Re: Classic MPC C-3PO and R2-D2 uber detail build
I realize it's been a little while since my last update and I figured it was time. I took a break from this darn circuit today and decided to finish the leg hoses on the completed leg today. Since I've been seeing questions lately about sprue stretching, I figured I would make a small little tutorial on how to do it and answer a few questions on how its done. I learned this trick on my own when I was a kid and wanted to make a rail or pipe for a model but didn't want to use wire. Why, because the glue I had didn't work on metal, just plastic (yeah I'm older then the invention of superglue!). So in order to use the glue, I had to stretch some sprue. For this project I'm making some pin holders for the wound wire hoses I made earlier. Here's how its done.
First, get yourself a small votive candle of some kind. If you're married or living with a woman you should be able to find plenty of these things around the house. Next, take out the parts from your kit and find a straight piece of sprue (that's those rod things that hold the pieces together. You'll end up throwing it away later, so any peice will do). I usually prefer to find a straight piece that doesn't have any part numbers on it and/or any mold lines. Once you find a relatively good piece, cut it off the sprue so you have just a straight plastic rod.
Now light your candle and hold the piece above it. Far enough away so you don't end up burning it, but close enough to keep the heat focused on the plastic. Keep turning it in your fingertips to distribute the heat evenly around the entire piece. What you're trying to do is create a thinner rod that you can use for detailing your model. As the plastic heats up you'll notice it start getting shiney and then it will begin to bend and warp.
At this point the plastic is now soft enough to stretch. Do so by pulling it away from the heat and grasping each end, pull them apart. Don't do it too quickly or the plastic will break. Do it too slowly and the plastic will harden again and you'll have to start over. Do it evenly and steadily.
As soon as you get the desired thickness you want, cool it off in some cold water. Personally I find it alot easier to just lick it with my toungue (yeah I know sounds gross but it works). This will set the plastic to that shape and will remain permanent. As you gain practice in this, you'll be able to pull just about any thickness of plastic wire you want or need. It's really easy to do, and you can bend it, cut it, shape it anyway you desire. It's a great way to add those little detailed pipes to a surface or wires to a panel. Remember, its in the little details like this that make or break a model. You can also use this same method to create small buttons or knobs. Since its the same plastic as your kit, your plastic cement will work here with no problems.
For this project however, I'm making some attachment pins for the wire hose on the foot cowlings. Since I don't have any CA glue (Superglue), I have to use plastic cement. I'm sure CA would probably be alot easier to work with, but I also wanted a attachment point that looks close to the old cable wire attachments they used in the real thing. So to do this, I cut the end of the stretched sprue off and held one end close to the candle flame to "mushroom" the plastic. Then while it was still hot, I placed the soft plastic on a flat surface to get a nice flat end for gluing. Plastic seems to weld together better when dealing with flat surfaces.
Once I got a good end "cap" look to it, I cut off a small pin shape to allow me to attach it to the surface of the model. I cut off the wound wire I made earlier into the lengths I needed then I made sure that the stretched sprue would fit in the small diameter holes of the wound wire ends.
In the battery box there is a attachment hole that I need to cover up. I did so by cutting a small "plate" from spare styrene. Then I glued it over the mounting hole. I then glued the pins atop that plate and onto the plate of the other half of the cowling. I let the pins dry completely overnight to allow th glue to cure.
Once dry, I then began bending the wire hoses slightly and placed each end on the pins I had created earlier. The hoses look great and don't look like they'll require any painting.
Now I just wish I had painted the "plates" silver before putting the hoses on! LOL In any event, I hope this little tutorial has helped someone understand what Stretching Sprue is and what it's all about.
I'm still working on this circuit and as soon as I get it done, I'm sure that assembly will be a breeze from that point on. More to come... lemme know what you think.
As far as finding a LED chart that shows the values of all the different kidns of LEDs I have yet to find one. I can find partial lists that are very general, but nothing complete and substantial.
