Post by Wardster on Jun 2, 2011 12:35:35 GMT -6
Now that this site has a section for tips and tricks, it occurs to me that it may be helpful to include a link to a pair of old web-based how-to articles I wrote for Internet Modeler, back in 2007.
www.internetmodeler.com/2007/november/how-to/magic-powder1.php
www.internetmodeler.com/2007/december/how-to/magic-powder1.php
That two-part how-to article was about "Magic Seam Powder" -- that is, how to use the water-thin tye of super glue, along with baking soda and/or talc ... a very old trick, but offered with a new twist.
While radio-controlled modelers and others had long used those powders with super glues, with excellent longevity and very good strength-to-weight characteristics, the new wrinkle I added was that I had discovered (through long experimentation) that if you dyed or tinted those powders, first (and then let them dry back out before use), that when you used the dyed powders with standard thin-variety super glues, that the dyes or colorants in the powders made the mixture, when it hardened, become opaque.
That offered a major improvement to the overall process, in my opinion: because when used without dyes, the mixture of clear glue used with white powders, resulted in a hardened but translucent substance. It was therefore very difficult to see if you had under-sanded it; or were over-sanding it.
The pre-addition of dyes to the powders results in a hardened mixture that's no longer see-through: making it very easy to see exactly when you've sanded the mixture by the right amount.
That, in turn, prevents having to add sixty gazillion layers of primer; just to see if the surface is really as smooth as hoped.
For what it's worth: the really long version of that how-to article, linked to above, was written partially for myself. By which I mean, I knew myself well enough to know that I would forget a lot of the details of the various tricks I had worked out, over time -- partly because I tend to obsess over interesting puzzles for a long time (until I've squeezed everything I figure I'll manage to easily get out of those puzzles) -- and then, I tend to move on to some other, totally unrelated puzzles. To make the switch, I have to sort of clear my head of "old info" ... so, before I did that, I put a lot of effort into organizing the "research results" and putting it into a hopefully-interesting wrapper; with lots of example pics.
And as it turns out: sure enough, within a very few more years (beyond 2007, I mean) I was experimenting with using the so-old-it's-new technique of melting small pieces of plastic, by using a really great "Hot Tool" device to make and apply "pellets" of plastic to kit pieces, to either bond them together or as an aide in recontouring various pieces)... and, anyway, although the Magic Seam Powder idea is no longer my coolest / primary trick, for doing radical mods to kits or whatever: I feel that it's still a valid technique. One that I happily continue to use, from time to time.
Since the info is still readily available: I thought, "Why not mention it, and link to it?" -- in the hopes that other modelers may find at least some of that 'old' info helpful on some level.
If you're not up to reading what amounts to a 40-page Mad Scientist's brain dump, you could always just browse the many pictures ... and there's also the super-condensed version: know that this trick once also ran as a "Tip of the Month," on page 10 of the October 2007 issue of "Scale Auto" magazine.
-- Ward Shrake --
P.S. -- No offense meant to anyone, but I'm a teeny bit wary of posting this info; because past experience have shown me that a tiny amount of folks out there may believe, rather strongly in some cases, that these powders when used with those glues, somehow results in all sorts of nasty problems down the road. I'll simply say, "I have never seen any proof of any of those bad results, with my own eyes" ... and ... "Let's all play nice, please!" ... and will point out that, thanks in part to Bob Paeth's gentle prodding, here on Coffin Corners, I later moved on to welding plastic using heat, as my primary bashing method...
www.internetmodeler.com/2007/november/how-to/magic-powder1.php
www.internetmodeler.com/2007/december/how-to/magic-powder1.php
That two-part how-to article was about "Magic Seam Powder" -- that is, how to use the water-thin tye of super glue, along with baking soda and/or talc ... a very old trick, but offered with a new twist.
While radio-controlled modelers and others had long used those powders with super glues, with excellent longevity and very good strength-to-weight characteristics, the new wrinkle I added was that I had discovered (through long experimentation) that if you dyed or tinted those powders, first (and then let them dry back out before use), that when you used the dyed powders with standard thin-variety super glues, that the dyes or colorants in the powders made the mixture, when it hardened, become opaque.
That offered a major improvement to the overall process, in my opinion: because when used without dyes, the mixture of clear glue used with white powders, resulted in a hardened but translucent substance. It was therefore very difficult to see if you had under-sanded it; or were over-sanding it.
The pre-addition of dyes to the powders results in a hardened mixture that's no longer see-through: making it very easy to see exactly when you've sanded the mixture by the right amount.
That, in turn, prevents having to add sixty gazillion layers of primer; just to see if the surface is really as smooth as hoped.
For what it's worth: the really long version of that how-to article, linked to above, was written partially for myself. By which I mean, I knew myself well enough to know that I would forget a lot of the details of the various tricks I had worked out, over time -- partly because I tend to obsess over interesting puzzles for a long time (until I've squeezed everything I figure I'll manage to easily get out of those puzzles) -- and then, I tend to move on to some other, totally unrelated puzzles. To make the switch, I have to sort of clear my head of "old info" ... so, before I did that, I put a lot of effort into organizing the "research results" and putting it into a hopefully-interesting wrapper; with lots of example pics.
And as it turns out: sure enough, within a very few more years (beyond 2007, I mean) I was experimenting with using the so-old-it's-new technique of melting small pieces of plastic, by using a really great "Hot Tool" device to make and apply "pellets" of plastic to kit pieces, to either bond them together or as an aide in recontouring various pieces)... and, anyway, although the Magic Seam Powder idea is no longer my coolest / primary trick, for doing radical mods to kits or whatever: I feel that it's still a valid technique. One that I happily continue to use, from time to time.
Since the info is still readily available: I thought, "Why not mention it, and link to it?" -- in the hopes that other modelers may find at least some of that 'old' info helpful on some level.
If you're not up to reading what amounts to a 40-page Mad Scientist's brain dump, you could always just browse the many pictures ... and there's also the super-condensed version: know that this trick once also ran as a "Tip of the Month," on page 10 of the October 2007 issue of "Scale Auto" magazine.
-- Ward Shrake --
P.S. -- No offense meant to anyone, but I'm a teeny bit wary of posting this info; because past experience have shown me that a tiny amount of folks out there may believe, rather strongly in some cases, that these powders when used with those glues, somehow results in all sorts of nasty problems down the road. I'll simply say, "I have never seen any proof of any of those bad results, with my own eyes" ... and ... "Let's all play nice, please!" ... and will point out that, thanks in part to Bob Paeth's gentle prodding, here on Coffin Corners, I later moved on to welding plastic using heat, as my primary bashing method...
