unconventional modelling materials list

[spanner570]

Try this....If you have any empty bottles of Tamiya Acrylics don't chuck them, swill them out then tip the contents of your tin of enamel paint into it. When most has drained in add 1 teaspoon of enamel thinners ( I use turps) to the nearly empty tin, put the tin lid back on and swill around, add this to the glass bottle, stir then screw down the top.....'Cos its glass you can even see what colour is inside, clever eh!!

No more badly fitting lid causing skimming of the paint.

I don't use acrylics but any small bottle would do I guess.

Ron

 

[colprit]

I went in to a charity shop and got some dress jewellery chains/ necklaces, cut off the chains and used it on tanks and boat etc as anchor chains and towing chains hope this is any good

Colin

 

[tonyb6000]

Use a deflated balloon to make stretched tarpaulins, tents, stowage covers etc. Glues easy with superglue and paints with acrylics. Just nip it for extra creases!

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[tonyb6000]

I also used 5 amp fuse wire (get a card pack from Wilko's 3 weights of wire for 39p) to make rope for the GAZ truck. Put three lengths together then clamp one end in a vice and twist for about a week. Or use a minidrill. Because its wire it will bend to however you want it and stay there, and it's not fluffy like cotton. Oh, and muslin what I got from a cook shop made a decent camo net. Just slap loads of paint on it, then you can sprinkle mixed herbs on it for the camo.

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[noble]

Here is a simple method to do panel lines get yourself a 0.5mm nibbed pen in black and run it around those panels... takes half the time no mess and looks fantastic.

scott

 

[The Admiral]

As a scratch builder I never use bought parts, I make my own.I use old windscreen wiper blades, inside is a stainless strip 2-3mm wide by half a mm thick, have found loads of use for them, also use old 3 pin plugs, good supply of short but thick brass bits, old vehicle No plates for high reflective (white or yellow) lens, Kitchen hand whisk for 1.5mm stainless wire, old gas appliances for loads of brass tube and good blocks of brass, old printer lids for smoky see through plastic in decent sizes, saves a fortune, 6-8mm steel rod use car bonnet stays, mast track etc use draught excluder strip glued to a tube,

David [/font]

 

[mjm34]

Originally Posted by

yak face





hi all, another one just occurred to me(as i was polishing a scratched canopy!)instead of buying expensive polishing sticks or mesh i use NAIL BUFFERS , after using progressively finer sanding sticks a buff with one of these will restore the clarity and shine to a damaged clear part.Also the CHROME FINISH XMAS TAPE i mentioned in an earlier post is perfect for sticking to thin plastic card and cutting to shape for a great canopy rear view mirror . keep em coming ,cheers tony

Tony, I have had good results with Brasso. Has worked fine for me. Derek

Ordinary toothpaste, which is slightly abrasive, works as well when rubbed over small scratches.

 

[Flying Scottiedog]

I find for adding weight that plastsine is ideal and it holds its position well. I always have some tooth picks handy for poking holes, no,no,no not that kind. or even holding some wheels while painting

 

[yak face]

small scale mesh

Ok , heres one for you. Ever been doing a plane and found that the ventral radiator had no detail or you were able to see right through it? What you need is a very fine mesh to represent the radiator matrix . While rooting in my missus' sewing box for thread i found this stuff. Its called BIAS TAPE, apparently it has some use for sewing(!!?) but more importantly when painted and dry brushed it has a very fine weave to it which looks like a fine mesh.It can be cut with scissors and superglued to your blank radiator (or whatever else needs a mesh,be it car, boat, tank etc)It only costs about 50p for a metre so will last ages. I have used it on my ICM yak 9t 's radiator and chin scoop also for the wing root intakes,see pics cheers tony

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[backonthecase]

Another poundland steal - A "fine" contour gauge, is good for shaping strenthener bulkheads on vacform aircraft

50 foil cake cases for £1 - good for mixing washes and pigments

Matchsticks from "long" matches, nice and thick for revetment posts or fence posts (made from tapers stolen from chemistry class allll those years ago).

Telephone wire has a finer selection of strands than mains cable

A Galaxy Minstrels tube for keeping my toothbrushes and X-acto saw in...

More as I remember them!!

Stuart

 

[Nistrum]

Hey guys. I'm new here. but i used to work for games workshop.. one of the things i had to make a while load of was sandbags. i saw you lot throwing ideas arround and figured id lend a hand. het some putty. i personally use greenstuff or kneadite as its known elsewhere, but milliput works too.

get a load (you need a fair ammount to make any more than 2 or 3 sandbags. roll out a long tube of it and depending on your scale, cut to lengths befitting a sandbag. now heres the interesting bit...

to make a larger scale 'bag, get 2 of these sections press them together one on top of the other and push the ends together and just run the back end of a scalpel along the edges, where the 2 bags were pressed together it makes a seam and the back of your blade the stitching. simply press the 2 ends in a little and it will give you the pinching at the corners.

if your making smaller scale bags get your cut section, smooth over the cut edges a little and get something (i use a dental tool, you know those painful looking spikey ones) and draw it along the edge all the way arround. which will give you a nice seam

finally once you have your scale seam while the green stuff/milliput is still very soft... imprint it with either a file or personally i use the gripping surface from the dental tool or my pin vise drill.

_________________________

Next. Slate style rocks.

this one uses milliput.

make up a block of milliput i use about 2 inches long by an inch wide bay about half an inch high. let it set for at least a day so its rock hard, then get a pair of pliers and break it appart preferably along the length of the block, once you get it to nice small sections use needle nose pliers and break off small sections. you will end up with really nice slate style rock shapes. great for leaving lying about on some bits and bobs

another good one is making something like chainmail or more likely here would be chains at very small scales is again some putty rolled into a nice thin strip, imprint with a pin to make simple chains

Thats all i got for now..

in return. anyone know od a 1:32 scale bf109 engine other than the aries kit? im desperate to make an exposed engine for my hasegawa 109G-14 :/

 

[stona]

I like the slate idea,might be trying that one. As for the engine I don't know of an alternative 1/32 DB605. "Engines and Things" do a 1/48 so it's possible they also do a 1/32 though I've not seen one.

Steve

 

[Nistrum]

cheers ill look into it. later on ill post some shots of the milliput slates.

 

[backonthecase]

I'd be interested in seeing them Nistrum - I'm intrigued..!

Stuart

 

[john]

Thanks Nistrum interesting reading, for some other freebies McDonald's have free with a burger paint pots and string sticks, it's a long time since I've been in a McD's but the little pots that you put your sauce in are great mixing pots as they are water proof, and they also supply stirrers, the little wooden lolly pop sticks.

 

[Richy C]

I do love this thread , sorry if this has already been mentioned before but I mould tin foil into a small artists paint pallet when using lots of colours , when finnished I just bin the foil , when I was painting and decorating I even used this method with paint trays - works a treat

Richy

 

[Nistrum]

hey here goes. sorry for the poor quality. the fact they are cream makes them anightmare to photograph under atrificial light... im alos a pants photographer but hey. you should get arough idea. the results are rendom which is part of what makes them so good. the other thing that works well is tree bark btw...

anyhow milliput rocks (not yet painted)

(the 2nd picture is only there to illustrate the size that base is about 2 inches across.

you can make the rocks much smaller or bigger depending on what flavour your looking for. works good for rubble too

hope it helps any advice on how to take less poo pics would be good :D

 

[noble]

Nice idea for slate nistrum like it.

scott

 

[Nistrum]

im just sorry the pictures dont illustrate it very well. the best thing to do is try it for yourself

 

[richo]

One from Aussie-land. Run thin thread over a piece of beeswax to smooth out fine fibers and give the thread a polished look.