coronadlux Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 I've made a vacuum forming machine at home for small clear parts. Easier than molding and casting. I've even used plastic packaging, like from flash lights, to make parts. Quote
Cesar Enrique Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 (edited) Coronadlux, where you learned to make vacuum forming machine? I prefer solid canopy over the vac formed ones, the one included with this kit is vac formed and it is awful and thin, but now that I have the canopy sculpted I can try vac forming one. Edited October 1, 2015 by Cesar Enrique Quote
MechTech Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 Vacuum forming looks daunting, but it's not really bad. Do some searches, watch some videos and become the master All you need is a household vacuum cleaner for suction - ignore other crazy things you may see - especially for a tiny canopy. I have a canopy sized box and a bigger 7" x 10" box for parts. Next I'm building a vacuum forming machine for BIG stuff. - MT Quote
Galaxy_Stranger Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 Can you get much detail out of vacuforming? Quote
coronadlux Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 Cesar, I watched a few youtube videos on how to make one. My box is 4X4X4, it's made from some scrap wood I had around the house and I used a metal plate that I drilled holes into. I connect the vacuum cleaner from the side. As far as detail goes, it all depends on the detail of the "buck" For obvious reasons, you can't vacuum form intricate details, or cavities where the suction can't reach. Quote
sbantonelli Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 I use a dental vacuum forming machines that I picked up on ebay for around $80.00. It works extremely well for the little stuff, i.e. parts under 3 inches. Quote
MechTech Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 I was thinking of getting one of those some day sbantonelli, it would be more convenient and reliable! Next time you guys go get fast food with a soda, look at the plastic lid - they're vacu-formed. Those tiny coffee creamer portions are too. There are little "pimples" formed in the molded piece from where holes are drilled in the master buck. It allows air to be pulled into recesses and helps pull the shape into tight spots. The holes in the master equate to the pimples in the molded piece. It helps with some shapes, but not all, especially with under-cut edges. Thin plastic can translate more details like all the punch down symbols in the lid of your soda. Thicker plastic doesn't translate details well because they get lost. I've been studying up for my first real machine build. Some interesting stuff! - MT Quote
Galaxy_Stranger Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 I use a dental vacuum forming machines that I picked up on ebay for around $80.00. It works extremely well for the little stuff, i.e. parts under 3 inches. Leik dis one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLReisIoXKg This might solve my molding problems. I could use this basic idea with my heat gun and maybe make some neat solid molds. Quote
Model-Junkie Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 Mattel released a Vac-U-Form machine and I actually acquired one a couple of years ago. Its a neat machine and has certainly held up well over the last few decades. There are even companies out there who make replacement parts for it. I used it as a starting step and moved onto custom made vacuum-form tables for larger pieces. Quote
MechTech Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 (edited) That video was groovy baby (background blues music :^) Yeah, like that machine. That's cool Model Junkie! I like what they said, "would probably not be sold today due to safety regulations." I would have LOVED that as a toy! It's going down a rabbit trail, but I had a similar one that heated up to make rubber monsters and then re-cube them up again http://www.snowcrest.net/fox/str.html - MT Edited October 2, 2015 by MechTech Quote
Kylwell Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 There are also small dental vacuum forming machine available on ebay. They can handle about 3in square pieces. Quote
derex3592 Posted October 3, 2015 Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) Resin sidewalls from a great guy over at the RPF came in this week, and since the weather is freakin gorgeous this evening for the first time in like ever....it's a Friday night party at the pre shading paint bench! It doesn't quite fit in my spray booth....but anyways!!! Edited October 3, 2015 by derex3592 Quote
spanner Posted October 3, 2015 Posted October 3, 2015 hey Derex, so how does that pre shading process or technique actually work? You then paint over it and those pre colored areas show up darker? Is that like a form of panel lining? Pardon my ignorance! Quote
derex3592 Posted October 3, 2015 Posted October 3, 2015 That's basically it yeh, just gives a darker, dirtier look to the areas after a base coat goes down. Which hopefully will happen tomorrow. Quote
spanner Posted October 4, 2015 Posted October 4, 2015 I figured as much.. looking forward to seeing more progress! Quote
derex3592 Posted October 4, 2015 Posted October 4, 2015 and so you shall.....right now! 2 hours of decanting Camouflage Grey because it is NOWHERE in bottles anymore, mixing with Light Grey in bottles and had to break out the old Paasche with the BIG bottle and the BIG needle #5 for this bad boy! I think it came out pretty darn good. God this things...big...LOL. Hindsight being 20/20 I should have just used all spray paint and decanted, then I wouldn't have had to mix at all. Oh well. I didn't cover up as much of the pre-shading as I did on my Finemolds so this go around I think it will show through better in the end..hopefully. Onwaaaards! (can you tell I just wanna knock this out quick, get paid, and get back to my stuff?) Quote
Xigfrid Posted October 4, 2015 Posted October 4, 2015 When I see the result, I would love to know someone here to paint my stuff! Quote
derex3592 Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 We'll see how it ends up! I'm nervous to work on other people's stuff, I know if I screw mine up, I'm the only one who has to look at it! In other news, I built a head today! I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again, these Bandai SW kits are just the business! So well designed, all snap fit and I'm not even gonna bother painting the figure ones I don't think! They look fine straight out of the box. The attention to detail is also present, for example, the eyes are not just black, you can't tell, but that peice was clear dark green. Very impressive. Quote
Thom Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 Great work on that MilFalcon! The preshading shows through nicely. Quote
coronadlux Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 I've always had sone fear in the back of my head when it came to preshading. Now, I'm gonna try it out on an old model plane. Quote
derex3592 Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 It's easy and kinda fun. You don't really have to be super careful in most cases. I enjoyed doing this as I had my new Iwata to pre-shade with this time which gives you much more control than my older airbrush and thinner lines as well. Also doesn't hurt that the model is the size of a small moon.. Quote
Thom Posted October 6, 2015 Posted October 6, 2015 I'll be doing some preshading on a 1/48 F-4U-D1 soon. Hope it turns out good. Also the first build where I'm using a gravity feed airbrush. Why did I wait so long..? Quote
Galaxy_Stranger Posted October 6, 2015 Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) Gotta be careful with preshading, though. I've seen some guys on youtube really glom it on. Yeah, it looks neat, but sometimes they make it so that it only fits in if it's supposed to be a weT planE on an aircraft carrier or something. Edited October 7, 2015 by Galaxy_Stranger Quote
wm cheng Posted October 8, 2015 Posted October 8, 2015 (edited) Jumping on the Star Wars bandwagon! This is what I've done with my last few weeks off. They are the FineMolds 1/72 Tie Fighters - this is what I had envisioned when I first saw the Bandai Trident stand, so I kind of got the stand first, then bought the models to go with the stand (ass backwards!) a few years ago. After getting the amazing Bandai Y-Wing fighter recently, I thought I'd build these first to get myself back into the hang of building models. I've been out of the game for a while, just weathering and detailing toys for the last few years. It was a sobering experience. They are pretty incredibly detailed models for such a small scale (my last Star Wars model was the 70s MPC/AMT X-Wing which had to modify extensively which turned me off Star Wars models for a while). I highly recommend them, don't know what they're like compared to the new crop of Bandai Tie Fighters though. The Tie Fighters are by far the best kits I've built in a while (beautifully detailed, great hiding of seams and easy paint masking), while the Advanced Tie (Darth Vader's tie fighter) wasn't as well engineered as the original tie fighters - masking the black panels on the solar wings was indeed a pain! p.s. Oh, a bit of advice, you can hardly see any cockpit details after you're finished (I spent so much time detailing and carefully painting the cockpit) Edited October 8, 2015 by wm cheng Quote
spanner Posted October 8, 2015 Posted October 8, 2015 Jumping on the Star Wars bandwagon! This is what I've done with my last few weeks off. They are the FineMolds 1/72 Tie Fighters - this is what I had envisioned when I first saw the Bandai Trident stand, so I kind of got the stand first, then bought the models to go with the stand (ass backwards!) a few years ago. After getting the amazing Bandai Y-Wing fighter recently, I thought I'd build these first to get myself back into the hang of building models. I've been out of the game for a while, just weathering and detailing toys for the last few years. It was a sobering experience. They are pretty incredibly detailed models for such a small scale (my last Star Wars model was the 70s MPC/AMT X-Wing which had to modify extensively which turned me off Star Wars models for a while). I highly recommend them, don't know what they're like compared to the new crop of Bandai Tie Fighters though. The Tie Fighters are by far the best kits I've built in a while (beautifully detailed, great hiding of seams and easy paint masking), while the Advanced Tie (Darth Vader's tie fighter) wasn't as well engineered as the original tie fighters - masking the black panels on the solar wings was indeed a pain! DSC_6092.JPGDSC_6080.JPGDSC_6081.JPGDSC_6082.JPGDSC_6083.JPGDSC_6089.JPG p.s. Oh, a bit of advice, you can hardly see any cockpit details after you're finished (I spent so much time detailing and carefully painting the cockpit) they look fantastic! nice work! shame the cockpit details are very visible.. At least you know it will still look great from inside the cockpit even if no one can see it! Quote
GU-11 Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 Damn, browsing this thread is really tempting me to get some Star Wars kits of my own. Those are some gorgeous builds there, Derex and WM! Anyways, I have a question for you guys. I recently bought a Hot Toys Iron Man MK.III diecast figure, and it seems the paint hasn't had a chance to fully cure. I found light pinkish stains on my gloves after handling the figure, and the chest area of the armor seems to have lost a little bit of it's "showroom sheen." It's not noticeable in normal lighting, but the gloss finish is somewhat less than the other areas under bright lights. I'm thinking of clear coating with FFP (Future Floor Polish aka Pledge Multi-Surface), but I've no idea how it'll react to the paint. I'm guessing the paint HT uses is much hotter, either enamels or lacquer, so an acrylic based clear coat like FFP should be safe. I'm just not sure if it's worth the risk. Either way, I'm going to let it off-gas for a couple of weeks or maybe a month before doing anything to it. Any advice is appreciated. (P.S., thanks for the tips on the original thread, EXO. Not sure if I can find this brand over here, but I'll keep an eye out for it.) Quote
derex3592 Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 This all seeeeems strangely familiar........LOL. Have I mentioned I absolutely LOVE my Iwata airbrush? Didn't have it back when I did my FineMolds 1:72. Wish I had. So much more controllable. Quote
GU-11 Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 Sheesh man, no need to be snarky. It's a 300 USD fig, and I just wanted to make sure. Quote
derex3592 Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 I wasn't referencing anything in your post GU-11. No harm meant. I was referring to this being my 3rd Falcon paint job in about as many years. I didn't even see your post until I posted mine. And now that I have, I will say that I would think Future or any acrylic gloss coat would be fine to coat your Iron Man with. :-) Quote
wmkjr Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 (edited) This all seeeeems strangely familiar........LOL. Have I mentioned I absolutely LOVE my Iwata airbrush? Didn't have it back when I did my FineMolds 1:72. Wish I had. So much more controllable. How is it compared to a Paasche airbrush? Never tried airbrushing before but got a couple of those and an iwata hp-c plus to play with. Edited October 9, 2015 by wmkjr Quote
derex3592 Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 It's fantastic. Its definitely meant for smaller detail work and smaller kits. I now only use my Paassche for bigger jobs and clear coats as it has interchangeable needles that were included with it. The Iwata only comes with one included, and I haven't purchased any more yet. Also the Paasche is a syhpon fed and the Iwata is a gravity fed and takes less air pressure to use. Quote
GU-11 Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 I wasn't referencing anything in your post GU-11. No harm meant. I was referring to this being my 3rd Falcon paint job in about as many years. I didn't even see your post until I posted mine. And now that I have, I will say that I would think Future or any acrylic gloss coat would be fine to coat your Iron Man with. :-) Yikes, this is awkward. Anyways, thanks. I'll go with FFP then, since it gives the best gloss effect, and the rest of the figure is really glossy. Just have to give it a few weeks to fully off-gas. Quote
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