Hey guys,

So I asked for help on how to start painting and got some great advice and have been busily painting like a MadMonkey and am having a hoot. I have even done some commissions for the guys I play with (although one pointed out that just painting "your mum's ass" on the engine of the Falcon doesn't really count as a "commission").

Anyway, I accidentally broke a few of my models during a family discussion and am wondering how you guys figure out how to mod, where to get parts, how to decide on what goes where.

As two examples -

1. I broke the conn tower off of the rebel transport and it looks good but I was thinking of trying to build a new, different bridge to set it apart from other transports but have NO idea what to use (and the tower is lost to me until my brothers digestive system is done with it). I looked at a few model ship kits by Revell and thought that might be a source for "techy looking bits" but wondered if there are better sources than paying $30 for a handful of radar dishes and guns.

2. I am thinking of trying to build a themed display/storage area for my ships and after a few hours of gentle shoplifting, I have an idea and the basics - some wood, glue and determination. I primed the wood and am painting it with various degrees of success but was wondering if someone had any tips for this? And, same as above, where do I find add-ons that make it look more "real" at 1:270 scale?

Any additional tips, tricks or online resources? Thanks in advance!

Creative and Curious Monkey

You could always just shoplift everything you want. God forbid you have to pay towards your luxury hobby!

But serious answer... charity shops and car boot sales for old toys. Break them apart. Break everything you throw away apart to see if there's anything useful inside. Keep everything together in a box in case you need it in the future.

Plastic airfix/revell kits are gold mines. 1/72 ones will be cheap and probably contain some useful bits.

You could always just shoplift everything you want. God forbid you have to pay towards your luxury hobby!

If I knew where to find it all, I would

But serious answer... charity shops and car boot sales for old toys. Break them apart. Break everything you throw away apart to see if there's anything useful inside. Keep everything together in a box in case you need it in the future.

Plastic airfix/revell kits are gold mines. 1/72 ones will be cheap and probably contain some useful bits.

Great idea, thank you. Been checking on eBay to see if there's anything there and shall further my search!

With a little practice, a little ingenuity, and a little heat, the sprues from plastic models can be fabricated into all sorts of cool bits. Cigarette lighters work but are a pain... alcohol lamps are better. Start by heating a sprue to just melting and draw the ends apart rapidly. I use this for making rigid rigging for sailing ships, but you can also use it to make pipes and wires. From there just play with it and you'll be amazed at all the stuff you can make.

***** hot plastic on the skin burns... have a basin of water handy, and a fire extinguisher close by is a really good idea*****

You also need to look/think out of the box. Train accessories, especially HO, N and Z gages have a bunch of stuff that might be useful. The late Shepherd Paine coined the term "creative gizmology". It was mostly used for 1/35 scale projects, but applicable to any scale. The Walthers catalog is a great source for train stuff.

Craft shops like Pat Catans or Michaels. This is where thinking outside the box comes in handy. Stroll through the aisles looking for bits and bobs that can be used or modified.

Plastruct and Evergreen Plastics both carry a large selection of "stuff".

You're limited only by your imagination. The only caveat is to make sure nothing is grossly out of scale. For example a bolt head that's actually an 1/8" in size will be feet across in 1/270th scale or worse if applied to the transport.

The main thing is to have fun. Almost forgot. Albion Metals from the UK carries some very small metal tubing that can be used for weapons or to add strength to a mod. They have US distributors. Another source is K&S Engineering out of Chicago I think. Along with a variety of tubing in different material they have thin sheets of metal that can be used for fabrication or photo etching.

Micro Mark has a photo etch kit that's pretty slick. You might want to check them out.

Hope this helps and gives you some ideas.

you guys are great, I REALLY appreciate all the suggestions. I have already scoured the local craft stores and gotten quite creative in some of the things I'm putting together and will start raiding charity shops for model kits.

These are large ship (I personally used em for a modded falcon) scale engines. They have more similar gundam parts that fit x-wing.

***** hot plastic on the skin burns... have a basin of water handy, and a fire extinguisher close by is a really good idea*****

Spent too long trying to figure out what got edited out by the board's profanity filter...

Isnigu, on 18 Feb 2016 - 1:07 PM, said:

[bandai] Model Kit 1/100 BUILDERS PARTS HD MS Vernier 01 (65031)

These are large ship (I personally used em for a modded falcon) scale engines. They have more similar gundam parts that fit x-wing.

I think I love you.

MonkeyInSpace, on 18 Feb 2016 - 3:41 PM, said:

Isnigu, on 18 Feb 2016 - 1:07 PM, said:Isnigu, on 18 Feb 2016 - 1:07 PM, said:

[bandai] Model Kit 1/100 BUILDERS PARTS HD MS Vernier 01 (65031)

These are large ship (I personally used em for a modded falcon) scale engines. They have more similar gundam parts that fit x-wing.

I think I love you.

I just realized that's only the runner and not the parts. Bah, humbug.