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peteski

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Posts posted by peteski

  1. I just saw someone in another post mention "testers" when they meant "Testors".  GRRRRRRRR!  That one drives me nuts (and I don't want to hear "auto-correct" as an excuse - this mistake has been made long since before schmart-phones were around).  If you use a company's product, learn how to spell the name correctly! :angry:

  2. There is about a dozen of different decal solutions out there in the hobby market. Some are based on acetic acid (have vinegar smell) while the others (stronger ones)  seem to be based on some sort of alcohol or another similar organic solvent (again based on their smell).

    A good primer on using the Microscale decal system is available in http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/graphics/Instructions/MSISysteminstr.pdf .

    While I don't use ink jet decal paper I'm pretty sure that you will need to seal the printed (water-soluble) ink before immersing the decal in water. Otherwise the ink will run when it gets wet.

  3. Maybe they referred to https://www.eti-usa.com/envirotex-lite/ as that is a 2-part epoxy compound used to encapsulate items, and it has a high-golss finish.  But not only the coat of that stuff is so thick that it would make your model look like it was coveredy by ice, it also takes 12 hours to set (so it wold simply just flow off your model before it set.

    There are also epoxy-based paints (which could be used on a model), but I never seen an epoxy-based clear paint.

    I would also discourage anybody from using epoxy as lenses for model car gauges.  Some of the stuff (like the one shown in the initial post) has amber tint to it, and in my experience epoxy adhesives will yellow (or even turn brown) after few years.

  4.  

    I highly recommend it to use on open containers of paint. After use, wipe the edge off, put a piece of PNS on it and screw the lid on. No more almost impossible to remove sticking lids.

    Why not just plain plastic wrap or even thin plastic bag material?  PNS has pressure sensitive adhesive which comes off fairly easy. Now add some solvent from the paint and the adhesive will most likely dissolve and stick to the lip on the jar.  Not something I would like to see on the lip of my jars. :)

  5. I also heard that modelers use this stuff and like it so I decided to give it a go.

    I tried once and never again - still have the roll in my workshop.  While it worked well as a mask for large areas, after it was removed it left plenty of the sticky adhesive on the model!  It was a mess!  The funny thing is that I didn't even use it for masking paint - I simply applied over the model to protect it from fingerprints while I was handling it.  So it is not like the paint was not dry, or the solvent from the new coat of paint somehow permeated the wrap and dissolved the glue.

    I say: stay away!

  6. You have a point there. Most of the "unreliable" ratings given to today's cars are due to electronics and gizmos, not mechanical reliabilty.

    Does it really matter whether the problem is mechanical or electronic when the car is unable to run?  Nope!  It is broken.  All that goes under the overall reliability ratings. Then regardless whether it is mechanical or electronic failure, there are repair costs.  See where I'm going with this?  The failures might have have shifted from mechanical to electronics, but they are still failures. 

  7. I use as few of the paint layers as possible (to improve model's realism). I often shoot plastic-safe paints over clean bare plastic. I use organic-solvent-based paints like Testors or Tamiya sprays.  Those solvents do not craze plastic but have enough "bite" to firmly adhere to the plastic. Or whatever they have (as I think this "bite" think is just something modelers made up). The binder material in the paint bonds to the model's surface on a molecular or even atomic level. No solvent "bite" required.  If you think about it, even the shiniest surface is really rough when you look at it under extreme magnification. That is where the bonding occurs.

    Primers do have their place when the painted surface will be made up from multiple materials (such as mix of plastic, putty, or resin parts). Then the primer coat provides a uniform surface for the paint over all those materials.

  8. I'd say you nailed it. I couldn't figure out the role of the vertical rod on the front -- maybe a drop-down stabilizer to keep the car in place when it's at rest?

    Looking at the photo you questioned, and at Harry's finished model photos, I think that the rod with a loop-handle on the end is for manually throwing the turnouts.  When I used to ride trolleys in Poland in the '70s I used to love to sit up front and watch the motorman drive it.  Every once in a while the remotel-controlled turnout would not throw as expected. He would stop the trolley car and grab a rod just like the one on this trolley (it was stored inside the trolley). Then he would go out to the turnout and stick the rod in a slot in a metal cover over the switch machine and manually throw the turnout to the desired route.

     

    BTW, nice job on the model Harry!

  9. Yeah, Peteski.  I have a 3-oz. bottle I got from "Chicago Airbrush Supply".  I successfully decanted the entire spray-can and after I thinned it out properly (it is still too thick) it filled the 3-oz. jar, and it is still too thick.  I did successfully airbrush with it but I had to turn the pressure way up ( 40 psi).  Hope it helps.

    Thinning paint for airbrushing, the air pressure and needle opening are all something that everybody does a bit different: a skill that you learn on your own.  If the paint is thick, you could try to open the needle up more instead of raising air pressure. You might find a a setting which will work for you. Or just add more thinner.

  10. Use white PVA glue, no problem. It's a non-solvent based adhesive so it won't attack detail. Plenty strong enough to hold lenses, dries to be absolutely invisible if you use it right...and it's easy.

    It is not about attacking the details - if any glue oozes out from the perimeter of the lens to under the lens, it will fill in some of the delicate engraving.

  11. It's short for I appreciate it. I most often hear it used on NNN, the Non News Network. 

    Ah, that explains why I haven't encountered that phrase.

     

    I don't know if I already mentioned this earlier in the thread but I hate when "ask" is used instead of "question".  For example, someone says "What is the ask?", instead of saying "What is the question?".  Or "The ask is..." Instead of "I would like to ask you...". That really gets under my skin (coming from my manager during company meetings).

  12. To put my 2 cents in: I recently decanted Tamiya laquer and after letting it sit in an open jar (for 6 hrs.?) and I had to add a LOT of laquer thinner to get to the (thin)viscosity AND turn the pressure way up.  I probably got at least 4 ounces of paint out of that aerosol can after it was thinned way down.

    There is a lot of propellant (propane or butane) dissolved in the paint in aerosol cans.  That has to degas before you can use that paint for airbrushing. I never totally leave the jar open - I put the lid on but leave it loose.  Decanted paint is usually thicker in consistency than what you normally use in an airbrush.

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