RedHeadKevin

It reminds me more of the A-7 Corsair II, with that big underslung intake in front like that.

As modelers, we use cotton swabs quite a bit. But if I'm using them to soak up excess wash, or absorb water from a decal, they leave nearly microscopic cotton fibers behind, and they look terrible. So I'm trying to find a good alternative/replacement for really, these two purposes. Is there an absorbent "cotton swab" that will absorb water, but not leave fibers? Sort of a "lint-free" cotton swab? But here's the catch: It should be more durable than just foam. Or should i just start using the corner of a paper towel?

I said this in another thread, but it bears repeating: be careful wishing for a Tamiya A-10C, as they might follow the Hasegawa route and release their old Hawg kit with new decals.

Zactoman's method is close to what I ended up doing. I drilled out both parts, so any sanding would have to be done to a thin ring, rather than trying to keep the whole end flat.

I'm building some Eduard Brassin resin cluster bombs. They come with the bomb section as one part, and the tail fins as another. You have to cut them off a mounting block, and sand down the nub. If the ends are off-straight by a even a tiny amount, it never looks straight. I'm looking for any good tips for joining these halves, and keeping everything straight.

Be careful what you wish for. We could get Tamiya's old A-10A kit with new weapons and decals.

I went through my old paints today and got rid of some that are dried in the bottle. Rather than just junk the bottles, does anyone have a good method for cleaning paint out of the bottles? I'm thinking a soak in lacquer thinner or other solvent would get them clean, but is there something less messy and carcinogenic? They're Model Master bottles, which get expensive if you're buying them empty.

I'm building the Bandai Blockade Runner, and I'd like to do SOMETHING to give an impression that the engines are burning, but I'm not going to run LEDs for the engines. The engines are almost exactly 1/8", so I was going to use some clear Plastruct rod and cut plugs for each engine. I was trying to find a way to give SOME lighting effect. I took a 1/8" clear yellow rod, and tried spraying one end with white paint, or chrome paint, or clear red, while leaving a clear "lens" on the other end. I was trying to catch some light inside the rod and reflect it back to the "lens" end of the clear rod. Then it hit me: What if I used glow-in-the-dark paint? My reasoning is this: light will get into the engine through the clear rod, hopefully with enough transmitted to charge the GitD paint. The GitD paint would then glow, and it would light up the clear "lens" end. Before I go out and buy some, has anyone tried this? Am I making the least bit of sense?

You might do better just going to Hobby Lobby and spending $15 or so on another Blockade-Runner-and-Falcon kit. Use the coupon. The little Falcon is a fun kit to build and paint.

So last summer I built myself a spray booth. It works great, but I'd like to have a surface that I could remove and clean easily inside the booth. I was thinking something like a sheet of acetal plastic (Delrin) that stands up to solvents, even to lacquer thinner. But for the size I need (29"x29"), it would be prohibitively expensive. Ideally I want something I can clean off, to a white surface. Any other thoughts?

When I go to shows, I see people winning several categories, and getting several trophies (My local shows give out plaques. I don't know if other shows give out something else.) After moving houses last summer, I realized just how these plaques can add up. I was just wondering what you guys do with all the stuff you win? Do you keep them forever? Do you throw out the old ones? I've started using the plaques to make bases for my models. They're a great size, and take just a little work to make them look really nice.

Genre: Modern US equipment Favorite Scale: 1/48 for airplanes, 1/35 for armor Brand: I never had much brand loyalty. If a brand came out with a better kit, I'll build it. (Looking at you, Academy F-15E's. Revell is better. Tamiya's F-16 are better than Hasegawa, etc.) But truthfully, since Bandai released their line of Star Wars kits, most of my answers have changed. I've enjoyed the hell out of building anything Bandai has from the Galaxy Far, Far Away, in any scale. They really made modeling fun again. I don't have to put in 3 pounds of resin and PE, and the kits practically fall together.

Aaaaand cue the "Double Penetration" jokes.

3d Printing seemed like a great idea, and some of the stuff you can print is pretty impressive. But it's not about to replace traditional injection-molded model kits, at least for a long, long while. Until you can print without visible layers and print lines, it's difficult to get a lot of shapes, or a smooth, crisp surface. Not unless you have a printer that's basically priced out of the home modeler's range. Also, most of what gets 3D printed can be made easier, cheaper, and faster with other means, like a laser cutter or just traditional model building techniques like foamcore or sheet styrene. Once the really high-quality, high-precision printers are available for the home user, and we can print with durable materials, like manufacturing-grade materials, then 3D printing will be useful. By the way, if we were to make a new sub-forum, I suggest a "Model Show" section, with reports and pictures from local, regional, and national model shows.

The best explanation of adapting the speeders for Hoth was (I think) from the Incredible Cross-Sections book. The large radiator on the back of the speeder was designed for hotter climates, and was actually releasing too much heat for the cold Hoth environment, causing the speeders to freeze up. They welded metal plates to the sides of the radiator blades to slow the release of the heat. Sure. That makes sense. I'm building this kit, and it's blowing me away how crappy the paint job on the actual studio models looks. There are lots of painting issues, spider-webbed airbrushing, drips, etc. It's kind of disheartening to see what the "real" thing looks like. Although it makes me feel better about my own painting skills! Also... you know you put the guns on backward, right?