Skip

Try eBay “Doll House Miniatures” or “G Scale Miniatures” or “G Scale Buildings” or “Chimneyville” and “75 mm Figures” maybe “Scenes Unlimited” for a start. Then follow wherever those searches cross reference to should get you pretty closets what you’re after.

Early Dragsters, Altereds - Liquid coolant in block expansion tank. Early 60’s Dragsters, Altereds - Liquid coolant in block with or without expansion tank, moving towards filling the block with concrete grout. Later 60’s & Post Fuel Ban Dragsters, Altereds, Funny Car - Almost exclusively concrete grout filled block, with some holdouts still filling blocks with liquid coolant. 70’s Onward - Dragsters, Funny Cars, Altereds - Iron Block Cars - Nearly all cars ran with concrete grout filled blocks, fewer and fewer were running liquid coolant. Aluminum Block cars solid billet no cooling passages. My high school girlfriend’s dad ran AA/FD, I started hanging around the shop in about 69 through 75 when I left for college. I know they ran grout in all their Mopar based iron blocks. I know this because I helped mix it a few times as they were filling the blocks.

Most two piece tires can be glued together with a vinyl cement, (same glue used to patch waterbed mattresses, inflatable kiddie pools, etc.) Vinyl cement melts and fuses the two part tires together producing a welded joint/bond, superglue only produces a weaker mechanical bond.

Another brand to consider- Paasche I have the 30” Paasche paint booth, they make a smaller 22” unit as well (check Coast Airbrush or Paasche). I got my booth from Coast. I always stop by Coast Airbrush when I’m near Anaheim, CA. I was looking at the smaller 22” booth and talking to (Commercial Accounts rep. / Owner) David (Monnig) about it when he told me he had an unused, returned 30” booth, not in its original packaging. I ended up paying same price as the 22” booth I was looking at, less $50. Both of us were happy with that. He even shipped it for us, so we didn’t have to pack it in the car while we were traveling, (it was waiting for me at the neighbors when we got home). I’ve had the booth for 15+ years and I’ve been really happy with it, never had any problem either. The Paasche is of the same type of quality construction and air evacuation properties as the similar sized Pace units, (I looked at both). As far as 2K clear coats or any catylized, or epoxy type paints; pretty sure that there isn’t a hobby paint booth on the market that will scrub both odor and harmful inhalents enough that one could stand next to the discharge and not be affected by it’s fumes. Spray booths are mainly to contain and evacuate the harmful components of the material being sprayed. You still have to wear respiratory PPE when using a hobby spray booth. I vent mine out a side window with a vent kit from Micro-Mark. My wife tells me she can smell the enamel, lacquer, acrylic lacquer… paint fumes in the nearby garden, it dissipates pretty quickly though, I’ve never had the next door neighbor complain about it. (They did when I used to spray projects outside.) After I get done painting, I keep the booth running and place the dehydrator right in front of it. I used to get the “that stinks” comments when curing paint in the dehydrator, haven’t heard it since I started venting. TIP: No. 1. Line the interior of the spray booth with freezer paper, it will catch the overspray keeping it off the booth itself. Change out the freezer paper when you get too much build up, cuts down on the chance of paint particulate related “dust” which can drop in to haunt your perfect paint! I line it right up to the filter opening and around the front of the booth. No. 2. Vacuum the interior of the booth frequently, as in before you use it. Vacuum the pre-filter as well, if something accidentally gets dropped, it could cause a shower of ultra fine paint dust to rain down on your project. (Never happened to me but I know someone it has, it wasn’t pretty either.)

Not totally familiar with the Bondic material, pretty sure it is stable enough to fill the gap but it’s not styrene. I’m not saying “it ain’t gonna work!” I’ve used the above method for some time on old glue bombs and rare kits where significant areas require replacement. The remove and replace styrene with styrene has always worked out well, probably because it’s the same stuff. I’ve found that fitting the section that’s been removed with a new section that fits in as tightly as possible yields a stable patch. The best patch material are panels from another glue bomb kit of same vintage, or even another body like the one being repaired. On newer stuff I typically use either Plastruct or Evergreen sheet, it’s pretty close to the Chinese recycled styrene. Plus it is soft enough that it can be formed to fit the contours of the section it’s replacing. I believe I first saw this repair method in Fine Scale Modeler, probably 30+ years ago for ship and aircraft models, I’ve seen and heard of other variations, I just adapted it to fit my needs. (CA glue and baking soda is another gap filling method which I’ve also used in repairing old collectible models, (Sci-Fi stuff, Aurora diorama & horror stuff long before any of them were re-released. - Courtesy of The Amazing Figure Modeler magazine.) [ I have several examples of original Revell - Ed Roth monsters, Hawk - Wired Ohs, Revell, SMP, AMT annuals, Johan kits and Promos…. In my collection and collections of others some over 25 years old with this type of repair which are as stable as the day they were repaired. ] if the Bondic works I’m all ears, I'm always looking for easier ways to fix stuff, as long as it’s stable and can stand the test of time, (I.e. no separation or hairline cracking etc.).

Quick answer, yes, for the enamels and lacquers. Although for water base acrylics I prefer a synthetic brush (they call them a synthetic Sable and other catchy names to let you know they are fake fur). For me being a pin striper and sign writer, my feeling is that the synthetic fiber brushes have more snap to them than a natural hair brush does, even the Kolinsky, that's just my opinion. I also don't use a brush for both solvent base paint and water based paints, it's a one or the other use. While on the subject of Acrylics, we are talking water base acrylic paint not Acrylic Enamel or Urethane. Water base and Acrylic paints especially acrylics are very hard on natural hair brushes, they perform well but they are hard on the hair behind the ferrule. Kolinsky brushes first and foremost are a high end water color brush so they are going to perform amazingly with water colors. Acrylic paint wicks under the ferrule and begins breaking down the natural hair fibers in time the individual hairs will snap at the ferrule. If you want to use them with water base acrylic paints then periodically deep clean them with an ultrasonic cleaner, the paint residue just seems to boil out from under the ferrule! Clean and dry the brush by dipping in clean water and gently drawing it through a clean dry cloth until the brush is dry, shape with your fingers and either lay flat or stand it on its handle end. Water color brushes can be stored with a light coating of brush soap in them to retain their shape, just wash it out before use. Enamels, Enamel / lacquer thinner, Lacquers, as long as the brush is properly cleaned it should last you for years. I have a few in my sign kit that were given to me as an 18 year old apprentice sign writer. They are fast approaching fifty years old, still as limber and snappy as they were when I got them! They have always been cleaned using a three pot cleaning system, (dirty, sorta dirty, clean). The natural bristles have never had their hair pulled hard either, a light tug is all that it takes as you draw the cleaned brush through a soft cloth. Paper towels are for wiping up spills and messes not cleaning brushes. They will leave lint behind in the brush that will adhere the the hair only to come out the next time you are using the brush. This is optional for modeling but helps the brush fight against paint build up under the ferrule. Once the brush is cleaned, dip the brush in either pure Neatsfoot oil or (most common) mineral oil, then draw it through a soft cloth, shape the brush with your fingers store either laying flat or standing on the end of the handle. Never, ever, stand any brush on its bristle end, it will pick up a bend that although you can work out you'll wish you hadn't! If you oiled the brush, clean it before use by dipping into lacquer thinner and lightly drawing it through a soft cloth until it looks like it just got a shampoo when dry. You may hear some pin stripers and sigh writers mention using transmission fluid as a brush oil. It works but most transmission fluid now days have detergents in them that are hard on the brush. Most of the older sign guys like myself are of the opinion that the detergents harm the brush. (Read that experience tells us, leave the transmission fluid in the automatic transmission not your brush!)

Remove short shot section in about 1/4” long section, leave as much of the left corner as possible. (Cut should be just as long as it takes to remove the affected material.). Next square up the cuts. Measure the two widths and thicknesses of the two individual steps, get the closest sized Evergreen Scale Models, “Strip Styrene”. Cut the two styrene strips to length and compare their width, match the width as closely as you possibly can. Now is the time to match the radius on the long edges to the edges of the door glass opening. Using liquid cement, glue in first strip making sure it is in place square with as tight of a fit as possible, should almost be a pressure fit before cementing in. Lightly sand and do the body work prep for the first strip using a fine sanding stick. Do the same for the top strip to form the stepped section. Lightly sand using fine sanding stick, brush the dust out of the joints with an old toothbrush. Next run a small bit of thick gap filling CA (superglue) glue into the joints and press it in with a light piece of card stock, wiping away as much excess as you can. Carefully sand the joints, the superglue is harder than the styrene use care not to sand the styrene lo wer than the glue joint. Finally fill the joint areas only with any lacquer based glazing filler, it should barely take a smidgen of filler, use a single edged razor blade lengthwise to lengthwise on the body to work and smooth the glaze. Allow glaze to set up in your dehydrator or ambient temperature until fully cured. Sand and blend out any high spots with a fine sanding stick, prime, repeat any wet sanding as required with a super fine sanding stick, repeat spot priming as necessary to work out any evidence of the joint or ghosting. Prime and topcoat as per your normal procedures and you shouldn’t be able to see the repair after the first full body primer coat.

Contact the manufacturer, tell them your concerns. They probably have real engineering into the development of their products and can likely solve most end user issues or at the very least inform you that you are overtaxing the limits of their product. Pace has probably invested tons of R & D into their paint booths so they’ve dealt with many scenarios that the end user could too. I think from an engineering standpoint you are going to get a better answer from the manufacturer than you will here or anywhere else because Pace has a vested interest in their own product.

Got the same shaker off of eBay, I love it. For high solid/pigment acrylics or the square Testers enamels in glass bottles you can’t beat it. I’ve always had issues with some acrylics getting the pigment fully mixed in with the acrylic and this always does the trick! I’ve used it with everything I shoot through my airbrush, never had any issues with air bubbles in the mix, but I normally allow the mix to rest after any heavy agitation of any kind. After the mix rests it’s normally stirred gently just like you’d normally do with any automotive paint. I also have a Badger paint mixer, which in my opinion doesn’t do quite as good as the shaker does, especially on enamels that the pigment is all sitting on the bottom of the bottle. The mixer left pigment on the bottom of the jar where the shakers agitation left none. Paint shops and hardware stores shake paint for a reason, probably because mixing is messier or maybe because it works better…. They’ve probably tried about every way to mix paint that there is and they shake away! Probably the best $30 I’ve spent on any paint gadget in a while, if I could get my One Shot enamels (1/2 pints) to shake on it I would in a heartbeat!

I’d have to agree, I’ve used some of the others but when I’m using a prewired distributor I like Morgan Automotive Detail about the best. Now for predrilled, wire your own, hands down it’s Norm Veber’s Replicas & Miniatures of Maryland. Both companies put out excellent distributors that are easy to work with, beats drilling, which I still do that too.

How about using something like a painters maul stick or some sort of bridge to use as a hand rest to steady your hand? Sign painters and artists have used them forever, I have a couple of them in my sign kit. They are invaluable for off balance work both sign painting and striping. You can make a bridge with a stack of books and a piece of wood that spans across the stacks with your work piece between resting your hand on the slat to perform the task that you need a steady hand to perform. Another trick with both maul stick and bridge is using a two-handed grip on the tool, one hand grasps the tool or paint brush while your non-dominant hand holds and steadies your dominant hand. If you find the bridge works for you, then you can make a more permanent bridge with a couple of pieces of wood to support the slat, either nail, glue or screw the pieces together. Dick Blick and other art stores carry maul sticks, or just search for a painter’s maul stick. You can easily make one yourself with a length of 1/2” or thicker dowel, a cork or rubber ball to attach to the dowel to provide control to the stick.

Did this about a year ago on a '53 F100 commission build. I used the 6 out of the Mobius Ford F100 pickup (eBay engine only), to replicate the earlier Ford 215" engine. First you will need to cut the block from the bellhousing plate and reverse ends so that the Intake, exhaust and ignition system is all on the right sides. If you are careful slicing the bellhousing end plate off of the engine block there should only be a little flat sheet and a tiny bit of filler added to the front of the block to square things up for the front cover. I think I also had to reverse the direction of the oil pan to fit the AMT '53. The Mobius kit also came with motor mounts which I used to mount the engine in the AMT '53. From there you will need either the valve cover from a Chevrolet strait six. Or as I did scratch build the valve cover which is not even as difficult as it sounds. First radius sides and ends, file in the three sets of double grooves, add some nuts and studs and you've got it! I found it easier to make the valve cover slightly under sized to the top of the block to fool the eye into seeing the "Lip" on the bottom of the valve cover. I made an intake manifold and triple carb setup to match the engine in the truck. Then created the dual exhaust manifolds by slicing and dicing two Left hand side small block Ford cast iron manifolds. After that the engine assembles the same as the Mobius six did. I used the transmission from the AMT '53 Ford on the modified/reversed engine setup. My customer was very pleased with the conversion, and I ended up with a ton of early Hot Rod type parts for my stash! When doing engine swaps and conversions like this, the eBay kit breakers are your friend you get the parts you need without buying the whole kit.

Bingo! I have had excellent results using my Ultrasonic Cleaner and Castrol Super Clean. Temp is adjustable on mine so I adjust to just barely warm then dunk the body or parts into the Purple Pond, switch on the ultrasonic and allow it to work. My experience is with a fresh batch of Super Clean that you will have a stripped body in about half the time for really nasty paints. For enamels, lacquers and acrylic lacquers that have been sprayed in a reasonable coating thickness, primer + topcoat, I’ve had the paint dissolved off the body in as little as two hours. Average time I’d say would be 4 - 6 +/- hours. So yes the ultrasonic agitation does help the Super Clean do it’s work. This is also at the low to mid-range settings on the ultrasonic agitation. I am sort of leery of cranking the ultrasonic agitation up to the highest settings after watching a video where they placed a piece of jewelry in a aluminum foil packet and cranked the power up to max. The ultrasonic cavitation on the foil ate through the foil and exposed the piece in the foil. The foil was eaten from outside in, demonstrating the ability cavitation to destroy a surface exposed to excessive amounts of cavitation; acts like tiny hammers picking away at the surface. This backs up what I remember from college classes in Mechanical Engineering regarding erosive cavitation damage leading to the failure of metal surfaces. I would expect to see similar erosive damage to a styrene surface with excessive amounts of ultrasonic cavitation. Guess you would have to experiment with spruce or a scrap body to see what it will take to turn the body to scrap. Come to think of it if it worked might be a great way to weather styrene in a more natural way...

I have a center finder from Starrett that does the job too. If you don't have a Center Finder the other way to do this is use a set of dial or digital calipers, first measure the O.D. of the Rod. Second, divide that measurement in half if it was 0.500" (1/2") then the center is at 0.250" (1/4"), set your calipers at 0.250" and lightly tighten the set screw. With the little ledge between the moving jaw of the caliper and the fixed jaw at the top of the caliper, set the rod on the top of the moveable jaw. Next, mark straight across the rod, turn the rod 90 degrees and mark again. The intersection of the two lines is the center point of the rod. If you want to prove this out, rotate the rod 45 degrees and mark, if the line intersects the first two you have found dead center. This is really easy to do as well, just sounds harder than it really is. If you don't have a set of Dial or Digital Calipers, Harbor Freight sells a 6" set that is perfect for modeling if you watch the sales you can often find them for under $10, I've had my set so long I think I paid something like $8 on sale. I use those and leave my Brown and Sharp, Starrett and Mitutoyo measuring equipment in the machinist chest, they are every bit as accurate as the name brands. Just make sure that you hit the off button every time you finish measuring with them or they will eat batteries.

Great job Daniel, when I saw your original post, I immediately thought that you have the "male" part of the punch figured out. Now you need a "female" half of the die to form the cut louver. You must have looked up and saw what a full sized louver press and its dies looked like because you nailed it. This could be accomplished with a small arbor press, (the rack and pinion kind not the hydraulic press kind). Even an old drill press could do the job, I say old because the pressure of punching through even the thinnest aluminum or tin is going to be enough to stress the bearings or likely bushings if its a Chinese drill press and throw the accuracy out the window for drilling even a straight hole. Now, that you've figured out how to punch your own louvers, look up some more information on full sized louver pressing to make sure you get them laid out before you punch them by eyeball. Most of the articles that I've seen highlighting the process in magazines show the process and measurements to center the louvers so they are in perfect spacing. You know, if you get this down you might be able to sell louvered flat panels that could be cut and placed onto a models flat panel... Just a thought.

I'd second the Vallejo paints, Hobby Lobby also carries the single bottles of flesh tones needed so you can pick up light and dark flesh tones to mix the desired tone. For the Vallejo Model Color paints you should need very little if any thinner. If you do I would use the flat "varnish" medium or even a drop of their thinner. For spraying acrylics. I know that lots of people advocate the use of windshield washer fluids; I've had much better luck using the same brand of paint's reducer / thinner intended for their brand of paint. Figure it this way, most paint companies spend a ton of money to formulate their product line, including reducers and thinners, so why cut corners and try to reinvent the wheel. Your paint work is the first thing most people are going to notice about your work, why take chances?

Why not use a clear acetate overlay the same size as the decal, I've done that plenty of times with printed gauges. I've had the ink run or lose the crispness of the detail trying to overcoat the gauge decal/printed image on both paper and especially photo paper. It may be worth an experiment trying to use the old 5 minute epoxy trick for replicating gauge glass. I say experiment before using it because the last time I tried the 5 Minute epoxy developed air bubbles even with ultra slow mixing; so I ended up using the clear acetate overlay. If you cut it just right there is almost a pressure fit and no adhesive needed, otherwise I use a tiny dab of watch crystal cement.

OK, Polishing was probably a poor choice of words here as it brings up the idea of "Final Polishing" a paint job; the term Color Sanding would probably have been more appropriate. Where the goal is to be knocking down the high spots and lowering to the bottom of the low spots for a smooth, flat, level surface. The 1000 or 1500 grit sand papers are the final color sanding grits used before shooting the acrylic. My goal is smooth but with enough bite for the acrylic color coat to bite into and still lay smooth so no sanding scratches, orange peel, shrinkage can be seen. Primer does shrink and does burn the styrene a little, that's why I color sand it, if you don't it will show through the color coat and into the clear coat, so we want baby bum smooth here! Since acrylic paint likes to follow the primed surface it will show any imperfection in the primed surface through to the color coat after the acrylic has cured and shrunk in. You can color sand slight imperfections in acrylic, if you are very careful and use really fine grits of paper or non-wax polish, the polish is a gamble you may have to use a wax remover before shooting the clear coat. Slight imperfections would be a dust spot, really small fine hair or lint, I've never had good luck trying to get a dog hair or beard hair out of acrylic it's just not forgiving enough, soft and thin doesn't make for a good color sanding. You have basically established two barriers over the styrene to be able to shoot a lacquer based or other hotter top coat. First the primer acts as somewhat of a permeable barrier to allow a normal lacquer to be shot over it. You're taking a chance with hot lacquer over primer, it might burn and it might not, so stick to what's worked in the past. Second the acrylic is another barrier which is far less permeable than the primer , the acrylic acts more like a sealer. I have never used it but have read more than once where some painters use an acrylic such as Future over the bare styrene or primer to provide a barrier to shoot a "Hot Lacquer" without burning / crazing the styrene. I think I read once that someone used Future over silver paint to provide a bleed barrier for red styrene which kept bleeding through their color coat, (I haven't tried that one yet either), makes sense though.

I've used the Auto Air and Wicked Color lines for quite a few projects and models and have had really good success with them. Things to remember about Acrylic paints: 1. Acrylic paints have a shelf life, don't buy more paint than you will use in 3 - 6 months time. I've purchased some really old Auto Air and Wicked Colors opened them and found old coagulated paint inside. I suppose you could strain it, but I always return it to where I purchased it. (Hobby Lobby exchanges it no questions, as does everywhere else I've bought Createx products. I've got more old paint from Hobby Lobby than anywhere else.) 2. Much of the paint work that I do with Acrylic paints are done for paying customers not myself. So I always use the Paint Manufacturer's Recommended Reducer / Thinners and have never had any issues. They've put a lot of science, time and effort into developing their product; why reinvent the wheel? 3. Acrylic paint, lacking a solvent to bite into the surface like a bit of a tooth to properly adhere to so they don't like bare plastics. Normally any good solvent base automotive primer (spray can or mix your own through an airbrush or spray gun) works it's solvent provides the bite into to the substrate and the tooth the acrylic likes as well. Try to match the primer color with to the acrylic color, you can't go wrong with white primer, brightens up almost any color of acrylic paint. 4. Acrylic paints, shrink in more than solvent based paints, so they require a smoother orange peel free primer surface. I've had good luck "polishing" out prime with 1000 and 1500 grits of sand paper to prepare the surface for the acrylic paints. Remember cheaper paints (not just acrylics) have less pigment particles in them, which is why they don't cover as well as "better" paints; you get what you pay for; thankfully we are not talking about Createx acrylic paints. More coats do not always equal a better paint job with acrylics, can lead to obscuring details. If the surface is too smooth the acrylic paint will let you know by beading up, it will also let you know if the surface is too rough by showing every imperfection in the surface. Acrylic paints do not respond well to polishing efforts, to put your effort into providing a smooth primed surface for the acrylic paint to lay down on; 5. Clear Coats, I've had really good luck with Duplicolor (and other decanted, touch up spray can primers) and catalyzed automotive clear coats (which I generally apply through a cheaper single action airbrush for the catalyzed clear coats, you will have to experiment a little with air pressure to get what works for your application). Polish the clear, most clear coats shrink in as they "dry" so they leave a bit of wrinkled surface as the clear cures. Use just enough abrasive grit to get to the bottom of the clear coat imperfections working finer then polish and wax. Sorry for long explanation but this what I normally do to get good results on my projects. Develop a system that works for you and don't deviate from it.

Sanding Sticks - Gum rubber abrasive cleaning pad, gum rubber artists eraser. Deep cleaning hot water a drop of dish soap and a toothbrush, most sanding sticks are “Wet / Dry” type abrasives. After three or four deep cleaning sessions the sanding stick has about had it when the abrasive particles have rounded off and it takes more effort to do the job. Steel Files - Brass Brush, file card. Stainless steel brushes are nowhere near as hard as tool steel but repeated cleaning with a steel brush will round the sharp cutting edges of the file over time. A steel file shouldn’t rust unless it is allowed to get near water or stored in high humidity environment, if it is rusting in a modeling room, you have other issues to deal with.

Tom, like everyone else has said the filters will not last as long. I have a Paasche booth, pretty similar to the Pace booths, I spray a mix of airbrush and canned paints depending on the part or desired finish. Not entirely sure about the Pace booths filter system but the Paasche booth has a three stage filter, one coarse pad, followed by two finer filter pads the coarse pad always loads up first with fine dusty paint pigment particles which are completely dry and easily shake loose. So I take the filter outside and lightly beat it like a rug until it isn’t giving off a dust cloud, then I take it to the shop vacuum (outside) and clean it up, then reinstall the filter stack and paint on! I’d do this level of cleaning about every 5 or 6 spray can paint jobs without a prefilter. The other “Clean” thing I do is line the entire inside of the booth with either heavy Kraft or Freezer Paper, which I dry wipe before and after I paint with a poof can or airbrush. This and keeping clean filters will cut down on contamination in your paint. I think it’s more important to do so with spray can painting because you generate more dust (pigment) particles. Prefiltration - My good buddy David Monnig at Coast Airbrush turned me on to this trick, get a cheap furnace filter slightly larger than your filter intake opening, (the cardboard framed kind). Next use duct tape to tape it over the spray booths intake, you now have a very cheap readily available, easy to change prefilter that when it gets clogged you just toss, the inner filters will be almost clean at that point. When I bought my spray booth, over fifteen years ago the prices on the Pace and the Paasche spray booths were pretty similar, I haven’t checked prices since then. Besides price if that’s an important factor, you also want to look at the CFM or volume of air that the booth will suck/push out of the area you are painting. Especially with various spray paint types because the air pulled out of the work area is what is also going to pull the odor out of the work area. I think spray paint no matter if it’s acrylic, lacquer, enamel, acrylic lacquer or... stinks worse than if the same paint were sprayed through an airbrush or paint gun, not sure why but to me it does. So pulling the odor out quickly is a big plus to me, no complaints from my wife because “that paint stinks”! Which I used to get that complaint with my old homemade setup, not no more! Once you begin working with a well designed sheet metal housed spray booth, you’ll wonder why you even fooled around making a plastic tote based booth, especially when you’re painting in the winter when static electricity is at its worst. I used one that I made with plastic totes, I had static electricity problems all the time with it, air moving across plastic generates static electricity. So if you’re looking at a spray booth with plastic parts, static electricity is a given. Even with a sheet metal housing, I’ve run a ground wire from the booth to the electrical ground at the outlet, you could even run a ground wire to the floor for added insurance, I’ve had zero static issues since doing this with my (Paasche ) booth. (I never had them with this metal booth It was an installation recommendation.) Safety - A spray booth is not an excuse not to wear a good filtration mask. A guy I worked with in the “Model Shop” (Prototype Shop) at Boeing Aircraft, who was (and still is I hope) a modeler who turned out some amazing paint work and contest quality model cars. Long story short he was using a paint booth in his shop without a mask. Without using a filtration mask, over time with the same common spray type paints almost all of us use screwed up his lungs to the point he could no longer be around painting at work, probably at home too. Sorry for the long answer, I wish someone would have told me some of this stuff before I began searching for a good spray booth while I was looking. Hope some of it helps.

Greg, before I got my pedal speed control for my Dremel (variable speed) I used a lighting rheostat for a long time. Wore out two Dremel motors with it, (from use not the dimmer switch). I used a regular old dial light dimmer switch which I used a male and female plug at either end with a light switch box, dimmer and wall switch cover in the middle. Made from a heavier gauge extension cord, about five feet, dimmer and three feet to the female plug. This type of setup will run lower RPM’s without heating up, at least my set up would, you have to start at a higher speed and dial it down to the speed you need for the material you are cutting. It works great for those really small burr bits gives you a lot of control. Hope this helps, real time use versus full time opinion! I built the set up when I was a poor college kid with lotsa time and not much extra money. I used that set up for probably fifteen years, I think it’s still in my garage still hooked up to a working variable speed Dremel!

A 0.100” rod/tube would be a 1/10” fractional size. Remember back to like 5th or 6th grade to obtain a decimal equivalent from a fraction divide the top number by the bottom. i.e. 1/10” = 1 divided by 10 = 0.100”. Now to go the other way and get a full scale measurement multiply the decimal number by the scale. 0.100 X 24 = 2.400 inches the actual mathematic expression looks like 0.100/1 X 1/24 = 2.400” the numerator’s and denominator’s (1’s) cancel out each another and you are left with the first equation or 0.100 X 24 = 2.400”. Try it with a few other common fractional tube sizes Fraction = Decimal X 1/24 Scale or 1/25 Scale Tube Sizes Fractional 1/32” = 0.031” = 0.750” = 0.780” say 0.750” 3/4” 1/25 scale 0.020” round up/down tube size 1/2” (?) 1/16 “ = 0.062” = 0.1.488” say 1.500” = 1.550” say 1.500” 1-1/2” Round 0.002 up 0.050 down to size 1/8” = 0.125” = 3.00” = 3.125” 3-1/4” Round up or down 3” or 3-1/2” tube From here you can probably figure it out; just remember that the prototype’s tubing size and the tubing sizes manufactured are what the deciding factor in rounding up or down to the “correct” tubing sizes. In whatever scale you are rounding to and using you will likely not be able to tell the difference of the rounding any way, unless you also count rivets I guess. For me even from an Engineer’s standpoint, in building scale models. There must come a point where what decides what dimensional tube used is what is manufactured in fractional (plastic) versus what is manufactured in full size (metal) tubing that you are replicating. If there isn’t an exact scale match then round up or down to what is pleasing to the viewer’s eye. Short of sanding plastic tube down or turning your own on a lathe, when an exact match isn’t there is about all you can do. It is a compromise called “best fit”. Hope this helps… Caveats - Assumption that beyond 1-1/2” tube sizes then 0-1/2” increments to the next larger size (or I didn’t look up common mil sizes for tubing).

Excellent write up Steve. The only thought I had was, you are following or scribing straight lines so why not locate the groove with blade or scribes then use a straight edge such as a thicker steel rule for more control. Working around tool and die makers for years I’ve watched them do this very thing with carbide scribers. They were putting the finishing touches on high dollar, aluminum and other alloy part applied layup mandrels scribing in ultra fine parting lines for final trim. Even though many of these tool makers had the practiced ability to follow their scribe lines alone, I’d never see them do anything freehand.

Bingo! Don Emmons in Rod & Custom, Model Car & Science and Car Model Magazines all recommended using TP for replicating the undersides of Fiberglass Hoods and Funny Car bodies. I've used both rough textured tissue paper and single plies of toilet paper to get it to work. While the first coat of paint is still wet, gently burnish in the tissue / toilet paper (you can either spray or lightly coat with brush enamel works best due to it's longer flash off times). You may need to brush what soaks through the paper so it isn't excessively thick. Let that dry. Next apply the topcoat, which in your case would be glossy black, apply one thin coat allow to dry fully, it may need one or more thin coats to get the look. The paint raiser the paper's fibers where it looks similar to chopper gun applied fiberglass. Make sure you practice on a scrap body or piece of plastic before you try it on your finished work. I've never tried this method, yet. It's essentially the same as above you might get this to work with Future floor polish as the "resin" or "paint" in the above method lightly saturate the tissue then topcoat with a glossy acrylic paint such as Vallejo's Glossy Black. Might add a bit more control to the method.