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	Archive through July 20, 2019	25		07/24 04:45pm

For what it's worth, someone over on Trek-BBS said the Zocchi minis are still available on starfighter-decals dot com


Garth L. Getgen

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, July 21, 2019 - 03:20 pm: Edit

Good to know people can get them without us having to take up a shelf slot for a low performer. Those ships STARTED the starline miniature series and defined the 3788 scale, but history has passed them by.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, July 24, 2020 - 11:58 am: Edit

Someone asked me if 2400s were still selling. Here is this month's restock order to the casting house:

Starline 2400

25 Federation NCL
25 Federation NCA engine

25 Federation DW and engines
25 Federation HDW engines

50 Federation Strike Cruiser hulls

25 Federation DHG saucers
25 Federation DN short hulls
25 Federation DN long hulls
100 Federation DN engines

100 Federation CA saucers
200 federation CC saucers
100 Federation Fast cruiser saucer
100 Federation Survey cruiser saucer

300 Federation CA engine sets
300 Federation CA hulls

By Matthew Cicero (Maldus) on Friday, July 24, 2020 - 03:39 pm: Edit

Could someone give me the short explanation of the mini scales? I see 2400, 3788, 3125, 7000. Am I missing any? Just not sure how they are sized relative to each other and the hex maps. Also, which scales have decals and who makes the decals?

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Friday, July 24, 2020 - 04:45 pm: Edit

Starline 2400 a series of 1/3788 minis
that started with SL 2200 (Lead), progressed to SL 2300
with changes made as new molds were developed....

1/3788 Now developed into Print to Order by Shapeways, using 3d Printing in several different plastics....

1/3125 larger scale initially developed for a European company (Mongoose)...

1/7000 small scale...

1/3788 and 1/3125 have some decals available, don't have a list of sources available....

By Mark Hutton (Trynda1701) on Friday, July 24, 2020 - 06:20 pm: Edit

MarkHoyle:

I think you meant 1/3125 scale instead of 1/3725!

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Friday, July 24, 2020 - 06:48 pm: Edit

Yep,
Going through the post to try and make it clearer and got dragged away....
Speed kills as they say...
Was going to make a number of changes, but the clock ran out by the time I could return....

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, July 24, 2020 - 08:41 pm: Edit

I fixed it.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, February 27, 2021 - 04:57 pm: Edit

I got an email from a guy who has a lead ship "like a condor but bigger" which seems to be a 2200 version of the Romulan King Condor Battleship. Do any of you guys know anything about this? Was it done by TFG? Anybody else got one? Is it substantially different from the 2400 or 2500 or shapeways versions of the King Condor?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, April 01, 2021 - 09:22 am: Edit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STb7jPLnbPw

By Stewart Frazier (Frazikar3) on Thursday, April 01, 2021 - 06:29 pm: Edit

Hmmm, a foolish April joke, yes?

(* chuckles *)

[* ... where DO they get those wonderful toys ... *]

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, April 02, 2021 - 01:57 am: Edit

Foolish? I thought it was a genius publicity move, myself. He has 143,000 subscribers.

By Steve Stewart (Stevestewart) on Tuesday, April 06, 2021 - 09:23 am: Edit

Interesting, a lot of the comments after the video were "I used to play SFB and loved it" type of things - be great for ADB to tap into even some of that (although it wasn't why I made the throwaway suggestion to SVC, I just thought it would be great to see the B10 in one of Drac's 5-minute guides, which it was). Awesome stuff - Mars class BB next time?

By Zac Belado (Pixelgeek) on Sunday, July 11, 2021 - 10:39 pm: Edit

I added some 2400 series models to my Klingon collection

My new Klingons

By Zac Belado (Pixelgeek) on Friday, July 16, 2021 - 04:04 pm: Edit

More additions to my 2400 fleets

new minis painted

By Mike West (Mjwest) on Monday, September 13, 2021 - 11:54 am: Edit

Quick miniature modeling question:

If an unpainted pewter miniature has a bent component (let's say the warp engine strut on a Fed CA-type ship), what is the best and least-damaging way to bend it back into place?

This is a pretty severe bend (like 20 degrees or so), so just bending it back seems risky.

Any hints or advice would be greatly appreciated!

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Monday, September 13, 2021 - 01:51 pm: Edit

Pewter is not as forgiving as the older lead alloys.

Firm, gentle, pressure over time is the usual prescription.

It can be helpful to have something to clamp the part into - ex. for correcting bent Klingon booms or Fed engine nacelles, I'll often use one of my small hobby vise-clamps that has channels cut in it to help hold small pipes in place. Those channels also provide a good "jig" to apply pressure to a cylindrical boom or engine evenly.

As long as the bend in the part was introduced after it was cast and it's not too severe, it can usually be set back reasonably straight. (It can never go back to perfect- Inevitably, some of the metal stretched where the bend was.

If the part was always "bent" from when it was cast, then it was probably an issue with differential cooling (or a flawed mold) and is much more difficult to correct without a lot of really robust jig-making.

By Mike West (Mjwest) on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - 10:23 am: Edit

Thank you!

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, October 14, 2023 - 11:31 pm: Edit

PLANET MINIS: I stumbled upon this by accident. It is a "natural stone" ball designed to look like a planet. I don't suppose it has a stand but for $3.48 you can afford to buy one to figure out how to mount it. Wide variety of colors:

https://www.temu.com/1pc-planet-meteorite-ornament-natural-stone-raw-stone-creative-gift-home-desktop-decoration-g-601099515912906.html?top_gallery_url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.kwcdn.com%2Fproduct%2FFancyalgo%2FVirtualModelMatting%2Fb88baddcf4f594851468c94b2d181379.jpg&spec_gallery_id=23360550&_x_mmid=4da912bb4da347ff9ea805128b4b21b3CHN1&_x_msgid=211-20231014-21-B-655396956047659008-449-e1gGOhYt&_x_src=mail&_x_sid=GOODS_LIST2&refer_page_name=email_push_goodspage&refer_page_id=10153_1697340377870_wd35lyrdj0&refer_page_sn=10153&_x_sessn_id=0jucgw6hqz

Temu is a (communist) Chinese marketing site kinda like Amazon but stuff with tens of thousands of small cheap items. Want an F35 challenge coin? Want a reproduction of an 1804 silver dollar? Want any kind/color of game dice you can imagine? Temu has it! WARNING, the site is addictive and you can end up buying drawers full of cheap trinkets.

By Dal Downing (Rambler) on Sunday, October 15, 2023 - 06:36 am: Edit

Temu, buyer be ware. It is a massive spy and tracking racket usually without the user aware it is doing it.