PL Enterprise A

You got it, man. There's actually a really killer hobby shop out here in Studio City that has stuff I've never seen anywhere else, icluding Tamiya white primer and that's what I used. I suppose you could use any primer as long as you apply it in several thin coats.

After the primer's dry, hit it with multiple coats of clear pearl finish until the can, (it's a small can, mind you), is empty and let it sit.

At least overnight but you can test it on a piece of styrene to gauge length of proper drying time. I would imagine overnight is fine, a few days is better, a week may be overkill but is most definately safe.

So you've got the pearl-white saucer, all dry and pretty,....then just apply the aztec templates, hit the exposed areas with any flat white, (preferrably out of an airbrush), let it dry to the touch, maybe wait another hour, and start peeling the patterns up.

Personally, I think as soon as you can get them off the better as I did it over the course of two days and the second day it was noticably tougher so something tells me the longer the template stickers sit on the piece, the more danger there may be of them taking paint with them as they go. :unsure

The templates are signage vinyl. It does indeed make a stronger bond the longer it is on it's substrate. Definately DON"T rub them down hard. The adhesive is pressure sensitive. But a little heat will loosen vinyl glue. But obviously you don't want to put TOO much heat to a styrene kit.

WOW.

Thanks for the info, Cobywan. I didn't know that,....I just knew there was a marked difference in the ease at which they came up after just letting them sit for 15 or so hours. :confused

That's a real good tidbit to have in mind for the rest of the build. I'll make sure that I have enough time to apply, paint and remove in the same day just to be safe and considering the flat white dries as quick as it does, it shouldn't be a problem.

What I do wanna say, (and which I keep forgetting to in the previous posts), is that how worth it this all is, and how amazing the templates are. Seriously,...I wanted to do this one right and I don't think I'd have been able to achieve such a nice effect without the help of those templates.

Worth every penny and I also got em' like, two days after I ordered them as well.

Fast customer service, killer product. :thumbsup

<div class='quotetop'>(venkman71 @ Oct 29 2006, 08:47 PM) [snapback]1347187[/snapback]</div>

All the while I'm thinking,....When did I become this meticulous, (anal retentive)?

BTW,....as "big" as this model is,....the detail on that bridge is still a b.tch to paint. On a scale of 1-10 on the "happy with it" meter, I'm giving mine a six,....but I know if I don't stop and simply move on, Murphy's law says I'm gonna screw it up. :rolleyes
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I have to admit, this is why I haven't built a model of ANY type in years... probably a decade or more. And I used to love building models...

Somewhere along the way, my eye for detail and accuracy got sharper and more demanding than my actual skill level could satisfy. And I'm just not into less than 1:1 scale stuff enough anymore to sharpen my skills through repeated use.

But man, oh man, the scale modeling people that do it well just freakin' blow me away...

Hi that sounds just the same as me i have built loads of the old ERTL enterprises and at the time i was happy but now i dont think i can achieve what i want the same with a big time machine kit i keep getting out to build looking at it then putting it back in its box i am just not sure if i have the skill and patience to achieve the results.


<div class='quotetop'>(LZeitgeist @ Nov 10 2006, 11:58 AM) [snapback]1354730[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>(venkman71 @ Oct 29 2006, 08:47 PM) [snapback]1347187[/snapback]

Click to expand...

All the while I'm thinking,....When did I become this meticulous, (anal retentive)?

BTW,....as "big" as this model is,....the detail on that bridge is still a b.tch to paint. On a scale of 1-10 on the "happy with it" meter, I'm giving mine a six,....but I know if I don't stop and simply move on, Murphy's law says I'm gonna screw it up. :rolleyes
[/b]

Click to expand...

I have to admit, this is why I haven't built a model of ANY type in years... probably a decade or more. And I used to love building models...

Somewhere along the way, my eye for detail and accuracy got sharper and more demanding than my actual skill level could satisfy. And I'm just not into less than 1:1 scale stuff enough anymore to sharpen my skills through repeated use.

But man, oh man, the scale modeling people that do it well just freakin' blow me away...
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If I had a nickel for every time I built the AMT/Ertl kit,.......I'd have maybe,.......a dollar.

But that's still a lot.

I'm thinking the way around the detail problem is to make the model bigger.

That's it. problem solved.