Moving Guns on Moving Turrents

[enolagay]

Everyone will have a different idea on how to do this, I found a method easy for me, and i got the results i wanted. So please post your way or idea of moving guns and moving turrents.

Anyways I use super glue, unless you use fiberglass(which is harder to use than super glue) your guns wont be strong enough to move without breaking or falling apart.

Well first off when i cut the turrent out i reinforce the entire piece with card paper, cigarette carton worked for me(just glue the white side to paper or ink from carton will bleed thru, I learned that the hard way), then I took a needle and sharpened it to a flat point and mounted it to a tube, I used it to hand drill a hole for a pivot point, then I got a piece of tube from a ear cleaner, put it inside the turrent and run a piece of paper clip thru the hole I hand drilled, and thru the piece of tubing to the other side of the turrent, then check if the tube will spin, if it does glue both outsides of turrent where paper clip comes out with super glue, I used a dremel to cut off excess but if you are careful you can precut the paper clip to fit,.

Next I made the guns, i took tooth pics and cut them with a razor to the shape of the guns, glued the paper for the guns to the tooth pics, I left extra length on the tooth pics for adjustment.

By now the turrents are plenty dry and strong, i took the razor and cut out where the guns go, then test fitted the guns to make sure the slit was big enough for the guns to fit, then cut off the extra tooth pick from the guns and super glued them to the tube inside the turrent, let them dry and glue them again and again, till they are strong and mounted good to the tube(layering super glue makes it strong). Every time before you glue take a pair of needle nose pliers(or what you have) and check to make sure the tube still moves.

Last thing i had to do was print a extra page of that color gun, and where i could see tooth pick still i glued a small piece of the same color paper to it, and wrapped the excess piece of paper around the tube and glued it too for extra strength.

Super glue and paper is like rosin and fiberglass, it is strong, that is why i wrapped the excess paper around the tube, it doesn't need to be completely around the tube. just enough to catch and glue.

Then I made a bottom for the turrent out of card paper(I just traced the turrent and adjusted the cut) and glued it to the bottom of the turrent. then i took a pen and cleaned the ink from the ink tube, cut a 1\4 inch piece of the ink tube and glued it to the bottom to the turrent take special care where you glue this tube, this is where your pivot point is for the turrent to spin on, if your not sure about it just make it center of the turrent. When it is dry drop a drop of super glue inside the middle of the tube and lightly glue around the base of the tube where it is already glued for strength.
After it dries test the strength of the tube, make sure it is mounted good to the turrent.

On the end of the tube on the bottom of the turrent, glue and wrap paper leaving near the turrent a little more than the thickness of the card paper bare. When the wrap of paper dries, bevel the paper, so it acts like a arrow.

Last thing to do is put your hole into the model where you want your turrent to go, make the size of the hole the same size as the ink tube, shove the tube that is on the bottom of the turrent into the hole, if it fits too easy, you need to wrap more paper to the ink tube on the bottom of the turrent, if it wont fit you will need to bevel it more, or just shave from all around the paper on the tube.

there you go good luck, if people are really wanting to try this, I will do my best on getting pictures of me doing this, somewhere on the net for you to see. I have no camera for the PC,and also don't have a scanner. So it would take a little time for that.

also if don't use a razor often, I recommend not doing this method, I nearly cut off my thumb making adjustments on a door for hinges, use on your own risk

[jrmiii]

i'll have to try this

btw, if u dont want to use any alternate materials for turning turrets, u can use a hole punch and a few dots from it as the pivot

ex: (lines are paper, dots are empty)
_________
__|-----|__
.....-----
.----------

[enolagay]

One more thing when you super glue paper, make sure you treat it first, I used clear coat, so the paper would last longer and so the super glue dosent seep thrugh the paper, without treating the super glue will leave dark spots where you glued

[enolagay]

i43.photobucket.com/albums/e398/crisp79/turrent3.jpg
i43.photobucket.com/albums/e398/crisp79/turrent2.jpg
i43.photobucket.com/albums/e398/crisp79/turrent1.jpg

3 pics of my moveing turrents

[Nerath]

That's really awesome. As well as rotating, do they raise and lower guns? As in, do the toothpicks themselves move up and down in those slots?

Thanks for the tips! This is really useful.

You could probably use brads to allow it to move as well, and then you could just make the turret, poke the brad through a blank area that covers the bottom of the turret, and poke that through the model. Voila -- instant rotation.

Maybe tweezers would help instead of needle-nose pliers if the pliers turn out to be too heavy and nudge around the toothpicks too much. *shrug* Just an option.

Since no one knew what they were the last time I mentioned them, brads are those little metal button-like objects that have two bendable prongs coming from the back of them. If you've ever seen those big tan manila folders, they often have brads that seal them shut. You bend the prongs outward and it holds things in place. ...Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

I didn't know super glue worked on paper. I've tried it on cardboard and plastic hose, and it failed on both. I've even glued my fingers together (accidentally of course) and found that I could still get them apart. The only thing it has managed to glue past separation is some strands of my carpet.

[enolagay]

Yes the guns do go up and down, and the turrent spins, if you notice my model has a shine to it, it is the clear coat i treated the model with, made it water proof.

Yes I have too glued my finger together, if you look at the last pic, you will see a dark spot on my thumb, it is super glue.

Nice thing about the guns and turrents is that there durable, i can move them as much as i want, and they wont give.

i have made a somtaal destroyer with top gun movable like my vanaar jet model, and almost done with a hilgarian destroyer, i couldnt make the bridge or the turrents, so i copied the guns and turrents to the vanaar model and changed color to match the blue to the hilgarian destroyer, i also added alot of detail to it, more than the game had to offer and the plans offered, i raised alot of images.


I have another tip, when you get a bad spot on your model(over glue, wrinkle,etc) print another page of the part you messed up in plain paper, and smooth the spot that is messed up with a razor, then cut your skin out of your plain paper and glue it over the bad spot.

I did it to my vanaar model, below the dark matter gun and above the top turrent on my last pic above, is a skin, it was wrinkled bad, i smoothed it out with a razor, printed a new skin, and glued over it, i think it looks nice, i had to do it to my somtaal destroyer too, the top gun got glue on it from my finger while i was holding it in place for the glue to dry, it looks nice too.

when i get more time i will build a turrent and take pictures as i go. Also i will show more models. Right now i am makeing a tower crain out of toothpicks, it is fully functional, with motors, gears and pullys, the gears and pullys are made out of poster board and super glue, it takes alot of strength to be motorized, when it is done i will post it too, to show the strength of the glue.

[enolagay]

brads would work, i thought of it too, but if they ever gived way, it would be very hard to fix, i just glued a plastic tube (ink tube in a pen) to the bottom of the turrent, about this long -----
and wrapped the end with a little paper ----= and put a hole perfectly the size of the tube in the model, poped it in and it locked down, if i ever needed to repair it, it would pop out with a little force

tweezers are nice but they are too fat, there is all types of needle nose pliers, and some are more narrow than any tweezers, from my time repairing tvs and vcrs, i have a pair of needle nose that i filed down, the very tip to them are the size of 2 dots of this " i "

another problem i have with tweezers is constant pressure to a couple of fingers when needed to hold something a long time, versus pliers which use the whole hand.

But everyone has there own methods, for certain people, tweezers would be better for them, super glue wouldnt be a good idea, etc. It dosent matter how you do it or what it looks like, what matters is how much fun it is building it, and enjoying it when it is done.

Sence you mentioned it, i got a idea for the brad, dont bend them flat with the model, bend them so they are the shape of a diamond, test insert it, and test remove, test to see how well it stays in and spins, it would be removeable for fixing, I will give it a try on my next model, and document it in the process like i should of with my other method. It would be alot easier than the way i did it, and it should give the same durability, if not more.

super glue will leave dark spots on models if the paper isnt treated, also if it isnt treated, the super glue will soak through and glue your finger to the model.

just like super glue, some type of spray paint clear coat, will soak in the paper and give it strength and make it water proof, treat the paper with clear coat, then your super glue wouldnt soak into the paper

[Nerath]

...Clear coat paint. Why did I never think of this? (Don't answer that, Glove or Falcon.)

I should try that. Once exams are over for this semester, I think I will. And that also answers my qusetion about superglue, though I'm sure I'll have about two usable fingers by the end of that little escapade...

[enolagay]

super glue gel takes a little longer to dry but it is thick and easier to use and you wouldnt need much to set the seam

coat the paper lightly with 2 to 4 coats of clear spray paint, 2 coats to keep it flat, 4 or more for a shine, shine is nice, makes it water proof and strong but also shows almost all flaws, flat has its advantages, it keeps hidden most flaws, still is stong, and looks like it was never treated.

remember paint takes time to fully cure, i would say as soon as the paint is dry to the touch, is the time to cut it out and fold it, if it is let dry for a few days then it might be too hard to fold, possably crack the folds, folding before a full cure is important.

good luck on it, i hope everything helps. if you or anyone has questions on it feel free to ask im on here almost everyday

[shagohad]

Does it only work on certain guns or all of them? It does seem hard to do though. I'll have to look your instructions over so I can get it right. I'll try it out though, it has potential.

[TheGlove]

Just try it out, most guns work the same.

[shagohad]

It will be hard for me though. I'm 14 and I will need a cigarette box (Dad doesn't smoke anymore so...). Plus the fact that Dad will have to help me. Like I said, I'll give it a try. Maybe I'll add a little extra too. Then I can post that.

[TheGlove]

Ok, easy way: Magnets, stick one inside the gun and one inside the ship, where the gun attaches and taadaa, you're done.

[shagohad]

Yeah. The magnets are glued on the inside of the pieces and can come of for battle effects. ;D

[kushanwolf]

Dunno if i'm just thinking of the same thing under a different name but why not use those brass fixing pin thingumys when the arms go out to fix turrets. Sorry i might not be being to clear here but hopefully you know what i mean