Tip O' The Day

Category:

   Lighting

Submitted By:

   Louis Herndon

Tip:

   Have you got that starship that you want to do a stellar lighting job on? Are you afraid of or inexperienced with epoxies? Well a cheap viable alternative that I use is hot glue applied by hot glue gun.

The method is very simple. Drill and sand your windows before construction of the model. Again, if you are going to light the model, paint the inside of the hull to prevent light leaks. Once the inside is painted and cured, use a hot glue gun to make the windows. Hot glue sticks generally come in clear or white. Both will allow light to shine through but the clear works best. Simply heat up your gun and gently push hot glue into your window openings from the inside of the ship. Allow the hot glue to protrude, (making a rounded dome), on the outside of the ship. This will eliminate bubbles.

When you apply it from the inside, be careful not to touch the tip of the glue gun to the plastic for too long as it will melt. Once the glue has dried, within 5 minutes, use an Exacto knife and cut off the protruding piece on the outside of the ship. To make the windows even smoother and totally flush with your window edge, use some Testors thinner on a paper towel and rub the outside of the ship. The thinner will dissolve the glue so as you rub you are essentially sanding it down. Once I have removed the excess glue, I will usually re-wipe with a wet paper towel. The result is a clear and flush window.

Hot glue is very firm, but not hard. A dab of liquid cement on the windows will help to cure them a bit, makes them even more clear and eliminates any fine scratches. Super glue works even better than liquid cement but you have to be careful in applying it. For any excess glue on the inside of the ship that may negatively influence the light dispersion, just cut off with your hobby knife. Cut tape or liquid masking works well when painting, but be careful when removing the masking not to gouge the windows.

The effect is really good and really very easy. I recently completed a U.S.S. Reliant model using this technique. It only took 15 minutes to apply the glue in all windows. Another 15 minutes to cut and smooth. Try using epoxy for those windows in a half an hour. Difficult to do.