peteski
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Posts posted by peteski
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Very well built models.
I have the Indian - hopefully I'll build it someday.
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Weren't Probes just rebadged Mazdas?
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That came out great!
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I love the bumper sticker!
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Sellers do get creative.
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21 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:
I have 1TB in my desktop...used to seem like a lot, now not so much...
Sure, but you aren't paying hosting fees like Model Cars Forum does. I've been involved with computers for a long time (my first computer came with 1 kB (1024 bytes) of RAM, and I have always been striving to minimize storage use. Nothing wrong with that.
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On 2/19/2024 at 12:48 PM, Dave Ambrose said:
Once upon a time, we had that recommendation ourselves. Forums get to an awkward size where they don't fit well with any of the "mainstream" hosting platforms. We went through this a long time ago. Had to move our hosting platform several times within a few years.
We're fortunate to be able to support a dedicated server. That expenditure gets supported by the ever so obnoxious ads. We have 500GB of content now. That presents a few challenges too, but we can readily meet them.
I'm a big proponent of resizing photos to a size that is "forum friendly". I usually use 1200 pixels across, and file size is usually much less than 0.5MB. Whenever I see a thread when a newbie is asking how to upload photos to the forum, I suggest resizing them first. I've seen some photos uploaded here with large enough resolution to print out a poster size print. It is not really necessary, and it eats up the server's storage space. I also realize that not everybody is tech-savvy to easily resize photos, or doesn' want to be bothered to do it. Does the forum software have a feature which would automatically resize photos to a forum friendly size? In a long run that would lessen the amount of server's storage space used up by photos. Another forum I frequent also hosts photos locally and has the automatic resizing feature enabled, it also increases the compression ratio on JPGs, so that further reduces storage requirement, and the photos still look decent. We are now here at half of Tera Byte. How long til we get to 1TB? Something to ponder . . .
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1 minute ago, Ace-Garageguy said:
Nope. Nope. Nope.
I have threads going back to 2012 that are still visible.
That is, I believe, more than 365 days.
I just tried. If I go to the very last page of topics in this section it shows threads from 2006!
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38 minutes ago, 64SS350 said:
If there is no activity for l believe 365 days, it goes .. incognito...but not gone
Interesting. Then how do some users here find threads that are several years old and bring them back from the dead?
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17 minutes ago, Zippi said:
Thanks. I didn't see it so I'm going to assume it was deleted.
Unless there was a very good reason (like trolling or bad language), I find it hard to believe that it was deleted. Even then, threads aren't deleted, but made invisible or put in some section of the forum not accessible to regular users.
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4 hours ago, bobss396 said:
I skipped out of FB maybe 5 years ago, I may have checked in a couple of years ago, but to me it is a big waster of time. Plus being full of malcontents and attention-whores. There, I said it.
I've said this before, I used to catch flak at shows by using parts I had machined up, I made some on CNC equipment. People would say that it gave me an "unfair advantage". By the same token there are many a model decked out with layers of PE parts at shows. More power to those who literally think outside of the kit box.
I agree. Unfair advantage in what? Sounds like they are thinking of competition in model contests. Sure, that is true for trophy-whores (yes I also said that), but model building should be done for your own enjoyment, so as far as I can see, everything goes. You might or might not even enter a contest. And even if you have whatever advantage they think is from machining your own parts, or using 3-D printing, if your assembly techniques and paint jobs are crappy, you won't be winning top honors.
What I saying that in order to win trophies, you have be pretty damn good modeler, regardless of what extra parts you are slapping on, or whether you are using 3-D printing. The whole thing makes no sense, but as I said, social media brings out the worst in some people. Not that this unwarranted jealousy wasn't present, but it was only discussed by few disenchanted modelers whispering in the corner of the model contest hall (not instantly broadcast to hundreds of people).
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Whenever I can I use Tungsten/Carbide (TC) bits with 1/8" shanks which come from PC board manufacturing industry. The are extremely hard and have split point which makes them go through most materials like butter. Yes, the harness also makes them very fragile, but I'm willing to take that chance (I do break my share of them). We had a discussion here about those bits.
I highly recommend reading that thread.
And another one:
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10 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:
I think of it more as "disinterested".
Well, the way some of the FB members of the group mentioned by the OP were behaving, it was a bit more than being disinterested.
Getting mad at someone who post info on some 3-D printed model they've built and chewing them out is not quite "being disinterested" If someone was just disinterested, they would look at the model, say "meh", and move on. Catch my drift? Again, I think it is the social media bringing out the worst in otherwise normally behaving people. I can even see me sometimes getting too passionate about things I say online.
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11 hours ago, NOBLNG said:
And the disc diameter will shrink slightly as you dome it, so a tad bigger disc may be better than smaller. The more curvature you give it, the more it will shrink.
That's what I suspected. After all you are taking a flat disk and making a dome out of it. So it gets cupped, making it smaller.
Think of a brown paper cup which holds a Reese's peanut butter cup. When you flatten it, the paper stretches out quite a bit larger than the cupped version. Yes, this is a rather extreme example, but similar process takes place during doming.10 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:Yes, definitely. My block set has 24 holes/dies from 2.3mm-24mm. I think I found it at HF. The block is a cube, as opposed to the rectangular shape of Allan's, above. It really makes for a nice set of headlights.
Thanks for the confirmation.
As for hypodermic tubing, I used to get mine from Small Parts Inc., a great source of lots of useful items. But some years ago, they got absorbed into amazon, and the amazon store is useless trying to locate anything.
But I've found a source of similar type of supplies. They have very wide range of hypodermic tubing and other items which can be useful in model building.
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Just a warning: These paints are fairly "hot". If sprayed on heavily they might slightly craze some kit's plastics.
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19 hours ago, jdhog said:
I've noticed on several Facebook groups that 3D printed kits aren't widely accepted. As a matter of fact, I've seen several people get really angry when someone posts a 3D printed build.
I already posted my opinion on this but I think I would like a further explanation of this (no, I'm not on FB, and not planning on joining).
What modeling groups are those? People who build standard injection-molded polystyrene kits? Or some group that builds models from scratch maybe?
What specific reasons those individuals give for rejecting 3-D printed models? How about urethane resin cast models which have been around for long time? Are those models ok in their eyes? How about resin cast models produced in a mold where a 3-D printed model was used as a master?
This lack of acceptance seems very silly and limiting. It absolutely makes no sense, but in today's highly polarized world, this is not unexpected. Someone gets some totally unreasonable notion about something, posts it on the Internet, and suddenly we have a mob. Some of those people need a "clue bat".
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7 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:
Since I told him about the doming block, I can answer this. I use a punch of the proper size for the headlight, from a set I bought at Harbor Freight. I drop the resulting disc into the chosen "dimple" in the doming block, and use the proper die, for the size. They dome, smoothly.
Thanks Daniel, that clarifies things. I thought you were placing flat piece of aluminum over the surface of the female die, then pressing it into the depression using the male part of the die. Kind of what you would when punching the metal in a regular punch/die set. That also answers my subsequent question about trimming the finished reflector out of the flat sheet - there is nothing to trim. Now it is all clear.
Using this technique you are limited to the sizes available in a doming set. Do those provide proper sizes for headlights which would be replacing kit's solid headlights drilled out of the grille of many older kits (or promos) where the headlight was integral part of the grille? Judging by the photos you posted, the answer is yes, close enough.
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We had a lengthy discussion about similar dilemma: what is considered scrachbuilding. 3-D printing came up in there too. Who cares what technology created a scale model? It's all good! The end result (the pleasure of building, and a finished scale model) is what counts.
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It is actually a type of paint, not a dye. Dye basically gets absorbed into the material being dyed. Thinks of tie-dyed t-shirts.
This stuff (like paint) remains on the surface. But it adheres to the painted surface really well, and it is flexible. I used the white color spray to paint whitewalls on vinyl tires of a Pocher 1:8 scale car.
I use the SEM brand (bought at a body shop supplies store)
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Duh, I just went back and read your initial post in this thread. You did choose to use Inkscape for artwork design. That is a good start!
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6 hours ago, Jonathan said:
I appreciate all of the insight. I've been able to make the printer work by running Windows 7 in a virtual machine (VMWare Workstation Player). I'm using some off-brand USB to Parallel cable. Now to actually print a decal ...
Yes, designing artwork and then knowing how to get the most out of the Alps printer will take some learning.
Did you read through the newbie info in the groups.io? https://alps.groups.io/g/ALPS/files/Newbie_Info
In there I make a reference to Rob de Bie's Alps webpage. https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/decals.htm He created an excellent primer on design and printing of decals and in understanding some of the printer's shortcomings. Rob is also a member of this forum.
Like Rob, I highly recommend doing the artwork in a vector-based graphic program. Using that format allows to easily resize or change colors, and also make them accurately sized without experimenting. I use Corel Draw version 10 and 12. Those are very old versions, but even those have more features I'll even need for artwork design. There is also free vector-based software called Inkscape. But as I mentioned, there is a learning curve involved so don't expect becoming proficient in couple of days.
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2 hours ago, Aaronw said:
There is now white toner available for some laser printers but it is very expensive. ALPS is still the only "easy" DIY option for printing metallics that I know of.
That's correct. And those laser printers cannot retain paper in the printed for multiple layers of inks like Alps can. That feature allows for effects not possible with laser printers. And yes, metallic and foils are another feature that is not available on laser printer.
There is a process available for printing white and metallics decals using standard laser printers, but it is rather cumbersome. It is DecalProFx. Actually I just checked and it looks like they have scaled down their online presence, but the printing system still appears to be available: https://pulsarprofx.com/
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5 hours ago, roadhawg said:
As an Alps printer guru and leading advisor on the groups.IO page I'm sure you know the beloved Tango Papa decal paper is still available from
True, but it is not the same. Some users reported that the paper is nothing like what TangoPapa used to sell. I personally don't use it so I didn't pay too much attention, but I do remember people not being happy about the change.
Here is a thread about this from last December: https://alps.groups.io/g/ALPS/topic/decal_paper/103422747
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Yes Alps is capable of printing white, and also metallic colors.
Paint solvent
in Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials
Posted
Are the ingredients listed on the label? Usually chemical bottles have those listed.
It is probably what we call Odorless Paint Thinner. It is petroleum based and still has a slight odor. Can likely be used for solvent based enamels (like Humbrol and Testors PLA enamel).
I don't airbrush acrylic water-based paints because they are difficult to clean out of the airbrush.