Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

If possible use red tape for plus and black for ground (neg). This will give a clear and instant sign of the polarity. Also if possible wire positive side components with red wire and negative with black.

They were artists pastels and I still have them from over 30 years ago. This was my first attempt at weathering a kit.

I found that a cheap LED flashlight with 8 ultra bright LEDs in it for a $1 at the store. Yes, I have to remove them and re-solder them, a minor issue for me. But still they are dirt cheap and good for experimenting with lighting effects.

When you apply pastels to a model and then seal it in you want the powder to remain fixed to the model without disturbing it. I made the Millennium Falcon when it first came out I used pastels for weathering it. I used a can of Dullcote, but when I applied it it did it too heavily and the pastels pu...

it's ok to paint acrylics over enamels since the water based paint won't interact with the enamel paint. I've never painted enamel over acrylic but it should be ok too. The main point is to not mix enamels with lacquers before painting as they have different solvents. I have mixed metallizers with T...

I used brass tubing inside the nacelle struts.

The weight of the resin in large molds can cause the mold to bulge slightly causing a distorted casting. This is why the rule of thumb is to have thick rubber walls around large castings. Unfortunately rubber is expensive and this can drive up costs considerably. Another solution is to have the mold...

The person in the video paints the mold silver and then pours in the resin. After he pulls the casting out of the mold he then paints it a whitesh color as its final color. The only thing I can see in the video is that the silver paint acts as primer coat for the resin so the final coat will adhere ...

Saw this in the Atomic City site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxCd7LwVeKc

Very cool looking!

I have used my notification to the Books,books, books thread for about 10 years as a means to access the forum. It was the only link I have had since I haven't received notifications when I posted on other threads for years. Now I see that it is gone and all the forum sites only have one page when b...

I've made small rocket nozzles for RCS thrusters by turning an appropriate sized piece of sprue in a drill and shaping it with a sanding stick into either a cone shape or rounded end and trimming it off with a razor xacto saw.

Based on what you said about the lights driven by the 555 chip it appears that something has affected it's oscillation, either causing it not to oscillate or to do it at the wrong rate. This could be caused by the source voltage. All this comes back to the same thing, you will have to access the int...

Since the interior circuitry is inaccessible there's not much else you can do to troubleshoot this problem. One other thing you can do with things as they are now is check the current from the batteries and transformer to the circuits by putting the DMM in current mode and seeing how much it is. Als...

First determine the polarity of the LED with a DMM by touching it with the leads in the resistance mode. The meter's 1v output will safely light the LED without damaging it. Then with the the meter set to voltage, measure the voltage of the wires referenced to ground ( the neg point of your power su...

Check your voltage at the regulator and chip in the model with a DMM to confirm you have the right amount using both the battery and transformer. If it isn't then backtrack your wiring to the batteries to make sure it is correct. If that is correct then try another set of batteries as these may be w...

Warm, soapy water. Work very slowly. Use a soft paint brush and work it under the decal as you go. Yes. The idea is to slowly remove the glue under the decal without tearing it. Once the decal is removed you will need a new source of adhesive to hold it in place. I use a little bit of Future both u...

I got a CO2 tank 20 years ago and have never had to worry about humidity or moisture in the lines since. Okay; that sounds promising. How humid is the air where you are during the worst times of the year? Historically, where I live it averages in the low- to mid-90s in the mornings (when temperatur...

I got a CO2 tank 20 years ago and have never had to worry about humidity or moisture in the lines since.

It states that the light strands needs to be hooked up to this board and hi voltage AC is required to light the strands.

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12781

It seems to me that this product is made for architectural decoration or DJ displays mainly.

This seems similar to the light sheets that have been around for years. The drawbacks of this like light sheet is that you are dealing with high voltages to light the tube up, at least 100vac or more. This makes wiring and working with it hazardous for the average person. The other is that the tube ...

Tenax is a very hot glue. Testors liquid is milder and I prefer to use it for my modeling. i have no experience with MEK type glue or one made fro use with ABS plastic which is similar to but different to styrene and regular plastic cement won't work as well with it.

Using an HO scale gas station I would scratch build a submarine conning tower poking up through the ice next to it and call it "Gas Station Zebra".

Sometimes you just have a poor decal that will silver no matter how you prep it. Silvering occurs when there is a tiny gap, maybe only 1/10,000" or less between the decal and the model that distorts the reflected light. A smooth glossy surface on the model can help prevent this compared the rou...

Such a project is possible but it involves much electronics. I know from similar type circuits in emergency battery power supplies to stop main charging once the batteries have reached their maximum charge.

While Tamiya makes some great paints and I have heard good things about them I don't use rattle can for the following reasons. No control over the paint. You can't adjust the consistency and you don't know how old the paint is. No adjustment on the pressure from the can like you can with an airbrush.

Do you want to vary the rate of flashing with an external control? That can be done with a simple 555 chip and rheostat in place of the timing resistor.

Get a rheostat in the value range of the rate you want to flash at.

If you are using a special mix for your painting I would recommend several jars worth, maybe 6 or 8. Yes, that is a lot and you may end up throwing away several when done,but paint is relatively cheap and to maintain a constant color for a model like this is worth it.

Is that the lighting kit you have? I'm curious how they managed to get the correct flashing sequence without a controller of some kind. I know there are flashing LEDs that will flash on their own but how do you get them to flash at the right rate. Also do you have the warp nacelle lighting or is tha...

A standard meter set on OHMs will supply about 1 volt of power which is sufficient to light the LED without a resistor to determine the color. If it doesn't light reverse the meter leads.

Just doing some research before I attempt to light my 350 refit. I have very little electronics experience. In fact, the last time I lit a kit was the old Lights and Sound Enterprise back in 1991. I bought the light kit from Galactic Modeler. The transaction on ebay was fine. I paid about $100. I t...