Kit Basher

Thanks, Paul! Thanks, Chris!

Revell kit. Straight OOB. The paint is MM "White Lightning", homemade decal stripes, Tamiya X-22 clear. Not perfect, but mine never are.

I wanted some stripes, so I made this gizmo. It is crude, but it works. First I printed a large area of blue on some decal paper. Then you slide the paper under the ruler until it stops against the piece of wood, run a razor blade along the ruler, and there's your stripe. Repeat. They all come out the same width. The wood piece and the ruler are clamped to a piece of glass. The cork looking thing is a steel ruler turned upside down. It is supported above the glass by pieces of decal paper folded double. I'm sure with some engineering it could be made better, but it did what I wanted to do.

I have done this, it works fine.

Thanks, Carl!

Thanks, EMRE!

Thanks, Mike!

Thanks, Rich! I may try that thinner. I couldn't see any orange peel at all until I took the photos, but it would be great to eliminate all of it.

Thanks, Jeff! It goes together nicely, in typical Tamiya fashion. It seems intimidating at first, but everything works just right. Give it a go, I think you'll enjoy it.

Thanks, John! Thanks, Chris! Thanks, David!

Thanks, Larry!

Tamiya kit. The paint is Tamiya bottle lacquer "Italian Red". It's great paint to use, this is straight from the airbrush, no clear, no polish. When I started this kit, I thought it might be over my skill level, but I got 'r done.

This method worked really well. I stuck Tamiya tape to the instructions, traced the outline of the pattern onto the tape, put the tape on the mesh, and cut it out with scissors. Easy and great results. Thanks, Greg! And thanks to all for your suggestions!

Thanks David. The mesh cuts easily with scissors, and I think if I can somehow attach the pattern to the mesh, scissors would work. I'm going to try that with masking tape later tonight.

Thanks, Ulf! I just checked and I can buy that stuff online. Sorry I used the idiom, but you interpreted it correctly. "Pick your brain" means seeking information.

Found some time, so here's the photo of what I'm doing. As you can see, I have to cut diagonally across the mesh. You can also see my attempts haven't been terribly accurate. Thanks for all the input so far!

Thanks, that is interesting. Sounds like it would work well. This is also a Tamiya kit, BTW. I'm going to try the masking tape trick later this evening, but I may pick your brain about the glue you used. Thanks. The hot knife is another good idea. I will post a photo of the mesh and instructions later tonight.

Thanks, I will give that a try. Thanks, I've been doing that for final trimming, but initial cutting to the pattern is the hard part. Thanks, I like the chopping idea. I've been pulling the blade across the mesh, which makes it move. Some of the cuts are curves, I don't know how I'll "chop" those. Thanks, I haven't tried that, but I suspect it would take more than pins to hold this stuff in place.

Unfortunately, no. It has to match the pattern really well, and then be placed down in a hollow. Thanks for the reply.

I'm working on a kit that involves cutting plastic mesh to match a pattern printed in the instructions. So far, I've been taping the mesh over the pattern and cutting it with a razor blade. This works, but the mesh still wants to flex and move around, so this method is not optimal. Just wondering if there is a better way. Any suggestions?

If you can find a custom glass shop near you, they should be able to make whatever you need. 1/4 inch plate glass with ground edges would be fine, although tempered would be better (more money). Be prepared, glass is expensive! Your photos don't show what kind of shelf supports your cabinet uses, but if they are the pins that fit in holes in the cabinet sides, those are available at home center/ hardware stores, and certainly online. There are two sizes, 1/4 inch and 5 mm. I bet IKEA uses 5 mm, but definitely check first. Hope that helps.

Thanks, Scott!

I'm in the process of building that Bonneville. So far it's a really great kit. Hope you enjoy yours!

Thanks, Larry! Thanks, Bob! Thanks, Bob!

It's a rough life...