discussion What's on the Bench 2024

[Steven000]

It's a shame to admit, but I've never cleaned my airbrush behind the trigger-seal... The seal should have been replaced about 2 years ago, but I've kept ignoring it because the airbrush still was able to spray paint...

But lately I had more and more troubles (with the vms varnish etc) so today I finally took it apart and replaced the seal, took me 2 hours to clean all the inside bits, lots of caked paint...

 

[Andy T]

Is it too early to get festive?


My mates idea, he sees loads of them when over in Spain at Christmas time. Rather than paying to have his used tyres removed he might actually make a few quid if he can sell some.

Still WIP, the top tyre (hat) is now gloss black

 

[minitnkr]

Pretty cool.

 

[PaulTRose]

Still plodding away at this

Been messing about with some humbrol washes......wasnt happy with them and in the end went back to making my own

Picked out details on the stug and the scurzen now needs a coat of matt varnish to tone it all down then assemble the tracks and wheels and look at it from there to decide if some mud gets sploged about

Also had a go at a few figures.......something im really not good at doing...my hands arnt steady enough....my hat gets doffed to any one who can do figures

 

[scottie3158]

Coming on nicely mate.

 

[PaulTRose]

Wheels and tracks on

I need a break to think how im going to do some muddying up

 

[Jim R]

Looking very nice indeed.

 

[minitnkr]

Looking very Stugly.

 

[Andy T]

I'm planning a little scene that will need a nice sturdy base, so I was back out to the shed and sliced up two pieces of spare 18mm MDF with my track saw.

I may end up trimming them a little, but so far 800 grams of wood ought to keep everything planted.

 

[Andy the Sheep]

Weathering will be a long process. First step done.

 

[Andy T]

More progress on this base. I cut down some long woodscrews and inserted the smooth end into holes drilled the depth of the MDF



Then I glued the container at an angle, protecting the base so that it and the screws could be removed from the wood later. I used 5 minute epoxy, but even after 3 hours it was still soft and couldn't even support it's own limited weight. After a bit of heat it stiffened up enough for me to remove the assembly and reinforce it with more epoxy



I'll keep adding more epoxy, but because it flows so much I can only add a bit at a time or it would be all over the place.

 

[Jim R]

Strange about the curing time. 5 mins epoxy is usually solid within half an hour. Does it have a use by date?

 

[Tim Marlow]

Nice start on this Andy, I’m sure it will turn out as well as your other builds….

I’ve been using epoxy on and off for over forty years now, and if you are interested, here are my thoughts on this…..
Epoxy can be weird stuff, especially the short acting five minute sort. It seems to be extremely reliant on exact proportion and a perfect mix between adhesive and hardener to set like it’s supposed to. It will completely dry with time (usually about 24 hours) though, and just get harder as it ages. I think the chemical reaction takes a while to propagate through the material if the mix is even a little uneven, making the five minute epoxy react more like the 24 hour variety. I think what may happen is that the well mixed parts go off quickly, and the less well mixed parts have to wait for the catalyst in the hardener to permeate through the set areas before the reaction is complete. Warming it will speed the reaction up, but will make the epoxy more fluid to start with. Personally I use the ten minute variety if I can get it because you get slightly more working time and a more reliable set.
The most reliable make I’ve found is Devcon. Never found a problem with the components ageing but I always use the stuff in two tubes and keep in at room temperature in the dark. Araldite used to develop a crust on the adhesive with age, so wasn’t so good for long term storage between uses. Not used Gorilla glue so can’t say how that alters over time, but I would certainly keep those clear tubes in the dark. It’s not something I use much these days, but I’ve probably only bought half a dozen packs in my modelling “lifetime”…

 

[Steven000]

Thanks for the info, I only use small bits of epoxy and after a while the tubes go bad, always 1 side that stays good/liquid and 1 side that gets very thick which makes it very hard to squish out...

 

[Andy T]

Not one I can see Jim. I bought it well over a year ago and it's endured the temperature extremes in my shed, so maybe that's a factor.

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Tim. I use a fair few 2 part adhesives and sealers in the day job so I'm usually pretty good at ensuring even quantities and thorough mixing, but something sure went awry with this.

As I've just said to Jim above, it could be how poorly it was stored. I'll pay more attention to that in the future.

Thankfully it's gone rock solid now, so all's good in the end.

 

[Andy T]

Cheating, but getting an idea of the main layout.

I'm trying something different with the containers too. By sanding the black primer from the edges I'm hoping it will kind of pre-highlight for me

 

[Steven000]

Looks brilliant already Andy

 

[scottie3158]

Great idea and brilliantly executed.

 

[Richard48]

Wow now thats inovative.Impressive