Member postings for magpie

Good luck with your new machine Keith. I have had my 20V for about 7 years now, and the only problem I have had with it was the NVR switch gave up last year. A new one arrived the next day. I have done a few mods on it, but I am more than happy with it.

Dek.

I have a Chester lathe and mill. I have had both for about 7 years and no problems. The main man there, who really knew what the job was all about, left about 5 years ago and after sales service went down hill fast. However I have heard that a few new blokes are now helping to improve things. An old friend had a Crusader lathe and had to have a new motor, they sent him one the next day and never asked for the old one to be returned. I hope this helps.

Dek.

As poor health limits my workshop time, I decided to start a project that can be split between the workshop and the house. Some of you may have seen a model spitfire advertised on TV that will cost £1200.00, and take 2 years to build. The TV model is very poorly animated using small plastic rods and as soon as my wife saw it, she said, I am sure you could do better than that. Gauntlet having been thrown down, I bought a plastic model kit that I can build in the house, and I can devise an animation mechanism and build it in the workshop when health permits.

Dek.

I know I had a bench in the shed once because a tiny bit of it is still there. I think a time lord is slowly dragging it into the past as I have hazy visions of long abandoned projects disappearing into the distance where the end should be.

Dek

Alison, have a look at some of the tool suppliers with links on here, such as Arc Euro Trade, Warco, Etc. Items on their websites should help you identify all or most of your dads equipment and give you the cost of such items when new. Setting a price for your items will depend on condition, but once you know what they are Ebay should give you a fair idea of how to price them up. A great place to sell them would be the Homeworkshop site. I don't know how to post a link to that site, but I am sure someone on here could help with that. Sorry to hear of your loss, and good luck with clearing the tools.

Dek.

Hi Hi drew. I did a bit myself many years ago

Thanks for the tip DaveD. The hand rest I made for soldering would not be easily adaptable for the job of putting together the spitfire. I suppose I am lucky that it is not a problem most of the time, but sod's law says it will strike when you least want it to.

Many years ago when I last made some plastic models, putting on the transfers in the right place was one of the hardest parts. I note that the cockpit transfers for the spitfire are very tiny and I can see those being great fun to fix.

Dek.

We have a similar problem with the cold workshop Nigel, and being the wrong side of 79 I really do feel the cold.

Interesting to see the metal finish spitfire and it means if I get any comments about mine, then I can refer them to that one.

My biggest problem these days is that I sometimes get the shaky hands. Never a good condition when trying to do delicate work. Soldering fine wires was a problem until I made a small hand rest to keep my hands steady.

The iron would be describing a clockwise circle, while the solder an anti clockwise one, neither of them anywhere near the items to be soldered. Quite comical to watch though.

Dek.

Hi Mike. Welcome to the forum. I have a mate in North Wales who will soon be selling his lathe and milling machines when his new larger ones arrive. If you are interested I can ask him if it's ok to give you his name and address.

Dek.

I must say that I am surprised to find so many plastic model fans on this site, and going back to my youth, such things did not exist. Small model planes were carved from blocks of balsa and the plans included templates to check if you were getting the right shape. I had lots of them hanging from my bedroom celling on bits of cotton. Getting back to the paint side of things, as the plane itself is not really the main object of my plan, I think I might just take Jeff Dayman's suggestion and go for the "strait out of the factory" look and just paint the plane in a mat silver.

Tug, you hit the nail on the head. Too many ideas, too little time.

Dek.

Many years ago a countdown device for the start of TV programs inspired me to build my Fibre Optic Clock. At the time of seeing the device, I had neither the time, or equipment to enable me to build the clock, and over the years the idea of just how I would go about making it changed many times. It took about 40 years before I finally got the time and equipment to make a start. As the thing was made almost entirely from scrap, it then took about 4 years to complete, because I often had to wait for the right size lumps of brass to arrive at the scrapyard. The end results can be found in the clock section.

Dek.

Thanks for your thoughts on the subject gents. A bit of info on the project might be helpful. There is an ad for a model spitfire on TV that, should you be daft enough to attempt it, will take you 2 years to complete and cost around £1200.00. A very poor attempt has been made to provide some movement to the model, and it was this aspect of it that got me thinking that I could do a much better job for about £50.00. I have many hundreds of small motors with which to animate same, so in order to assess dimensions I bought a Revel model spitfire with a 351mm wingspan. I now have everything I need except the paint for the spitfire. The stated requirement for painting is 15 colours, many of which need only cover about 2square mm, but will still need an outlay of around £2 per colour, more than the cost of the model kit. Once mounted the model need never be touched, so I am thinking I will go for the cheap option and take the risk. Health problems place severe restrictions on workshop time and the size of the projects I can tackle these days and this one needs very little time spent standing at the lathe and mill, so it should keep me from going mad watching daytime TV.

Cheers, Dek.

More info was posted whilst I was typing this post, so I thought I would mention that I intend air brushing most of the model and I will now have to rethink my approach. 

Edited By magpie on 24/02/2020 10:29:48

I am hoping that someone amongst the many experts on here will know if there is any difference between the small pots of acrylic paint for painting plastic models, and the acrylic paint in tubes for artwork. There is a big difference in price, with the small pots costing around £2.00 per 18ml pot, whilst a box of 14 x 12ml tubes cost around the same amount. Being on the basic state pension I have to look after the pennies but need some acrylic model paint.

Dek.

The TV ads for a model spitfire that will cost £1200.00, and take over 2 years to build. As I am now limited to a max 2 hours a day, if I am lucky, in my workshop, I thought there must be a better way to add movement to the model than the one in question. With that in mind, I have bought a plastic model spitfire, and I will enjoy finding a much better way to add movement to it. It will involve a minimum amount of lathe and mill time, because I can't stand for more than a few minutes at a time, but it will make use of a few of the many hundreds of small motors I have in my stores. Total cost should be no more that £40.00, quite a saving on the cost of the TV advertised one.

No Bob you are not the only one.

I spent many years in the music business at the very top level, and worked with lots of reed instrument players. Almost without exception they used those one sided, stiff backed razor blades to shave reeds to suit their needs. They used the blades at right angles to the reed, and it didn't take them too long to achieve the right result. Admitted these were pros, but they had to start somewhere.

Dek.

Welcome from a retired coachbuilder in South Cheshire. Ask any question and stand by for at least a score of contradictory answers. Most folk have their own way of doing things, and their own preference for new or old machinery. Just chose the answer you think will work for you.

I made some PVC bushes for a standard lamp I am making. I wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

Cheers, Dek.