Hello gzg-l,
I was inspired by a website I saw a long time ago (and revisited this week
because of this list) and so last night I got to putting together some ships
out of Plastruct stock plastic, guitar wire and brass rod. Please check them
out and let me know what you think of them. Both in look as well as what your
impressions are of the role they would have in the game.
Both ships are about that big, the ruler is showing inches.
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-Ruler4Scale.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-Starboard.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-StarboardBow.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-PortStern.jpg
All of those above are one ship, below is the other ship (apologies for the
angles... it's not glued on the base yet.):
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/BG-Starboard.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/BG-StarboardBow.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/BG-PortStern.jpg
If you look at them and think "Hmmm... based off the Kuun-Lan..." you
won't be far off. Dead-on in fact... just not a mining vessel.
> On 1/9/02 9:32 AM, "Flak Magnet" <flakmagnet72@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I was inspired by a website I saw a long time ago (and revisited this
Nice work. They have an NSL feel to them.
Constructive criticism:
Looks like you were using superglue; try a liquid plastic cement. It "welds"
the plastic together, and makes a much less noticeable join between pieces.
Be very careful when making cuts. Try to make them as square (or whatever
angle) as possible. This will also keep joins from being as noticeable. Don't
be afraid to toss out a piece that's not perfect (my table is littered with
thousands of failed attempts).
Add some bits. Looking at the GZG line, they all have hull plating and raised
bits. While hull plating might be a little advanced for some, you can really
add to the "plain" areas of the hull by adding bits.
Happy Carving! (Try not to go blind)
> On Wed, Jan 09, 2002 at 12:32:08PM -0500, Flak Magnet wrote:
Wow.
A certain NSL look to them, but anything vaguely slab-sided would
suggest that. The non-straightness of the starboard-side wires on MC
could be a problem; on the other hand, the "towers" (particularly on BG) work
extremely well even in the unpainted state, as does MC's array of
bow tubes (though I think that _either_ the block of 8 _or_ the outside
pair would work better than having both).
Might be worth adding a bit of surface texture to the lower flanks of
MC, to counter the high-detail of the wires. This could probably be done
with a decent paint-job, though. BG doesn't need it as much, because it
doesn't have the wires drawing attention.
Well they must look pretty good because your site is /.ed. :-)
"This site has exceeded it's data tranfer limit" or something like that.
Bill
Flak Magnet
<flakmagnet72@yahoo.com> To:
gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
Sent by: cc:
owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Be Subject:
Scratchbuilt ships... rkeley.EDU
01/09/02 11:32 AM
Please respond to gzg-l
Hello gzg-l,
I was inspired by a website I saw a long time ago (and revisited this week
because of this list) and so last night I got to putting together some ships
out of Plastruct stock plastic, guitar wire and brass rod. Please check them
out and let me know what you think of them. Both in look as well as what your
impressions are of the role they would have in the game.
Both ships are about that big, the ruler is showing inches.
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-Ruler4Scale.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-Starboard.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-StarboardBow.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-PortStern.jpg
On 9-Jan-02 at 12:49, Sean Bayan Schoonmaker (s_schoon@pacbell.net)
wrote:
> Be very careful when making cuts. Try to make them as square (or
I pull out my woodworking tools for this. If you have a sharp block plane,
even a cheapy like you get at Lowe's, you can cut a bit oversize and shave it
down to a perfect square edge. I make wooden jigs if I am going to make
several of the same pieces or need precision. They are just two pieces of wood
glued together.
One other technique is to use some sort of filler for the gaps. Squadron Putty
is adequate for large gaps, but is not fluid enough for
smaller gaps - it tends to "roll" and you have to really squish it in to
get it to stick. Tamiya filler is stickier, but sometimes, it is too sticky.
If you get in on other surfaces where you don't want it it's tough to scrape
off.
The disadvantage to puttys is that you usually have to go back and clean
up the joint - either cutting down the excess and sanding or applying
another layer because of shrinkage of the compound when drying.
If the gap is small enough, some white glue will help seal it off, although
the glue has a tendency to shrink quite a bit when dry. The advantage is that
you can use either a small syringe or toothpick to get the glue in which tends
to make it cleaner than globs of putty.
As for sanding small fiddly bits - emery boards. Having a stiff backing
gives you more of a flat edge and emery boards are small enough that you can
still hold the piece in one hand or in forceps and be able to sand it and look
at it easily. You can get emery (fingernail) boards at most pharmacies in a
couple of roughness grades. For plastic, I would recommend the finer grades.
The more expensive alternative is a set of Jeweler's files. I recently
bought a few sets from e-bay for about $6.00 plus S/H for a set of 8
files. Don't forget to get a brass brush to clean the files off from time to
time.
--Binhan
> -----Original Message-----
Ick! I don't know what my limit is, but I guess I can't complain, the site IS
free...
I wonder if my uploading the files to the site today counts against today's
xfer limit...
TIA for anyone who's patient enough to wait until tomorrow for a peek...
--Flak
> --- bbrush@unlnotes.unl.edu wrote:
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-Ruler4Scale.jpg
> [quoted text omitted]
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-Starboard.jpg
> [quoted text omitted]
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-StarboardBow.jpg
> [quoted text omitted]
http://www.geocities.com/flakmagnet72/pics/MC-PortStern.jpg
> --
Responses interspersed below.
--
Best regards,
Flak
Hive Fleet Jaegernaught
http://www.geocites.com/flakmagnet72
> Wednesday, January 09, 2002, 5:13:23 PM, B wrote:
BL> One other technique is to use some sort of filler for the gaps. Squadron
Putty is adequate for large gaps, but is not fluid enough for
smaller gaps - it tends to "roll" and you have to really
BL> squish it in to get it to stick. Tamiya filler is stickier, but sometimes,
it is too sticky. If you get in on other surfaces where you don't want it it's
tough to scrape off.
I think I might try wood filler. Some brands (minwax, I think) have a very
fine grain, and they promise to have no shrinkage. It's also very soft when
dry and will therefore be easer to clean up after it's dry by carving, sanding
or scraping. Ideally though, I will just try to be more careful (now that I've
tinkered around and I'm learning some techniques) and just make things for
right the first time, nice and square.
BL> The disadvantage to puttys is that you usually have to go back and
clean up the joint - either cutting down the excess and sanding or
applying another layer because of shrinkage of the compound BL> when drying.
See above about trying wood filler.
BL> If the gap is small enough, some white glue will help seal it off,
although the glue has a tendency to shrink quite a bit when dry. The advantage
is that you can use either a small syringe or BL> toothpick to get the glue in
which tends to make it cleaner than globs of putty.
On 28mm models, I used zap-a-gap superglue. That would be too thick
and messy on these. I don't want to use white glue though, not enough
patience, so I think I'll try the testor's glue I have that's safe for clear
plastic. It's a "bulky" glue when dry, and therefore my have similar uses as
PVA(white glue) without the wait.
BL> As for sanding small fiddly bits - emery boards. Having a stiff
backing gives you more of a flat edge and emery boards are small enough that
you can still hold the piece in one hand or in BL> forceps and be able to sand
it and look at it easily. You can get emery (fingernail) boards at most
pharmacies in a couple of roughness grades. For plastic, I would recommend the
finer grades.
Used them last night. MUCH better results. I have one I acquired from a
Sally's Beauty supply (US chain of stores) that has four grits and it 1" wide.
VERY handy.
BL> The more expensive alternative is a set of Jeweler's files. I
recently bought a few sets from e-bay for about $6.00 plus S/H for a set
of 8 files. Don't forget to get a brass brush to clean the BL> files off from
time to time.
I have some of those, but found the "teeth" would bite into the plastic and
guide it right off the side of the file, so I'll stick to the emery boards.
BL> --Binhan
Thanks for your input. Though I'm sure it looked like went out of my way to
find an alternative to most of your suggestions, you brought up things I
hadn't thought of yet, and now when I need to do certain things I'll already
have a plan.
> On 9 Jan 2002 at 9:46, Sean Bayan Schoonmaker wrote:
> On 1/9/02 9:32 AM, "Flak Magnet" <flakmagnet72@yahoo.com> wrote:
Thank you. You're not the only one to see similarities with the NSL, I think
I'll review the GZG site to make sure I can keep the "slab sided" feel, which
I like while keeping it different enough from the NSL to be "mine".
> Constructive criticism:
Whee! The BEST kind!
> Looks like you were using superglue; try a liquid plastic cement. It
I was. Mostly these were 'thrown together' last night to get a feel for it. I
didn't start using my razor saw and miter box until I saw that I was actually
getting something
half-way decent going. I also was out of Ambrose Pro-weld, my
plastic-weld of
choice. I think I'll just check the Tenax I have out... it's
half-useless.
> Be very careful when making cuts. Try to make them as square (or
Yeah, I figured that out a bit and started paying closer attention later on.
Something that "sucks" about getting this in this is that now even the
SMALLEST piece of plastic can be a detail, so now I have to keep a sorted
"bits box" to avoid wasting my plastruct stock.
I acquired a new razor saw today and some saw-toothed knife blades,
hopefully that will "neaten up" my efforts.
> Add some bits. Looking at the GZG line, they all have hull plating and
I intended to. While at the hobby store getting new saws I also picked up some
textured plastic sheets that will make some styles of hull plating easier and
sharper.
> Happy Carving! (Try not to go blind)
Thanks (everyone) for the input. I really enjoyed making these ships and I
really think I may make FT my "primary" miniature game because of the
possibilities in
scratch-building. I really found it to be easy.
> Schoon