THE Idiot's Guide to Kitbashing

[JOP]

First off, thanks already for taking the time to reply and help me out! ^_^ You guys could easily be dismissing the idiotic newbies, but I think it's great that you are pulling for us instead. Kudos. ^_^

 

That's what we're here for at the Idiot's Guide, JOP. I don't think of anyone as an idiot, and we all had to start out somewhere in this craft. Besides, Has/Tak doesn't exactly make our hobby easy on us, and we need all the help we can get. So if one of us has an idea on what to do, I think it's our duty to everyone else to share it with them.

 

As for the magnet idea, I don't really think that will work. Rodimus is correct; the pins are knurled on the ends, and won't come out sans physical force or heating. I'm going to ask a couple of friends about this, so if i find out anything else, you'll be the first to know.

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TY again ^_^

 

Yep; love HasTak; but I've gotta wonder sometimes what they were thinking. (i.e. front half of Alt / BT Grimlock versus rear half.) And yeah; methinks also that the electromagnet is impractical... it's just that I recall a friend who made one a couple of years back, and it used to throw hunks of scrap about 30 feet at a time. But how that translates into force of pin versus knurled surface etc. is anyone's guess. ^_^

 

Hah, also, everyone indeed has to start out somewhere. ^_^ I just hope that sooner rather than later I can contribute rather than question, if that makes any sense. ^___^

[WraithVerge]

The pins are a magnetable type of metal but the way they are held in requires that the pin be pushed out at least part way. One end of the pin is "textured" so that it will grip the inside of the hole to keep it in. I hope this helps some what.

 

The only experience I`ve had with the pins is when cutting appart Smokescreen for making my Rodimus Prime. So I cut the pins away from the parts I needed and I REALLY don`t think that`s the answer here. Good luck on this.

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I understand; the textured end appears to be covered in a 'spikey' pattern that is slightly larger than the receiving pinhole, thus holding the entire assembly in place. Makes sense to me. ^_^

 

My curious thinking is that if you took a powerful enough electromagnet, you could attach it to the rough end of the pin, and use that force to hold the pin in place whilst one pulled the surrounding plastic off of it. So basically, instead of pushing the pin out, you'd be pulling it out. ^_^

 

Mind you, this is just idle theory and not something I can try out any time soon, not to mention the posibility that (a) no home-version electromagnet strong enough exists or (b) it does but the procedure would fail as the electromagnetic field would attract all other metal components.

 

Like I said, idle theory. I think of whacky stuff like this. ^____^

 

As for the MP, I'm looking to find a heat iron small enough to heat the ends of the pins without touching up against the plastic itself; all suggestions welcome. ^_^ Bloody heck; considering the amount these things cost, one would rather hope that they wouldn't neccesitate such repairs simply because the joint got rotated a couple of times. ^_^

 

Again, kudos to you lot, you are great people. ^___^

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Yeah. good thinking, but there's not enough of the metal near the end for an electromagnet to get a good purchase on. Also, the spikes would tend to retain it in place.

 

As for theories, that's how all kitbashing procedures and ideas start out! :thumb

 

But yeah, for the price, I have an MP Convoy myself) you'd think they'd be a little sturdier than that. The one I have needed knee surgery! :lol And thanks for the compliment. We really try hard to help out here.

[Rodimus VTS]

And for the how to on the knee surgury check out page 9. Everyone seems to have this problem eventually.

[JOP]

Yeah. good thinking, but there's not enough of the metal near the end for an electromagnet to get a good purchase on. Also, the spikes would tend to retain it in place.

 

As for theories, that's how all kitbashing procedures and ideas start out! :thumb

 

But yeah, for the price, I have an MP Convoy myself) you'd think they'd be a little sturdier than that. The one I have needed knee surgery! :lol And thanks for the compliment. We really try hard to help out here.

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Hey, no problem. You guys deserve it. ^_^ And yeah, I think you are right about the knurled end probably providing more than enough retention to prevent the thing from coming out. (But man, it would be too cool to have a little hand-held eltromagnet to just pull pins out with! *dreams*)

 

Also, I'm desperately trying not to think about the posibility of knee surgery, although I am somewhat amused by the fact (it would figure that if there is one part of Optimus Prime that gives out after all these years, it would be the knees, wouldn't it?) TY for the heads-up, R-VTS. ^_^

 

I'm looking to find a simple soldering iron now to heat up the pins and hopefully just let them fall out. ^_^ Can anyone inform me as to what kind of range I should be looking at in terms of tempreture or wattage? I imagine that that it's probably quite easy to overheat the pins, so I turn to you, the experts. ^____^

[WraithVerge]

Wal-mart should have a moderately-priced soldering iron for you. as for the technique to remove them, here's a link for you:

 

http://www.TFans.com/talk/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=319698

 

this should help you out.

[JOP]

Wal-mart should have a moderately-priced soldering iron for you. as for the technique to remove them, here's a link for you:

 

http://www.TFans.com/talk/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=319698

 

this should help you out.

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^_^

 

Sorry to be so quiet; I'm a web developer during the day, a retail sales associate by night, I run my own web development business outside of normal office hours and then I've got a family to take care of. With my schedule, taking Autobots apart is a job best left for the Decepticons. ^___^

 

I've found what I think might be quite a nice soldering iron; it's relatively inexpensive, has a low heat (I thought this might be a good idea, as I could easily end up burning poor Op without realising it) and I'm pretty sure it's got a slender tip, which seems ideal for taking pins out.  It's the WE-BP645MP.

 

It doesn't ship until November though. D'oh.

 

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how things go, although it's anyone's guess as to when exactly they will actually 'go'. And as always, thanks for taking the time to listen to and mentor me. ^_^

[WraithVerge]

Always happy to help, JOP. When you get to it, let me know how it goes.

[LoneDrifter]

I found a plastic Beetle model in a craft shop... but it's blue. What would be the best way, and what products would be best, for painting it yellow?

[WraithVerge]

1) use krylon fusion to repaint it.

 

2) wash the car body and all parts to be painted in soap and warm water. let air dry, then follow the instructions on the can label. use light passes of the spray can, and 'build' the color, rather than trying to paint it all in one pass (remember, this isn't lawn furniture we're painting here! :D )

 

3) let it dry COMPLETELY before touching it. most paint jobs are ruined by premature curiosity.

 

hope this helps.

[optimus anal]

1. What's the best way to cut 1/16 styrene?

 

2. Any freeware model rendering programs that will assist me in planning my model out?