How do you add those little details?

[Scott_Rip]

It is my intention to become a full-blown scale building lunatic, but at this juncture I lack the experience (and money, but that's a different story) to do much. I have seen some great things in various build threads, but perhaps you could post your process here in this thread, too.

This could be a collecting place for particular methods for adding various details common on different scale builds. Things like external pipes/conduits, corrugated sections, escape towers, custom nose cones, etc.

These are the kind of things I would drive for hours for just to meet with somebody who knows their stuff and learn from them. But as a starting point, I know there is a wealth of experience on this forum.

And remember. Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

 

[sandman]

Check out these two companies Plastruct and Evergreen.

https://www.plastruct.com/Pages/OnlineCatalog.lasso

https://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/

These companies make a wide variety of plastic shapes and sheets to simulate all kinds of detail.

Most largewr hobby shops have displays of the parts as whell as the adheasives you'll need for them.

Also check the model railroading aisles of your local hobby shop. Lots of stuff you can use.

Also get a copy of "Rockets Of The World" by Peter Alway. You can get it here.

https://blastzone.com/nar/narts/store.asp?groupid=1080035015601

 

[MarkII]

Very, very carefully. Often accompanied with coaxing in a vocabulary that cannot be reproduced here.

You can often find materials that will work, but there are many times when you will have to make your own. To get some experience working with very small parts, build a few Micromaxx kits. Model railroaders have been building exquisitely scaled layouts for decades; you can often raid their suppliers for materials that you can use for your scale rockets.

Beginner and intermediate scale modelers endeavor to reproduce every single bolt and rivet in scale. Advanced scale modelers know how and when to employ optical tricks and illusions to achieve convincing scale effects. I am still very much at the beginner level, myself.

MarkII

 

[MaxQ]

It is my intention to become a full-blown scale building lunatic, but at this juncture I lack the experience (and money, but that's a different story) to do much. I have seen some great things in various build threads, but perhaps you could post your process here in this thread, too.

This could be a collecting place for particular methods for adding various details common on different scale builds. Things like external pipes/conduits, corrugated sections, escape towers, custom nose cones, etc.

These are the kind of things I would drive for hours for just to meet with somebody who knows their stuff and learn from them. But as a starting point, I know there is a wealth of experience on this forum.

And remember. Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Good suggestion......

Calling Meatball Rocketry...you listening Josh?

https://www.meatballrocketry.com/saturn1_59_4.htm

 

[mjennings]

lots of the really awesome stuff is hand crafted from what I've seen. A good place to get your feet wet is Dr Zooch's kits, as they are all semi (ant) scale. I've picked up a few tricks from the 2 kits I have. Also the Fliskits Saturn 1B is a good kit to learn from, wish I had one. Also get a couple of scale modeling books from the library it doesn't mater if it's trains, planes, etc, because as said above all scale modelers use many of the same methods, just slightly adapted to their models of choice.

 

[luke strawwalker]

I'd suggest you check out Dr. Zooch kits... he makes some terrific "ant-scale" (semiscale) rockets that will teach you TONS of tricks to making scale details, using illusion, and making paper components for scale details like engine bells and transitions, using 'non-typical' stuff for making details (like bamboo skewers ) and things like that which will REALLY help you when you're ready to make your own scale builds...

His kits are REALLY nice, GREAT flyers (if you follow the instructions-- another important thing to realize is that most scale rockets are a bit 'finicky' about things like noseweight and stuff-- Dr. Zooch does all the work for you here, but you can learn about the how's and why's if you dig into things a little and/or experiment). Dr. Zooch uses good materials, is very helpful with any assistance you might need in building or flying the kit (or making repairs if you mess up) and best of all, his kits are VERY fairly priced!

I've got a ton of em and I REALLY enjoy building them-- I learn something new with EVERY kit of his I build...

Good luck! OL JR

PS... I've (among others) posted quite a few build threads on Dr. Zooch kits here on TRF, and over at YORF and RP as well... do a search of the forum and check them out to see what I'm talking about...