Pete J.

The primary reasons for warming rattle cans is to increase the pressure, thin the paint to aid in flow out and to speed off gassing. With an air brush you can do the first two by adjusting your compressor and adding thinner to the paint. The last part is not necessary for a rather obscure reason. Rattle can paint atomizes by having the propellent(a gas usually propane) dissolved in the paint so that when it exits the nozzle, the gas expands and atomizes it. No matter what you do, some of the propellant will make it to the surface dissolved in the paint and can cause issues, like bubbles. Atomization in an airbrush happens because of high pressure air flowing turbulently around the tip of the nozzle and breaking the paint into tiny droplets, thus no dissolved air in the paint. By heating your paint, you may get a faster flash time, but it is hardly worth the effort.

Do the ones I started and just never got around to finishing count?? Hope not. Generally 4 or 5 at any given time. Sometimes I hit a roadblock and have to let is rest for a while to get my head around a problem.

3S-GTE here! Just had it rebuild to original specs with as many OEM parts as I could find. All the horses are back in the barn!

This is the wrong reaction. The tip goes to your server. Stiffing the server who probably had nothing to do with it is punishing an employee. Servers get stiffed all the time, especially by large parties. I have a friend who is a server and she hates waiting on large parties for that very reason. Want to cause the owner a problem? Contest the charge on your credit card. That will really mess up their day!

Just got my half of a trade with Mike 999. Thanks Mike. You were a great gentleman. These were not cheap models we exchanged. I would do another swap with you in a heartbeat.

This is basically and updated version of the old Basic badger external mix airbrush. It is better that hand brushing but only marginally. I used one 40 years ago and it got me started. The big pit fall is the cans. The more you spray, the colder they get and eventually they will be spraying frozen paint. The cans are relatively pricey and it wouldn't take to long to add up to the cost of aa reasonable airbrush and compressor. If it is all you can afford, then it is a good place to start, but long term you would be better off saving your money for a quality airbrush and compressor.

The only thing that we truly have in this life is our mind and our time. Everything else is ours temporarily. How you spend your time and what you do with your mind says a lot about you. Do you prefer to spend your time doing the same time over and over and not challenging yourself or are you the the type that is always seeking to work on more complex and challenging projects. If you are the later type then eventually given enough time you will get to this sort of stuff. The choice is always yours and being critical of how others spend their time is a waste.

Murphy's law of similar bottles- If there are two bottles sitting side by side with different substances in side(like paint and thinner), you will invariable grab the wrong one! How do I know? Was clear coating a body with an airbrush. Emptied the brush and grabbed a bottle to refill it. Air brushing wet clear coat with lacquer thinner is not a good thing!

Got my Ames lettering guide and learned to use it my freshman year(1967)at U of Wyoming. There was not such thing as technical drawing of the curriculum. Only drafting I &II. Still have all my tools including the drafting board, T-square, compass set, drafting pencil sharpener, and cleaning bag. Only class I got an A in my freshman year.

My guess is that you know what this is and how to use it. I still have mine!

Interestingly, there was a real Murphy and he was an engineer on the early rocket sled test. Thought I would toss out a list of Murphy's axioms for your pleasure. There are actually a whole series and they all apply to model building! Murphy's Original Law If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it. Murphy's Law If anything can go wrong -- it will. Murphy's First Corollary Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. Murphy's Second Corollary It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious. Quantized Revision of Murphy's Law Everything goes wrong all at once. Murphy's Constant Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value. The Murphy Philosophy Smile... tomorrow will be worse.

You build models. What is the point of that? Same question, different answer.

And then this if for those who love old style radial engines. This one if every bit as impressive if not more so! This one is housed in the Joe Martin Craftsmanship Museum about 10 miles away. It is truly a stunning piece.

Ok, that is crazy. We both posted the same video at exactly the same moment!

Being a Porschephile this is my favorite.

Bill, I'm lucky enough to live near the Sherline(AKA Joe Martin Craftsmanship) Museum. They have a hundreds, if not thousands of these sort of things. Here is the link. www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com It is really fun to peruse through this site. It you are ever in SoCal it is a must see. It is free to get in but they do have some odd hours.

What FLW did was change home architecture forever. Although his designs could be controversial, he created the "Prairie" style house which didn't exist before that. That was the first ranch style house that is so common today. His interiors were also a cohesive blend of his style. You can walk into one of his houses that is original and know that is is his. I personally like his stylings. Interiors are craftsman style taken to an much higher level. I love the use of natural woods and colors found in nature.

Nope, she doesn't look at all like Frank Lloyd Wright. He wasn't a blonde!

I've got the rarer of the kits on this one. The collaboration with Scale Motorsport and Tamiya. Now that is rare, and expensive. Last time I was in Japan I picked up the Rothmans decals and plan on doing it soon. Good to see one built.

That sort of stuff has been going on for a very long time and still is. How many Porsche 356s are actually VW's with fiberglass bodies. Same with Cobra kit cars and a ton of other stuff. Some people just like to get their hands dirty and see what they can create. Whoa, that is just like model building. 'magin dat!

In spite of having some rare kits I will say this. There is nothing in my collection that I won't build just because it is old, rare or valuable. My hobby is building not collecting.

Kustom cars are art, plain and simple and art is in the eye of the beholder! Whether you like it or not is irrelevant to the builder. They are doing what they like and that is good. In the art world, some like Jackson Pollock or Andy Warhol, others are more appreciative of Monet or Degas. Oh wow, that is just like building models. You don't have to understand the motivation or intents of the builder just appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into the art.

Mark, looking good! See you on Friday?