ChuckT

Glad to see this build back from its vacation! Chuck.

Looking great. Can't wait to see more, Chuck.

Thanks for your hard work Kev. You helped make this website one of the best (if not THEE best) around. Chuck.

Very cool. I'll be getting one down the road. Chuck.

Very nice! Thanks very much, Chuck.

I think that would work. I am able to vacuum degauss and pressure cast, so I was thinking of doing the part standing up with the backing plate to cut down on the amount of material I would need to remove/sand off the back of the panel as compared to doing it laying down.

No, your right. I'm just wanting to save time and sand paper by not having the backing thicker than it needs to be.

I’m just thinking out loud here, but is it practical to resin cast a thin instrument panel master using a one piece mold? I was thinking of mounting the instrument panel master onto a thin backing card (to close off the open instrument holes in the panel) and once cast, would then sand the thickness of the thin card off the back of the cast panel to open up the holes and free up the panel for use. The backing panel would not only close of the holes in the panel (making a one piece mold practical) but would also prevent warping of the resin casting. I want to overall casting to be as thin as possible while preventing warping. If it is doable, what would be the thinnest combined thickness of panel casting (to include the actual panel and the back card) that I could realistically cast in resin? Would a total thickness of .01” (.25mm), .02” (.5mm) or something thicker cast vertically in a one piece mold work? Thanks in advance, C.

Agreed.

I agree.

Very cool!

Thanks guys

I have the special hobby He 100 kit and was thinking about adding some extra detail to the cockpit area (at least). I know cockpit pics of this aircraft are few to none, so I was wondering if it would be a logical assumption to think that many of the cockpit details regarding general layout and items found in the He 100 would be at least similar to the He 112? What do you guys think? If that is a logical assumption, I can search for He 112 cockpit pics and drawings to come up with rough idea of what the He 100 cockpit would have looked like.

Very cool builds

Amazing. What more can be said!

Oh boy, too many numbers running through my brain lately. I should have typed above that the smallest detail I need a printer to handle for double sided etch is .375mm (.023") across, NOT .1mm (.006")! Sounds like the above printer that Mikkel is using (.2mm across) might actually work!

FYI, I also ordered the Tamiya pla plate super thin plastic (1.2mm/.05", .5mm/.02", .3mm/.01" thick) and will update this thread once I get my hands on it.

Not sure (about test prints on paper). Does the paper the ink is being applied too affect resolution (just wondering if it bleeds out into the paper)? It all comes down to cost for me. If a local print shop can give me artwork for a lower overall cost than compared to online services ($23 U.S. for 9.5" x 11" film with shipping) I'm good with that, even if it gives me multiple copies. I'm trying to get the cost to something below $15 U.S./$20 Canadian for an 8" x 10" locally. Thanks again for the help, C.

Ok, makes sense. Any ideas on how to separate the various print shops from average to high end when I search the local listings?

Interesting. I'll give it a try. Thanks!

Thanks for the offer for the test print. I was wondering if it's possible to get a home printer that's able to give me the resolution that I need. Do you know what DPI your printer is able of printing up to?

Thats what I was wondering. Whats the best way to ask about quality of output from a print shop? DPI or is there another metric to determine this? Thanks for the info.

I was going to contact a number of regular local print shops but I’m guessing they wont be able to offer the 2400 DPI I need. I think I’ll make a list of high end print shops downtown (in Vancouver) and see what they have to say. Plan A for me is to find a local shop and save on shipping. This will allow me to do smaller jobs more often versus an out of town shop. Plan B is to use an out of town shop and fill up my sheet with multiple jobs but do it less frequently. This will cost more, but if I fill up the artwork with multiple jobs I can justify the cost in my head. I would rather do plan A though. Thanks for the confirmation and I’ll share what I find once I figure it out, Chuck.

Thanks. I just ordered some now to give a try.

I've been wanting to make my own limited run photo etch for a long while now and I think (for the most part) I have the process nailed down. The only issue I have is finding a print shop capable of producing the artwork onto film at a cost which makes sense for what I need (small one off jobs). I know the likes of PDP can produce fantastic photo etched parts for me, but with prices starting at just under $100 (with shipping), it just isn't feasible (although they do produce amazing work as witnessed in Airscale and others builds here!) I have found online print services than can print the artwork I need, but again its the cost that is pushing the boundaries for me for making it work (small size/limited number artwork). My question for all of you printer experts out there is, what kind of DPI do I need from a print shop to print vector artwork with details as small as .1mm/.004"? I know 2400 dpi will do what I want, but can I get away with a lower DPI print shop (which is cheaper) and get details as small as .1mm/.04" across with vector files? Thanks in advance, Chuck.