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Old 01-16-2022, 07:22 PM
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THE DC THE DC is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: On a small planet orbiting a yellow star in a galaxy named after a candybar.
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Thanks for the photos, Tyler....

Here's some build tips shared from Tyler to add to the thread:

"This model would take quite a while to describe a walk through. However, build tips I've got for ya would be...

1. When building scratch, detailed parts are easy to build with the right tools. To start I simplify the parts down to their basic shapes. That usually ends up being some kind of rectangle, circle, or bar. Once the basic shapes are built I glue them together to make the complicated part.

2. Scratch building consists of measure, cut, remeasure, trim repeat a few times until the shape is within mm of what I'm looking for. For example, the armor on the Stringbag. To do that, I usually get one corner cut to fit into the position it is being cut to fit. I will rough mark the size and cut it out. Put it back in place and mark and cut it again. All while taking care to get the shape I need. If I cut it too small, I'll just trace and recut it.

3. Sanding. Sanding is amazing for scratch work. Getting soft edges, unique shapes and smoothly operating functional parts would be very difficult without sanding. I have a rechargeable battery powered Dremel and some sanding wheels I've built to shape parts. I have 220gt, 320gt, and 400gt wheels. Two of each grit, one with a 1.5cm diameter and another with a 4cm diameter. (pic)

4. Laminating and paper weight. I use 3 weights of paper for my builds. Typical printer paper for glue tabs, small details, and cleanup. My most commonly used paper is 110lb cardstock, basic card that is the usual thickness of kit paper. I've also got special 140lb heavy duty card for formers, mechanical components, or thick laminated parts. I use laminated paper so much in my building. The strength for structural parts that comes with thicker wt paper and laminated layers is everything. My goose has a 4 layer laminated spar running the entire wingspan, 2mm. I have yet to find a supplier for 1mm cardboard.

5. Scratch building may seem overwhelming at first, but to be honest, it is a lot more simple than you would think. Once started, there are things that you have to build before you can do something else. It ends up being pretty linear in the build process. I would love to spread scratch building. Anyone interested in it, I would love to help with a build or two to help get the basics down. Reach out and I'll do my best to help with an intro level build."
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