Federation Commander

[jpat]

Everyone's been really helpful with advice so far regarding minis--thanks. I'm afraid I have a couple more questions.

Decals: I ended up buying some decals, and they're (I guess not surprisingly) not self-adhesive. There's a reference in the instructions to Micro Set and Micro Sol. Can anyone explain what these are or suggest an alternative?

Stands: I'm guessing that all the stands that come with the Starline minis are the same. Is that correct? In any case, how snugly do they fit into the minis' holes, and do people glue them in (and with what)?

[terryoc]

Decals: Soak them in water for approximately 10 seconds, then slide them onto the miniature with a pair of tweezers. When dry, they will stick. Best thing to do when applying decals, is to apply a coat of varnish/lacquer to give the decal a very smooth surface to stick to, then stick on the decal, then apply another coat of varnish/lacquer.

I am not sure what microset or microsol are. I haven't used them.
_________________
"Captain" Terry O'Carroll, fourteen papers published including six best of issue
"Man, Terry, you are like a loophole seeking missle!" - Mike West

[Scoutdad]

jpat: TerryO is correct. I (and nearly everyone else) simply clear coat the mini, soak the decal in water til it's loosened from the paper backing, apply to mini, and then clearcoat the mini again.

TerryO: MicroSol amd MicroSet are products sold by Flo-Quil to aide in the application of decals. MicroSol is a liquid solvent that releases teh decal from the backing paper and MicroSet is a liquid that "sets" or "attaches" the decal when applied to the mini.
_________________
Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF

[wrongway klingon]

[TJolley]

Add a touch of dishsoap to the water..this will allow you more time to work with the decal on the mini. when it is in place, tamp it dry and set it with a paper towel.

Use microsol on the decal at that point..it really helps the decal take on appearance of paint

[Scoutdad]

I stand corrected. I have visited the Flo-Quil site and both MicroSet and MicroSol are used after the decal has been applied to the miniature. In both cases, they work by softening the decal film so it will conformm to the contours of the miniature more readily.

I will also concur with the suggestion to use a paint brush to slide the decal off the paper. I have torn several decals by trying to use either twezers or and Exact-O knife to slide tehm. Now I will only use a water moistened paint brush to transfer decals from the paper to the miniature.
_________________
Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF

[jpat]

Thanks, everyone. We'll do our best.

We found the Microset/sol, by the way, but we haven't had a chance to work on the minis since I posted.

[jpat]

Just to follow up on my own post. We (well, really, Maureen) did some work with the decals. We ended up with one Fed logo that we both know looks "wrong" because it's off-center from where it should be. More so with the Klingon ones, the "decal-ness" is kind of apparent; perhaps the Micro-Sol would help with that.

I like the idea of the decals, but I know Mo found them hard to work with for a lot of reasons, and so if I ever talk her into doing some more minis, I might omit that step except for the Fed ships, which look kind of naked without something plastered on them.

(By the way, it's probably not clear why I'm pestering my partner to do those minis for me and not just doing them myself. She's pretty "crafty" anyway--she has some mad cross-stitch skills, for one thing. But I'm also legally blind, which makes the kind of detail work required not so easy. As well as I can see the details, though, I could probably live with my own work. )

I like Wrongway's idea of reinforcement to the stands, as some of the minis feel very heavy relative to the stands, but I think I'm going to have to pass on this, lacking both the tools and the talent to pull off what he describes.

Seems like these are going to need glue, though, to keep the ships from tipping downward. Is that other people's experience?

[Scoutdad]

The platic pins do tend to break, even if you only look at them wrong. That's why i only use the stands from ADB. they have plastic hex bases, but metal uprights. It take s a bit of work (contour putty in the gap between the base and the upright) to make them look clean, but the metal pin doesn't break off in the mini. The worst that'll happen is the whole she-bang pops loose and you have to reglue the min onto the stand.

One other trick. If you look at the stand, you'll see that the slot for the upright is slightly off-center. While the ships should be drill near the center of gravity... some of them seem a bit off. When doing those, I try to use the offset to my advantage and place the heavest portion of the mini over the largest protion of the base. It seems to help the balance a bit.
_________________
Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF

[jpat]

You mean the "metal stands" they sell, I'm guessing.

The putty is to keep the upright in the base, or just for cosmetics? And does the metal pin stay in there on its own, or do you somehow glue it in there?

I'm starting to think I should've stuck with counters.

[wrongway klingon]

[jpat]

I'm thinking I'm more of a counter guy now.

The holes for the Fed ships seem not to be deep enough for the pin in some cases, regardless of whether the pin is plastic or metal. Is this a drilling situation, because I've managed to make it 37+ years without owning a drill.

Sorry to be such a dope about these things.

[wrongway klingon]

yes it is a drilling situation, the good news is that there are many types of drills.

The simplest one is called a pin vice, It is a hand held clamp which is held in one hand. If you can hold a pen you can use a pin vice. The more sophisticated versions have a archimedian screw thread for 2 handed use.

They come in different sizes and can hold drill bits from the thichness of a hair up to 1/4"

[striker8]

[jpat]