The Kit-Basher's Guide To The Galaxy

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

Hi folks trouble is back.

I use the bottom from a plastic soda bottle. Then I have five wells, one for PVA, PVA and water, soapy water, CA and acetone, in one place and they don't fall over. And the sides make good windows at a push. I also use the cap as a well if I only need one glue pot.

That's a brilliant idea!

Havagooday

Greg

[mischief]

I use the small condiment cups from fast food joints.

[Captain Slog]

USING 3.5" FLOPPY DISKS FOR WINDOW GLAZING (NO SCALE)

 

Hi,

 

CaptainSteve asked if I would do a post on using floppy disks for window glazing after he saw it on my Borodino build log so here it is.

 

Firstly, I would usually give credit to the person whose techniques I use and post on my build log but in this case I am afraid I have no idea where I picked this up from as its probably been a couple of years but only using it now.

 

The floppy disk could be used to ‘glaze’ stern galleries and quarter light windows as well as portholes.  My example is for 2mm photo-etch portholes in spare card that came with an other model I am building.  It could probably be cut to fit between the transoms and munnions on larger wooden or photo etch frames.  It is easier to just cut it oversize and glue from the back and in the case of the portholes the best method (probably the only method).

 

I would imagine most people have floppy disks lying around in the house somewhere.  It’s probably well over a decade since I owned a floppy drive to read them.  If you haven’t I would imagine you could still source them from the internet maybe.

 

Firstly remove the metal door from the case.  If you don’t want to keep it just rip it off.  Since it’s nice and thin at 0.19mm (slightly thicker than photo-etch I wanted to save it in case something comes up where I could use.)  Prise it up from the backside of the case to lift the 2 tabs out of the groove.  Once clear of the groove it drops off.

 

 

 

 

To get to the floppy part I pushed a Stanley knife blade into one of the joins at the corner.  The case is glued (plastic welded?) only at the corners so you want to cut this bond free.  Then do the same at another corner.  You only need to do 2 corners then you can pull the case open until the disk drops out.

 

 

 

The disk itself is actually pretty amazing.  I thought it was made of Mylar and CaptainSteve confirmed this, also informing me it was coated with iron oxide.  I used my Vernier to measure it and it was 0.08mm which agrees with CaptainSteve’s 0.003”

 

It is very tough; I was unable to tear an undamaged disk by hand.  The disk is very shiny and some care should be taken to avoid marking the surface; probably not a big deal on 2mm portholes but you don’t want any blemishes showing up on larger stern gallery windows.  I also avoided touching the surface with fingers to avoid leaving finger prints for the same reason.

 

With this is in mind I used a plastic school ruler as opposed to my usual steel rule.  To cut it with say a No.11 blade I found it best to hold the knife at a very shallow angle.  I prefer to use small super sharp scissors to cut it as I don’t need to cut out accurate dimensions and they don’t burr the edge which sometimes happens with the knife blade.

 

 

 

To glue the window ‘pane’ I use normal PVA. This is more than adequate for securing the part to paper and photo-etch; wood also I would imagine.  As with most things less is more when gluing and I usually use either a sewing needle held in a pin vice or an old 000 paint brush for applying glue.  I used the paint brush in this case as I need to spread it out on the back surface of the ‘model’.

 

I guess most glues would be suitable and you will need to experiment for yourself for your glue of choice; I will add I wouldn’t use CA glue.  I know CA glue fumes can fog up clear styrene canopies etc so as an experiment I placed a drop of CA on the disk to see what would happen and it did slightly discolour the edges of the glue blob.

 

 

 

To fit the window I used a photo-etch parts placer.  It is basically like a pencil with a hard waxy crayon centre.  You can sharpen it to point using a knife or pencil sharpener and with use it loses its tackiness so you can resharpen it again but I usually just give it a quick scrap with an old blade.

 

If you do a lot of photo-etch it is invaluable and has the benefit over tweezers with flat pieces as you don’t need to worry about trying to grip the part on the edges.  Try not to slide the ‘pane’ around when placing as you don’t want glue smears/blemishes on the part spoiling the effect.

 

 

 

 

The finished porthole next to an unglazed one.  With the macro you can see a shiny window and even at normal viewing distance a dark shine is noticeable so would imagine the effect would be even more pronounced with larger scales and windows.

 

 

 

Now if I could only find the same disk material but transparent all my window glazing needs would be met LOL

 

Cheers

Slog

[mtaylor]

Mylar?  Check an office supply store for overhead projector transparencies.  It not only comes in clear but a variety of colors.

[Canute]

You may want to look for Canopy Cement - model airplane folks use it to fasten canopies. It appears to be a thickened white glue that dries clear. Holds well and won't mess with your glazing materials.

[cobra1951]

Try this stuff you can make small windows and also use it as a clear glue that won't blemish clear plastics

https://www.deluxematerials.co.uk/en/scale-plastics/49-glue-n-glaze-5060243900333.html?search_query=Glue+%27n%27+Glaze&results=1

 

Video of how it works here (only downside is the woman's terrible voice on the video

Edited July 30, 2016 by Cobr@

[WackoWolf]

Thanks for the video link, look interesting enough to take a chance and try.

[Jolley Roger]

I use this stuff:

 

http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MI-9

 

[NenadM]

Interesting and usefull, but ... missed point of this topic. Look at post No #1 - EVERY DAY STUFF...

[cobra1951]

Interesting and usefull, but ... missed point of this topic. Look at post No #1 - EVERY DAY STUFF...

 

Depends on your definition of every day stuff. To me if i can buy it easily then it's every day stuff

[CaptainSteve]

The info is good, Cobr@ ... but Nenad is right. The whole point of this thread is using everyday stuff and turning it into ship parts. So, please people, back to the ideas ... 

[Ulises Victoria]

Not trying to stir things, but I think the idea of this post is about using everyday stuff in our models that ​

 

it isn't mean to be used in our models.

[CaptainSteve]

UV, 

From my first post, commencing this thread ...

 

 

... forum based upon everyday items which could be tailored into ship parts to enhance our models.

 

[Ulises Victoria]

CaptainSteve.. Exactly what I meant to say. Maybe I was not clear enough.

[7 Provinces]

Hi, on the note of floppy disk mylar being very nicely shiny but unfortunately not transparent (which would be preferred) I would like to share an alternative: PET.

PET, when in pristine condition, is very shiny! Furthermore it is clear, can be obtained in many colors if so needed, can be deformed and everyone has it at home. For the compass of my Bluenose (had no time to post this yet) I used PET from a small nut container which I got in a hotel. It is 0.3 mm thick. I cut out a little piece (like 1 cm square). I drilled a 5 mm. hole in a piece of wood. I heated the PET carefully with a cigarette lighter and pressed it into the hole with the round metal back of my pencil (one you fill with 0.5 mm. pencils). So now I had the shiny transparent dome-like shape I wanted and cut it to a 5 mm diameter circle. This was the hardest part and I only succeeded the second time.

 

Long story short: try some scrap PET (look for a shiny part, behind a label for instance) if your floppy is too opaque.

[Landlocked123]

Hi Jan-Willem,

 

What does PET stand for? Is it the type of plastic which they make blister packaging? Thanks.

 

Best,

John

[piratepete007]

John,

 

PET, polyethylene tetraphthalate, is a form of a polyester. It is extruded into bottles and containers and used for packaging food, drinks, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, etc. Hence it is usually very thin and comes in a variety of colours - very pliable, lightweight and shatter-proof.

 

Pete

[cobra1951]

Also used for screen protectors on mobile phones and tablets etc

[7 Provinces]

Yeah, plus basically you may know it best as the material most transparent bottles containing water or soda are made from. If it's not glass, it's mostly PET.

I bet it is one of the plastics most found in nature unfortunately and It fills the oceans. Why not make the circle round and recylcle it in your ship 

[allanyed]

You can make panes for your stern and gallery lights and lanterns and such  with your "everyday" white glue.   Thin it a bit with water until it is a consistency you feel comfortable with and it will work the same as the products  shown in the previous posts.   None of them will hold up like a piece of mica or clear plastic though.    

Allan

Edited August 22, 2016 by allanyed

[BobH]

Off to get cocktail sticks and springs from my biros tomorrow, what a great forum for ideas to use everyday items

[NenadM]

Copy paper and toilet paper

 

Ok, idea is not mine, thanks to Jack12477 and MTaylor to push me in this direction

 

We were discussing how to make canvas for hatches in small scale

 

Mark mentioned, and ...

 

 

 

 

 

Base is made from regular 80g copy paper on which is glued with deluted white glue, one layer from 3-layer regular toilet roll paper, to imitate rough structure

 

Rest is playing with very thin layers of acrylic colors

Edited October 25, 2016 by Nenad

[Jack12477]

Nice results, Nenad.

[Kishmul]

Slug Tape

 For simulating copper sheathing.

Cut to size and make a press to simulate nailing.

Search "slug tape copper repellent tape" on Amazon.

Currently, a  20mm x 4m roll costs £2,45

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

What a brilliant idea Nenad! That one will definitely be entered into my memory vault.

This, is what this post is all about. Again brilliant, simply brilliant.

A thank you to Mark for pushing you to show us your idea.

Havagooday

Greg

[NenadM]

Slug Tape

 For simulating copper sheathing.

Cut to size and make a press to simulate nailing.

Search "slug tape copper repellent tape" on Amazon.

Currently, a  20mm x 4m roll costs £2,45

 

Self-adhesive paper

 

Also for simulating cooper sheating

 

 

And after march of 4000 pieces, playing with thin acrylic and mat lacquer looking for color of Muntz metal

 

 

[BANYAN]

That looks very effective Nenad; even simulates the overlap of the plates.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited November 14, 2016 by BANYAN

[ColoradoDave]

Solder makes great fittings if run through an Italian Pasta maker ( The kind with 2 rollers and a crank ) first to flatten it. It's easy to form and drill too ;

 

 

[mtaylor]

The downside of solder is the lead.  It will deteriorate with time.

[Jack12477]

The downside of solder is the lead.  It will deteriorate with time.

 

Yea, I can attest to that.  I have a AL Morgan Whale boat that I built some 20-25 years ago. All the harpoons, cutting knives, oar locks are made from some type of soft white metal (probably lead based bismuth or something) - all have become brittle, cracked and broke under their own weight. I've tried gluing them together with CA but another section will break off in time.