# X-wing interest thread



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Consider it started: The new season of X-wing makers. Since Mile Salzo isn't going to offer his version anymore others have decided to take up his mantle, and make their own versions. I'm going to pose two questions in this thread - I know that the X has been done to death, but for those who want either a studio scale version (1/24th), or 1/48th scale for those who have limited space. 

Is there still interest in these anymore? If so - I'm mastering a new ACCURATE version of the MPC x-wing. I refit (what most call "accurizing") an old kit that I built a few years ago. I thought I had done a great job on it (with my kid sister doing most of the weathering), but it was way too overdone. I didn't have the heart to tell her so, but after the fiasco on the rpf, and sm - she decided to give up on modeling for good. This pisses me off, but I won't go into that right now, so I'll keep it simple.

After looking at this kit over, and over for three years - I decided to use it to experiment with it to see if I could save it. It's been a success so far, but it could be a lot better if I could build it from scratch, or modify it from the beginning. This is something that I've wrestled with for a long time, and now I can't wait any longer. I bought another MPC kit that I'm going to use for this cause. This will be modified HEAVILY to resemble the original ILM models of the seventies - only smaller. AMT is only the MPC model with their stamp on it, and fine molds isn't much better since the decals are wrong color on the lower right wing. Also, the nosecone isn't correct, and the fuselage is still wrong from the canopy to the nosecone joint (too tall, not wide enough). This gives it a slightly asymmetrical look, too much like a toy rather than a serious model. Plus, everyone on feebay wants way too much for them as well. 

I want to offer these will an aluminum tube for the wings to move more fluidly instead of the cheap plastic moulded for the kit, and offer aluminum tubes for the laser canons. The rest will be made from resin. I have the silicone rubber on the way to make moulds of the new parts, but I still need to decide on a resin that won't get too hot while setting (warp), so that all parts will come out perfectly round, and square where need be. The faster a resin sets, or the hotter its' formulation - the more apt to deformation it becomes while setting up. We'll see what happens when I order some from one of the suppliers I contacted last week. 

Questions, comments?


----------



## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

Seems like you NEED to build it--go for it, if for yourself alone.

When you talk about resin warpage, are you referring to warpage after it's come out of the mold, or as you are trying to de-mold? I would just let the parts stay in the mold a little longer. I cast a kit with some thin parts using a 3 minute pot-life resin, and warpage wasn't a factor. I did let the thinnest pieces stay in the longest however. Thicker pieces I could remove much closer to the advertised de-mold time. I'm interested in what was happening for you.

Back to your subject: I probably have enough kits to last me 3 lifetimes, but I am a sucker for resin kits and I really prefer resin to styrene. I have always liked the X-wing design, and if you can produce an accurate, well done kit that won't break the bank--yours or mine--I'd be interested.

Besides, you want to do it....good luck! :wave:


----------



## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Dyonisis said:


> Since Mike Salzo isn't going to offer his version anymore others have decided to take up his mantle, and make their own versions.


Captain Cardboard is offering his version again -- it's the same one that Mike offered for a while.

http://atomiccity.yuku.com/topic/763/X-Wing-Kit-Photos-and-ordering-information

But aside from that, good luck with your project. I'm okay with Fine Molds' offerings, so I won't be partaking.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

machgo said:


> Seems like you NEED to build it--go for it, if for yourself alone.
> 
> When you talk about resin warpage, are you referring to warpage after it's come out of the mold, or as you are trying to de-mold? I would just let the parts stay in the mold a little longer. I cast a kit with some thin parts using a 3 minute pot-life resin, and warpage wasn't a factor. I did let the thinnest pieces stay in the longest however. Thicker pieces I could remove much closer to the advertised de-mold time. I'm interested in what was happening for you.
> 
> ...


Thanks. I'd be willing to offer the 1/48 scale for around $20.00 - 25.00. The studio scale for about $200.00 + shipping (maybe around $12.00) - that would be done by distance more than by a flat rate, as it would probably be less for shipping someone closer to my home. Both will be hollow cast with alignment pins along the inside of the fuselage.

Yes - the warpage I'm reffering to is the one where you pull the part from the mould (de-mould). I've never done this type of casting before, so I need the best resin for small parts, so that I don't have this deformation from exothermic cure. This way, thin parts can be cast, as well as thicker parts without worry of wasting resin just to get it right the first time. I'm a perfectionist (for those who don't know), so I want ALL my parts to come out perfectly before I package them for shipping. I want to put a coloured dye in it to mark it from other offerings, so it'll be easily spotted/differentiated from other makers versions. I'll *still *make a cast resin version, even if no one says any more about this. I'm sure someone, somewhere will want one even if it isn't popular to the general public (on this forum). This way, there will be an offering as long as someone wants what I made available for their consideration. 




SteveR said:


> Captain Cardboard is offering his version again -- it's the same one that Mike offered for a while.
> 
> http://atomiccity.yuku.com/topic/763/X-Wing-Kit-Photos-and-ordering-information
> 
> But aside from that, good luck with your project. I'm okay with Fine Molds' offerings, so I won't be partaking.


 These are only the holdovers from way back when from what he told me personally. Once they're gone - they're just gone forever. He doesn't have the moulds for these anymore, nor is he planning to do these ever again. He was adamant about it when I asked. At least this is the story the last time I heard from him through PM. He's also offering these through feebay at the moment. 

Thank you for your input, even if you're not interested - this helps me to guage what needs of the modeling community are. I'll at least make one master kit so that you all can see what it looks like in cast resin form. Then you can decide for sure if you still want the overpriced fine molds version. Either way, I'll respect your decision. I'm sure that once everyone sees that I'm serious -they'll want one, even if only for the sake of having one to build. I see the MPC kits going for ridiculous figures too! I just want to offer something of better quality for a human price - not a space shuttle price! This way, everyone can have more selection, and a choice that was not available before. 

~ Chris​


----------



## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Dyonisis said:


> Then you can decide for sure if you still want the overpriced fine molds version. ~ Chris​


Heh ... I bought 'em a few years ago (both sizes), and have no need to buy any more of 'em. I have too many kits, and not enough time. But if I didn't have the Fine Molds versions, I'd probably want a nice accurate one, MPC-sized. But ... sadly, that ship has sailed for me.


----------



## CaptCBoard (Aug 3, 2002)

It is true, I was only going to sell the kits I could make up from parts I had on hand. But that changed when Mike decided to get out of the kit biz. I have since put the X-wing back on my website. And-- yes --I checked with Mike before going ahead.

It is really obvious from the number of views that posting has received versus the number of orders that have come, in that interest in studio scale X-wings has dropped signficantly! Or perhaps the interest in my kit specifically is what has dropped. Anyway, I sell a couple per month on ebay and only 2 orders have come in from my website in the past 6 weeks.

My advice to Chris is to let his parts stay in the mold until the resin is no flexible, to avoid the warping issue described. I cast up some pretty thin parts and as long as I wait for them to be 'done', I have no problems. I would also advise that at 1:48 scale, the wings on the X will be much thinner than on the 1:24 version and will probably have a tendency to bend over time, due to the weight of the laser cannons. Certainly, using a higher quality resin will go toward lessening that problem, otherwise some reinforcement may have to be added to the casting.

Scott


----------



## Vindi (Mar 20, 2009)

Hey guys was just wondering what you thought about this X-Wing:

http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-X-wing-Fighter-Model-Kit/dp/B001L7COGO

I have one that I have to build ans was thinking of doing it up really nice.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Thank you, Scott. I didn't know that Mike had decided to quit altogether.I also didn't realise that you were going to start producing this kit again. From what I've seen lately, it seems that X-wing interest has waned (again) this is why I thought I'd at least give the 1/48 scale a try. There doesn't seem to be a lot of offerings in this scale that are any good, other than the fine molds which is decent, but still has a few flaws in its' design. 

On the other side: I thought of using urethane, but polyurethane seems to be popular now as well. I was going to use polyester, but it becomes brittle over time. I just want something that I can use that won't droop, or sag. I've even thought of reinforcing the wings, and offering an aluminum tube for the fuselage. At least with this, I could experiment until I could prove myself to be a worthy model maker with this type of resin.

I just don't know what brand to use, or what type. I looked at a few, but I'm still undecided on which one will work best for tiny parts that will be thin walled, and need more reinforcement of some type. I think I might have to do some experimentation to see what thickness would be suitable, as I'd need to leave some space for LEDs, and fiberoptics for those who want to go this route. I need to post some pictures of what I've done as far as refit, but I want to make a few casts of these parts. This will show that I'm not all talk, and no show. Have you ever used polyester, or polyurethane resins for casting? I just wonder what the pros, and cons of each are. Thanks again. 

P.S. Vindi: go the feebay route - much cheaper! This is slightly bigger, it's just the slightly larger MPC version. This has a motor, but it doesn't always run smoothly. From what I've heard from those who own this that it's decent, but not the greatest. If you want to refit it to make it more accurate - this is much easier because of its' size. I think it's about 15 inches? 

~ Chris


----------



## CaptCBoard (Aug 3, 2002)

Chris-- urethane and polyurethane are the same thing, just less typing with the first one. Polyester should never be used as a casting medium. If I ever got a model that was made with polyester, I'd send it back. It is just way too brittle and shows that the kit maker doesn't know what he's doing. Polyester was designed to do one thing-- work with glass cloth or mat to make auto fenders. Or big Thunderbird 2 models. Or RC airplanes. The other problem with polyester is that it has a high rate of shrinkage in thick sections, to the extent that it can be cured in the inside of the part and still jelly on the outside and this can cause the skin of the part to wrinkle. The stuff may be cheaper than polyurethane, but I can't think of a single kit maker that uses it. The only possible exception to this is to make clear parts, but even then I don't think anyone uses it because it will turn yellow very quickly.

Scott


----------



## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

Scott, it's great that you are doing these again. I have two MS V2's, one built, one in the box. I would love to grab one of your original kits if for nothing more than to have a piece of *SS modeling history*, plus it's agreat kit. When funds are available, I'll be calling you.

Chris, good luck with getting your kits going. Looking forward to your progress. 

Either of you going to be at Wonderfest this year?


----------



## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

CaptCBoard said:


> It is true, I was only going to sell the kits I could make up from parts I had on hand. But that changed when Mike decided to get out of the kit biz. I have since put the X-wing back on my website. And-- yes --I checked with Mike before going ahead.
> 
> It is really obvious from the number of views that posting has received versus the number of orders that have come, in that interest in studio scale X-wings has dropped signficantly! Or perhaps the interest in my kit specifically is what has dropped. Anyway, I sell a couple per month on ebay and only 2 orders have come in from my website in the past 6 weeks.
> 
> Scott



I am interested in the Kit! Do you still have some left?


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Well, I didn't know for sure what polyester would do in cast form. I know that you can buy it for casting since there is a version available - however, it IS very brittle without any type of reinforcement. I didn't know about it turning yellow over time. I know it does this when you use epoxy resin with it (fiberglas). I'd only use polyester for reinforcement of models from inside, but I don't think I'll use it as a medium all itself. As you said before, I don't think anyone worth their while would use regular polyester since it's very brittle in thin sections. I just wondered about using to reinforce vacuum formed parts, but not freestanding without a backing. I guess that would be OK, but I need something that is easy to cast within the silicone rubber that I chose for this project.

I'm only concentrating on the MPC sized models. Once I get those established, then I'll apply this technique to the four foot X that I started two years ago (has it been that long?) I've had to go all this alone so far up to this point which a few people have helped along the way, but that will have to be vac-formed for now until I can establish how to make this in a cast resin form. The smaller models will be breeze to cast once I figure out which brand to use. One called Polytek says that I can use this without a silicone release agent, but it warns not to cast with their 70-25 tin-sil for 24 hours because the alcohols in it can cause wetspots in resin if not allowed full cure. How long do you let your moulds dry before use?

I want to make this as perfect as possible. I have a Tait recast as I told you before, and I'll have to do what I can to not make the same mistakes that he did. I had done a write up on this on another forum, but I think it may have been deleted when they did a reboot of that site. This has all kinds of warpage (from not allowing enough cure time before demoulding), and shorts (empty spots where resin should be), all sorts of round blobs of resin all over parts, and some damage that looks like it was intentionally inflicted in various places. I'll just recast the kit parts that I know are regulation size, and start over from scratch with everything else since it's all unbuildable crap anyway.  I have access to a grinder at a local shop that I'll use to dispose of this once I get everything cast. This way, nothing he made will get around - at least not from me! 

I think I might use a different companys' resin, but I'll have to wait until the money transfers to paypal since they're on feebay. I can't use my credit card on their site - I don't want paypal to have my number! They all ready made a mess of my feebay account - I don't want them to do the same to my bank account! Once I have all the stuff together, then I'll start casting parts that I have ready to go. I've been watching a lot of youtube videos on casting. It looks easy enough, but my house is cold - I live on a concrete slab, and it makes it hard for the rubber to cure properly once it gets below *65. My room - the only room I have to work in gets down to *63 - *64. That's during the day! It's cold right now as I write this - we're in for nasty weather where I am (the winterland), so I probably won't be able to cast very much right now. I guess that we're expecting a blizzard from what the old lady says, but I haven't checked actual weather report. Either way, I'm still holding on to your every word, Scott. I need your guidance, as I've never used these types of casting materials before. Everything else I've used is now ancient technology. :tongue: 
Thanks again for your help. I appreciate all I can get. 

~ Chris​


----------



## kuanglina (Jan 6, 2012)

The only possible exception to this is to make clear parts, but even then I don't think anyone uses it because it will turn yellow very quickly.


----------



## CaptCBoard (Aug 3, 2002)

Chris-- You have made reference to some brands I'm not familiar with and other things that I will always recommend against. I am also not sure which casting material you are referring to when you say 'alcohols in it can cause wetspots'. I have a feeling you are still referring to polyester.

Here are my rules for resin casting:

Never use polyester resin for models.
Always use high-quality components. More expensive, yes. But definitely worth it.
Never de-air resin. Cure under positive pressure when possible.
Always de-air rubber. NEVER cure a mold under pressure.
Mold release is not necessary when using silicone rubber and polyurethane. In fact, mold release simply does not work, it gets absorbed by the resin. There are 'mold releases' that are really barrier coatings. The resins actually 'lifts' a barrier coat when it is poured into the mold. Now, there are many people who will disagree with my view of mold releases and that's fine. I've been using resins since 1984 and have talked to a LOT of material engineers. I have yet to have one of them tell me mold releases do anything.

I use a rubber generically known as 1065. My resin is 36-xxx-slow from Glenmarc Industries. I buy rubber 90 pounds (5 gallon bucket) at a time, cost is $460 including tax. My resin is $450 for 10 gallons and UPS shipping from Chicago. Both items are sold in smaller, more affordable quantities. A 'gram scale' is essential to using both materials. Get one that can measure up to 2.2 Kilos (5 pounds). I always measure my materials in grams for a higher degree of accuracy.

This should get you going. Feel free to email me with questions.

Scott
[email protected]


----------



## CaptCBoard (Aug 3, 2002)

eagledocf15-- I make the X-wing kit to order, I don't normally have them in stock. Email me if you want to order one.

Scott
[email protected]


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

SteveR said:


> Heh ... I bought 'em a few years ago (both sizes), and have no need to buy any more of 'em. I have too many kits, and not enough time. But if I didn't have the Fine Molds versions, I'd probably want a nice accurate one, MPC-sized. But ... sadly, that ship has sailed for me.


Ok. I didn't mean to say it the way I did - feebay is the only place to get one now - fine molds now longer offers this kit. It's all about making money for the sellers that own these. They're just taking advantage of those who are desparate for something better than the MPC offering. 

I just found this tonight while browsing. Even as much as I hate to do this, I HAD to post this for a comparison (for all those who don't know), you can see that I DO know what I'm talking about. This guy is also hip to the fact that I discovered not too long ago. The fine molds model has even more inaccuracies than what is represented in this post in the link. I saw one person weathering one of these in this scale (1/48) in close up format on youtube - you can see a lot of the soft, and mostly wrong detail on their model as well. I'll post pics of my work, so you can see the difference between the two. Thanks for reading. 

http://www.thereplicapropforum.com/f11/x-wing-1-49-ultimate-conversion-3d-print-parts-135836/






CaptCBoard said:


> Chris-- You have made reference to some brands I'm not familiar with and other things that I will always recommend against. I am also not sure which casting material you are referring to when you say 'alcohols in it can cause wetspots'. I have a feeling you are still referring to polyester.
> 
> 
> This should get you going. Feel free to email me with questions.
> ...


----------



## jgoldsack (Apr 26, 2004)

Scott, great to hear that you are getting back into selling the model. I had one years ago that I ended up selling and was never able to complete... so hopefully I can get one from you again... have to check with the wife first


----------



## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Dyonisis said:


> http://www.thereplicapropforum.com/f11/x-wing-1-49-ultimate-conversion-3d-print-parts-135836/


Thanks for the link, Chris. I didn't realize how far off the FM kit was.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Sure thing, Steve. I don't usually post links to other peoples' work without their permission, but I don't have the fine molds kit. I needed something to show others, so I inserted the link instead of his pictures. This way, you can clearly see that this is not the kit most people believe it to be. I'll post pictures next week of the parts that I refitted last summer. I'm in the final stages of painting the kit I did this to at the moment. I'm going to do the same changes to the second MPC kit that I have, so you can see the differences between them. Since the first one is already built, I can't just fix every little thing that's wrong with it, as this would mean tearing the entire thing apart. This would be impossible since I superglued the wing assemblies open (glued to the fuselage) as well! I'll have to figure out how to refit the inside of the wing mount since it too is wrong, and won't allow for an armature block. Think of what I'm going to attempt as a miniature version of the ILM kit. I'll put all this in another thread, so as not to clutter this one up. 

I know that Marco posted his first, but I worked on all the refit, and the idea of doing it for everyone else by offering a kit of this FIRST! I hope to have this available by the beginning, or middle of next month, as I know I won't be able to this month - too many things to do, and not enough time to do them all in. I already have a few projects that came first, so I need to light a fire under my own ass to get on them, so they'll be out of the way once and for all! I need more money for resin - more than what I have now, but that will be for later. At the moment, I just need to guage other peoples' reactions to justify buying the needed resin, and rubber to cast these in multiples - this will be full kit for the full kit price. I don't think that making a refit kit would satisfy the purists, since the original MPC had more than a few things wrong with it - fine molds does too. This way, if I do a few kits, and people see what I have to offer, and want it, they can get one right away. I'll only take orders for the kits that I have ready for shipment. I don't want to be rushed to get kits out the door, and make mistakes - this leads to bad things I don't want to even think about! I know others who have done this in the past, only to regret it.

As usual, thanks for reading. :wave:

~ Chris​


----------



## CaptCBoard (Aug 3, 2002)

Adding color to resin is possible, but I don't do it because it changes the viscosity and I get occasional bubbles. It also effects the cure time (takes longer). 

I've never heard of this alcohol problem mentioned in the spec sheet for the rubber you're going to use. The only rubber I know has alcohol in it is latex rubber. I've been making molds since 1984 and have never come across this issue. I think you might want to do some more investigating because this stuff just doesn't sound right.

Scott


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

OK. I didn't know that dyes can alter the chemical, and physical properties of resin. I'll keep that in mind when I cast these. I just want to add enough colour to differentiate mine from other makers to avoid confusion. Most of these resins come out the same colour once hardened. I know this is to make is easier to tell when it's ready to come out of the mould.

Here's the linlk to where I read this. It'll make it easier for you to read it here than to go through the BS that I did to get the information needed to understand what I'm using. It wouldn't let me copy, and paste it here. (It's the very last paragraph at the bottom right corner in the description) I already have the resin chosen for this, now I just need to get the clear polyurethane resin for casting clear parts. That will be a while since I'm only using the clear for video game controllers. Thanks for your help, Scott. :wave:

~ Chris​ 
http://www.uscomposites.com/pdf/moldm/tinsil70.pdf


----------



## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

Captain, in an earlier post you suggested NEVER curing molds under pressure. I'm just curious as to why that is a bad thing.

Dyonisis--glad your project is picking up steam!


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

machgo said:


> Dyonisis--glad your project is picking up steam!


Thanks! I'll post a link here to the X that I already did almost four years ago, and keep this one going for the new version that I'll be casting for others to see. This is an X-wing sales/interest thread, so if Scott wants to offer his version through here - he has my blessing to do so. :wave:

I feel that there is more than enough interest once people see what I have to offer that they will want at least one (in the 1/48th scale), since this will be the only version of this I'll ever do. If space is a problem for you as it is for me, then I'm sure this will be for those who just want something more accurate, even if this isn't their "ultimate X-wing kit" since it isn't studio scale - it's only intended for those who want one to get their feet wet building X-wings, or for those who want an accurate one this size if nothing else. 

I'm glad that I cut my teeth on one of the MPC kits rather than on one of Scotts', or Mike Salzos' kits! It's a lot easier to start over, and a lot less sense of loss if it doesn't meet your standards. These are so small that you can refit it more readily, and not have to destroy an expensive kit to do it with. I wasn't happy with my first X-wing model after seeing the ILM originals, so I decided to do this after reading so many people were dissatisfied with their MPC/AMT kits - including myself. Now that there is an accurate studio scale kit - their can be an accurate 1/48th scale kit too! :thumbsup: 

Also keeping in mind that some people may want a pyro kit, so that they won't feel the need to sand off the greeblies along the sides of the fuselage, and other parts will be changed to resemble the wing number of their choice - I might cast one, glue it together, then bandsaw it in half, and cast a *PYRO MOULD* with the same nosecone, correct greeblies, and wing assemblies as the ILM models for those who want a 100% accurate pyro version model in this scale. This way, you can have both without worry of the inaccuracies that plagued others who have attempted this before. This is what I'm aiming for - except the armatures that I'll offer will be made with an aluminum tube, and a RESIN, or PVC mounting block instead of aluminum for weight. Since these will be so small - I don't think they'll need such heavy reinforcement. I'll have to shop around for inserts for panavise mounts to cast inside the octagon armature mount. This way, if you don't want to mount it on a stick (like I did), you can get a more realistic pose. I might even offer a scratch made Death Star base for these (pending sales). I'm going to try a few things out before I cast to get an idea of what I can get away with, so these will come out right. I'm going to include aluminum tube in 1/16" diameter for the back of the wing struts to keep them from sagging, or warping in warmer climates. I don't control the quality/durability of the resin, just the casting quality, and design of the models I make from it. These will be made with correctly mixed, and moulded parts, so that you can build them, and paint them without worry of wet spots, or uncured resin. Just think of my offering as a smaller version of the original ILM models.

Stay tuned for tomorrows' post - as I said before, I'm going to start another thread for the X-wing I already built to show the refit progress I've done. This should inspire a little more confidence in my skills for those who don't know what I'm able to do. I just keep forgetting to do this. Thanks for looking - more to come soon. 

~ Chris​


----------



## CaptCBoard (Aug 3, 2002)

Here's the deal with curing rubber under pressure. You've mixed the rubber, it has air in it. Pour the rubber into the mold box and you have rubber with air in it in contact with your master. Stick the whole thing into a pressure chamber and add pressure. What happens is the higher air pressure is now pressing down on the rubber, which contains bubbles at normal air pressure. The higher pressure is pushing on the rubber and squishing the bubbles smaller-- until they are the same pressure as the pressure in the chamber. They can't go any smaller, unless more pressure is added before the rubber cures. And no matter what, those bubbles are not going away because they still contain a volume of air.

The rubber has cured now and the mold is taken out of the pressure chamber. This means those trapped bubbles have now expanded inside the rubber to a pressure that is less than it was while curing, but smaller than they were originally because they are now held in the cured rubber. In the case of bubbles that were up against the master, the mold now has small bulges because the air has expanded. In the case where the bubbles were microscopic to begin with, they still are and after a few castings are made, those closest to the surface will open due to adhesion and future castings will start to develop a rough surface and finally just bond to the mold.

The idea is to get rid of the air at the outset, before the mold is poured. Stick the mixed rubber into a vacuum chamber and suck the air out of the rubber. Just as increasing the pressure made the bubbles smaller, reducing pressure makes them bigger. Pull a high vacuum and those bubbles get so large they bulge past the surface of the mixed rubber and grow until the rubber gets so thin that they fail and the air escapes. The resulting void simply fills in with rubber. Actually, it already has since the rubber is so heavy that, after a point, the bubble is pushed to the surface, where only a very thin amount of rubber can hold the shape of the bubble. The bubble gets bigger and the rubber lets go.

My practice is to deair the rubber and pour it into the mold box. If there is any question as to elements of the master trapping air, I then put the mold box into the vacuum chamber and deair it again. You can also just brush a thin layer of rubber over the master until you are satisfied no bubbles are trapped on the surface and then fill the box with rubber.

The act of pressurizing a mold during the cure is actually more dangerous to the end result than just pouring the rubber into the box and letting it sit. The natural buoyancy of the air will bring it to the surface. Its the microscopic bubbles that will give you trouble and the air trapped in undercuts. Even the air trapped in most undercuts will be drawn out using a vacuum chamber.

Hope this helps!

Scott


----------



## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

I appreciate your insight. Reason I asked is that I have had good success with pressure casting molds, as well as pressure casting resin pieces in those molds.

When I first embarked on my latest casting project, I knew next to nothing about casting anything under pressure. My first molds, while good, were not suited for pressure casting resin, because bubbles in the rubber just under the surface would appear as "pimples" in the resin parts. 

I researched around on this and was told air bubbles re-expanding wouldn't be an issue--apparently it can be as you've stated.

Very much wanting to cast the resin under pressure, I made new molds and cast _them_ under pressure. So far I have had success--perhaps I've been lucky--I've only cast a few dozen pieces from each mold with no issues so far.

Not having a vacuum pump, I can only rely on good pour technique and thin rubber (OOMOO 25 and 30...) to minimize air bubbles in the mold.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

OK people, I know that I promised photos, but I have to figure out how to use the new software in my new laptop. Until then, I can't host pics on photobucket. 

On a related note: I understand that you can mould without pressure casting, or vacuum degassing the rubber. Most of these don't require you to do so. I've been watching a lot of videos on youtube on how to do it this way, and it's how I'm going to do mine. I just need to decide if I want to use clear resin first, or wait, and use the other stuff. Stay tuned. 

~ Chris​


----------



## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

Dyonisis said:


> OK people, I know that I promised photos, but I have to figure out how to use the new software in my new laptop. Until then, I can't host pics on photobucket.


Plug your SD card from your camera into your laptop. It will download the pics. Go to photobucket and click on "bulk uploader". Open your folder where your pics are and click on each one, they will show up at the bottom. Once you have all your pics clicked, hit "upload now".


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

robiwon said:


> Plug your SD card from your camera into your laptop. It will download the pics. Go to photobucket and click on "bulk uploader". Open your folder where your pics are and click on each one, they will show up at the bottom. Once you have all your pics clicked, hit "upload now".


 Thanks for trying to help, Robert. I don't have the regular windows picture album hosting software - this is Picasa that was loaded onto the laptop that used to be my mothers. She was watching a video on youtube that wouldn't play correctly, so she smashed the monitor against an oak chair. Now I have to use my VGA monitor (plugged into the side) to see anything. I did this since my desktop computer is in the room that is now occupied my worthless brother. Anyway, I upload a few pictures here since I still have over two hundred pics that I still need to rifle through, and edit. These include blurry ones, and mulitples that I couldn't see very well to distinguish which were good, and which were bad. I had a Nikkon Cool Pix 12 MP camera that I needed to get fixed, but when I got it back it was damaged in several places. Bestbuy let me choose a new 14 MP Cool Pix because they didn't have anymore of the same one that I bought over a year ago now (November) of last year. I still have yet to break it out, and charge the battery. It's been in the box inside a ziplock bag since September. 

I know that these aren't the greatest, but I have to go kill something in my attic that's rummaging through everything I own. I hope that whatever it is doesn't mistake my stuff for a toilet, or a bed! I don't have anymore time right now to post anything more. I'll finish this tomorrow. Thanks for looking. ~ Chris 

This is the beginning of the refit I started last August right before my grandmother died.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

For some damn reason Photobucket didn't let me copy the image code when I went to paste it in the last post! :freak:

I deleted the pics in this post since this thread is for the NEW build that I'm starting this week. I don't want to clutter it with both new, and old builds together - this would be confusing. So I'll just post all new pictures here as soon as I can get something done with it. Thanks for looking. Stay tuned. ~ Chris


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I bought some CLEAR casting resin this last week, and I got it in from UPS a couple days ago. I can't wait to try it out. I chose this so that I can see bubbles in the resin for single open moulds. Closed two part moulds will have to be done a little differently, but with the same result. Just imagine a SEE-THROUGH X-wing! I have other projects that I'm going to use this for, so I need something I can see right through. These will have a colourant added to them eventually, but I need to try this stuff out to see if I can use it for other things I need to make clear copies of. I need to make a signature colour to keep my offerings from being confused with everyone elses'.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

WOW! It's been two months now since I first posted this! I'll split the two threads to keep the progress of each build separate. I just cross reference between them as they're being done in tandem. I have progress to show in this thread for the new build, but I need to update the original progress of casting that I started here so long ago. Once the other kit's done I won't have anything more to show on it since it's almost complete. This one is where I'll update regularly. Thanks for looking. If you've already seen the other thread, then you know what happened yesterday.  Stay tuned - all is about to set a new record for stupidity on this forum!


----------



## 67657 (Mar 4, 2010)

Dyonisis,

Can you show us a pic of what happened?


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I will, I just need to build up the courage to start another fuselage, and post pics of my stupidity.  Tomorrow for sure if not today. 

~ Chris​


----------



## 67657 (Mar 4, 2010)

Dyonisis said:


> I will, I just need to build up the courage to start another fuselage, and post pics of my stupidity.  Tomorrow for sure if not today.
> 
> ~ Chris​



No problem bro.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Nice fuselage, huh? But wait - it gets worse!!!


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

wraithverge said:


> Dyonisis,
> 
> Can you show us a pic of what happened?


 Well sir, here it is...



THIS is what happens when you boil a styrene part, then walk away, and forget about it! I was distracted by the lower half - trying to get it ready to reshape. The top half came out the way I wanted it to, except for a little distortion in the front around the nosecone. So I (being the brilliant scientist that I am) decided to turn the heat up on the pan I was boiling water in, and threw the fuselage into it. I left to cut out a few pieces so that I could use the wooden buck that I made for it to reshape it. By the time I came back to put the buck inside it - it was shaped like an empty banana peel.  It got too hot as the water was shallow as the pan wasn't too deep, but it was the only one that was wide enough to do this with. The first time worked. Why I decided to boil it again is anyones' guess! This is the method that I use to reshape plastic parts -unfortunately this is the ONLY TIME it EVER happened to me! :drunk: :freak: 

Something told me NOT to, but I did it anyway. The bottom half came out the way I wanted it to, but now I wish that I hadn't had the fire so hot! I tried to take out the distortions with it held above the fire, but the plastic had warped, and shrank - nothing doing. I cut this apart, and measured it onto another sheet of styrene, but none of the corners on the original fuselage will line up, so I'll have to redo everything in terms of measurement, but I have a lead on another one, so I'll wait to see what happens before pursuing making another one from scratch. It wouldn't be too hard - I have three of these, but two are already built, and one is sealed for collecting purposes. I just don't want to measure, cut, glue, sand, measure, cut, glue, sand, etc... Repeat til ad nauseum!










*KABOOM!!!!!! Instant pyro*

Sadly, this is all that's left of it. I'm going to glue this to a frame, and put it on the wall. This is a sad reminder when you try to do too many things at once - especially when you become distracted! Enjoy the laughs, people.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

This is the refit version of the Phantom engine. The copper is from a computer. This is what I used inside the four foot X-wings' Saturn V housing. Someone else here recently mentioned using computers for parts in someone elses' thread - this is what I've been doing for the last three years now. There's a lot of wonderful things inside computers, and digital cameras - great for kitbashing. 

Anyway, the brass is what I'm using for the cooling lines applied to the outside of this. All the other parts are made from 0.20" styrene. The tiny ringlets are made from nickel that was the wrap on an electric guitar string. I removed it slowly, then wrapped it around the same styrene rod the Whitley landing gear was made from. I cut it with a pair of scissors. These were the worst part as they didn't like CA glue. The stuff I'm working with is too thick for small parts, so I've been wiping it on with a tiny bit of styrene strip to keep it from becoming a glue bomb. This still needs a little clean up. I've since added woodfiller around the middle. I tried this to see if I could get away with smoothing the recessed line introduced into this by MPC. It's wrong, and I'm only trying to get rid of it without starting completely over. The declination line between parts isn't very much, so I hope that this won't be noticable once finished, and cast.

It took me three days of noodling around with this. I finished most of it a week ago last saturday. I finished it to the point where it is now this saturday. I had to keep repositioning parts for proportion, and scale. I refitted this since this picture was taken, so what you see here isn't accurate - I just wanted to show the progress this has taken. This has taken seven, and half hours to get this far - all those in one day. I kept having to go over it repeatedly to get the basic design of the Whitley bomber landing gear right! This is NOT as easy as it looks. I took today off to recover from all the work of yesterday, and figure out how I'm going to get another fuselage to work with, so I can cut corners without scratch building a new one! I'm just being lazy somewhat - I want to ensure that the new fuselage will match up with the bottom of the original bottom half. I'm not done with it either - it's still 1/8 of an inch too tall. This will take my time away from everything else once started, so I'll finish everything I can before then. That will come later. I hope you enjoy what you've seen so far. I have more to show, but it needs to be corrected before I can take pictures up to date in their completeness.















































More progress shots. These are various shots of other parts that I've altered for accuracy. These are the heatsinks that are used inside the engines, and around the laser barrels. These are two different sizes. The larger ones will be what I'm using for the kit I'm mastering/refitting. 










Parts ready for moulding.












~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

A hot bath in water, and antibacterial soap to remove the silicone residue from this part. This is the sealab part above this one. I made it from a styrene tube that I glued another styrene rod inside. I used brass to replicate the rings around this. I'm going to recast the vault for this, so that I don't ruin it while modifying it. I have to make several of these to remove parts from each, then add other parts. Unfortunately, I can't do this with one - this requires several as each one will be damaged from removal of details that are wrong. The very center is the Harrow 00 scale train, and the shroud around it from the tank kit have to be separated from the back. This will definately destroy the base. I'll have to alter this for the Red 5 model, and have an original to copy for accuracy since none of the X-wing fighters from the original movie were exactly the same. There's a small box on Red 5 - all the rest were basically the same, but with slight differences in how they were cut to fit the fuselage. Since these were cast, and different models were made before they made multiple moulds, these vary from model to model. Meaning that they made moulds from three different fighters, not one. Therefore there's no identical model for every fighter. I'll have to account for this.













The flash suppresor is made from brass. I put it on an aluminum tube for this shot. I also didn't want to lose it in the mess that I made my model base into. I have no place to work now because of my worthless brother being in the bedroom that I used to work in.  There's a small white box at the end of the tube, that's the new mount for the Phantom engines. Progress has been slow, but steady. The weekends seems to be the only time I can get anything done - during the week I'm playing nanny to my older brother who doesn't do anything! He doesn't realize that he's on his way out! The sooner, the better! I can get some part of my life on track again. (praying smiley face) 













This is the new laser canon mount. It needs a little modification to it, but nothing big. I'll have to take this out of the box, and rework it again. Right now I don't have enough silicone rubber to mould all the parts including the fuselage, but I have to shorten the bottom half of it anyway, so that will be a while. I'll finish these parts first since they're so small.


----------



## 67657 (Mar 4, 2010)

Dyonisis said:


> Well sir, here it is...
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Hmmm... thinking of a way to salvage that fuselage top. I use a material called plastic welder, and have been able to rework stuff that was previously a "loss".

Let me look into this a bit more.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I appreciate any help I can get, but sadly this warped because the plastic shrank in places. Meaning that it will be too distorted to make a difference. I'd have to cut out the parts that don't have the correct shape. By the time I did all that I could've made a entirely new fuselage.  Thanks for the tip anyway. It all comes down to being vigilant when working with delicate materials, and thin plastic is no exception. I just wish I had listened to my instincts before something bad happened. Hindsight is 20/20, but foresight is pricless!


----------



## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

*Any progress?*

Any new updates?


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I'm sorry, but I haven't posted any pics lately - I've been very busy trying to get some other projects done on the weekend, and work on this at the same time. I have most of this done now - just waiting on the fuselage, and wing assemblies to be complete. I've had to catch up on two months worth of work to get where I'm at now. More pictures, and progress tomorrow. I promise! :thumbsup:

~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

OK, as promised. 

Here's the latest pictures that I took almost two weeks ago. I've been skipping over some parts just to get caught up to date. I still haven't taken any new pictures for over a week now. Most of what's happened is filling, sanding, scraping, and more filling, sanding, scraping until I can't stand it anymore! I have the new fuselage started, and modified, but I have to reshape the top by the canopy yet before I can finish it off. I need to rescribe the fuselage panel lines to be more accurate and in scale. This will happen this week. I've had to remake a new R2 unit for a member of another modeling forum that sent me one to copy in clear resin, but it didn't show up with the thin paper envelope that he sent me. This will be cast in the new mould I'm making tomorrow. This friday will be when I can get the masters out and pour resin into them. 

In the meantime, enjoy what you see here. I'll try to explain only briefly in pictures what I'm doing. This is the easy part - the wings, and fuselage have been a bitch to say the least since they need so much correction! 

*A NEW BEGINNING*​ 










I wasn't using the Perma Blue for the model. I was standing at the kitchen sink working on a special Stanley brand screw driver when the postman came to the door, and dropped this off for me. I needed the bluing to keep the steel from rusting. I removed the rust from it, then washed it, and dried it before bluing the metal. This was a gift from my brother years ago - I'm not sure but sometime around 1994. This comes apart and has two different sizes of heads on each end of the metal insert. This was gray, but the paint has long worn off. I just forgot to put this away when I took the picture.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Notice all the incorrect scribe lines?










The tape keeps the fuselage from coming off the wooden buck. This is a scrap of maple that I salvaged from the shop. The water's just getting hot at this point. 










The horribly wrong hyperdrive motivator (to the left) that came with the new fuselage. I opened the box this came in and took everything out. I just took this for posterity. This is the bottom half of the fuselage before I boiled it. I've done a lot to both havles that I'll have to explain in great detail for others to understand, which is why I haven't included the latest progress of it here yet.











I overlayed the new fuselage over the original model for comparison. I know that these pictures are grainy, but I'll take better pictures before I finish this refit. I need better optical clarity to better exemplify my intentions.










After on the left - before on the right. 











From the other side. These are before I modified the wings.










An X-acto razor saw helps to remove this cleanly. I had to angle it a little to keep from cutting the wings themselves. I'll make my own wing assemly actuators from resin for better movement, and accuracy.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

The last photo I flipped the wing upside down. This one shows the proper position between the two. 










Since I only need two of the four wings, I needed this part to correct the top right wings' detail. This is a sealab part. This kit donated a lot of its' parts for the cause of the ILM crew. I sawed this away, then sanded the bottom the thickness needed. I'm going to leave no stone unturned in my pursuit of accuracy. 




























All the improper details sanded off. I used a razor saw to remove the bulk of these parts, then sanded them off with 60 grit sandpaper. I smoothed this with 220 grit finished off with 320 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

The front recievers for the intake pylons. These are just started at this point.










The backs of the Saturn V housings. These needed to be drilled out for the Phantom engine at this point, but I haven't taken new photos of them yet.










Inner wing skin. These still need the panel chips added to them. 










I used the bottom half of this fuselage for experiment. It worked - I got the answer I was looking for. Boiling this wasn't going to work - it's too short on the sides, and too thick to conform without distorting. I did this differently on the new bottom half.











Some of these lines are right, and some of them are wrong. I sanded off the cargo bay cover. It's too thin, and I couldn't just cut it out without leaving a huge hole in the good fuselage bottom. 










D is To r *t**e *d!!!!!​ 
This warped just like the top half of my old fuselage did. It doesn't matter anyway, it's just going to be sitting in a box unused after all this is over. The master - will sadly meet the same fate. Unless this becomes so popular that I have to make more than fifty, the original will sit, and collect cobwebs, and dust.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

This swelled out of shape in so many different directions even though I used the buck on this too. I wasn't surprised - I have to offer something up to the modeling gods every once in a while! I'm just glad that it wasn't the top half this time - I would've been insane with fury! I left this in the water for the longest time just to see what would happen to it although I had a buck cut to shape for it. I posted this for everyone to see my mistakes, not just the good stuff. I hope that It'll show that you don't have to be afraid to lose once in a while, and that you can learn from your mistakes - even those teach us something. Not everything can come out perfectly every single time! 










More swelling. I'm just glad that it didn't deform the cargo door - I need that to cast for the kit. 









I had to hold this to my chest at a weird angle that made my wrist hurt. I did this to show the washboard effect that trying to spread this out created. What does this mean to you? It means that there wasn't enough plastic for the sides to bend without deforming the surrounding material with it as I pulled the sides away. This in turn caused the bottom to cave in from the pulling. It also made the back end drop about an eighth of an inch. Even if I left the plates inside for wing mounting, it wouldn't have made a difference. This made a better boat than an aircraft fuselage!! 










A better view on top of my guitar case. 










Here you can clearly see that this isn't straight.










The new cover for the side panels (to the right under the fuselage). These hid the access holes for wiring the engine lights, and the motors. I separated the Harrow train enigne steam box/coal door from the top of the Sherman tank body. This will be cast separately as well. 










A better picture of this. Some of these details of the Harrow vault are backwards - just like the details on the R2-D2 unit. MPC had a knack for doing things backwards.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

A better look at the side cover.




































The canopy frame.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

The holes cut for Phantom engines. 










I might offer a new panel for those who have the MPC model, but want to eliminate the bump up under the cockpit. This wouldn't be perfect - it would need to be fitted a little bit, but it would certainly help to correct this for those who hate the way the MPC kit looks. 











The new laser canon body in the works. I need to get the skin done, then I can cast this too. 









I'm going to cast two different versions, but I need the master untouched so that I can have a part to refer to when I need multiple copies. Each one will serve as a different donor for the vault. This means that the rest of the parts will be destroyed in order to correct the inaccuracies that MPC introduced. I need to preserve the original for parts that need to be separated, then reassembled in the correct places, and specs. I can't do this with just one vault. Sadly each copy I cast of this part will make a sacrifice as details are carved away, then replaced all in the name of accuracy. 










Filled for new proton torpedo tubes.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I had to sand away the old cargo door cover. This was to make a clean area for a new one to be fitted. 










A comparison shot. You can't really see it, but the colour of the two fuselages and all associated parts that I got from a donor kit are slightly different in colour. One of the wings has a swirl in it where it wasn't mixed correctly. No wonder MPC went out of business. I wonder how much styrene they wasted on each run. 










The new part. 










The final result.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I know - one month, and still no progress. I've been working on this at breakneck pace. I have the moulds done for the parts I made this last month, and this month together. I just need to finish these tomorrow. I have the parts demoulded that I put into rubber friday. More update as soon as I get some pictures of the these parts, and the recent progress. I promise more pictures. I'm taking today off for the holiday. Stay tuned! 

~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

OK. I know that I promised pictures monday, but I wasn't ready to show anything yet. I've been making moulds all week. I've had a few disasters, but I thought about this ahead of time. I had to play catch up with some parts, and just as soon as I get off of here I have to go back at it to finish some last minute parts that I hope to cast tomorrow along with even MORE moulding! :drunk: This is taking a lot more time that I want it to, or than I can allow. I have to finish all the moulding this week. I need more silicone rubber, but I don't have the funds to do it at the moment. I'll figure out how to do this next week. I need about $150.00 for rubber, and resin. I'll make master samples from clear resin, but I need black resin for the kits. This way whoever buys from me can paint it whatever colour they want, and still have the black undercoat as the originals had. This won't rub off, or wear through when doing the weathering. The original ILM crew used Dremel Moto-Tools to distress the paint on their models. I'll cast mine so that you guys can do the same without going through to a colour layer underneath that will not be suitable, or desirable.

I have more pictures, but those will have to wait. I need to download them to my computer. Afterwards I can download them to photobucket. I want to make more progress before I post anything I did in the last twentyfour hours. I hope you guys, and girls enjoy these. There won't be much after I mould all the parts - it'll be all casting then. Once this happens I'll post a sale thread for those interested. This thread will come to a close before the end of this month, so I'll try to show as much as possible before then.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Most of the rest of these shots are blurry - I just got a new Nikon CoolPix 14 MP camera. I'm still figuring out how to adjust it to my liking, and ease of use. All you see is a work in progress. 

*A FRESH START *​
I was going to cast several of the MPC kits' parts, but I decided to forgo this as it was easier to start from scratch than to cut a little off each one, and piece it together. Plus the original was wrong in so many ways that I'd be reworking this until the second coming!

This is all scratch made except for a few pieces - the top two boxes are from the MPC model, but modified with styrene pieces added to it. The bottom two Harrier parts on each side of the Sherman tank body. The small knobs are made from several tiny pieces of stretched sprue glued to each other. The rivets are oversized, and will be reworked on the cast version. These are all made from a styrene piece that I bought already stretched to this size. They're too delicate to do anything with as they'd only break off. I drilled a hole in the top left box, then glued a styrene stick to it. I used a hole punch to make a circle on it, but the glue filled it in.  I'll have to work that back in on the cast version. I have to make the Stug suspension in the middle at the bottom last. This will be cast separately. All you see is made from styrene, except the Sherman wheel (next to the star shaped heatsink) for the end of the laser canon - the top is made from an aluminum tube. This made it easier to cut, and sand to shape. I had to cut this placard up into little pieces to get it to fit into the mould box.​​ 









I was trying to show that I reworked the Saturn V engine housings. I originally didn't want to make all this one even leveled piece as I didn't think I could cut out all the styrene, and fit it without using woodfiller to remove gaps. This took about half an hour to do both parts. I had to remove the detail panels, then add a new styrene ribbed section to the top of the left engine. This was neccessary to fit the rest together properly without gapping. It was also because the acrylic piece I made for it was too big, and left a big hole where there shouldn't have been one. I made a new piece to replace it with from a styrene rod. This completes the engine covers. 










The panel (center right) is cut, and sanded to thickness from one of the wings. I'll cast this for the top right wing section which will be the bottom left wing as well. I need to reverse the hub on the end for the correct placement on the left wing. It seems that MPC did EVERYTHING backwards!! 









Working on the scribe lines, and other wing details.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)




----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)




----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

These are the parts ready for moulding - one last shot before then. Some of the masters didn't survive being demoulded. I had to reglue them. Please notice the MPC vaults (buttplates, or fuselage ends) above. You can see the parts that I cut away from the original to cannibalise. 












The laser canon body ready alongside the afterburner. I made some safety moulds so that if I ruined the original part while remastering it I could start over. 










The middle white styrene part was wrong. I had it right the first time. I redid this, but a little smaller than what you see here. It was slightly oversized. This is a little bigger than the other two pieces that go along the seam to hide it. I just glued this together, then sanded the seam away. They could've saved a little time, and styrene, but I guess this helps to add some more detail. It's not totally in vain. 











Mould boxes ready to be poured.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Moulds filled. Now just sit and wait. The second one was reused for another members' model. This is the laser canon, and afterburner in this time around - the first time I've ever done this with these parts. 



















I had a small leak that I had to contain with tape. I wiped this down with mineral spirits, but they kept the hot glue from sticking. That was a mistake that almost led to disaster. I'm glad this stuff kicks fast. It became thick enough to slow down the leak so that I had time enough to contain it before it became a lot of silicone rubber. 










Sealed. The parts are encased, and will have to sit for a day, or two to solidify.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

These are the covers that hide the holes for wiring. I had to remove some of the greeblies from them as they weren't symmetrically even with each other. I fixed that since then. Even though you can't see it, the rivets ARE hexagonally shaped, not just a couple styrene rods cut down. I bought some plastruct for this only. I had to add two rivets to these for the Red 5 model. The other pyro models, and hero models only have two rivets. I'll mould these, then change them for pyro version for those who want one. I've also allowed for a pyro, and Red 5 version of the buttplate (vault) for the same reason. Red 5 didn't have the two suspension parts across from each other, but a box on the left side. This was done so that the " hero" of the movie wasn't painted as a pyro model. This box differentiated it from the others. I'll show what I mean in the next installment of moulded parts. 









The beginning of a cockpit. I didn't have any pictures of this from the top at this time. When I took these I was moulding parts. I didn't have a lot of time to stop for photo opportunities. 










This is an F-18 Stealth fighter canopy. I'm trying to mould it for a friend. I've had this for so long I almost forgot all about it!  This and the subsequent mould I made for it failed. The first one was too soft (not enough hardener), so I made a second one - that too was a failure (too many air bubbles. I forgot that air rises, and so you can put it above the rubber. You have to put it at the bottom of the mould box. This is such a complex shape that it made it VERY hard to mould properly without a lot of fuss!! After the first two moulds eventually hardened I cut them up, then strategically placed them in the mould box to remould this part. It worked. I also used these same parts for other moulds. I'll do this until they're all used up. This saves me silicone, and time waiting for it to cure. Recycling saves a lot of headache! Especially since this is new rubber - I wouldn't suggest it with old rubber mixed with new after it's been stretched, and used.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Another view from above. It's too bad that this didn't work because of the air bubbles. I worked real hard making it so that I could mould this. 











In rubber - these are also failures that were made from the same batch of silicone. I hardened, and feels like the other moulds that I did earlier. It only takes more time to do so. These parts weren't glued securely so that rode up into the top of the silicone. I pushed them down into it, and they stayed - for the most part. I removed them later, and to my surprise the silicone inside was still partly soft, but the parts rode up again! This pissed me off since it was the first time it ever did this to me. I only had three small parts in it too! Well, you live and you learn! I'm getting the hang of this real fast - I have to I don't have anyone else to teach me all the ins, and outs of this type of RTV silicone rubber. I ran out of rubber for the second box, but I made up for it later. I'll explain in the next installment. More to come later. Thanks for looking. Stay tuned. 

~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

BAD NEWS!!! I tried out the resin I bought from my supplier today, and it failed miserably! I don't know what the problem is, but I have some other resin on the way that I hope will be better than what I bought earlier this year. I mix this up as recommended, but it kicked before I even got it out of the mixing cup! This did the same thing the second time around because I thought I was mixing more resin than hardener - it was the opposite. I got two whole parts made before it kicked, and the parts had shorts ( missing spots in the resin) from not being viscous enough. I started to make the laser canon body first, but it got half way into the mould before it kicked, and wouldn't move or pour out any more. Plus it's greasy feeling on both batches after curing - it's not supposed to be. I was advised to put it in the refrigerator - I put it in the freezer. The temperature that this was formulated for is 70*, but it's 8* warmer in my room. I don't know how to make it any cooler - I don't have air conditioners in yet because it's been so cold at night lately. Maybe I should work outside in the dark?  If the next batch doesn't fair any better, I'll have to buy some slow cure resin. We'll see what happens next. More pictures of this fiasco. Stay tuned.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I reversed the door lock mechanism. This is the part that looks like a clock face. I also reversed the guages - these are the parts that look like small nondescript circles. MPC had a gift for mastering their sci-fi kits backwards. The R2-D2 was, and STILL is horrible! That will be one of the next things I mould. I have to make a safety copy of it before I remaster it. I'll sand off the details, but before I do that I'll make a resin copy to alter. I'll take comparison pics so that you can see the differences between the two. 










Making moulds. Sorry for the blurriness of these pictures. I was still figuring out the features of my new Nikon Coolpix camera which I'm slowly starting to hate! It's too sensitive to take pictures of small things with, especially in lower light conditions.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

More moulds. I took these two weeks ago. Some of the flash that got under the placards, and parts still had yet to be removed. 































































The beginning of a cockpit. This is the basic form. I need to add the details to the headrest, and the sides. I don't have the guage panel started yet. I've took off last week to recooperate from the heat. I already have a few newly cast parts. More to come.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

*MY 1,000th post! *​ 
The inside of the afterburner with the heatsink. This will be cast in a two part mould. 









The inner wings. I had to do a lot to get them half way decent. I need to cast some parts to make the details correct, then I'll use them for the wing masters. The holes were too big for the original design. Not only was the second hole towards the laser canon edge too wide, it was too tall! 
I'll add the inside greeblies (panel chips) later. I'll have to glue these to the wings to the mould boxes before then. 









Wing scribe lines. These are accurate in every way to the original ILM models. These had to be supersized to see them. I just wonder why they couldn't even get these right? 










This is what the inside of the wings will look like once assembled. I'm not going to cast these Phantom engines inside the wing well (engine bay), but I'll have to cast the one I mastered, then cut it in half. This will be made hollow in a two part mould. This is a just a garbage MPC engine I threw in there for the picture. The panel beside it is for the Sealab tank that will go inside the wing well. It too will be cast separately. I have to alter it for a better fit at this point in time. This is the way these were originally done. Only a couple of pyro models had them cast inside the wings.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I had to add 0.20" thick styrene sheet to the leading edge of the wing.










I also had to seal the trailing edge of the wing since I had to remove the incorrect bar protruding from it. This is supposed to be inside the trailing edge of the wing, not outside. I'm going to offer an aluminum rod for decortating this part. The other end will be moulded in. This will complete the look, and give it some added strength. 










The tab on the end of this wing will be altered for accuracy. This will be glued to the masters then cast in with the wings. That will ensure durability, and less hassle to build. 










A LOT of woodfiller went into this to make it smooth without more cutting styrene, then sand, fill, sand, fill, etc. I have to get some more Elmers' woodfiller - I ran out. This is what I seal all the tiny cracks, and imperfections between parts. I don't have a lot of those, but mostly gaps in the fuselage, and wing sections. Everything else has come out pretty good so far. It's still neccessary to fill tiny gaps with it that glue can't or won't fill! I had to scrape the inside of this with an X-acto micro-chisel. I'll go over it one more time to remove any errant scrapes, or scratches. I don't want any rough spots in the part of the mould - this can cause premature wear and failure. Any cuts will separate when the parts are pulled from the mould itself. This will also cause imperfections in the surface of parts, and can also cause warpage. 










Notice in this picture that I have multiple parts. This was taken before I altered the side covers. This is a close up of the engine intake. There's also a part for the laser canon above it.










The engine intake with the armature attachment for the wings. Notice R2-D2 in the lower left corner of this picture. Also note that my paint has separated in the upper left corner. It only takes a couple days for it to do this. The part in the lower right corner is for the four foot X-wing. 










The bottom half of the fuselage. This has been very difficult as the side split out on it in the back, and gluing it in the hope that it sticks while working with it has been a nightmare!


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Plugging along on the fuselage. This will most likely be the very last thing I do before everything is moulded. Most of the rest is done being moulded, except for a few parts. The wings, hyperdrive motivator, and fuselage along with the R2 unit. Once those are done I'll cast them. 










A view of the sideplates in EXTREME closeup. I scraped most of the detail off to make them match exactly. Once these are moulded I'll make a two part mould for the backside which will have a plug for the side of the fuselage. Bottom right of that is an afterburner. I made three different versions of this before I was satisfied with the final result. To the right is the armature keystone insert that will hold the aluminum rod inserted into the fuselage. The wing mounts will go behind this inline with each other. I'll demonstrate the assembly when I get some more parts cast for it. 











The left wing scribe line detail. There were some greeblies missing from the wings, and too many parts that should've had them, but were in the wrong places.










Parts ready for moulding. The cockpit will be two pieces. I'll add the greeblies for it as soon as I can get to doing it. There are a few loose ends I need to tie up before then. To the right of it is the finished afterburner with the proper trailing edges (tips) that disappate heat. I had to glue over 40 separate pieces of styrene rod to emulate this effect as they kept breaking off when handling it while I worked on it. There's also a feature that I added, but I forgot to take a picture of it. 










The finished side covers after being modified. 



















This is more of a suggestion than what actually goes on the back deck of the cockpit. I'll scrape the greeblies from this once moulded. I want to use it for another sci-fi build. I'll recycle the main cockpit for that reason. I'll add this piece where it is in this photo afterwards. Until then it'll have to wait.










This is what I was talking about in earlier posts when I said I had a few setbacks. These silicone rubber pieces are from a couple moulds that didn't have enough hardener in them. They did eventually harden, but my pieces floated to the top since it wasn't as solid as need be. I had to remove them then let the rubber mixture cure before slicing the pieces up for other moulds. This way I can recycle them without harming the main parts of the subsequent moulds. Strategically placed, each of these keeps me from using as much silicone than I would have had I not done this. The new rubber fills in around the parts, but leaves the other parts of the rubber to take up negative space while sticking to the old silicone rubber itself creating a "new old" mould. I sprayed all the parts with white primer to seal out superglue spots so that these won't have shiny spots, and so that it will show imperfections that need to be tended to.


----------



## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

*Great Work*

Fantastic. When do expect to be able to sell a completed kit? thanks


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Thank you for your interest. I'm aming for July - sometime after the fourth. Once all the hub-bub has died down. This will make it easier for everyone involved - meaning that the carriers, and customers will not have to wonder about holiday delivery being delayed. I'm still trying out the new resin. I'm hoping for something that won't kick as fast, and something that will allow me to fill all the mould without shorts (voids) in parts. The stuff I have now works really good, but it's not great - it leaves air bubbles, but not in the surface. It either leaves small parts with air pockets, or it leaves entire missing sections of parts!!  The lower the viscosity, or thickness the easier it'll fill parts. I'll work out something with my supplier to see if I can get some that will be bright white, but real thin so that I can get the moulds completely filled. This is where I stand at the moment. The larger parts don't have this problem as they don't require a low viscosity liquid to fill intricate shapes, and deep holes in tiny areas. They do have one that's 50 MCPDs, but I need to get it, and have it shipped here ASAP so that I can get production under way all the time.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Afterburners. The one on the far left is the finished master. I put a lot of time into this one. The other three are failures - at least two of them are. The ones with the cutouts in the top were first. I just cut notches into them, but this proved unsatisfactory. I'm pleased with what I ultimately ended up with. 




































You guys (and girls) have seen enough masters, and moulds now it's time to see some cast parts. Unfortunately, these didn't turn out too well! Those harded lumps are resin. One too soft, and one too hard - three little bears? Any way the one I'm using now IS actually clear unlike the stuff that you see here which is amber in colour - this is RP-40 MOD. It is described as clear on the website, but it's not. The stuff I just got is clear. Colour pro? I'm not sure, but it's a LOT better than the other stuff I got before. I don't know if I'll be able to use it now. Any way, you see that this does mould when it doesn't kick. I'm going to use it for experimentation. I was furious when it didn't do what it was supposed to from the beginning. I'm glad I kept a cool head when calling the company. I got the second batch from them the next day - for FREE! That's customer service! I told the owner that I'd use this, and tell everyone if I liked it, or not. I'm still on the fence about it, but so far it's been a lot better than it could be. 










The first parts I ever cast. Not too bad, but they could be a LOT better! The colour isn't what I wanted, but it'll work for experiments. I'll add some acetone to see what it does as far as viscosity, and prolonging working time.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

A bevy of canon bodies. These are all cast. I did several trials to see which one I liked best. A couple weren't all too great - too many weird mishapened spots that are hard to explain. I had one come out with checked voids. That's something I couldn't do again even if I tried. I'll mould a copy of it so that I can make some extras for kitbashing, or scratch building. I think I'll make a diorama with the rejects. Maybe a rebel junkyard? 










A few more rejects. One of these afterburners (clear one) was just overspill from casting a canon body. 









The first batch of reject parts among so new casts. The panel here was recast so that I can sand off the small hatch (a part from the sealab kit), then relocate it to the proper side. MPC did a lot of things backwards, and this was no exception! I made four parts - this will be requried so that I can remove the neccessary components and install them in their respective areas. I'll glue these to the wings before moulding them. 









Lots of airbubbles. I need to filter the resin to keep these out of my parts. I need to find some small screen to get these broken open before entering the mould. Strangely enough none of these got into the surface of these parts. I sanded some of the detail off this vault to see if I could get away with replacing some of it, but I think I'll rework the original master to see what can be done about some of the asymmetry involved in the mould. I'll remould this, but I'll have to cut up the old one so that I don't use it by mistake. 



















More parts. This stuff becomes addictive after the first few pulls.


----------



## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Fascinating stuff here.:thumbsup:


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

More parts. Even though these don't look it, most of them came out perfectly. The less detail the more complete these come out of the mould. As I already said before, I'll have to rework the resin to see what I can come up with. I wanted black resin, but it too is fast kicking, and I need something that will work with what I have mould-wise. The white resin can be dyed. I think I'll dye it for those who want the ILM look of the original epoxy resin they used back in the day. I'll use white for those who want the look of the original MPC kits, but without the horrible inaccuracies, or quality they had. 

If you look closely, you can see my horrible Chinese made mail order slippers I recieved from the indian nation preservation society my grandmother used to give money to. Since we use our mailing address for her we get all kinds of crap in the post! 










X-wing, and associated parts now in BLUR-O-VISION!!!! 










I wonder if you put on 3-D glasses if these would come in clearer, and of course 3-D? The white panel under the cockpit is the start of the control dash. 










Failed moulds among video game cartridges from way back when. These are for my Nintendo 64 that I use to relax with. Notice all my scratchbuild junk under the table. This is my storage area. This is where I get all my work done for now. 










Successful moulds. I made a safety copy of the master I made, and the new Red 5 mould that will need to be redone - part of the middle rail for the Sherman tank was slightly off. I'll make readjustments then make a new version of it. I also need to make a pyro mould as well. All in good time. 










A heap of scraps. These are the cut offs from the moulds. These will be cut into smaller pieces then inserted very carefully into new moulds. The board under this is trashed, but I plan on making a new one, and repainting this one differently. I didn't care too much for it, so plan to redo the death star tile with a few new parts and colours. 









Newly cast parts. These will be used for the X-wing I already built. I need to make three more canon mounts for it, and the new wings I just mastered. I'll cast these in so that you won't have to figure out how to glue them identically. It'll also cut down on the number of parts to assemble. 
Well, that's about it for now. I don't have any more pictures of this other than what I posted here today. More to come - GUARANTEED. Stay tuned. Thanks for looking.


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Little late to the party, but........................... X-Wing interest, here!
I keep seeing this thread pop up on the home page and have been following it for a while.
Some crazy cool stuff going on here. Your modeling skills are way beyond mine.

Just for fun.
I took an old AFX F1 slot car body and made this...











I sent it to a buddy of mine. He got a kick out of it. Looks great on a chassis.










Wish I would have read this thread before painting it. I could have at least got the colors closer to spec.

Rich


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Little late to the party, but........................... X-Wing interest, here!
> I keep seeing this thread pop up on the home page and have been following it for a while.
> Some crazy cool stuff going on here. Your modeling skills are way beyond mine.


 Thank you very much! I'm doing this so that no one else has to do it to have an accurate X-wing in this scale. This saves all the time, and aggravation of refitting all these tiny parts by other people who might not be satisfied with the results. I understand that most of the members of these forums wouldn't have the patience or skill level I have. It tests my mettle at times, but I know that it's not difficult for me to do. I need to put my foot down with getting the fuselage finished - it's slightly warped in a couple places, but that's to simulate the asymmetry that the originals had. This was very difficult to do (copy exactly) without ruining it! I've been doing this for years, but it was high noon for the MPC, MPC/Etrl, AMT/Ertl kits. Someone was bound to do this eventually - I guess it was meant to be. I don't see the home page, but that's a high honour for me if it is! 









NTxSlotCars said:


> Wish I would have read this thread before painting it. I could have at least got the colors closer to spec.
> 
> Rich


I have references if you need them. I'll start a studio reference thread for those that need it. I have more than most websites have, or offer. It'd be great to have one here for all the members so that they don't have to go to another forum to see it. 

Very cool! I'd like to see an actual X-wing slot car running around the track.  That would be interesting, and unusual. Especially with the same paint, and weathering! 

~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I'd love to show everyone here what I've been doing lately since I took a break from the forum, but my cameras' SD card won't read in the turd that I'm posting form! For some damn reason it won't read the card even though it was previously formatted on another computer. It now won't read, and I have pictures that I need to send to other people, not just on here. I hope to figure this out soon so that I can show progress as soon as possible. Not a lot done, but casting progress has come along. I can't use the resin I recieved as a replacement over a month ago, so I'll have to choose another vendor. It kicks so fast that it leaves airbubbles from the exothermic reaction. Meaning that when I pour it there are no bubbles, but the heat from the two has caused bubbles to form where there weren't any before! This is unacceptable, and is therefore unusable. I need something clear for the Xbox controllers that I hoped to sell in clear, and tinted resin form. I guess this isn't going to happen for a while. We'll see what happens from here. I've had a lot of projects that I've had to finish, so after I get the card to read I'll post pictures again. 

~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

OK. More casting done today. I still haven't figured out why the card suddenly stopped working for sure, but I'm guessing that it's because of the damn security updates. It's become so secure that it won't recognise my card now, so I'll have to reformat it when I can get the pictures that are on it downloaded to another computer. This way I can keep using it, but if I reformat it I hope that it will still be usable in the other camera that I formatted it for originally!  I have another card, but I need to get it out and start using it as much as I can before it becomes unusable too! Both of these cards were used in the Insignia camera, and the other CoolPix camera I had. We'll see what happens in the next two days. This should be interesting - to say the least. As soon as I can get around all this I'll get pictures of the latest fiasco that the resin I'm using has created. 

It's starting to work - I just needed to prod it along with baking soda. This and pulling the mould open to that I can see the resin filling it. I think I now know why silicone release agent was made. I'll have to make some new moulds since the old ones were a one shot deal - what is normally called a "waste mould". This one that is only used for making a few pieces that are then used together to make multiples of the original cast part. This makes production go a lot faster. I had a couple parts stick in the mould, but that was MY fault! I rubbed the resin that hadn't dried away from the mould with acetone. This is something I've never done before, and would never do with a multiple mould - it's too risky! This caused the surface of the silicone to become sticky. It removed some of the non-stick properties as it dried. I lost two parts in the mould, but I didn't need either mould. I need to make multiples of these now. I've just been too lazy to do it. I now know not to do that again for any reason. I have mineral spirits for this, so I'll remember not to ruin any future moulds. 

Not much to show at the moment, except all the parts that I've made last week, and today. Most are unusable because of another mould that had to be cut up in favour of making new multiple part moulds. I've also been fighting the cure time as this kicks in about one minute, and thirty seconds. It's been unseasonably hot here lately and this makes it kick even faster than the 2:30 seconds that it's supposed to! Last week broke 24 year old records of being the most consecutive days of 100 + degree heat. It's in the nineties now, so I'll have to cast in an airconditioned room to get it cool enough to cast reasonably decent parts without voids. Stay tuned, people. There will be more to see soon! I hope to have some resin that will have a lower viscosity than what I have now - this will mean (hopefully) no more voids in small crevices of moulds.

~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

OK, people.. I'm going to order some silicone, and resin this week - let us pray that THIS resin will fill my moulds better than the last stuff. (keep your fingers crossed) I'm still on this project even though I took a hiatus from it to find the right resin that I hope will work. The resin I'm looking to buy has a very low viscosity, so I hope that it will fill the moulds easier. I can only get it in white, or black for the moment. I need some feedback from the other members here. I need to start an opinion poll for what colour you think these should be cast in. 

A. White

B. Black

C. Beige

White would be for those who would rather forgo anything else, and just weather over what's there, have a light base to paint over, or have it this way for nostalgic reasons as the original MPC model was white to resemble what was seen on the silver screen (which is no longer silver).

Black would be for those who don't want to prime it with two different cans just to be exactly the same as the ILM models, but it won't be possible to scrape it, then show the underlying lighter colour of resin. This will be cast all the way through the resin without any other colour present. You can paint white over it, but any lighter colour won't show through if you scrape, or sand it as the originals were. Many of the original models had scrapes, scratches, and sanded through spots to replicate harsh climates, and to add a touch of realism. Although you can't really see it there are some places that the original resin is visible where scrapes with hobby knives, Dremel moto-tools, steel wool, and 600 grit sandpaper were applied. 

The last one is the colour that these were originally cast in at ILM. I wanted to be as accurate as possible so that they would be as exacting in everyway possible (except scale). In other words, if you wanted to weather this it would have the same properties if you sanded it, and scraped it after painting it with black primer, then with white. This would show the original colour just like the ILM models did back in the day. 


I can colour tint for the beige, but I need some feedback by tomorrow as this is when I'm going to order it for sure. I know that only a handful of people have replied to this, so I'm going to ask again in the HOPE that anyone wanting one of these will have a say in what they get. I can always spray black primer over this for those who don't want to spend the extra money for another can, or who can't find it in this colour. It won't cost any more for me to do this. I'd just spray it lightly to dry with adequate film hardness, but it would be easy enough to spray white primer over it. I just need some feedback from other members here as to what they expect to see in a model of this type. 

~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Well, I guess that's THAT!! Anyone interested in this will just get whatever I decide what colour it will be. 

~ Chris​


----------



## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

*Can we order one yet?*

Can we order one yet? Looks great!!!


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Thank you for your interest, but I had to shelve this project until I could do some comparitive research between resins. I'm ordering some this week. I'll keep everyone posted as soon as I know what results I get from it. 

~ Chris​


----------



## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

Dyonisis said:


> Thank you for your interest, but I had to shelve this project until I could do some comparitive research between resins. I'm ordering some this week. I'll keep everyone posted as soon as I know what results I get from it.
> 
> ~ Chris​


Thank you for the update. This really looks like a great project!


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks Doc. Don't give up hope. Although my personal life has become a living hell, I haven't thrown in the towel just yet. 

~ Chris​


----------



## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

Dyonisis said:


> Thanks Doc. Don't give up hope. Although my personal life has become a living hell, I haven't thrown in the towel just yet.
> 
> ~ Chris​


Never give up, never say die!!!!
Best Wishes


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Chrisisall said:


> Fascinating stuff here.:thumbsup:


 I wasn't ignoring your post, Chris - I just had to play a lot of "Catch up" with this project. I know it's been quite some time since you first posted this message. Thank you for looking. 



eagledocf15 said:


> Never give up, never say die!!!!
> Best Wishes


No, Doc - I'm going to see this to the end, even if HELL DOES have to freeze over!! Even if it takes my dying breath to get these made, and sent out - I'm going to do it. It' just that I need to concentrate all my priorities to moving to another place where I can stretch my wings, and (hopefully) fly. Until I get my personal life under control, I won't be able to stay, and be productive especially when things here are bringing me down! I'm looking into going to school to further my personal outlook on life, I hope this will be my personal salvation. Thank you for the wished from the bottom of my heart. 


~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

OK, people - I know that you've been waiting for a LONG overdue update. However, the computer that was using now has a virus, and the one that I'm borrowing is so old that it doesn't support SD cards (no slots for them)! I need to sell some stuff to get enough money to pay for the computer repair - this was my master computer with everything on it that I used for reference. This is also why I haven't been on the forum as of late. I've been working on the X-wing, and taking pictures, but I have no way of showing them to any of you. I have this almost done now, just a few tweaks to the wings, and a couple other small parts. I need to clean this up, and do the scribe lines on the fuselage and tweaking this to perfection so that everything will be exactly as it should it this scale, but in the meantime, hang on, and PRAY that the local computer geeks can do what is neccessary without ruining my computer, or any of my pictures. I hope that I can get this fixed before my SD card fills up!  

Don't worry, people - this IS happening although it's behind the curtain for now, but IT IS HAPPENING! Stay tuned for further updates.

~ Chris​


----------



## robn1 (Nov 17, 2012)

Try one of these http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunpak-72-In-One-Card-Reader-with-SIM-Slot/16641239


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I wasn't ignoring your post Robn1 - I looked into getting one of these card readers, but my SD card won't work for some damn reason, so now I need to figure out how I'm going to post pictures from it to my computer. It's just my luck!  

Anyway, I'm just going to tease you guys a little bit since I almost have the fuselage done, and the wings, and cockpit need a little more assembly before I can mould them. I have the scribe lines done now, just finishing up the rest of the small details for mouding. This will be within the next two, or three weeks for sure! This time it will be BEFORE the fourth of July when I get this at least moulded. I need to do a little tidying up of some edges here, and there before I do. The clay that I was using is so brittle that it won't stop breaking when shaping the pilot figure. I'll mould his basic shape, then finish up the rest in resin. Keep your eyes open for this. In the meantime, please know that this IS happening (despite my personal, and computer problems), and that there WILL be a truly accurate version available to the public soon! Thanks for reading. :wave:

~ Chris​


----------



## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

*Keep us updated!!!*

Any more photos? I can hardly wait for this one. Best Wishes!!!!!


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Pictures coming soon! Thanks for the wishes. 

~ Chris​


----------



## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

*just a line of encouragement*

Just a line of encouragement. Life has its bumps, but please know we are behind you!
To infinity and beyond............or maybe just to the resin store! One small step for man, one giant leap for Star Wars Fans


----------



## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

*Any news yet?*

How is it going? Thanks


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Please forgive me for not getting back sooner. I've been very busy with another project that I'm working on that has taken my attention away from the forums. It's almost complete - I had a lot of fabrication to do to a Pocher 1907 Fiat F-2 racer that is missing half of its' detail. This has taken me over Two months to build, and it's still only half way done! The X is done for the most part. I just need to find a suitable silicone rubber that won't stick after a few parts have been pulled. I still need to put the wings together, but I'm in no hurry since I need to mould the Reynolds Holgate brick pieces to add to them. Thy ARE finished, just need to be assembled. I've decided to make everything from scratch that's incorrect on the kit. This is why it has taken me so long. 

I'm in a hurry right now, as I need to complete a machining deal with someone to make a little money. This is a brass tire pump handle for for the Fiat that someone else built. I saw pictures of, and decided that it needed something better than a poorly painted plastic part that these cars come with. I alredy made one for myself, so I decided to make one for him too since his car was so well done. I just popped in here to check my email since I haven't used the one for the modeling forums for MONTHS! My paypal address won't work unless I sign in once in a while. I can't get paid until then! I'll have something to show as soon as I get my memory card situation sussed out. Thanks for your continued interest, and for your patience.

~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Ok, people. I know I said that I would post progress pics here, but I can't get into my photobucket account. Meaning that the one I use can't be accessed by me. I can start another account, but the pictures I've put here won't appear after my not having logged in for more than a year on that site. They delete dormant, and inactive accounts. Just hang on, and see if I can get it back. Some dinosaur dolt copied my name even though mine's spelled with a capital at the beginning - making it ever harder to prove who I am. I have the X-wing mostly done as I've already said before. I just need to put the wings together, then mould them. There's no point unless I can post progress pics of this! Pray for the best. 

~ Chris ​


----------



## robn1 (Nov 17, 2012)

Hobbytalk has it's own pic hosting, just upload the pics there.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I guess that I'll have to transfer all my pics from the account I have here, and repost them. Either way, I hope to revive this thread with all new pictures, and some new parts since the last batch that I made. I had to remake some of the details like wings, rear vault (butt plate) and new pilot and cockpit. Just bear with me. I'm hoping that I'll get my computer fixed this next week, or the week after. I'll let everyone know as soon as possible. Stay tuned.


----------



## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

Patiently waiting for the pics upload reboot/continuation of this project.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

OK. Computer fixed - I hope that I get a WIFI USB connector soon (bought from evilbay), and I hope that it gets here soon. In the meantime I'll be working on getting the latest photos uploaded to my computer from my camera. I apologise for the incredibly long wait. Just a little longer depending how long it takes to get the USB, and if my computer will still read my SD card from my camera. Hope to revive this thread soon enough! Stay tuned.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

OOPPSSSsss! I forgot to mention that the USB connector is coming from China. Hopefully it will be here in the next two weeks! 

~ Chris ​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Ok, people. I got the USB connector - it doesn't work on my computer so I have to use the ethernet cable that came with the router. In the meantime I have uploaded pictures to my computer from my camera, but I haven't got the time to post then here now since I waited THREE HOURS just to get this far! (having a lot of browser problems - *gookle sucks because it's the shittiest browser ever made!!!!!) sadly it's the only one that I can get for the moment. * I need to mow the yard right now before it rains. I still need to go through and choose the pics I need to post here. I didn't realise that some of these are over FOUR YEARS old!  Oh, well.... Either way. I haven't taken any new ones since I finished the fuselage - I never realised this until this morning. This means that I need to do so, but in the meantime just know that pics forthcoming ASAP. It may take a while before this happens. I haven't decided to do that first (mow the yard), or hold off until later this week. Stay tuned. 

~ Chris​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)




----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I'm sorry. people - I'm having some extreme problems with gookle. It's slower than molasses in January, and just as stupid as the dumbshits that designed it!  I can't get any satisfaction from it no matter how I try! Either way I hope that you guys will get the idea from what I've been able to post so far. I'll take pictures of the rest of this tomorrow (maybe) since I volunteer at community Harvest food bank on wednesdays.













This is a foot for the landing gear. It's supposed to have a checkerboard design at the bottom which it does now. I never took another picture of it since then. I'll get one some time when taking pictures of everything else.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)




----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Gookle now gone!!!! I can finally get on with business.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)




----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I had to make this a little smaller to get the correct scale for the cockpit detail. The one with correct specs is on the bottom.




This is the cockpit with some of the control panels intact. It still needs to be finished. I have all the tiny parts glued around the gauges, and the dash controls since this picture was taken. I needed to decide what to make the telephone speaker from - I finally decided on aluminum. This is the part to the left of the pilot. I'll have to either cast him in resin to make the hands, and feet without breaking, or use some other type of casting clay. The Sculpy I made him from keeps breaking - TOO SOFT! This is why there are no pics of him at this time. He's still in the rough, and will be until I can get him cast, or moulded in something much more durable. 



New wings. These are just the start. I've most of them done now. I just need to take pictures of them in the state they're currently in.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)




----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)




----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

How many mistakes can you make while casting? Look above, and below - this is a pile of reject parts. Every single one of these is a reject, and is subject to being ground into powder, and reused in another form. 




One of the moulds I used initially, but now it's a dud since I changed a couple of these parts to correct specs this a waste mould. Meaning that I'll have to cut it into pieces, and reuse it somewhere else.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

These were made correctly, but they're the wrong length, and diameter - too small both ways. I don't think I destroyed all of these, but I can't remember what I did with them. Maybe I'll use them for another project? I'll think of some use for them. 
I apologise for the blurriness. I was trying to take these with the old P.O.S. camera that I used before the one I have now. 



These are the bottom or the end of the laser cannon bodies, or at least the ones that I had hoped to use in the picture above. The are aluminum rings that I cut from 1/8" inch diameter tube. I simply sanded the outside edge smooth after using a drill bit to round the inside edge. I only used one for the master. There are more bolts around the edge, and a little hole in the middle, but I hadn't gotten that far when I took these pictures. 



These are the parts that I cut by hand with an X-acto saw. They were intended to be used in a mould, but that's not going to happen now. 

http://s578.photobucket.com/user/Photostaff/media/Picture or Video 430.jpg.html


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I wasn't going to edit this, but I decided to add a description any way. *LOTS OF BONDO!!! *This is all Bondo, wood filler, Bob Smith industries superglue and spot putty. It got even more as I did the scribe lines. This fuselage gained a lot of weight when I modified it. I won't have to worry about the warpage that you see with some types of resin. This is real THICK inside now, especially in the nosecone area. I separated it from the fuselage once I felt it had the proper shape. Unfortunately it still needed some modification still afterward, but almost completely done with that now.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

This is a new vault (butt plate) for those who call it that. I had a few proportions of these parts wrong, and I just hated the way the old one looked anyway. So I made a second attempt at it. This is it. And so it is until I can get more shots of this in its' present state. I just took some pictures, and decided that I needed to get more progress done than photography. If any of you brave souls watching this thread have any questions - don't be afraid to ask. The fuselage is almost completely finished. I need to adjust the length for the nosecone - it's too close to the canopy. It's in primer, and all the scribe lines are drawn. I just forgot to take any photos of it, or any of the other parts once I got them to the primer stage. More photos either tomorrow, or friday. Thanks again for looking! 

~ Chris ​


----------



## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

Nice to finally see some pictures. Wow. This is a ton of work and a long way to go still. Looks like you are having fun with this one.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks! I went through hell just to get these to you guys even thought they're not complete yet. This will be a full set of photos when I get at least one of these cast up in resin. This will be the last set of photos I take of these in raw unpainted form. For now I'll post what I need to get the point across. Only a few more until I can get this into rubber, then resin. For the meantime you can feast your eyes on these until I get the wings finished, and all the other parts primered. I'll take beauty shots of all those parts together at the same time. I didn't take pics of R2 because he'll just be a copy of the original, but with all the mould lines, and details sanded off. I'll make a decal kit for him to replace all the backwards modeling MPC did. The pilot needs some work, so not anything to show yet as far as he's concerned. Please forgive the blurriness of this photo - I'm not a photographer by any means, and the camera I'm using is not very good at taking pictures in low light without doing this!


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

This is the new version of the vault - almost complete. It still needed adjustment in the last picture of it, and it still needs some minor readjustment now, but only at the top near the Saturn V rocket parts which I might replace - they still just don't look kosher . I made this Sherman tank body a little taller than the Captain Cardboard version so that you may be able to adjust this for the version you want. These weren't always a perfect fit since this part was cut to fit by hand for each X-wing made. The instrument cluster - it's finished now. There's just a little more before the cockpit is complete.




You can see the landing gear foot on the left. The other one is for the fuselage - it needs the rest of the detail added to it yet. All new sealab parts: and to think that I was going to use the original ones for MY kit!! After looking closely at the ILM model there was no way I was going to use any of the MPC garbage that they moulded to the wings!! I had to make all new everything, except for the little plate the the stug part went on. I used the base of the other parts on the front, and back of the wings as a gauge for sizing the rest of the wings, and the intake manifold at the bottom, but with Saturn V rocket engines replacing the horrible MPC milled version inside it. Once again I apologise for the blurriness of the photo. It looks perfectly acceptable until the damned thing shows up on my PCs' screen. 



MMMMmmmm.......homemade goodness! This is the Phantom engine in its' proper state unlike the MPC version originally offered. It's also more accurate than the finemolds offering as well. AMT, and Bandai (correctly pronounced Bond - Eye) are making their own offerings as well, but won't be as accurate as mine -- GUARANTEED!!! They seem to always fudge on the pilot, and the r2 unit as well as the tinier details that always seem to go unnoticed by the untrained eye. Next to it: The "red thing" is an enameled copper wire that I'll use to simulate the original parts inside the wings for detail. This will be made two at a time once I get a copy of it made. This will come in two halves for gluing to the engine halves inside the engine bays. Each engine has one. This is supposed to be a heat sink to allow heat dissipation. The remade intake next to the heat sink master. The cover plate for the cargo hold under the pilot. I had to remake all of these since the original ones were wrong, and had all the wrong details, and sizes.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)




----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

*SCRIBE LINES

* 



Here you can see that this will have a thick fuselage. No need to worry about warping. I wonder what kind of resin the Chinese that made the 1997 "Icons" version of the X-wing had? Obviously it wasn't very good quality! :drunk:


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

This is the other shot of the foot. I have more to show, but I'm going to wait until everything's in primer before I do. I just put this on the back burner until I get the silicone rubber, and resin I need for this job. The wings only have the top sides done with acrylic bottoms glued to them with the basic scribe lines in them as well as the top of the wing. The rest of the detail will have to wait until I have silicone rubber to mould the extra parts for them.


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

One last blurry drunken one before I call it a night! (I'm beginning to hate this damned camera!!) This should be enough to give you guys a good idea of what's been happening behind the scenes while I was away. NEXT PROJECT: four foot X-wing photos as soon as I can get them loaded. Enjoy these as much as you can until I can edit this page, and replace what blurry photos I can. Thanks once again for looking! 

~ Chris ​


----------



## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

Will the wings be positionable on these?


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I apologise for not responding sooner. The armature for the wings is something that I'm going to redo since I thought about making it exactly like the originals but in this scale I can't make them from resin, and expect them to be durable. This will be a tube shape with the attachment points added to them in an offset pattern somewhat like a piano hinge so that the wings won't break away when closed, or opened. I'll have to wait for the fuselage to be made in resin before I can decide how far away the wings will be from the fuselage sides, and how to make the armature so that you can use it, and get smooth, consistent results every time. I need a more durable fuselage since this one is so delicate as it's just mostly spot putty, and wood filler. I have to experiment with it, and do some adjustments before I can get the exact results I'm hoping for. Unfortunately I can't do that with the fuselage master as I also have to drill holes in it to hold it to the board when I start pouring rubber. This will keep it from floating. However, I need to do this carefully so that I don't destroy it.

The wings and the fuselage are ready for final finishing, but I need to get something into rubber soon before I go insane trying to figure out what I can use to make this easy to cast, and for others to build. I have to think like an engineer, and a modeler at the same time when doing this. There are a few variables when it comes to making something that other people can build that won't require an engineering degree. You also have to keep in mind how to mould this so that it'll be easy for you to cast parts as well. I just need a bit of money for the final supplies for this, and some other things to get this on the road. I figure if I at least offer the kit, and in the meantime figure out how to calculate the voltage needed with the correct resistors for this so that it can be lighted with a kit -that will put this over the top. I also plan to make an R2 unit that will have a removable third leg, and will also allow you to move his legs so that you can stand him up, or use the tripod position if you choose. I'm going to offer both standing, and permanently seated R2s' so that you can have the same choice as the finemolds version, but AMERICAN MADE - truly accurate, and at a reasonable price!


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Hagoth said:


> Will the wings be positionable on these?


Um...I'm sorry - the simple answer is YES. I'll just make something simple that can be easily cast, and used over, and over with consistent results, and not bind up. It'll have either an aluminum rod, or stainless steel boot over at the end that can be machined to a 1/4" inner diameter, or something similar so that you can mount this from behind. I've also left a small slit in the bottom of the fuselage under the pilot seat so that you can use the original mount the came with the MPC kits of the seventies. I'll offer those, but this kit is ultimately made for mounting like the ILM models with various points where the covers are.

~ Chris ​ ​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Here's one that I thought I had posted to Photobucket. I don't know how it was overlooked. Any way, this is the set of sealab parts that I had to remake since the originals were horrible. I'll concede - MPC wasn't the greatest at accuracy, but at least they gave us something to build on. My guess is that they didn't have proper references since George didn't want anyone to know all his secrets which I don't understand since this wouldn't have been studioscale any way! Well, that's all there is for now. I'll have more pictures soon. I'm working on another project that I need to move out the door. Thanks for looking! 

~ Chris ​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

I'll share some more progress here just as soon as I can get some more photos loaded. I have to make the wings thicker as I stupidly copied the MPC version thinking that they had to be this way to open, and close correctly. I only have to cut the leader boards inside loose on the ends, the make them thicker, and add the final details. More to come soon - I promise! 

~ Chris 


*POST EDITED: PHOTO CODE FIXED

Sick of the editing bar!:beatdeadhorse:*​


----------



## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Hopefully photos will be forthcoming in the near future - I've decided to finish the wings later as soon as I get enough money for the very expensive silicone rubber, and resin to make copies of the parts needed for multiples on the wing surfaces. I may, or may not offer this for sale here since I caught flak about the legalities of doing so from other members here on hobby talk. Stay tuned - this isn't over yet! 

~ Chris ​


----------

