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peteski

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Posts posted by peteski

  1. Chromed plastic car parts are electroplated using methods similar to chrome plating metal.  First plastic is coated with electrically conductive lacquer, then it is copper plated, then finally with Chromium.  There might also be another metal used between copper and chromium. Except for the conductive lacquer step, this is the same process using for metal  parts. Chromium is a very though metal resistant to strong chemicals. I doubt that purple power (or any Lye-based products) will have any effect on it.

    Model car parts aren't actually chrome plated by vacuum-metalized using very thin layer of aluminum.  Aluminum is a soft metal which Lye-based products can easily dissolve.  However some diecast models, and few kits (made by Trumpeter) for their plastic chromed parts uses a similar electroplating process used for real cars. Those were pretty much impossible to strip using any chemical methods used for other typical vacuum-metalized "chrome" kit parts.

  2. 27 minutes ago, Jim B said:

    Maybe I'm missing something here, but how does lacquer thinner work on enamel paint?

    Lacquer thinner is a "hot" solvent.  JUst like you not supposed to apply hot paints over enamel (becuase it will wrinkle the enamel), the lacquer thinner will soften the hardened enamel in the lid.  We are not going for liquefying the dried paint (which cannot be done anyway) - just to soften it enough to unscrew the lid.

    Like I mentioned earlier, I always make sure the threads, the lip of the bottle and the cap and seal are clean before closing the lid, so I don't have this problem.

  3. If you have an old electric iron (the one you iron clothes with), and if you don't mind getting some melted plastic on it (or just buy a cheap one), then you should be heat it up then push the tire against it to soften, then distort it.  You have to adjust the temperature to just before melting the vinyl. Just hot enough to soften it enough to be able to squish the tire.  At least that is something I would try.

    But this will only work with vinyl tires if the tires in this kit are made from real rubber, that will not work. Rubber does not soften or  melt like vinyl

  4. I bought a set on eBay last year.

    The description stated that they were from the latest reissue of AMT '70 Impala Fire Chief kit. Not sure if that is accurate info (I don't own that kit).
    Here are couple of photos of the tires.

    GY_PolyglasG70-15_02.JPG.95184d9effc0c6ca37de0aa4e4dbb1d7.JPG

    GY_PolyglasG70-15_01.JPG.54575cb03ed32d2b76eb8a61323b697d.JPG

    I'm looking for another couple of sets of 4.  I have lots of other tires to trade (including sets of Tamya kit tires from various 1:24 kits).

  5. 7 hours ago, Scale-Master said:

    Dirt washes off wheels and tires, oily grime, not so much.  Ever look at real cars?  The chassis and engine are often dirty, but the paint and wheels are clean.

    I understand what you stated, but the tractor's tires have a sheen to them (like they were recently coated with Armor All).  Grimy tires usually have dead flat surface.  I suppose that could be caused by the lighting of the model for those photographs.  The tires likely look perfectly acceptable in-person.

  6. 4 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

    Ultimately, AI/robotics will probably replace entire classes of skilled humans whose physical abilities have been allowed to atrophy.

    And I'm not sure if we will like the results of that.  Augmenting is ok, but replacing?  I don't think I like that. Hopefully it will not come to that until past my existence on this planet.

  7. No, the tires you have are not ARII.  The overall shape of the sidewalls seems flat. ARII tires look much better. 

    Actually, I dug out my sets of ARII tires, and  the ones you have are ARII tires.  Just to be sure I took some measurements.

    The ID (or rim diameter) of both front and rear is 0.710"
    The width (of the rim) is 0.418" front and 0.496" rear

    The OD of the tires is 1.07" front and 1.170" rear.

    I have  few sets of ARII tire/wheels.  I do need some other tires. Let me look at what I need - maybe we could swap if you have the ones I'm looking for.  I'll let you know what tires I'm looking for a bit later.

  8. Nice!  There are multiple ways of dealing with stuck lids.  Another way is to stand the bottle upside down then using an eye dropper apply some lacquer thinner or acetone between the lid's lip and the glass bottle.  That will penetrate into the dried up paint in the threads.

    I never have this problem because I'm really fastidious in keeping the threads and seal in the lid impeccably clean before closing the bottle.

    • Like 2
  9. The flaring is a draft angle needed to be able to eject the part from the mold. It does seem a bit steep, but who knows what the designer was thinking.  Yes, it coudl have been made without the angle but the mold would have been more complex.

    I wasn't a fan if the mirror tiles either. They were too thick (and because they were transparent, you could see the out-of-scale thickness).  I'm sure you'll come up with something more appropriate.  Maybe just flocking (although wall-to-wall carpeting in a bathroom seems impractical)? Or just make some opaque tiles from  thin styrene, paint them gloss white and black (or any other contrasting colors), then arrange them in a checkerboard pattern?

  10. While I hate to use that term, the paradigm has shifted.

    If someone has the CAD skills to design and then print (at home) their design on a 3D printer, that part is scratchbuilt just as much if it was created by gluing and shaping (by hand) some pieces of plastic.  In the case of 3D, that "hand" is on a computer mouse carving the design on the computer screen.  The brain is commanding that hand in either method of making that part.

    How about artists (painters)?  While someone can paint painting on a blank canvas using paints and paintbrush, someone else can create just as beautiful paintings on their computer screen. Does the fact that the painting was drawn on a computer make the artist less of an artist?

    • Like 2
  11. 9 hours ago, landman said:

    That is one of the differences, but the grille is the one which stand out the most. I'm not sure what issues your relative had but mine was dead reliable. The worst feature was its skittishness on icy roads, no weight on the rear combined with lots of power.

    We had that conversation quite some time ago, but one thing I recall was that she said the interior was really cheap (low-end). Like the interior door panels made of  cardboard.  But then again, these were econo-boxes, so maybe her expectations were too high.  I'm sure hers didn't have a V8.  I think they were also prone to rusting (but back then that was true for most cars).

  12. 6 hours ago, Monty said:

    So far, the best I've been able to do is get it set up so that the major repeat offenders end up in a spam file, but I was hoping there was a way to block them altogether.  I probably clean 20-30 out every day, and none of them are things I have used or searched for.  I may be the least computer-adept person on here, but I have no doubt someone has made something that would do what I need.  

    Monty, you are not the only one fed up with SPAM.  While at work all the SPAM is filtered before gets to me, I still go through several dozens of emails a day.  That is why I have rules set up to organize emails in different folders, and at the end of the day I purge them. This is a normal thing to do.  You have to realize that you will never be able to magically filter out all the SPAM.

    Most SPAM has nothing to do with items you searched for in your browser. Most come from Spammers who bought you email address on the Dark Web and just use it to flood you with all sorts of nefarious offers, or phishinig for information hoping you will reply or click on some bad link.

    You specifically mentioned Lume deodorant, SonoBello, Byte, Renewal by Anderson, camp lejeune stuff. Those types of emails can be easily dealt with by setting up Outlook rules (since they have keywords for Outlook to look for).   That will at least eliminate some of the unwanted stuff in your Inbox.  Doesn't your ISP have some SPAM filtering already built-in?

  13. Well, according to the Super Glue ads, small metal-to-metal bond can hold up a weight of a man. ;)  Of course the surfaces have to be perfectly clean and flat.  CA also has very little shear strength.
    But seriously I agree that epoxy is a better choice here. And not just some ordinary epoxy. I recommend J-B Weld, and not their 5-minute epoxy but the long setting stuff.  Yes, you will have to wait overnight, but those bonds will be really strong.  Placing the model in a dehydrator (or somewhere warm (like on top of a furnace or boiler) will also speed up the cure.

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