Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Kylwell wrote:do they look like these? http://www.yankeeroo.com/store/product. ... t=0&page=8

I don't suppose Radio Shack carries these ? These are perfect when you don't want to solder a connection.

Oh cool. Do you any more pictures with a little more context? I'm having trouble visualizing where exactly these are. Right now, it's not a big deal, since I'm doing a USS Larson conversion, so I ended up putting my own strobes on it on the saucer top and bottom. When I build the Enterprise, I'll d...

Only strobes I recall on the original Enterprise (the production version) were the strobes on the stern either side of the shuttle bay aft of the nacelle pylons:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259 ... detail.jpg

If you are looking for LED lighting for a project, and want to keep it simple and cheep, try this wonder widget. "Sylvania LED series Battery-Operated LED Dome Lights" - 15 LEDs (all white, or multi colored) with a battery box and a built in effects programmer. For about $4.00 US. Most of...

I made an N-scale ladder the hard way out of brass rod for my spaceplane. It's the little red one in this pic: http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/Martian%20Diorama/IMG_1056.jpg I did it by laying two 1" lengths of brass rod parallel about 3/16'' apart on foam backed tape so they...

Chacal wrote:

TREKKRIFFIC wrote:Try shooting it into the crack with a hypodermic syringe...

I've tried using my 'hypodermic needle', but alcohol softened the needle. I pushed the plunger too soon anyway, so it just dripped on the floor...

Yes. You need a metal needle syringe. Problem is getting ahold of one.

Try shooting it into the crack with a hypodermic syringe. My brother used to get syringes from a dentist friend of his back when he was refinishing furniture. It worked great at getting glue into tight joints.

Don't know what I'd do without my dividers. One of the most useful tolols in my collection.

I bought a 1 oz bottle of Pactra Acryl Fluorescent Overcoat yesterday at my LHS. Has anyone used this stuff ? It says its thinned for airbrushing but I plan on brushing it on. I thought it might look good on starship warp engines as it's transparent. Sort of give them a nice warp glow in lowlight. A...

If the windows are recessed, I just take some white enamel and thin it down to about milk consistency. Then I take a fine brush and dip it in the paint, it should flow right off the brush and into the window recess quite nicely. Clean your brush occasionally if you are doing a lot of windows as it w...

You should be fine. Before I discovered Future, I used gloss lacquer in a rattle can under and over decals and never had an issue with it. Just be sure they're good and dry before spraying.

DeltaVee wrote:Thanks. I never dreamed good ol' water soluable Future could withstand Floquil thinner.

Is the Floquil thinner lacquer based ? If so, I'd be careful. If you are airbrushing it I'd apply it in light coats.

Future works well. Krylon gloss acrylic in a rattle can is good too. I always seal the decals with the same coating as I have underneath them.

Get thee to the finishing section of this forum:
viewtopic.php?t=15834

Some use silicone adhesive caulk but it's messy and takes forever to dry. I'd go the white glue route if I were you.

What are you using to cut it with ? I assume these aren't straight cuts for bulkheads ?

I'd really like to know how quiet these are. The engines I made make a sound like an electric train which stands to reason as they are HO scale RR motors.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259 ... gine-1.jpg

Wish I'd known about these when I built my 18" about 4 years ago. Would've saved me a lot of time and effort building gear boxes from scratch !

That looks great ! Nice paint job. I'll have to try Alclad someday.

I've started using Krylon gloss acrylic before and after decal application. Then a few coats of Krylon matte to give a semi-gloss finish or more matte for a flatter finish. I've used it on my current build and it hides the decal edges well. It's cheaper too, You can get a big ratttle can of it for a...

Marco Scheloske wrote:I use a stick with a blob of "blue tack" on top to hold small parts.

Yeah. That blue tack is good stuff !

LED's are quite cool especially when compared to incandescent bulbs. You should be fine.

You can do similar staining with a black gel ink pen over a flat finish. Blend and streak with a cue tip or cotton ball. Then seal with a flat or gloss coat enamel or lacquer. Avoid water based coatings over ink.

I'm having a problem with spray-on Testors model master paint, as the title suggests... Every time I use any Testors spray on paint, it seems to just slop on a huge amount of paint regardless of how short I spray or how far away I spray. This always ruins the fine detail on any part. Today I spraye...

The paste is a great seam filling product. Being that it too can be shapped and smoothed with a soft brush and alcohol. The best part is there is little to no (under 2%) shrinkage as well! Cheers, Mark Yes. Great for seams and can be easily thinned with alcohol. Less strength than the putty IMO but...

nah, I didn't bother with an anti-static band. The way I see it, these little beasties are going to be encased in plastic, which is an excellent source of static electricity. Just don't muck around with them on a dry winter's day! Okay. I'll try to remember that. Once again, thanks for all the tips !

or, if you accidentally fry the board and are stuck with only one, you could always make a destroyer! :lol: Hopefully I won't need to go that route but thanks for the suggestion ! One more question... Did you wear a static wrist band when working on the resoldering ? The instructions say to be care...

Darph Bobo wrote:Oh, did I mention that you totally void the warranty by doing this?! (or at least half of it!)

That's okay. I'm well past the 30 day warranty period so I have nothing to lose.

I thought of doing the same thing at first, but it's easier to just de-solder the leads, swap them and re-solder them after. Great ! I am really indebted to you for this information. I was at a loss what I'd do if both bussards were rotating clockwise. The port bussard should rotate counterclockwis...

So are these leads wire-wrapped ? Nope, soldered So could the wire leads be snipped and switched then resoldered higher up on the wires rather than where the leads attach to the board ? Perhaps I should just pull it out and check this out on the one I have rather than asking so many questions eh ?