesh, probably nylon. After brewing, the tea leaves can be dried and used as ground clutter in dioramas. And as a bonus, you get some tasty tea to drink while building your model!

Sounds as if this stuff might be used to cement resin kits together, if applied in small quantities.

If it's water soluble, you can't wet sand it. The same is true of Perfect Plastic Putty.

Glitter is too coarse to shoot through an air brush. There are specialty metalflake paints available for airbrushing, and metalflake powders available for adding to regular paint. An internet search should turn them up.

Strips cut from a plastic milk carton work.

Depending on how big a machine you need, this could be a good buy: >>>link zapped<<< __________ More Ebay links? Please, don't. ...If you want to post a link to your own auction to promote the sale, fine, do it in Marketplace. Otherwise, please keep eBay off these boards. If you really think the it...

Depending on how big a machine you need, this could be a good buy: >>>link zapped<<< __________ More Ebay links? Please, don't. ...If you want to post a link to your own auction to promote the sale, fine, do it in Marketplace. Otherwise, please keep eBay off these boards. If you really think the ite...

Maybe it's the camera angle, but it looks to me like you've applied the paint way too thick to start. That's easy to do with a rattle can. I'd suggest, as you have an air brush, to use nothing else and apply the paint in very light coats. What did you use to mask the windows? In spite of some of the...

Space Ranger, I've used acrylic retarder in the past, never heard of enamel retarder. Where might such a rhing be found? I've purchased generic enamel retarder in the past from Home Depot and Lowe's. Floquil once made an enamel retarder, and a search for it will turn up several retailers that still...

The advantage of oils is that they take much longer to dry, which gives more time for blending. If using enamels, I'd suggest adding a retarder to slow down the drying time.

Try Scotch tape.

These are just former Floquil and other Testors products re-labeled.

Are you using Microset first? Contrary to conventional wisdom. You CAN use a soft cloth to press the decal into place when using Microsol. Just watch and wait until most of the Microsol is dry, then press gently straight down on the decal with a soft cloth; a "microfiber" cloth is ideal. D...

My rule when spraying paint, whether from can or by airbrush, has always to wait until I can no longer smell it. Sometimes that's as much as a week.

The latest FineScale Modeler has an article on airbrushing gloss acrylics. It suggests adding both a retarder and flow enhancer to help the paint dry slower as well as flow better. These would probably help with brushing acrylics as well. The brands suggested are Liquitex Flow-Aid (flow enhancer) an...

Try the plastic from a milk bottle.

If you need a thicker plastic cement, look for some Faller Super Expert cement:

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t67/ ... 0490-2.jpg

It's a liquid, thicker than Tamiya/Testors, but not as thick as conventional tube glue.

See here:

http://pod.sparknet.ca/moonbus/moonbus_01.html

And continue (by clicking on links at the bottom) to here:

http://pod.sparknet.ca/moonbus/moonbus_03.html

For a uniform finish, my experience has been that you need to gloss coat the entire model, apply decals, then apply flat or satin coat.

Some have reported no problems using Testors lacquer over enamel, but to be on the safe side, one should NEVER apply lacquer over enamel. Most lacquers will dissolve most enamels. The rule is:

Acrylic over enamel over lacquer.

When I was in college, I helped install a Spitz A-1 (the dodecahedron-shaped model) at the new Wichita Falls Museum and Arts Center, Wichita Falls, TX. It turned out to be a used item, purchased from the Fort Worth Children's Museum, where 10 years previously I had taken a summer astronomy course th...

How about an electric toothbrush?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6T0U9yEw0I

Here's a source for some tiny LEDs that may offer solutions to some of the issues associated with lighting our models: http://www.ngineering.com/lightng.htm I have not tried these and have no association with the company, but I have seen some of the products at model railroad shows, and they look pr...

Check the dollar stores (Dollar Tree and Dollar General) periodically. They often have novelty lights with LEDs of different colors. Just recently at a local Dollar Tree I found a small plastic jack-o-lantern with a simulated candle - a flickering yellow LED - for a dollar, and that includes battery...