05/25/2005
A Simple Work Area
OK, First I want to explain I'm not preaching to the converted. I'm just doing this for all those who may be starting out or for those who just may not have thought of some of the simple ideas I'm going to explain.
A lot of you probably do things a lot better than me, but at this point in time, this set-up is working very well for me.
I'll need to let you know that this is a portable area first, and it's just for building, everything gets rearanged when the paints come out. I have everything on top of a wooden board which gets moved to a table when not in use, as I have no permanent space (yet).
What's on the board?
1: A simple ceramic palette. Used for mixing paints etc, but also very useful for placing very small parts before they are needed. One cheap tip I've heard if you can't get a ceramic one is to use an ice cube tray, which cost about 15p.
2: Tissue paper/Rubber bands, always useful things to have handy to wipe off tools or water, or quickly add a band to something that needs holding tight for a minute. I also have some white tack and paper clips in the pot just in case I need to unblock some glue, or mask an area (white tack can do that well). Also a heated paper clip can add some good bullet holes!
3: A self healing cutting mat. These things are great and will prolong the life of your blades immensely. Just cut things out on them and the gashes you make just dissapear!
4: A simple cloth, I use this for placing delicate models on, it can be folded as much as you want to give more or less cushioning.
5: Simple clips like bulldog clips or clothes pegs come in handy for keeping pieces together while they stick, or to hold a small part aloft while drying.
6: A Lazy Susan, this is just a rotating board, I made this one from some pizza bases and marbles! It's very handy for when it's difficult to hold the model or you need both hands to work around the model. When it comes to painting or spraying it's irreplaceable.
7: A small cloth that I keep my tools on, it stops them slipping off and it can be used to wipe excess glue off things or dry brushes on. These cloths I guess have the same multi-use abilities as the towel in The Hitch hikers Guide To The Galaxy.
The Tools:
These are'nt the only tools I use, but it's amazing how far you can get with just these three.
Scalpel: A lot of people use XActo knives but I grew up with scalpels having once been a paste-up artist. Keep it sharp, as blunt knives will cause an accident. For heavy duty cutting use a saw or a stanley knife. Be careful with these things and keep them away from little hands.
Pliers: When I was a kid you would get parts from sprues by wiggling them off, that is not the way to do it! use pliers and then trim off the excess with your knife.
Tweezers: For small parts or fiddly areas these come in extremely useful.
And also Glue:
I mainly use three types of glue:
Super Glue: Nothing beats this for areas that just wont stick, or materials like resin or vinyl. It's better if you spill to just leave it to dry and then either peel it off or sand it off. I've also used it to create water droplets!
Liquid Poly: This is for injection plastic models. It actually causes a slight "melt" along the plastic which welds the two peices together. If you have a small seam you can usually fill it with this stuff, though most modellers use a smaller brush than that provided. You can also use the dregs to mix up a liquid plastic that acts as a filler!
Long Nose Glue: Again for plastic but with a nose that will get into the most difficult of areas. It's great for tiny parts too.
Two other glues I use are white PVA that can be mixed with water for many applications, such as tarpaulins and flags on a bit of tissue, or adding to sawdust to make grass! I also use a hot glue gun for when I need a really good bond, such as affixing to a base.
Well, I hope this has been of some help to you, if you require more advice or want help on a particular subject I recommend these two modelling communities:
The Clubhouse and Total model
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05/23/2005
Super Deformed Figures!
Every now and then when I get the chance I'll nip over to The Clubhouse land take a look at the members galleries. It's a great way to kill a few hours
I have noticed occasionaly I'll see a Super Deformed model there. IMO a lot more people should do one.
I've really noticed that if your suffering from burn out, you've lost a bit of the enjoyment of modelling, your last build did'nt quite go as planned, you just dont know what to do next, or even if you've never made a kit before.....than do a SD.
These little figures have a lot going for them. First off they come pretty cheap, after all they're pretty small. Next, there's not many parts, sometimes just the one, and they dont take a lot of work to clean up. You can get it all done in one sitting sometimes! They're also pretty easy to paint, you're not looking at the same level of detail as a 1/6 or 1/4 so you can get away with a lot more, and when youre finished you have a fun character that adds to any gallery.
So, spend a few quid and treat yourself to a little modelling R&R SD style.
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05/10/2005
Buc Wheat's Modelling World
Arguably the best site I've come across to help people find kits and see what's new.
Buc has listed every, yes, EVERY new or reissued kit available in 2004 (he's also working on 2005) and previous years are available on CD.
Linked to each kit is a photo and a link to the producer/sculptor/seller.
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05/09/2005
Full System Enhancer
Maybe the cheapest upgrade you ever buy:
Description
The IsoTek philosophy is a simple one, ‘the search for excellence at every level’. So it came as no surprise that when they launched their ‘Full System Enhancer’ it would be something special. This disc not only covers burn-in tones, but couples this with full demagnetisation and concludes with a rejuvenation track that is recommended as a warm up prior to listening sessions. The Full System Enhancer draws on years of work and painstaking experements to identify the nature of both burn-in and system demagnetisation tones, the results speak for themselves.
Essentially the IsoTek disc consists of three tracks. The first is a ‘one size fits all’ burn-in and demagnetisation signal which can be used as often as required on practically any audio system with highly beneficial results. The second track is similar but in some parts of the signal includes significantly higher levels of bass energy; it is thus optimised for systems with subwoofers or large loudspeakers of enhanced bass performance. The third rejuvenation track is much shorter than the others, and intended for use as a rapid ‘system refresher’ that can be used on a system that has recently benefited from a full procedure, as a daily ‘warm-up’.
IsoTek have always claimed that their products can improve the performance of a complete audio system in one go, this disc is no exception. The Densen DeMagic could finally have met its match! Recommended.
You can purchase this from
Audio Phile Candy for £14.95.
I bought mine after seeing a small review at AV Talk and yes, it really does work. There are 3 tracks on the CD and you just play through them once, after that just give track 3 (5mins) the occasional play as a refresher. It runs through lots of strange signals such as white noise and what sounds like an air raid siren, but these guys know what they're doing and your speakers go through a complete range work out. Everything does seem a bit clearer after playing.
11:13 Posted in Home Cinema | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email this
My First Award
My First Award!!!!
I received this after entering the Polar Lights Competition "Cabin Fever 2005" at The Clubhouse . Polar Lights are an Injection Plastic kit manufacturer, the rules were simple, build and paint any kit from there range.
I chose the DrejAlien from the excellent film Titan AE:
A truly proud moment as I've never recieved anything before for my modelling.
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05/06/2005
Technical Support
I finally found somewhere that gives all the answers needed for the beginner:
Technoblogs
It will explain very easily how to add a link, add an image URL and also how to add an image as a link.
There's also some more complex stuff there such as adding music and reworking the size of your Blog.
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05/05/2005
Alan Military Models
Anyone come across these kits yet?
I saw them for the first time during my latest visit to my local model shop, they offer a different from the norm range so I bought the Bison 1 for a whirl.
I dont know if they're a new company, but they come from St. Petersburgh, Russia....and I have to tell you something about them, cos ther are really special!
Warning!********Heavy Sarcasm Alert*****
First, the price. I think it's really great that Alan Models have jumped in at the higher end of the price scale. Rather than go for that cheaper Trumpeter/Italeri price these guys have decided to challenge Tamiya in cost. And I want to say, I think that any model that has 2 tiny photo etched parts deserves to add £10 to their price.
When you start the model, you know you've bought something special. The instructions clearly cater for engineers who have a working knowledge of WW2 AFV's, they quite cleverly only give a picture of one part being fixed and leave you to work out where the remaining duplicate items should go. Also, rather than insult your intelligence they leave the attachment of the major parts up to you. I mean you would feel insulted if there was a diagram to show how to fix the hull would'nt you.
The way the sprue's are laid out also deserves a mention. I have never felt like such a winner as I did when I found 3 peices in a row! You will find instructions for part E24, so you pick up sprue E and look: Ah, there's 22, followed by 67, followed by 2, followed by 89. You finally find E24 and it looks nothing like the picture....how foolish of me, they meant the OTHER E24, LOL.
The tracks are great! These guys can teach Italeri a thing or 2 about tracks!!! I thought Italeri were on the right track (ha-ha) by giving you segments of track to glue together, but Alan Models have got it just right by giving you sprues of 280 seperate links! But dont worry, I did'nt mention that the quality is below 1960 Airfix standard, so half of them will have broken anyway before you get the things off!
But, I digress, when you finally put the thing together, you will be rewarded with almost 2 complete sprues of parts leftover? Which means you put it together with half of what you paid for. But, you will need those parts to cover the horrendous gaps caused by your ill fitting segments and mistakes by not following the detailed instructions well enough.
So, come on guys. Please, I beg you, go out and buy about 6 Alan Models right now. These guys really need the cash!
In conclusion I would say Alan Models are Completely Realistic And Precise.
11:59 Posted in Scale Models | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email this
05/04/2005
Converting a PDA into a Remote Control
How to have a Remote Control, just as good (or arguably better) than a Pronto Pro for about 1/3rd the price.
OK, I bet most of you allready know this, but for those who dont, you might find it interesting. I wanted to do this with all the links together in one place.
I started my research into a new Remote about 3 months ago when I wanted to upgrade my Phillips RU890 to a colour model, but was taken aback by the Pronto-Pro's £600 price tag.
I came across an article on the Remote Central forum :
Remote Central
About using a PDA or Pocket PC to operate AV equipment.
There is now a dedicated forum at Remote Central just for PDA's.
After doing my research I opted for the Dell Axim X5, though I could easily have chosen a Palm etc.
There are currently 2 in the range, a 300MHZ and a 400MHZ.
I got the 400 MHZ on Ebay delivered for £200. It has a very stylish docking cradle, which also connects to the PC to download and upload.
(At this point I'll also mention you can have games, e-mail, internet, and yes dedicated software that tracks your DVD collection etc on the Axim) It has 64MB memory (the 300 has 32MB), and that is all you will need...or can have (no added cards I'm afraid, I'll explain in a minute).
From dell:
The Dell AximTMALT+0160 X5 is the ultimate handheld device that delivers style and outstanding features at an affordable price. It's powered by the Intel®ALT+0160 XScaleTMALT+0160 Processor at 300MHz to help you keep up with the tasks of everyday life and equipped with 32MB SDRAM and 32MB Intel StrataFlash® ROM. The Axim X5 is equipped with Microsoft®ALT+0160 Pocket PC 2003 Premium and pre-installed with familiar applications like Pocket Word and Pocket Excel, along with a calendar, contacts, voice recorder and a number of other built-in features. With an integrated Type II CompactFlash card slot and Secure Digital / MMC card slot, the expansion capabilities might seem endless. And with its removable, rechargeable battery, the Axim X5 is never tied to its cradle - simply leave a spare battery charging in the cradle - and swap your battery when running low.
* Equipped with Microsoft®ALT+0160 Pocket PC 2003 Premium operating system and familiar applications like Word and Excel
* Includes 30 day trial of McAfee VirusScan
* Powered by the Intel®ALT+0160 XScale Processor at 300MHz
* Brilliant TFT color 3.5" screen for indoor and outdoor viewing
* Navigation button and scroll dial for quick access to information
* Packed with 32MB SDRAM and 32MB Intel StrataFlashTMALT+0160 memory
* Integrated Type II CompactFlash and Secure Digital / MMC card slots provide flexible expansion
* Removable Primary Battery with optional High Capacity Battery
* Built-in microphone and speaker for easy recording on the go
* Sleek, stylish ergonomic design
OK, so I've got my Handheld.
next was the software that will emulate a Pronto Pro.
This costs $15 from:
Win TV
And is a download. You must make sure your PDA is supported. There are alternative software's and some PDA's come with their own, but this was recommended as the best.
Install the software and part 2 is complete!
Now you need to write your CCF (the file that has all the IR codes in it).
I started by browsing the Remote Central files section and pulling off some colour CCF's to use the bitmaps.
There is a help page at PDAWIN to help you understand using the hard buttons, but it's all very straight forward.
You will need a programme to open and write your CCF. Most people rave about Tonto:
Tonto
But I got on much better with Phillips own latest version of Pronto Edit:
Pronto Edit
It's simply a matter of moving your buttons where you want and adding IR codes to them (or learning them from the software) Thousands of codes are available to cut and paste the codes from over at Remote Central.
Now the tricky bit:
You will find when this is all finished and you have uploaded your CCF to the PDA it will operate your equipment but only at short range! This is why you now need to buy an IR extender (that fits the expansion slot, hence no memory upgrade).
The IR costs about £30 from:
Laser.com
So once you have your IR extender, you have a fully colour RC, with sharper graphics and bigger display than the Pronto Pro for a much cheaper price. Plus you can have a screensaver, games and a DVD library too all at your fingertips!
Update:
I've now created 2 CCF files custom built to my own equipment. They are both available as a free download at Remote Central:
Components in this system:
DVD-R: Pioneer DVR-7000
LD: Pioneer CLD-D925
Receiver: Denon AVR-3803
Television: Toshiba 3377DB
VCR: Aiwa FX5100
CCF 1
DVD: Pacific 1002 Mk2
DVD-R: Pioneer DVR-7000
LD: Pioneer CLD-D925
Receiver: Denon AVR-3803
Television: LG MZ-42PZ45V
VCR: Aiwa FX5100
CCF 2
10:30 Posted in Home Cinema | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email this