Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

BTW, what thickness of plastic are you using? If it's too thick you end up having to hold the plastic over the flame for too long and you end up accumulating a lot of soot which gets embedded into the plastic. Also you may want to use a heat source other than a candle. 120-watt bulbs put out a lot o...

A group of soldiers being prepared for a practice landing on a tropical island were warned of the one danger the island held, a poisonous snake that could be readily identified by its alternating orange and black bands. They were instructed, should they find one of these snakes, to grab the tail en...

I did have a bottle seemingly turn smoke-color. Later I noticed while I transferring a quantity into a small mixing bottle that it was the clear plastic bottle that discolored, not the contents.

IIRC, pager motors might fit. I think that the motors you find in the Radio Shack ZipZap and the Tomy Bit CharG micro-RC cars are small enough to fit in the nacelles. You can usually find the motors in the "hop-up" kits. The problem is that they usually spin really, really fast.

The typical "background story" given in some variations of the Egg Drop contest: Contratulations! Your company has been chosen as a candidate for a contract for a "lander" that is to safely land a special "instrumentation package" (the egg) on some far-off planet (assum...

Typically in Egg Drop contests, the rules generally state that modification of the egg is not allowed (e.g. boiling). * The egg you are to use in your device is provided to you by an official. * That same egg must be presented to the official in unbroken state after the drop. Encasing the egg inside...

Yep, that "shroudcalc" applet is pretty handy. Comes in handy in those situations where you need to make a transition section on a model rocket. Funny thing is that whenever I came across this very situation I usually found myself sitting down with a pencil and piece of paper to derive out...

BTW the dope on tissue paper or silkspan not only stiffens it somewhat but also seals it and tightens it somewhat (due to the shrinkage from drying). Typically I use a 50/50 mix of dope and thinner for sealing tissue coverings. Dope is sometimes used to attach the covering to the framework, other ti...

It's a lacquer typically used when building model aeroplanes (flying type). Yep, that stuff is pretty "hot" and will melt plastic if you're not careful.

Gonna have to try these out one of these days.
http://antigravityresearch.com/

The Phantom is not listed in the catalog. I would assume it's out of production.

:-k Interesting... From the questions you were asking it seemed like you weren't familiar with "standard" references like the Handbook of Model Rocketry . Had you read this text or the Alpha Book of Model Rocketry , you would've had some idea about how clustering and staging. Haven't bough...

ok, so do i still need a booster engine? What i wanted was a total of 3 engines, each with 2 stages... i wanted a main center tube, with 2 smaller tubes on each side...if you can picture it...how would i rig up a system to ignite all 3 engines at the same time? Typical model rocket flight profile: ...

I would have liked to see small plastic replicas of actual flying rockets--a 1/1000 USS Atlantis TOS how 'bout a USS Atlantis Refit?!?! http://www.siriusrocketry.com/sirius00.htm A bit steep--and a bit big. But it looks to be in about 1:350 scale as well. Its more chunky nacelles might make for a g...

if i where to use the tube method with the relief hole, and had 2 regular motors, both with ejection charge, is it possible to rig up a system where the ejection charge will ignite the second engine AND blast itself out from the back of the rocket taking the first stage with it? You generally would...

publiusr wrote:I would have liked to see small plastic replicas of actual flying rockets--a 1/1000 USS Atlantis TOS

Hmm.. PMC in reverse. Plastruct does offer various sizes of tubes as well as sheet plastic. We do end up with an extra pair of nacelles from the PL kit too...

Basically clustered engines are lit the same way single engines are lit -- with an electrical ignition system -- minimally it's a 12' ~ 15' electrical cord, a battery (e.g. 6V lantern battery), a switch, a pair of clips to hold the igniter (either the type included with engines or a length of nicrom...

ah cool thanks! What about multi stage rockets? How could i get 2-3-4 engines going at the same time? or is it possible.. Using multiple engines that are lit simultaneously is known as "clustering". The old Saturn V kit from Estes used to use a cluster of 18mm engines (the later release u...

Folks have built plastic model conversions. Typically you end up having to use the higher power motors due to the weight (not only will the styrene be heavier than the usual paper and balsawood, but typically plastic models require extra noseweight). http://members.aol.com/GCGassaway/PMC/PMC.htm htt...

Hmm... how long does the foam take to solidify? Is it less than 20 seconds? BTW, does anybody have access to the NASA's KC-135 (aka "Vomit Comet") to try this out? Failing that, some a-grav field generators and an appropriately modified inertial damper module might work. Another method wou...

It's amusing to note that Dynavector is a manufacturer of phonograph cartridges that just happens to make models on the side. IIRC the model division was in the UK
http://www.dynavector.co.jp

If I'm not mistaken, the reason for a positive "buck" (pattern from which the vacuum-formed part is made) is the ease with which you can create the "buck." The disadvantage would be "soft" detail (e.g. panel lines). A female mold on the other hand would have the advanta...

Go with paper models, then you can for the most part skip on those smelly and potentially hazardous adhesives. If you still insist on smelly stuff, you can go for Duco cement , or rubber cement. Rubber cement works nicely on certain parts you need to stay flexible. CA can also be used as a stiffenin...

For some reason I misread the title as "Minbari Shaolin", and an image of a Minbari dressed as a Buddhist monk popped in my head...

Now if you could only find a material with an index of refraction identical to that of air...

scifi58 wrote:Dunno if it will help but Revell puts some in flight models. They are 72nd scale planes suspened above a magnetic base with fishing line. I always thought of getting one to pirate the parts from.

LG Johnson

Hmm... I thought the MagicFlight kits were 1:144

I'm going to paraphrase something I heard someone say here a long time ago and I think it is perfect for an Alfred Wong Forum, "Doing Models the Wong Way!" Hankules "Shoveling it a little deeper" DaMighty I confess... that was me who suggested the book title. Anyway... anybody i...

Alternate timelines... I recall caption from a cartoon where there are a bunch of space aliens meeting with what looks like officials (a stereotypical general and a stereotypical politician): "Quite frankly, we're a bit disappointed. We were hoping that you were ficticious and Mickey Mouse was ...