peteski

But I guess since the current URL and existing member logins will stay the same (current URL staying active for quite some time), this sounds like a totally seamless migration (if all goes well).

Or USPS local mail delivery vehicles. This is already happening. I've seen both - amazon and USPS electric delivery vehicles. They look really strange - you instantly recognize them, but it is a good thing to see them slowly being introduced for that type of a role.

Maybe try https://airlinercafe.com/forums/forum/airliner-modeling/

As you should be going by all the responses. Typical for an online forum. Not much structural strength is needed for a 1:24 mode car kit (where majority of the model is plastic). As long as you properly clean and degrease the metal parts CA (with accelerator) should be more than adequate. I like the instant bond (I hate waiting). 5-minute epoxy does have poor strength but if you want to wait 12-14 hours for it to set JB Weld liquid steel epoxy is plenty strong. Pining the parts is helpful too. I also want to mention that in the Gunze kits I own with metal parts those are made of some sort of tin alloy (some form of pewter?). It is not typical zinc/aluminum white metal (liek Zamak). If you careful, for maximum strength you could solder those metal parts. I mentioned "careful" because you could end up melting the parts. Brass can also be soldered. I have used CA on metal kit parts and they still hold together. Again the key is cleanliness of the glued surfaces and having the surface roughened also helps. The Gunze metal parts already have a fairly rough surface.

CA glue and epoxy are perfect adhesive for these types of bonds. Yes, make sure the metal parts are clean and grease/oil free for best bond. Acetone, Lacquer Thinner, or 99% Isopropanol are excellent degreasers.

I've been thinking about the new name and I'm questioning the word "makers". To me "makers" seems to imply making a model from scratch, while most of us are kit builders. I would think that "Model Car Builders" would be more appropriate.

No need to call me on that. In my reply to your post I agreed that we need to go back to basic vehicles, not giant smart phones on wheels (full of distracting electronic trinkets and hard-to-deal-with-in a moving cars touch screens with so many features and settings they will make your head spin. Like you mentioned, the sheeple of this world want to have all the bells and whistles that can be possibly crammed into a vehicle, while also paying top dollar for those feature-bloated vehicles.

Even every new internal-combustion-powered vehicle is so full of electronics that similar thing can happen in one of the "dino fuel" cars. Exactly, but without trying and trying again, we will never get "there". If people didn't try advancing, we would still be riding horses. You do have a point about need for simpler vehicles. We need to get rid of the bloat of electronics in our contemporary vehicles, but somehow I don't see that happening either.

Interesting news. Congratulations! In the past you welcomed large size photos (not reallynecessary for being viewed in the online forum setting) being uploaded to the forum in case the forum's contents is deemed worthy of publishing in the MCM magazine. Will this relationship between the forum and MCM still exist, or more reasonably sized photos will be ok? I did like the direct link between the forum and the magazine, but I guess in the end it doesn't matter what the forum's name is. Will there be an option for ad-free paid membership, or members (regularly annoyed by very intrusive, some even sexual-themed click-bait ads) will still have to resort to ad-blockers?

In Massachusetts for some time inspection stations had a "treadmill" to run the silly emission tests on pre-OBDII cars. So my '85 Caddy had to be put through the paces. But few years ago they finally got rid of that silly thing, and they no longer test emissions in those cars. The test equipment maintenance costs were probably killing them. I suspect that the only one getting rich was the manufacturer of those treadmills.

Back 30 or 40 years ago most modelers used enamel paints formulated for models (plastic safe). Now there are dozens of brands (with all sorts of chemistries) which are sold for painting plastic models. Mixing brands or even chemistries often results in incompatibility, resulting in ruined paint job. Often touted recommendation on the forums is that wherever you try some new painting method or paint combination, a test should be made on some unimportant plastic item (like a polystyrene disposable spoon) to make sure there are no adverse reactions. And as johnyrotten mentioned, the paint terminology that has crept into the modeling world is often inaccurate and vague. I cringe when modelers use blanket statements as "acrylics" to describe a wide range of paints with different chemistries. There is unfortunately no easy fix for that, but understanding the basics of paint chemistry makes us better modelers.

For plastics I actually hold the drill's 1/8" shank directly in my fingers, but I don't have BFFs. For soft metals yes, I do put them in a pin vise with the free spinning back that rests in the palm of my hand. As for #80 size I suspect you made a typo. It is 0.013" or 0.33mm. Just slightly larger than #85.

Here are my smallest PC board drill bits. I have no problem hand-drilling using #80 and #85 bits in plastic (I do occasionally break a bit), but I only used the #96 bit in my miniature drill press (and broke few even then). When I use a drill press, I can drill #80 and #85 holes in metal. The dimensions in my drill index are in inches. The #96 bit is protected by plastic tube because it will break pretty much even if you gently brush against it.

Mark, chromed parts on 1:1 cars get their mirror-like finish because their surface is glass-smooth. That prevents the reflected light from scattering, resulting in mirror-like reflectivity. Before the chrome layer 1:1 automotive parts are first plated with other metals (like copper) which produce that very smooth surface for the final plating of Chromium. Alclad II Chrome paint (just like 1:1 chrome layer) requires the painted surface to be glass-smooth for the mirror-like effect. You can apply that paint to any surface (without a glossy base coat) and it will end up looking silver, but since the surface is rough, the reflected light will be scattered it will look like silver paint instead of chrome. Your bare 3-D printed parts are already not smooth because unlike injection-molder parts, they are printed in very thin layers which are visible. Alclad II metallic paints go on very thin, so the 3-D painted surface will result in rough finish, making the chrome paint look like silver paint. So yes, you can paint those bare wheels with any Alclad metallic paints, but the result will look like unpolished silver metal. Using the chrome paint might give a slightly brighter finish than just using Alclad aluminum or other metallic paints. It seems like you are ok with that.

If you will be taking the model as a carry-on, make sure it can be easily opened and examined by TSA agents screening you. There is a good chance they will ask you to open the box and examine it. You don't want to stand there in line fumbling to show them your possible "terrorist weapon" inside.