Modeling Tips
Cleaning ships in a bottle by Roger Frye
One man's successful technique. PDF file
Silver soldering by Roger Frye
Roger explains how to use Elmer's Glue to hold parts in place while soldering.
Clear model cases by Carl Erickson
Make your own model case from acrylic for about $20 (2005 prices).
Clear model cases for larger models by Ed Theiler
Here's a comprehensive guide to build a more professional looking acrylic case for larger size models (from the Feb-June 2017 issue of the Lynx)
Advice on Weathering by Brion Boyles
(from the Feb-Mar 2015 issue of the Lynx)
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My first weathering color is just a tad LIGHTER than the base color you are weathering. Are you airbrushing? I spray a very diluted coat over the area the shade/weathering color is based on ei: gray over a gray hull, to very lightly fade out decals and too-sharp details. For rust, I use primarily two colors: a very yellow-ish orange, and a darker, rich brown....such as Tuscan. I blast the bright stuff into cracks and recesses, and do some very thinned of the same onto surfaces that "pool" water or drain over a large area to represent fresh rust and areas that collect rusty water, but aren't necessarily rusty themselves. For older, embedded rust I use the Tuscan. I also use it to tone back some of the bright stuff. Then I go back with the original paint color to tone it back down even more. This gives the appearance of rust coming up from beneath the surface of the original color.
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If you aren't airbrushing, I have used the above colors with EXTREMELY DRY dry-brushing techniques. You can "apply the base "bright" rust kinda wet, and after ti dries THOROUGHLY, you go over it with some of the browner stuff and then the base color, but using VERY, VERY dry brushes. You are actually RUBBING the color on. Very effective. I also use any kind of heavily watered-down dark grey (even the backwash from my paint-brush cleaning jar) to tone down the overall project.
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After all is said and done, I seal my work. I don't like too flat of a finish. The chalky surfaces of a lot of flat finish products doesn't do it for me (even for a rust-bucket) and a lot of the commercially available weathering stuff is just too coarse/dusty/loose -looking to me, so I like to make my rust/weathering look more "imbedded" with a clear finish of some kind, and of course gloss coats are right out. I prefer a satin finish....There is a product called Folquil Flat Finish which is actually satin. I have also had good luck with some of the higher end spray cans (we're looking for good nozzles, here)
Making blocks for miniature sailing ships by Peter Gutterman
At smaller scales it becomes impractical to make blocks out of wood . . . more