Doug's Colonial Movers

[dbhs]

I really shouldn't be starting this just yet but I can't help myself.

[Wombat]

You are right,you shouldn't but,what the heck,have fun anyway!!!

[JAWS]

Ha! Was wating for this to pop up. I dont think I have any room to start mine Dougy...

[dbhs]

There's so many parts it does take a lot of space. I have my table covered just sorting the parts for the front module.

[darkimmitator]

I will be watching this one !!!! I want one of these so bad ,but the battlestar keeps eating up my funds damn it !!!!!

[Wombat]

(05-08-2011, 02:25 AM)darkimmitator Wrote: I want one of these so bad ,but the battlestar keeps eating up my funds damn it !!!!!

Ah,but Ken,most of the part's required for this are leftovers from your Battlestar kit's.

[dbhs]

I'll have one for sale in about 2-3 years.

[dbhs]

Well, it's been over 15 months so time for an update. The old pics aren't working so I'll pretend that a lot of work has been done since then. Not nearly enough, though. Now that I have a modeling bench more or less set up I decided to do a little work on this and see if I can bang out the remainder of the building. Painting will be another story but I'll deal with that when I get to it. This will at least scratch that itch for a while as I sort out the other projects and get the drawings in order for the Surak.

Right now I'm concentrating on the front module and have it almost done. Several of the most fragile details will be left off until just before painting to avoid damage in the mean time.

[darkimmitator]

Damn !! Nice load of progress . You building both at the same time Doug ?

[dbhs]

Thanks, Kenny. I got 2 kits so I can sell one to help cover my costs. Building them at the same time is the only way I can do it. It's slower but I figure after building one I won't want to go back and start over from the beginning.

Does anyone know which kit the grille on the antenna comes from? I don't see it in the parts maps. I think it's a part I need to ID for another project. Thanks.

[Wombat]

Looking good there!!

Yep the way you are doing em would be the best way i feel also. Just keep at em and they will both be ready for paint soon!

One of our members here discovered the kit that donates that antenna piece. That member is Lee S and the kit is the Aurora M8 munitions carrier. You'll find scans here on the site.

[JAWS]

Lookin good D.
Glad to see you back at it.

[LeeS]

Yep it's this piece here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lee_stringe.../lightbox/
I scratched mine from styrene and got it fairly close (before I found the kit)

L

[dbhs]

Thanks, guys. I believe that is the part I was looking for (or similar to it) on the Merchantman vessel. It has the weird holes in the right spots. Looks like I'll need quite a few. I'm still looking at other kits with similar parts to see if I can find a better match. I don't want to get off topic but it's so rare that I ID a part, and hey, it's my thread.

I'm getting started on the engine module on the movers this weekend. I have time to focus on it so hope to get quite a bit done.

[JAWS]

I have spares cast.

[LeeS]

Hey Doug, where's the B&W picture you posted from? I'm a little confused....

L

[LeeS]

Ahhh ok I get it now, it's FROM the Merchantman (ST III) I thought it was on the Movers :-)

The Movers 100% uses the M8 piece, there's a little hole and you can see it in the shot when to Movers does the big flypast.


L

[dbhs]

Jase,
Thanks. I'm sure I'll take you up on that and others when the time comes.

Lee,
I'm in the early stages of research on that one. I hope to do a replica eventually. It's an incredible ship and going to be a big challenge.

[dbhs]

Just a quick update. I got the body of the engine section assembled. Getting ready to do the details inside the engine bell and outer greeblies next. Also prepping to finish the container mounting rings on the tubes.

[Wombat]

Good to see you plugging away there!!

[darkimmitator]

Ahhh , Movers inspiration , just what I needed !! Thanks Doug . Nice update !

[dbhs]

Thanks, Kenny. I wish I had more time to spend on this. It's getting there little by little.

[dbhs]

Something happened this weekend I didn't expect. The resin seems to have reacted with the styrene and melted it. I've glued styrene to resin before without any issues and wondering if anyone has had this happen before. I did the secondary ring in the engine bells with styrene. It was not glued in yet luckily. It sat in place for about 2 weeks. When I pulled it out yesterday I noticed a bead of styrene that had oozed out from the pressure. The melting occured most where the resin had been sanded away. You can see how the styrene is still quite gummy where it is pulling away.

In looking at some other styrene bits I had glued on the front module I don't see this effect although those parts are quite small.

Has anyone seen this happen before?

At this point I'm not sure how to proceed. I may need to try another type of plastic instead of styrene.

[steve36uk]

The resin is chemically out of balance -I built 3 Warp Eagles -2 I re detailed with styrene panels to represent the 3 diff miniatures-on my Eagle 3 the panels on one leg pod do exactly this-I'm no chemist but it's as if there's a high acid content in the resin mix,or some chemical reaction with the styrene or the superglue-if it's any consolation this Eagles 8 or 9 years old and still doing this............

[dbhs]

Thanks for the info.

If I paint the resin to encapsulate it (coat of primer) will it still happen? ie, is it a contact issue or off-gassing? I guess I'll give that a try since I don't have a choice at this point.

[LastBattlestar]

I've had it happen to resin parts in a container, but no on a model thankfully. I think it's just the mix ratio of the resin being slightly out as I've used exactly the same stuff for years. Maybe trying epoxy instead of CA might help?

Mike

[steve36uk]

Paint wont stop it -what got me was the layer of superglue between the plastic and the resin didn't act as a barrier. Maybe a thin layer of filler such as millputt on the exposed resin face might act as a barrier.

[TCSloan]

If the resin was a bad mix then you might have a nightmare when you paint it. the paint will draw the uncured resin chemicals out and your paint will remain tacky. If you have a heat gun, go over one of your parts with it (dont melt it) If the resin starts to sweat then you know youll have issues after painting. The best way to cure that is to bake your parts in the oven on low temp (225-250 degrees F) for 4-5 hours. If you dont want to do that then your next best option is to try and leave all the parts outside in the summer sun for at least a day, maybe more.

[dbhs]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll give the heat a try. If this will affect the paint the whole thing might be screwed. I primered the cargo containers a long time ago but haven't noticed any issues with them. I guess it might just be certain parts that have this issue.

I'll give painting a few small sections a try too to see what happens. If baking it in the oven will fix it then there's hope.

Much appreciated !

[steve36uk]

If not then one Airfix Sat v and a saw should put you right.

[dbhs]

Heat didn't reveal anything. It softened to the point it was about to deform so that's as hot as Hot as I could get it. I primeered the parts this morning and will do a test coat of the paint I'll use to see if it has any problems. Last year I primered all of the cargo containers and I haven't noticed any affect on the paint there. I also haven't tried masking them to see it the primer pulls off though. More testing to do.

[dbhs]

Baking the part in the oven seems to be working. The primer I put on remained tacky at the areas where I sanded through the surface for over about a week. After baking it at 175 degrees for about 4 hours the tackyness has gone away and the paint seems fully cured over those areas. I’m not sure if this is affecting or improving the areas of the resin that are unsanded. I’m going to experiment on some of the other pieces to find out. I guess worst case is baking the whole model in the oven before proceeding. Good thing it’s not all glued together already.

[Wombat]

Sounds like it's a big PITA but ya just gotta do whatever it takes to make things right.

Hopefully this little setback will be over with soon and you are back onto some more enjoyable things with it all.

[dbhs]

Exactly!!
I'd much rather be baking things I can eat !!

[Wombat]

If that oven is big enough theres no reason ya can do both at the same time!

[JAWS]

Howd you go Doug?
Did you get the problem sorted?

[dbhs]

I'm hollowing out these pieces so they look like the original kit parts. A fairly anal detail but necessary to replicate the original.


How it looks from the top side.


I have about half of them on so far.


I've just done the magnets on one container so far to see how it will work. I glued a ring and a stack of 3 metal washers on the container. These nest inside and positions the container on the mount point.


The mount point has a magnet glued in, recessed just enough for the part on the container to just contact the magnet. Gluing this in on top of the curved tube so the magnet would be flat was challenging. On this one I used bits of epoxy putty under the magnet first to level it and then poured in epoxy glue to lock it in. This was hard since the glue moved the magnet around and I barely got in into place before the glue started to harden up. 5 minute epoxy is a little too fast sometimes. I came up with a better solution I will show for the next one. Hopefully the new technique will be both faster and more accurate.


First container on. Finally 'moving' along....

[Wombat]

preview or tease??

btw, Nice!!!

[JAWS]

Nice Doug.
Alls going well.

[dbhs]

Hehe - a good preview is a tease!

I updated the post above. Little by little it's coming together. The weather this weekend was fantastic in SF, for a change, and I got invited to go on a cruise in the bay to see the Blue Angels perform right overhead. It was so cool to see them perform and zip by just a few hundred feet overhead. I'll post a few pics of that when I get a chance.

[Wombat]

Exactly right, it is coming together!!

Nice work on the ammo boxes! Did the same with my castings to achieve the right look and it wasn't too much trouble for the end result. The magnet mounts are really a great way to hold the containers in place and it's satisfying feeling when you can actually mount em all properly for the first time. Keep plugging away on them both and it wont be too long till they are in paint there.


The blue angles thing sound awesome!!

[dbhs]

Thanks, Phil. I think those touches add just that little bit of extra detail.

[Wombat]

I think it does also..Theres a hole there now instead of a surface, just how it should be..

[dbhs]

An update finally....

Here's how I did the magnet this time. I used this Allen wrench with a couple of small magnet spacers the same thickness as the mount on the container. to hold the actual magnet in place suspended in the glue.


I filled up the hole with epoxy and lowered the suspended magnet into the glue. This way I could position it fairly easily and keep it in place while the glue dried.


Just the 2 containers on so far. It's a slow process.


The secondary mounting point was a bit loose. I think that the containers are not as balanced as they would be if original kit parts and a bit front heavy so this mounting point wasn't really doing much. These are roto-cast which often ends with some extra resin at one end or the other. To counter this I added some thin rare earth magnets next to the post so it would stabilize the whole thing a bit more.



And the opposing spot on the container. These magnets are super thin and perfect for this.
[img][/img]




I also got a bunch of the greeblies done on the engine module. Starting to look better now.

[peza]

eh up buddy this build is movin on the magnets is a sweet idea is this for transit or for interchangable bits?can`t wait see this one all complete it`s very very good building there doug!

[dbhs]

Thanks Peza. The magnets are to make it easier to move around before and after it's built. It's really awkward as it is being so long and the containers make it even more diffcult.

[peza]

(10-19-2012, 05:32 AM)dbhs Wrote: Thanks Peza. The magnets are to make it easier to move around before and after it's built. It's really awkward as it is being so long and the containers make it even more diffcult.

eh up buddy,i feel your pain! i`ve only moved my build once and bits are missing!but it`s not hard to replace,just a massive pain in the!well you know....top job there mym8 cheers peza

[Wombat]

Nice update there!!

A container a night and you'll be done in done in ten days!

[dbhs]

The containers are all on now. Lots more greeblies to work on still but they finally look like the real deal now.

[darkimmitator]

Some darn good progress there Doug . I like what I see . DOUBLE !!! lol