Hello and hello
My name is José. I live in Toulouse in France (so I can see a lot of new Airbuses though my interest goes exclusively in military planes). I like to build… tools rather than models (I wonder sometimes if all the models I buy are not in fine a pretext to find new techniques, new painting mixes, new references). I had a step motor controlled turning table in my spray booth, but it was not enough, so I am currently designing another model with three step motors as to modify the aspect of the model while spraying (spraying what, you’ll ask ); well, there is where I find my recreation.
As for nail polish remover mixed with putty, have you tried 95 % alcohol (the one used to dilute varnish flakes and used by furniture makers) as it dries very quickly ?
Welcome, Jose. We all love tools; to a varying degree, that is. I think you’ll find a great place in the techniques department of the forum. Hardware is among the common subjects there. Hope to hear from you soon.
Ok, in my introduction I mentioned a turning table for airbrushing
I have a little time so let us go for the turning table description. I see here and there a trick to hold the model while airbrushing it and it sounds of "deviant " to me. So I figured out how I could manipulate the thing without ever touching or holding it. I went to an electronic shop and bought a kit to control a step motor ( it is of ITC brand and you can find it at http://www.selectronic.fr or http://www.conrad.com among other places) I am neither a complete rookie in electronics nor a real enthusiast but it is very manageable with little care. Then I took a kind of Lazy Susan turn table of approximatively 30 cm of diameter (yes cm, remember I’m French). You have then to set the turn table near the step motor; I used a piece of wood as a base, a big pot knob with emery board cemented around to screw on the motor axle and rubber foam (rather hard kind) around the turn table; so the control of rotation is very simple and very cheap; you can also set the speed on the electronic card. I settled a DB9 (the kind of plug there was on old PC mouses) as to unplug the table system and clean the painting booth for example.
Advantages:
1° I never touch my model while I airbrush it
2° then my hands are very clean (at least the left one as it is controlling the clockwise-counterclockwise motion by means of switches or an on-off-on tumbler, the right one depends if I screwed well the head of the Aztek)
3° the step motor acts as a brake when it is powered and not rotating
4° why a step motor and not a simple motor ? Because it is very slow and therefore under total control
Drawback
I see only one but it is not to neglect : you are more or less condemned to “attack” the model with the same angle if you use a painting booth, that is why I am currently designing a new table which will be able to keep a constant angle while turning (same philosophy of step motors but more complicated)
As a conclusion I would add that just putting the model on the turning table does not seem very wise in my opinion because it should be raised a little , 8 or 10 cm (remember, always cm) because of the paint which goes to the table and tends to bounce . I have my solution but what do you imagine youselves ?