- Joined
- Jan 22, 2009
- Messages
- 537
- Reaction score
- 221
The hull stringers are done.
On to plating. I did some experiments with different thicknesses of cardstock, paper, and cardboard. I've ended up using cardstock (business card weight) and 69 lb photo paper for plating. This will be a bit tedious (shall we say, "relaxing"), as there are 120 plates that need to be measured, cut out, gently bent into shape, and glued in place. Microclips work well as clamps, but rubber bands and pins also have a role.
In testing news, I received the first batches of puffy paint (two types) and initial tests are very promising. Below you can see TItebond molding and trim "no-run, no drip" wood glue, applied with a pin head, on the left, thickened molding and trim in the center left, and two types of puffy paint --Tulip Metallics silver dimesional fabric paint, ($3.37 for four ounces at Amazon) center right and Tulip Puffy black dimensional fabric paint ($6.90 for four ounces at Amazon), on the far right. As a quick and dirty test, I spray painted the test card with Testors Diamond Dust spray lacquer. The Titbond M&T isn't bad for medium-sized rivets, but the little ones turn into donuts. Tulip paints take a couple hours to dry, hence the squashed silver rivets, but works well for different sizes of rivets. [The fluorescent green and blue are a different test.]
Suitably encouraged, I made a test jig to test cardboard and cardstock, and more carefully applied riveting candidates in different sizes and patterns. Other than the fact that alternating rivets on the trim strip didn't work out so well, any of these could work, although the Tulip paints are a bit more three dimensional--especially for small rivets, and they have a really tiny nozzle on the bottle which make them easy to use for this purpose. Tulip silver is the most economical. I left room for the Scribbles puffy paint, which should get here this week.
Next up, more panels, more tests, and plasma propulsion.
On to plating. I did some experiments with different thicknesses of cardstock, paper, and cardboard. I've ended up using cardstock (business card weight) and 69 lb photo paper for plating. This will be a bit tedious (shall we say, "relaxing"), as there are 120 plates that need to be measured, cut out, gently bent into shape, and glued in place. Microclips work well as clamps, but rubber bands and pins also have a role.
In testing news, I received the first batches of puffy paint (two types) and initial tests are very promising. Below you can see TItebond molding and trim "no-run, no drip" wood glue, applied with a pin head, on the left, thickened molding and trim in the center left, and two types of puffy paint --Tulip Metallics silver dimesional fabric paint, ($3.37 for four ounces at Amazon) center right and Tulip Puffy black dimensional fabric paint ($6.90 for four ounces at Amazon), on the far right. As a quick and dirty test, I spray painted the test card with Testors Diamond Dust spray lacquer. The Titbond M&T isn't bad for medium-sized rivets, but the little ones turn into donuts. Tulip paints take a couple hours to dry, hence the squashed silver rivets, but works well for different sizes of rivets. [The fluorescent green and blue are a different test.]
Suitably encouraged, I made a test jig to test cardboard and cardstock, and more carefully applied riveting candidates in different sizes and patterns. Other than the fact that alternating rivets on the trim strip didn't work out so well, any of these could work, although the Tulip paints are a bit more three dimensional--especially for small rivets, and they have a really tiny nozzle on the bottle which make them easy to use for this purpose. Tulip silver is the most economical. I left room for the Scribbles puffy paint, which should get here this week.
Next up, more panels, more tests, and plasma propulsion.
Last edited: