Mur

I found this nice plastic tray that works nicely for storying work-in-progress kits. 🙂 An all round nice shape. I already bought one in the store and will get some more ones. Too short/small for larger kits though.

jula.no/catalog/hjem..veringsbrett-009466/

This is the worst Trumpeter ship kit ever, re. the bottom part. This is bizarre, how bad the mold is, the bottom part (red) not being wide enough to match the top part (gray).

The fix was to use a power tool and cut a slit along the center of the bottom part, then jam some strip styrene inside and widen the red plastic. Not perfect, but a big improvement.

Knowing how weird the seamline is, I used a lot of cyanoacrylate glue here instead of Tamiya Extra Thin Cement.

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1:700 Sacramento

Q: Anybody know where to buy photo etch lettering? Like individual letters for the English alphabet in photo etch.

Reason being, to recreate a nameplate with photo etch, glued onto a plastic stand. I tried using a chrome pen on plastic, but this turned out to be very troublesome. If only the nameplate had been brass, then I would be ok, easy to work with, sadly the nameplate is all plastic.

Q: Is it possible to create a piano "laqcuer" gloss finish using Vallejo Acrylic Gloss varnish?
I imagine, it would have to somehow go on wet-in-wet. Anybody know?

I just realized that I must have spilled some drops of cyanoacrylate on my wood floor paneling and failed to scrape it off. So then in my infinite wisdom, I remembered that I do in fact own a bottle of cyanoacrylate debonder. So that dried superglue could eventually be wiped off the floor.

I just learned that 'FSTAR' apparently means 'Five Star'. A photo etch manufacturer. This also matches the logo, which depicts five stars.

I think I just learned that the many long antennas along the CVN-68 Nimitz, are "HF antennas" that are kept vertical to work the best, and then lowered to the side during flight operations.

Q: Does anyone happen to know if is there anything like this below but in 1:700? I did a search but couldn't find anything.

U.S. Navy Aircraft Set No.2 (Tamiya 78009, 1:350)

Chrome pens are such a joy to use. 🙂

So.. I drilled into the plastic into this wing, to create a cavity in the plastic, as if creating a concave reflector disk for a light source. Then I flooded the cavity with silvery paint from this "thin" tip pen. (I have extra-thin, thin, and large, pen tips.)

Result is a smooth shiny bit of reflector material, as if representing a light bulb spot in the wing. 🙂

I made sure to check with this other chrome pen I started using some months ago, worrying it had dried up. I was able to make it work again so that is nice. I grabbed a solid plastic box from the kitchen and hopefully, this box is air tight, unlike a thin plastic bag, and hopefully the pens can stay ok for a longer period of time this way.

If I mess it up, I can always wipe off the chrome paint and use some airbrush cleaner to get the plastic clean, and then just try using the chrome pen again.

Q: Anybody experienced using Bare Metal Foil?

I am wondering, if you add just plain aluminium foil, or mostly one type of foil, how might one want to weather the foil all over the airplane, without just adding other types of foil like chrome foil or dull aluminium?

I am tempted to just add one type of aluminium bare metal foil on a 1:72 cargo plane, but I don't how I would want to create any contrast effect for the panels if I only used one type of bare metal foil.

Q: What might be a better kit of the Titanic ship in 1:700?
Anyone that worked with this subject matter that know some pointers?

Presumably photo etch would be required. Wooden deck is no big deal for me.
No way I want a 1:200 kit of the Titanic, just too large for me.

I think I found a nice paint mixer. The DSPIAE mixer kit comes with a few metal rods that spins around when a current is added. I used a power brick for this. Eventually, I figured that the on / off button, is the blue light in the photo below. A tough button area around the tiny light. The power brick itself has an automatic on /off function, so I have to press the LED charging status button, to re-activate the power brick if I am not using the mixer.

I realize now a little late that having previously used glass balls as paint mixers, makes the glass balls difficult to extract when there is still paint in the bottle, as glass isn't magnetic. I have to make sure that I don't mix glass balls and metal rods, to stay on the safe side I think. Writing descriptive text on the bottles should tell me what type of mixer object I keep inside each bottle of 60 ml and 200 ml Vallejo primer paint bottles.

I do not know if the smallest 17 ml bottles can fit a metal rod inside, anyway I don't have enough metal rods for every 17 ml bottle of paint.

Mixing one metal rod and one metal ball = works but can be a little noisy for a few seconds.
Mixing in one or two metal balls = doesn't work, or works so weakly, it doesn't look like it can mix anything.

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Hrm.. The people at Airfix can't even seem to model their 1:72 Hurricane correctly. Canopy glass is supposed to slide in parallel along a line, on this kit the canopy glass is tapered, which explains why the canopy doesn't fit in an open position. This error is so obvious I don't think Airfix knows what they are doing when making their designs. 🙁 This is like taking a 70 year step back in time I would think introducing totally unnecessary errors in accuracy.

Heh, I found this on Reddit:

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Q: What would be the curing time for a chrome pen???

I thought a few hours was enough for adding some masking tape over the chrome, but the Tamiya masking tape seemed to stain the chrome surface. So I wiped off the chrome with paper towel and airbrush cleaning liquid, and re-applied the chrome with the pen. Shiny, though I want to use my masking tape, to add another color over the crome in places.

I painted the tip of the Aim-9L missile chrome, instead of airbrushing on some metal color. Admittedly, the shiny bit is a bit dull on photos, but this will work for now, I can always dull the chrome later. I wrote "tip" I meant the metal part just behind the optic (optic = separate part).

Today I had the opportunity to start using a chrome pen. I learned that, even though the result looks nice, the choice of pen tip (probably) matter.

I have the broad tip. There was also a thin tip pen iirc. Presumably a board tip pen, puts on more chrome liquid than the fine tip one, is my guess.

So I have both versions of the Iwata HP-CS Eclipse airbrush, 0,35 and 0,5 needle/nozzle.

Apparently, and as suspected the paint flow is much better with the larger needle/nozzle. Still I find that the paint goes on differently than the 0,35 needle/nozzle, so still I think the cleanest result would be airbrushing on primer thinly with a 0,35 needle/nozzle. For adding on lots of primer and covering seams the 0,5 setup seems to work nicely.

Q: Anyone familiar with using this Uschi product and can share their experiences?
Metallic paste. Some flasks have obvious liquid content, others not it feels when I shake these containers:

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Q: Can anyone recommend a tool for applying a tiny, tiny amount of cyanoacrylate?

I am already using a small glue loop, but it is too large. I tried using a tiny pin, but the drop doesn't fall off the pin, and climb the pin instead.

Oh, joy I fixed my noisy, noisy, office chair. With five bits of toilet paper.

Problem is the five wheels that snap onto the plastic chassis of the office chair, the metal pins stick into the five plastic slots of the chair, but then there is a slack that somehow allows tension to build up, and then when I got off and back onto the office chair, there would be a terrible crack/creaking noise, so loud.

Anyway, this noise issue was fixed by simply pressing two halves of a single sheet of toilet paper into the cavity, the slot where the wheel's metal pin goes in. The paper prevents slack in the the vertical direction, effectively removing any noise I had before. 🙂

I think I have found a solution to a mysterious issue I am having with my airbrush. 🙂

I have seen tiny bubbles forming inside the paint cup when using my airbrush, and it seems this build up more and more, making it hard to see how much paint is really left in the airbrush paint cup, because of all the bubbles inside.

'Airbrush asylum' channel on youtube, diagnoses this issue, as having to do with a nozzle that hasn't been tightened enough, and I guess maybe related to the large O-ring around the nozzle on my Iwata HP-CS Eclipse. His tip was to apply bee wax around the threads.

I have received the JETMADS 1:32 Viggen resin kit (second 500 batch run) and it looks very nice I think. 🙂 No regrets there. I am in the process of going over the surface with diluted Vallejo putty, to smoothen the 3d printed parts. The larger resin parts looks surprisingly smooth, I think they were based on 3d printed moulds if I am not mistaken.

Although the included 3d printed & resin missiles maybe look fine, I thought the Eduard sidewinder missiles in 1:48 looked so nice, I ordered some Sidewinders and Sparrows in 1:32 for the Viggen project.

I am confident I can make a nice looking metallic skinned Viggen (39 number on tail), also found in the painting guide as an option. I ordered some Uschi metal polisihing powder as well, to be used together with Vallejo glossy black primer and Vallejo metal color paints eventually.

The two big clear parts will require a little sanding. I think the trick is to keep the large clear resin parts still attached to their cast resin base until you are finished sanding and adding a layer of future (which I happen to have in stock).

I'll eventually post album photos, but I have other kits that, sigh, must be finished.

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Who here uses Tamiya airbrush cleaner, as liquid glue? 🙂

Edit: Agh I got the name wrong, fixed. Airbursh cleaner, not thinner.

Re. Vallejo Metal Color paint bottles gone bad. Anyone tried to rejuvenate the metallic paint?

I added some flow enhancer and a little water and user an electric strirrer to get things smooth, but I haven't tried airbrushing with it. :| These bottles are fairly expensive, and don't seem to hold up as good as the paint in the regular 17ml paint bottles I think.

Also, if you see there's a lot of bubbles in the paint bottle, after shaking it, any trick to get rid of the bubbles? Maybe turning the bottle up side down for a while? :|

I wish I had this machine that had rollers, where all my paint bottles could just lie on it, and rotate 24/7 all year long, to keep the paint moving inside.

The package from JET MADS finally has arrived to my country according to tracking data (order no 10853) 🙂

Re. their 1:32 Swedish JA-37 Viggen resin kit.

I did not mind the delay at all. Also, I know what I am was going into, going into a resin build, with afaik 3d printed moulds, so some extra work will be required to work the mouled resin parts, which won't be entirely smooth all over. I intend to ever so slightly dilute Vallejo putty, and try smooth the resin that way, gently sanding over, and hopefully the additional details like rivets won't disappear. I like using a small brush to add both putty and diluted putty on plastic. If diluted too much, the putty no longer is able to fill a cavity.

I thought, if I can manage to nicely smooth the plastic here and there, I can try a metallic look, instead of the green camo look.

I pre-ordered from the second limited run last year around August or something I think it was, so a year later I get to have a look at the kit myself.

Oh, wow. I just realized perhaps for the first time ever airbrushing, that adding Vallejo thinner to Vallejo primer, apparently causes tip dry a lot more, than if I don't add thinner. I'll try using Vellejo primer with only a little flow enhancer and not thinner. Unsure about what psi I ought to use. I'll just try this later and not worry about any partiuclar psi setting on my compressor.

I suspect that, having added thinner to my primer, some stuff inside the airbrush in the nozzle start to dry, but I am not sure. It seems, I have an issue with paint flow, being limited, perhaps because something is drying inside the nozzle or something, unsure.

I made an improvised noise dampener for my air compressor. The exhaust pipe is hidden out of view at the back.

I simply cut the old compressor air hose shorter, drilled numerous holes on one end, and stuck the other into the exhaust opening for the overpressure valve that makes noise whenever the tank is filled to 6.5 bar.

This works ok. 🙂 I will have to clean up on the floor after drilling the holes and after some uses. Probably not a good idea to have bits of PVC lying around. Presumably the rubber material is PVC as pointed out on eBay for a similar type of product.

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Q: Does anyone know where to buy this Sil Air compressor regulator filter?
This filter separates the oil from water afaik in the moisture trap container.

air-craft.net/acatal..egulator-Filter.html (sold out)

I have never changed my filter, and I suspect I can still use my compressor, though I think I should probably change my filter, it felt a little oily when I inspected the filter and held it with my fingers.

If you ever bought the mysterious looking DSPIAE tools for sanding (with just the metal parts), these other products below are apparently complementary to the metal files. The metal parts are just smooth, and one is supposed to stick some self-adhesive sanding paper onto them, as shown below. Took a while to figure this one out. The thickness of the self-adhesive sanding paper, looks to be about 0.3 mm thick. The metal parts looks to be same thickness 0.3 mm, so say 0.5 mm in total, with sanding paper on just one of the double sided metal shapes.

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Hrm, I can't easily find affordable compressor oil of the old familiar brand I have been using, none in my own country. So.. I will consider using synthetic hydraulic oil ISO 32, which apparently is recommended, assuming the oil doesn't contain cleaning additives (not to be confused with anti wear additives apparently). So apparently my old bottle of compressor oil is ISO 32 (viscocity).

My compressor has been lightly used, but it is a few years old now. The oil level is below the 50% level, by just a little bit, so I'll try just add a little bit of oil, then wait 30 min to see if the level reaches 50% and not higher.

AIR LEAK!
In my precious compressor..

Sigh!
Finally, I found out where my leaky compressor was flawed.. Apparently it is the rubber hose inside the nicely braded exterior that has a really big rift in it.

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Kit makers, especially Trumpeter, Hobby Boss and Glow2B, stop it with this apparent nonsense with bad geometry in your cad files. This is rubbish!

If you in a 3d model project a circle shape onto a ship's hull, the resulting hole should be circular, never oval like this !!! One might wonder if my uploaded screenshot from a review video is showing just bad perspective, but I don't think so. The screenshot seem imo to just show a bad work on a 3d model.

If you project a circle perfectly sideways onto a ship's hull, you get an oval when the ship's hull is curved. If you project a circle perfectly sidways ontoa ship's hull, and if the ship's hull is perfectly vertical, you get a circle, but you get an oval when the hull is curved. This here is just basic knowlege about basic geometry.

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If you like the WW2 Sherman tank, you might like this 1/16 model:
Youtube Video (Andy's Hobby Headquarters)

I ordered a AZFUNN magnifying heatset. Up to x3 or 3,5 maginfying power I think. Amazon was cheaper than eBay, even for me living in Europe.

I could chose to pay in my own currency instead of USD, but I don't know what the difference is, as I don't know which currency rate is made actual with either option. 🙁 If you know more about how this works online, feel free to chime in and explain what option might be cheaper. I just don't know if the actual currency rate used, will be: yesterdays, today's or tomorrow's (or later).

Q: Can I safely use Microsol on clear parts? Anybody know? I guess I could just try find some scrap part and try it out. :|

I would guess so, but I honestly haven't thought about it before now. The idea is to (maybe) use silver colored decal foil, instead of paint, to add silver frames on clear canopy part for a 1:72 B-24. That way I could first add black foil underneath, then add silver on top, and get an "inside" color and also an outside color. Admittedly, canopy frames might not be entirely grid like, but perhaps I could round off the decals to create rounded corners.

Where the hell is my second Tamiya pin vise tool? :|

Switching between two very different drill bits all the time is tedious this way with only one of my pin wise tools around. Heh, I can't find it anywhere, with my luck, I put it in a WIP kit box someplace.

Re. Bare Metal Foil products.

Q: I see that they sell a 'black chrome' variant of the metal foil. I am wondering, what would one use black chrome for? Any ideas?

I finally got around to order some spare parts for my Iwata Eclipse HP-CS airbrush. Not that many that sell the parts. Bought it from Maple Airbrush Supplies in Canada. CAD$ is cheaper than USD$ is my impression.

The nozzle's are the most expensive, while the needles are less costly.