Federation Commander

I just bought Squadron boxes 0, 1, 2, & 9. I love the models but wish some of the surfaces had more details, for example the Condor from set 9 is mostly smooth surfaces.

I play several games, including WizKids Star Wars Pocket models. These models are made from thin sheets of credit card like material. After building those models I'm left over with lots of "skeletons" of plastic sheets. Superglue bonds instantly with this material, so an idea has occurred to me.

Since Superglue is used to attach engine parts on the Pewter, and also bonds with the plastic material, I'd like to cut out some of the interesting shapes and flanges and bits left over from pocketmodels and gule parts to the surface of my Squadron box ships. Then prime the whole thing and paint. This would not alter the basic form of the model just add raised definition to certain flat areas.

Does anyone see any technical issues I should be wary of with trying this? Imagine a material like your credit cards glued to a ship and you get the idea. I'll test primer on it first before I do anything.

This sounds like a workable idea, except that the plastic from the pocket models seems a bit thick to me. I know you can get thinner sheets at many hobby stores. As the Hydran and Lyran minis seem especially plain, I have considered doing this to replicate the panel effects you see in Adam Turner's art.

Yeah I think you're on to something. There are some small interesting shapes I like from the pocket models,but getting thiner sheets would make for some nice variations in thickness. I'll have to go check out what our hobby store has. Though right now my city is getting hit with it's first snow storm of the year!

A lot of folks use this trick for resin models, etc., so you'll be in good company. The smooth ADB Juggernaut resin model gets this treatment from some people.

I second the suggestion to get some thin styrene sheet from a hobby store. If you use material that is too thick, it won't look right on the minis, since they are at such a small scale to begin with.

One thing to consider is cutting the pieces. They will look odd if the edges are cut so that they have an "undercut" on the edge. This will create a nasty look to the edges where primer and paint will accumulate in them unevenly. A way to cure this is to cut your pieces using a metal ruler to guide the knife (and being careful to keep the knife perpendicular to the sheet) - an alternative is to buy a small "matte cutter" (like they use to cut matting material for picture frames) which lets you cut any angle on the edge that you want.

Atrox: I have used sheet styrene to add details to several of my SFB / FC minis. You can check out the website in the signature line below to see what I'm referring to.

I use the styrene for such items as drone hatches, additional trim on my freighters (to keep them from all being the same), additional weapon ports, enlarged hanger decks, etc. I think Will may be correct about the thickness of the card in the "pocket models" The plastic material left over from my "Pirates..." sets seems to be about the same thickness as what you are referring to and in some instances, it would be as thick as the entire saucer [as on the Federation FF].

When I add these details, I use plain, old super-glue to bond them. I've never had any problems with bonding or with priming after these additions either.