Re: Model dinosaurs

["Larry Dunn" <larrydunn@hotmail.com>]

>From: Steve Jackson <sj@io.com>

>I am working on some of the Tamiya kits in my copious free time. I 
agree
>with you about the fit of the pieces. I have heard from other modelers 
that
>Tamiya, in general, is good about producing close-fitting pieces. I 
don't
>want to see the bad ones. I'm spending a lot of time filling cracks 
with
>putty and trying to duplicate the skin texture.

May I suggest one-piece resin sculptures?  They make filling the seams 
easier, cuz there aren't any!  Additionally, the resins are generally 
more "accurate" (if you will) than the styrenes and even the vinyls.

Dinosaur Studios' 1/35th stuff is one-piece.  Mike Trcic makes an 
impressive if slightly hyper several-piece T. rex in resin that falls 
together, needing very little putty. Tony McVey's 1/30th scale T. rex 
(mark 2) for Saurian Studios is a superb kit that also falls together 
(sold out, may become available again eventually through Triceratops 
Hills Ranch).

Of the Tamiya Dinosaur Diorama kits, only the Parasaurolophus and the 
Chasmosaur are good representations.  Brachiosaur and the small ones 
from the "Mesozoic Creatures" are borderline.  Triceratops and 
Tyrannosaurus are a joke.

If you have to fill seams and gaps in styrene, use Tamiya putty or 
Squadron green putty.  My advice is to avoid using styrene glue as was 
suggested, because this works fine until a catastrophe ensues!  
Sometimes the glue doesn't cooperate and reacts with the styrene causing 
permanent warpage and softness (remember that styrene glue melts plastic 
pieces together -- always use it EXTREMELY SPARINGLY).

If you need to close up seams in resin, use stuff called Milliput.

Enough of this really on-topic advice!

Larry

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