Author Topic: It has begun....Overlord WIP (Read 13831 times)

Guroburov · « **on:** 24 March 2018, 22:00:04 »

Guess what the next project is? I've been planning this one out for the last two years and my better half and Minister of Finance finally ok'd the project. I got a pair of these from Hobby Lobby for 40% off as they're clearing out their Easter stocks. One will be for my brother (I promised him one years ago). The other is all mine, bwahahahaha.

-Steve

Guroburov · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 March 2018, 21:11:35 »

I changed the title in case anyone was browsing the area. I'm planning on doing progress updates every Friday (my main miniature work day). So stay tuned.

faithless · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 March 2018, 23:38:21 »

I built a similar one. I look forward to your progress. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.

Major Headcase · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 March 2018, 00:10:00 »

Can't wait to see your masterpiece!! 😁

Guroburov · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 March 2018, 16:53:25 »

Cool Faithless. I'd browsed the forums for builds but had only seen a Union dropship build here. I may bombard you with questions as we go along. I saw the end result of other builds online but no build threads (my google fu hasn't been as good on this quest). Since the egg opens, I've contemplated putting in some of the interior but will probably pass as that'd be insanely difficult.

-Steve

Robroy · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 March 2018, 03:47:34 »

I toyed with the idea of doing something like that for mini storage and transport. I just thought the idea of a case that looked like a dropship would be funny. You know funny great as opposed to funny ha ha. Though if it is map scale it can serve both ways. Not sure how many minis it would hold.

Guroburov · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 March 2018, 09:54:25 »

Alright not much progress this week, unfortunately. I've spent my time looking through the bitz bins for parts I've squirreled away for this. What I've found so far are small cups from cough medicine for the legs along with parts from sprinkler systems I got years ago, as well as tubes from dog poop bags. These will form parts of the legs but need more parts. I also found the end caps from paper towel rolls for the engines. I'd bought practice golf balls I'll split to make the rcs thrusters. What I've not found: my flexible tape measures to plan out the work and my box of plasticard for the hull and internals. I'll attach the photo of the bits so far. I have to clean up my work area to find the plasticard but will have to buy a new tape measure. Hopefully next week I'll be able to post actual progress.

faithless · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 March 2018, 17:08:31 »

I am pming you a link to my thread.

Guroburov · « **Reply #8 on:** 31 March 2018, 21:30:43 »

Cool, thanks Faithless. Nice build.

Guroburov · « **Reply #9 on:** 06 April 2018, 14:42:26 »

Again, not much progress this week. I finally found my plasticard so next week will improve. Like Faithless' build, I'll be getting ping pong balls for my turrets after finding the spheres I had were waaaay too big. My progress this week was in using my dremel to cut apart the practice golf balls and place plastic tabs inside to cover the holes to make my RCS thrusters. I've also been working on my blueprints to make the parts as close to the right sizes that I can. I'm hoping next week to mark out and start cutting down the bottom of the egg as well as cutting out the doors and langing gear bays.

Guroburov · « **Reply #10 on:** 13 April 2018, 15:05:20 »

A new week and a little more progress. I cut down the bottom of the egg so I can emplace the engine mounts. I also spent a lot of time measuring and placing markers so I can cut out the doors for the landing gear as well as the mech bays. Having finished I think the mech bay doors are just too big. I'm going to remove those and resize them a bit to reduce their width. Next week I'll cut all the doors out and put the shutters in. I also put markers for the cargo doors and the aerospace hangers but didn't photograph that. I cut the ping pong balls up for the turrets. Next week, I'll drill holes and cut barrels for the weapons. Part of my delays have been duplicating all the work on the second egg so I can complete both.

faithless · « **Reply #11 on:** 13 April 2018, 15:38:42 »

Nice progress. If I ever get caught up on projects, I will build a second one.

Guroburov · « **Reply #12 on:** 20 April 2018, 15:27:49 »

OK, time for the weekly update. Why do all these stages take so much longer than I think they should? I blame all my other projects. ;D Seriously, though, I cut out all the doors and drilled out the turrets and cut gun barrels for them. But that's all I've gotten done this week. Next week, I plan to have the doors cleaned up and sanded down and the turrets mostly finished. I had to repair some of the RCS thrusters and will do more on them next week too. I did get half the landing gear done but just half. I keep forgetting how many feet this thing has too. :P
Faithless, I hope you do start a second one soon. We need an arms race between our Houses, lol.
Here's a progress pic:

RoundTop · « **Reply #13 on:** 20 April 2018, 15:55:43 »

Bulletman wants his helmet back.

Guroburov · « **Reply #14 on:** 20 April 2018, 21:01:42 »

Never, it's mine now Bulletman. :D

Guroburov · « **Reply #15 on:** 27 April 2018, 14:21:41 »

Stupid car troubles have taken up most of my miniatures day. All I managed to do today was finish off the turrets and the last two landing gear. Sadly I don't have enough parts to make new landing gear for dropship number 2. I'll have to think of something new for that one. I also had to repair most of the other landing struts as they broke up. I need a better glue. I cut up plastic for the bay doors but realized I'd cut them oriented the wrong way so I'll need more plasticard. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to tackle the landing gear bays yet. Hopefully next week will be better. And have photos of actual progress.

-Steve

Guroburov · « **Reply #16 on:** 04 May 2018, 14:19:13 »

Progress update for the week. I've got the aerospace doors on. I finally got the landing gear, turrets and rcs thrusters finished. I had to resort to using E6000 to hold them as my model cement kept failing. I'll use some to back the doors as well. I also glued down the bottom plate for the dropship. I included an Awesome for scale. Just ignore the extra turrets and rcs thrusters on the edge of the photo. They're for the other dropship.
I'll mount the engines this next week. I also picked up as much plasticard as my local hobby shop had on hand so I can make the mech bay doors. I'll also start work on the landing gear bays this next week. I'll probably have to use E6000 on the hull plates when I get to that stage. Progress is slow but steady. I'm finishing another project this weekend so, hopefully, I'll have more time for the dropship.

Steve

Guroburov · « **Reply #17 on:** 11 May 2018, 14:00:46 »

A new week, another update. :D I've glued the mech bay doors in the hull. I still need to add E6000 to the edges to guarantee the hold for those and the aerospace doors. I've also glued on the engines themselves. You just can't see them in this pic. But they're there...trust me. :D I bought some plastic electrical boxes and cut them down to fit into the hull to be the landing gear bays. I'm still cleaning them up and may put plasticard in the bottom to neaten them up. That's the ugly blue thing on the side (which is incidentally upside down in the pic). I just can't fit them in right now as the clamps are all in the way. Gluing them in should be an interesting challenge. Once those are in I can mount the landing gear and the open bay doors. I still need to work on the cargo bay doors and start cutting up the hull plates for later addition. Again, the awesome just shows the scale of the various parts. As always, comments, suggestions, and popcorn are welcome.

Steve

Colt Ward · « **Reply #18 on:** 11 May 2018, 15:39:37 »

Okay, its been killing me . . . I admit . . . I am just wondering if you are trolling us since that is a Zeus with the DS in the last two pictures rather than a Awesome. When you say you have cut down the blue electric box, what do you mean?

NeonKnight · « **Reply #19 on:** 11 May 2018, 16:20:59 »

Quote from: Colt Ward on 11 May 2018, 15:39:37

Okay, its been killing me . . . I admit . . . I am just wondering if you are trolling us since that is a Zeus with the DS in the last two pictures rather than a Awesome. When you say you have cut down the blue electric box, what do you mean?

It is totally an Awesome, as piloted by the fine folks over at Greenburg's Godzillas as per Field manual: Mercenaries Revised, page 131:

Quote

GREENBURG’S GODZILLAS (C)
The Godzillas techs can mock up the exterior of any ’Mech
to appear like any other. When using the Concealing
Information rules (see p. 51, Maximum Tech) this deception
can be performed with up to half of the ’Mechs fielded in a scenario.
The controlling player must designate the type and the
precise model being mimicked on a scrap of paper before the
game starts.

An opponent only becomes aware of the deception when a
’Mech so altered performs an action that does not match the
performance profile of the unit it is mimicking (such as fire a
weapon it should not have, moving faster than it should or
jumping when it can’t). A unit mounting an active probe moving
into effective range automatically uncovers the deception.

Guroburov · « **Reply #20 on:** 11 May 2018, 23:42:02 »

I know my awesome is on the floor somewhere nearby. Must be my old age killing me 8). Or maybe I just don't which mech I'm taking photos of. The blue box on the right side of the picture is an electrical outlet box. I cut the thing down to give the edge a curve so it'll fit snugly into the egg. I should have turned the box to show the cut better. All I can make out right now is the rough top edge. I'll get a better photo in the morning.

Guroburov · « **Reply #21 on:** 11 May 2018, 23:54:48 »

Didn't feel like waiting and most likely forgetting to take the photo. I reoriented the box to be the right side up and to show the cut line better. The Awesome was nearby so I pulled him in. Can't believe I kept writing the wrong name though in the previous posts. I also included my Hunchie in urban cammo. Just because.

Steve

Colt Ward · « **Reply #22 on:** 12 May 2018, 02:56:22 »

Okay, I see what you are doing with that box . . . expect any problems b/c the box is more rigid/sturdy than the shell of the egg?

Guroburov · « **Reply #23 on:** 12 May 2018, 19:25:18 »

I sure hope it doesn't give me any problems. I plan to tack it in place with super glue and then e6000 the edges to lock them in. I still have to look at if I want to add plasticard to the interior. This week will be odd working with these boxes. I think the hardest part will be adding the landing gear to the boxes.

Guroburov · « **Reply #24 on:** 18 May 2018, 13:37:51 »

No progress was made this week as I had a variety of projects handed to me to occupy all my time. And my A/C went out and am waiting on the repair crew to arrive and work above my workspace. Next week I'll get back on track. I also have to figure out how I'm going to glue in the boxes as my other glue failed to tack it down. I may have to try to build a jig to let me put in all the boxes. Has anyone seen my Legos? They usually do the trick for me. 8)

Steve

shadhawk · « **Reply #25 on:** 18 May 2018, 17:30:26 »

Try some R T V for your tack. That stuff will hold most anything

Guroburov · « **Reply #26 on:** 18 May 2018, 18:40:35 »

Cool, thanks for the suggestion.

Steve

shadhawk · « **Reply #27 on:** 18 May 2018, 20:27:20 »

Guroburov · « **Reply #28 on:** 01 June 2018, 10:28:20 »

Sorry for the long delay on progress. I've had repairmen all over the place for the last few weeks so I haven't had a chance until today to get work done. Nothing seems to want to stick to the egg but I managed to finally put two landing pod bays in and attach the thrusters. Next week I'll hopefully get two more bays in and attach the turrets. I still need to put cargo bay doors in as well but that can wait longer. I'm also working on the landing bay door panels but that'll take a good bit longer to do. Everything is taking too long.

faithless · « **Reply #29 on:** 01 June 2018, 10:30:57 »

Have you tried roughing up the areas where you are gluing? Also, what adhesives are you using?

Cache · « **Reply #30 on:** 01 June 2018, 15:20:51 »

Quote from: Guroburov on 01 June 2018, 10:28:20

Nothing seems to want to stick to the egg but I managed to finally put two landing pod bays in and attach the thrusters.

I'm going to hazard a guess that the flexibility of the plastic isn't helping any, besides the glossy surface. Have you considered making a single insert with all of the bays attached? Going off of the pictures, I think you may be able to attach the insert to the bottom of that half. Then seal up the seams around the doors. The adhesive/sealant wouldn't be supporting the bays and might remain in place even if the sides flex.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #31 on:** 01 June 2018, 15:47:08 »

good idea

Guroburov · « **Reply #32 on:** 02 June 2018, 10:22:52 »

I sanded down the interior and exterior walls but the plastic seems to hate glue. My E6000 is the only thing that seems to stick to the egg. Superglue and model cement did nothing. Sticky tack either didn't like the plastics or the weight of the boxes even when supported from below due to the angle of the walls. I tried several inserts to brace the boxes but the angle of the walls actually means the tops are leaned out. I need a flat bottomed cone inside. Luckily I managed to get two boxes in braced on each other and tacked with E6000. I'll do two on the opposite side and hope I can fit the spots in between later. I think I need to glue down the hull plates before tackling the turrets too as those like the egg more but still don't stick well. I'm leaving the gaps on the sides undone and just securing the corners and tops of the boxes. From outside you can't see the gaps and once the bay doors are on it'll obscure it even more.

Hythos · « **Reply #33 on:** 02 June 2018, 12:52:54 »

I'd second the notion of building a fixture to attach the boxes.
3/8 or heavier partical board or plywood; cut to the diameter of the bottom of the egg, and use some small strips of wood on the inside to glue/screw/secure the box-sides. Then, you can insert the wood into the shell, then probably glue and staple, as long as the egg plastic is soft enough to not split from stapling... Or just drill some minor pilot-roles before stapling.
Using a wood base will also give you a solid foundation for mounting landing gear and engines later.

When alighning the 'bays' to the hull, it may leave some gaps; just fill those with epoxy and shape it after it dries. Once it's painted, you won't be able to tell.

Robroy · « **Reply #34 on:** 02 June 2018, 18:41:38 »

When dealing with plastic like that I have found that gouging in a cross hatch pattern with a knife and JB Weld works well.

Guroburov · « **Reply #35 on:** 09 June 2018, 20:53:43 »

Another week with no progress. Yeah I can't find my legos to make a better jig and my makeshift jigs haven't worked well enough yet. The real reason I got nothing done this week was I was finishing off my Stormtrooper armor. Now that it's done I just have my painting queue and warcraft to compete with the egg. And finding my legos. ;D Seriously, though, I expect real progress this week even without my legos.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #36 on:** 09 June 2018, 22:15:54 »

Like . . . armor for you?

Guroburov · « **Reply #37 on:** 09 June 2018, 22:18:23 »

Yup. I'm in the 501st Legion as an Imperial Officer but always wanted to be a Stormtrooper.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #38 on:** 10 June 2018, 00:34:51 »

Guroburov · « **Reply #39 on:** 10 June 2018, 11:31:16 »

Thanks.

RABIDFOX50 · « **Reply #40 on:** 17 June 2018, 22:20:56 »

Try Gorilla Glue construction adhesive. The stuff will bond to everything!

Guroburov · « **Reply #41 on:** 22 June 2018, 10:57:42 »

Hey all,
Thanks for all the suggestions. After weeks of frustration and interruptions (car in the shop, a/c out, repairmen, car in the shop again) I finally got some work time in. Without a proper jig and nothing working, I turned to my old friend cardboard and put a strip under the boxes and glued them all in at once. You can also see the first of the hull plates being glued down. In the far left corner you can just make out the landing gear gluing together. The Awesome is just hanging out monitoring the progress. I hope to do more hull plates this next week (I have only so many magnets). If I can hull plate the lower hull (or decide to skip it and stick to the upper hull), I'll attach the landing gear and then work on those doors. Then the upper hull and turrets soon. And those pesky cargo doors I've been ignoring. Finally, progress. I just hope they all turn out alright.

thecybersmily · « **Reply #42 on:** 22 June 2018, 21:49:15 »

Looking good so far. Working on my own using a container for pretzels/barrel.

mbear · « **Reply #43 on:** 25 June 2018, 12:28:02 »

Quote from: Guroburov on 22 June 2018, 10:57:42

I hope to do more hull plates this next week (I have only so many magnets).

I missed it earlier: What are the magnets for?

NeonKnight · « **Reply #44 on:** 25 June 2018, 12:29:28 »

Quote from: mbear on 25 June 2018, 12:28:02

I missed it earlier: What are the magnets for?

Looks like just holding panels in place while glue dries?

Guroburov · « **Reply #45 on:** 25 June 2018, 22:06:53 »

Indeed, NeonKnight is absolutely right. My clamps can only go so far up the hull so I have magnets to hold the plates down. I've put on more plates since but had to remove almost as many that shifted badly overnight. The hull plates will take at least another week to finish. I had to reinforce the landing pods yet again as one split apart.

mbear · « **Reply #46 on:** 26 June 2018, 06:56:13 »

Quote from: Guroburov on 25 June 2018, 22:06:53

Indeed, NeonKnight is absolutely right. My clamps can only go so far up the hull so I have magnets to hold the plates down.

That's ingenious. I'm going to have to remember that trick in the future.

Colt Ward · « **Reply #47 on:** 26 June 2018, 13:00:45 »

So you are putting 'hull' plates on to get the art look w/o scoring the egg?

Guroburov · « **Reply #48 on:** 26 June 2018, 19:09:54 »

Quote from: Colt Ward on 26 June 2018, 13:00:45

So you are putting 'hull' plates on to get the art look w/o scoring the egg?

Yup. With my eyesight, it's the safest option. The aztec pattern lines still won't be perfect due to the curvature on the egg, but it'll be better than I could trying to score the plastic by hand. And I can put tiles on top of tiles for a more layered look if I want.

Exilyth · « **Reply #49 on:** 06 August 2018, 13:22:51 »

Nice work so far.

Looks like the plastic egg makes this a lot easier than the wooden/paper frame constructions usually seen around the web.

Guroburov · « **Reply #50 on:** 08 August 2018, 07:09:23 »

Thanks. I like the egg for getting inside to help work on it. I can attack it one half at a time. I'm definitely making mistakes and having to fix stuff all the time. The next one will go better. Progress has been very slow of late. I took a nice vacation to see family. The big limiter is still not enough magnets so I'm still only about half done on the tiles. I'm hoping the next couple of weeks will see actual progress that I can post.

Guroburov · « **Reply #51 on:** 07 September 2018, 09:37:05 »

At long last I have time for an update. The car is back in the shop. I just hope they can fix it as it's the same oil leak on our new car. Work has been insanely busy but starting to quiet down. But enough of reasons/excuses on why I don't post. My progress so far these last couple of days saw more panels (these are taking far longer than anticipated but I've got to pick up the pace if I'm to finish by Christmas) and the placement of all the turrets. There's a lot of cleanup needed on the latter to seal them to the hull. I did take a pic that included the Awesome but I used the other pic instead.

mbear · « **Reply #52 on:** 10 September 2018, 07:34:35 »

Quote from: Guroburov on 07 September 2018, 09:37:05

At long last I have time for an update. The car is back in the shop. I just hope they can fix it as it's the same oil leak on our new car. Work has been insanely busy but starting to quiet down. But enough of reasons/excuses on why I don't post. My progress so far these last couple of days saw more panels (these are taking far longer than anticipated but I've got to pick up the pace if I'm to finish by Christmas) and the placement of all the turrets. There's a lot of cleanup needed on the latter to seal them to the hull. I did take a pic that included the Awesome but I used the other pic instead.

Looking good!

Elmoth · « **Reply #53 on:** 10 September 2018, 08:19:44 »

Great looking!

Regarding glue, i concur on the sanding the surface area. 2 other things to consider is that plastic for these eggs sometimes have the same products as plastic miniatures so they do not stick to the mould, so washing them well before trying to glue them tends t be a good idea.

Finally games workshop has a plastic glue that basically fuses plastic parts together. It is a good plastic glue in my experience.

Looking forward to new progress!

faithless · « **Reply #54 on:** 10 September 2018, 10:58:27 »

On mine I used green stuff for the panels. I have some ideas to try on my next one. I just have way too many half finished projects to start another one.

Guroburov · « **Reply #55 on:** 14 September 2018, 08:56:08 »

Thanks for the replies and suggestions everyone. I did sand the egg but I think the next one will get a more serious treatment. I was just bummed that my model cement that usually works so well with the plasticard didn't stick at all. The superglue even came up. Sadly, I broke several magnets (they're cheap ones from Home Depot). This is limiting me to adding 2 panels a day at most. So just a few more panels done this week and touch ups to seal the turrets on. And that Awesome showed back up for the photo session. I swear that pilot only shows up for PR events. I also need to trim out more panels. I didn't think I'd be running out already.

Major Headcase · « **Reply #56 on:** 07 December 2018, 01:52:45 »

Two tips for this kind of plastic:
Step one: scrub surface with mineral spirits or paint thinner using a green kitchen scrubby pad. Then wash thoroughly in hot soapy water and rinse cold. (The mineral spirits will truly clean any surface agents and petroleum "leak" this kind of cheap plastic is prone to and chemically etch the surface, just don't use a huge amount and do it quickly or the spirits will soften the plastic)
Step two: spray two good coats of automotive primer. This stuff will bond with the plastic and create a lightly textured surface that you should be able to glue right to with an industrial super glue or easy mix epoxy.
I use this type of plastic from cheap containers and tubs I turn into sci fi buildings for 6mm and 15mm games, and this process has worked very well when, before I learned them, glue and even hobby primers would peel and flake off. The problem is this cheap plastic "sweats" petroleum residue which makes sticking anything to it difficult.

Guroburov · « **Reply #57 on:** 09 December 2018, 21:54:58 »

Thanks for the suggestions, Major. Real life has interrupted my work for weeks now. This last Friday was the first time I got some time to play with the egg and that wasn't long enough to take pics. I did get some new magnets so it'll go a little faster now, though I only get one day a week to mess around. I think I'll be done with the panels by the end of December and then I'll look at priming if I can get a good day outside. I'll be trying your thinner/mineral spirits scrub on the next dropship for sure.

HeavyGun · « **Reply #58 on:** 21 January 2019, 00:11:37 »

Reading thru your post I saw you were having problems gluing to the sides. I actually work in a finishing shop where we do molds and cast plastic parts and glue them together. That egg looks like it is probably a ABS, or Acrylic type of plastic. You might try Plastruct Plastic Weld their is a few different types and one that works for ABS, Butyrate, Styrene and Acrylic. But First what would help is sand blasting the part with about 40psi of pressure using a garnet medium if you have access to one that is. Not sure if that helps, one thing you might try is find the manufacturer of the egg and see if they have a website, might find clues to what kind of material it is made out of then you'll be able to find the correct glue. Another possible glue/epoxy we use is Scotch Weld 3M 2216 B/A Gray. It is used to glue plastic urethane aircraft parts together. Might be hard to find for general use though. Anyways just trying to give you some possible ways to accomplish your goaals in building your nice dropship.

Guroburov · « **Reply #59 on:** 30 September 2020, 12:03:46 »

I'd like to apologize to everyone for the long delay in returning. I find it hard to believe it's been over 2 years since my last post. And what a crazy 2 years it was too. Between uncooperative weather and a major flood and slow renovation at home, I faced long delays. Breaking my glasses and finding out I needed eye surgery right before Covid didn't help much either. But I got my surgeries in finally and have good vision and weather. I picked back up and have gotten so much done in a short time.

Before I get to the pictures I remembered to take, I wanted to reply to some comments. HeavyGun, that some good adivce but I'm very limited on the tools. I am definitely going to try your suggestions Major Headcase. Hopefully my next project will turn out better since I'm learning so much about what not to do with this one. I'm still not sure how I'm going to give this to my brother for Christmas. It's far too delicate to trust to the mail. I may have to finagle a way to drive the 900 miles and hand deliver it. I'm sure he won't mind it's 2 years late.

Anyway, pictures.

https://imgur.com/a/BVhtC5N
Here's the main body with the cargo doors finally being glued in. You can just make out the etching of the doors.

https://imgur.com/ykysrgU
This is the lower body with the doors attached to the legs and body.

https://imgur.com/UphHy8R
Last photo of the lower body with the legs set roughly in position. Of course the Awesome pilot shows up late to the photo shoot. I still need to trim out the interior to let the legs fit better. I was going to work on the interior but no matter what I tried it just wasn't enough to let more than 14-18 mechs fit on the main floor and would have necessitated 3 decks to hold the requisite number of mechs due to the flight and cargo bays.

faithless · « **Reply #60 on:** 30 September 2020, 12:33:30 »

Glad to see you are back at it.

Guroburov · « **Reply #61 on:** 30 September 2020, 17:32:25 »

Thanks. I'm hoping to primer it tomorrow and start painting the main colors.

Guroburov · « **Reply #62 on:** 31 October 2020, 23:37:24 »

Ok, sorry for the long delay. Work schedule has kept me from getting as much done as I want. I did primer at start of October and gave it a too thin layer of primer. I started laying down base coats of paint but need a lot more.

Here it is primed and sitting outside airing out:

And with early base coats. It needs a lot more coats since I'm using cheap craft paints (this would destroy me economically if I used my good paints). Time vs money. When I get it done or get tired of painting, I'll post it in Miniatures.

I've got to say I learned many lessons on what not to do with this project. Next time save time and money and don't glue plastic sheet to the hull to imitate the aztec pattern. It doesn't look good. I need a tool to carve the lines into the hull. That will save a lot of time and look 100X better. Shrink the size of the turrets and RCS thrusters. Mine are far too large and unwieldy looking. More primer. And do something about those legs. They look awful.

Robroy · « **Reply #63 on:** 04 November 2020, 13:26:27 »

As far as carving lines in it. What about a soldering iron? You might have to clean up the edges of the melted plastic, but it might be easier then some sort of knife.

worktroll · « **Reply #64 on:** 04 November 2020, 13:30:23 »

Welcome back, and congrats on making it through all that! Great to see you're making progress.

mbear · « **Reply #65 on:** 04 November 2020, 15:58:36 »

Quote from: Robroy on 04 November 2020, 13:26:27

Quote from: Guroburov on 31 October 2020, 23:37:24
I've got to say I learned many lessons on what not to do with this project. Next time save time and money and don't glue plastic sheet to the hull to imitate the aztec pattern. It doesn't look good. I need a tool to carve the lines into the hull.

As far as carving lines in it. What about a soldering iron? You might have to clean up the edges of the melted plastic, but it might be easier then some sort of knife.

It's real easy to lose control of a soldering iron on plastic. Trust me on that.

You can get special plastic scribers from modeling companies (I think Micro Mark makes one) that look like dental picks so you can pay $15+ for one of those.

Or you can do what I did and cut the head off a pin and stick it into a mechanical pencil. Here's a video that shows how: How To:Make your own panel line scriber. Much cheaper and works nearly as well as the pro version (I just have to scribe a few more times).

Guroburov · « **Reply #66 on:** 07 November 2020, 01:02:45 »

That is pure genius. I'm definitely gonna try that to make a panel scriber. Thanks.