1:10 TYJ Model

[lespaceplie]

Here's another one, and it's already going great with a cockamamie assortment of laser cut acrylic. It's borderline being a kit! A spare mini fresnel from the smaller Brachacki model I'm finishing soon is just right in spite of the difference in scale. As ever, this one is for a fan video project. That mini Kelt console has to be paired with the correct prop, doesn't it? Well, it's more of a "pick and choose" scenario of bits from the TYJ props.

[fivefingeredstyre]

ooo looking forward to seeing how this turns out

A model TYJ is next on my list to build

[lespaceplie]

The next task for this build is creating the pebbled glass. I found some impression mattes used for adding texture to polyclay or fondant for cakes, but it's closer to being small scale hammered glass (good news for anyone making a mini Hudolin). Since that's a bust, something custom will need to be fabricated.

The experiment will be to make a press mold with/for polyclay. I'll start with a perfectly flat slab and impress it with a small round-headed pin to leave a random, closely clustered pattern of dimples. After hardening, this will be sanded a bit to remove the sharper intersections. It will serve as a mold for translucent polyclay. This should work without all the fuss of casting resin and will allow for a few tries to get it right without investing too much time. Depending on the results, this might translate to a means of making 1:1 pebbled glass as well.

[galacticprobe]

The experiment will be to make a press mold with/for polyclay. I'll start with a perfectly flat slab and impress it with a small round-headed pin to leave a random, closely clustered pattern of dimples.

Have you thought about using small carriage bolts for pressing the dimples in? Those bolts have no slots in the domed heads. They come in a wide variety of sizes and you should be able to find one that's close to the 1:1 scale. They'll also have a nice size "shaft" to hold onto when pressing the head into the polyclay - sort of like using a seal stamp for wax. One of those might be easier to work with than a round-head pin. Since the bolt's head is a dome, the underside where it meets the shaft is flat and a perfect guide so your pressing would always be the same depth.

I hope some of this helps.

Dino.

[meantimebob]

I found a good way of making mini pebble glass is to use something like a pin to apply pva onto whatever plastic you're using for the window glass. Apply it in small dots or blobs, leaving enough gaps between so they don't flow together and fill those spaces in once the first lot have dried. The result is an almost clear miniature pebble glass texture.

[lespaceplie]

This is the same casting from the recent test, but it's looking pretty good in place.

[lespaceplie]

I believe I've come up with a reliable and consistent way to file the bevels onto to strips to make the doors. This project had been put on hold due to difficulties doing exactly that with acrylic sheet. The mini tilt arbor saw just wasn't working out, and hand filing was incompatible with carpal tunnel concerns. 2 mm styrene sheet, however, should work in a jig that holds a piece at the desired angle to be shaved and sanded. More to come...