Jonny Retro

My "glue" of choice for styrene modelling/scratchbuilding is Dichloromethane (DCM) applied with a small brush from a 10ml glass jar, I know there's supposedly some risk with it, but for 99% of applications, I find it easier to deal with than the pong, blocked nozzles & set times of regular poly glues. Currently, my two "lucky" DCM brushes are a pair of the cheapest, nastiest, luminous red plastic shafted, anonymous items - they may have come from an Airfix kit a while back (or I may be doing Airfix a great disservice there), but they do behave predictably - e.g. no going floppy & holding very little solvent like every natural bristle brush I've tried, and no turning into a 1:20 hedgehog on a stick after a few uses like the middle of the road artificial bristles (italieri, Heller, Humbrol). The problem is, they lose a bristle now & then and are becoming less useful as time goes by - but with no way of identifying them, I can' t try to replace them. Has anyone got any suggestions as to what brands/grades to try? I would also consider some sort of applicator, but they'd have to come very highly recommended, as jizzing solvent across the workbench or model is not an option TIA

Despite the Star Wars reference in the thread title & the ESB/ROTJ walker, as soon as I saw the 6th & 7th pics I thought "Star Bug"

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread - but I have a question on this kit & it seemed like a reasonable place to ask it ... I've recently built up some Tamiya 1:12 bike kits (Ducati MH replica, Yam OW01, Bimota Tesi - though not to this level of detailing, at all...) but my RC30 remains on the shelf because I'me put off by the clear fairing - what am I supposed to do with it? Leave it clear to show off the engine? Paint it on the inside a la lexan RC car bodies? Ignore the fact it's clear & just prime & paint it like its a regular part?

I built one of these a while back, and of course I wish i'd saved it so I could do a better job using what I've learned since ... I remember being a bit surprised (and more than a bit intimidated by) the information on detailing in the manual, I just went with a basic wash or two & added a bit of OO railway flock to the mix to the bucket. I also remember not getting on at all well with the Humbrol acrylic paints (though I did like the "free" brushes) - brush painting they seemed to separate in use, weren't good at levelling, or at sticking - I'm not sure what the term is (galling?) but the paint would lift up & roll into little balls & leave a gritty finish. I also tried "proper" pots later, and had the same problem with levelling and a new one of inexplicable pockmarks from bubbles bursting. I don't know if it was technique, surface prep, formulation, or possible poor storage, but I think that was the moment I decided to go 100% Tamiya X/XF. Speaking of that, I have a some leftovers from the paint I mixed & a note that it was equal parts XF-18 Medium Blue & XF-8 Flat Blue - TBH it's nothing like that shown in the manual (far too "Wedgewood" for a start) but for me it was about getting somewhere closer to what I was seeing on my TV screen at the time. Like I said, what I've learned since ...