StevenGuthmiller

If they used Testors tube glue, you’re pretty much out of luck. You can soak it in whatever you want, and while it might take off a flake here or there, most of what remains is melted plastic, and it’s not coming off. This is part of the reason why I use solvent glues very sparingly. Once you start melting the plastic, especially on something like upholstery, there’s no going back. Steve

I have a similar problem with my neighbor “all summer long”. He’s one of those guys that has to have his lawn looking like a pool table at all times, which means he waters and fertilizes the snot out of it, which in turn requires him to mow his lawn 2 to 3 times a week. No problem. I have other neighbors who are also as anal about their lawns, but this creep waits until about a half an hour before dark before he starts mowing. In the middle of the summer, this means that he’s beginning to mow his lawn with his big *ss zero turn mower at around 9:00 at night when everyone else is trying to wind down for the evening and would like a little peace and quiet instead of listening to that noisy turd for an hour. To make matters worse, on the weekends, he for some psychotic reason has to drag his mowing out for the whole freakin’ day! He’ll putz around half of the morning in his front yard with his bagging push mower making sure he gets those perfect diagonal lines. Then he’ll go play golf, or whatever the hell he does in the afternoon, and then come back and run that friggin’ rider until after dark! I tell my wife that if I ever lose my mind and go postal, he’s gonna be the first one to get picked off of that rider! I also tell her that if I ever get to the point where my lawn is one of the most important parts of my life, to just go ahead and kill me. Life’s not worth living anymore at that point. Steve

Same reaction I have when I see someone butchering an American car from the 50s or 60s. Why should Porsche be immune? Steve

The moral of the story is that any spray can nozzle can go haywire on you, and they often do......all of them. But when working properly, nobody will ever convince me that there’s a better one on the market than the adjustable Duplicolor fan spray nozzle. Steve

I’ll admit that I have had plugged cans or nozzles with Duplicolor, but I don’t remember it ever having to do with a stuck rod. Steve

Well, in that case, I know for a fact that I’ve never had it happen. As a matter of fact, I don’t recall ever having that issue, regardless of the brand. Steve

Apparently my luck has been holding for a looooong time. Just seems odd as I would expect that if the rod is stuck in the depressed position that the paint wouldn’t stop spraying. If it’s just a little sticky and sticking somewhere in the middle, with the exposed rod would be pretty easy to lubricate and get ahold of with a needle nose to work it loose again. But, I wouldn’t know because to the best of my memory, I haven’t seen it since I started using Duplicolor products back in probably the mid 80s. Steve

Of course. That’s why I said it has it’s uses. Just offering a much easier alternative for the vast majority of applications. Steve

That’s strange. I’ve been using Duplicolor primers as well as their paints for decades and I’ve never had that happen. Not once! I’ve had very limited occasions where I’ve had damaged nozzles or plugged cans that wouldn’t spray at all, (had that happen with every brand of paint I’ve ever used) but I’ve never had one stick in the depressed position, even with cans from this vintage. (some of which I still have) Steve

I would imagine that this technique can have it’s uses, and I’ve done something pretty similar in the past, but it’s so much simpler today to just buy a set of resin door handles from Fireball Modelworks. the door handles he offers are extremely realistic and soooooo much easier to deal with. Steve

Thanks Bill. I’ve often tried to convince people, especially the Tamiya faithful, that nobody makes a better spray can nozzle than Duplicolor. ? Steve

Brand is much less important than the formulation of the primer. As I said, you can spray anything over a good automotive lacquer primer such as Duplicolor, whether that be an enamel from Testors or Rustoleum, a lacquer such as Duplicolor, Tamiya, MCW, etc, or a water based acrylic. Doesn't matter. If you rely on brand, it requires that you have a bunch of different primers laying around if you use various paints. It's not necessary. All you need is one. Even the "brand" theory can cause problems if you're not paying close attention. Some brands carry lacquer primers and enamel primers, as well as lacquer and enamel paints. I certainly wouldn't risk spraying a lacquer over enamel primer, even if it is the same brand. Steve

Sure, but you still have to follow the auction and know when it ends, etc. If you happen be involved in a number of auctions that end roughly around the same time, it can be very involved, requiring that you keep track of what’s going on and when. With my approach, I don’t have to keep track of anything. If I happen upon 2 or 3 auctions that have several hours to days remaining, I merely calculate how much I’m comfortable spending, place my bids, and go about my day and wait for the notifications of whether I won or not. I don’t have to return to the site numerous times and sit in front of my computer with my finger poised to mash down on the enter key. I just continue on with my life as normal and live with the consequences. Remember, even if you are willing to pay $200.00 for an item, and you bid that amount, if you win the auction, and the next highest bid is only $100.00, the amount you pay is only a little bit more than that bid, so there’s still plenty of opportunity for savings. I decided a long time ago that I don’t have any interest in “playing the game”. I’m just looking for the merchandise. If I win, great. If not, there will always be next time. Steve

Exactly. You just have to have a basic understanding of how these things work, and once you understand the fact that automotive primer is basically impenetrable by anything you care to throw at it, I just can’t understand why anyone would roll the dice with anything else. Makes zero sense to me. Steve

Yeah, I have no interest in getting that involved. If I happen across something that interests me, I don’t care if there are 6 days, or 6 minutes left in the auction, I’m only going to bid what it’s worth to me, and I have no interest in sitting around to see what other bidders are doing and then making snap decisions in the last few seconds. I also don’t care one bit if someone is going to nickel and dime their way through the auction to win. Knock yourself out. I’ve already made a decision about how much I’ll pay. If you get it for 10 cents more, good for you. I could care less. I’ve won my fair share of auctions by just using my passive approach, and that’s good enough for me. Steve

This is why you throw everything else in the trash and use a good automotive lacquer primer for EVERYTHING! There's absolutely no need to have a half dozen different primer brands laying around for this, that, and the other thing. One good primer can be used under any type of paint, and you won't have to ever deal with this sort of nonsense again. My go-to is Duplicolor sandable primer, in several colors, and Duplicolor primer sealer. Of course there are others, but find one that's intended to withstand automotive lacquers and stick with that, and that only. Bouncing around between a bunch of different products is almost guaranteed to create issues at some point. Steve

That's the way I've always done it. I'm not going to get into those stupid bidding war games and end up spending more for an item than I intended to. Decide what the item is worth to you, bid the highest price that you're willing to pay, and walk away. Let the guys whose hobby is trying to win every auction fight it out. I don't need that aggravation. I bid mostly on vintage kits, and I think I have a pretty good handle on what they're worth from a builders stand point. If I win, I win. If not, no big deal. I have no problem letting someone else pay way too much for an item because their goal is to win rather than to get a decent deal. Steve

Just a guess, but I’m gonna say “Rustoleum” is your problem. Strange how that name comes up with about 90% of paint issues. Steve

The one that spent all spring pecking on the fascia of my roof isn’t gonna make it another spring unless he moves on to someone else’s roof!!! Steve

You’ve got a good heart Bill. I worry about every cat that I see wander through my yard, even though there’s a good chance that they might belong to someone. Especially in the dead of wnter. It hurts my heart to think of some poor cat huddled up under a tree in 30 below weather with a 40 mph wind, trying not to freeze to death, when he should be comfortably curled up in front of a warm fireplace. Steve

If you want my opinion, there is such a thing as a display being “too busy” and “distracting”. Of course, in a contest atmosphere, maybe some people are looking for something to distract attention away from the model......if you catch my drift. Personally, my philosophy is to keep it simple and let the model do the talking. Steve

I must admit that I kind of stole that line from Bill Engwer. Steve

Let’s put it this way. Nothing is “necessary” when building a model. You can brush paint it with latex house paint and glue it together with cheese whiz if you want. But, if you want to do it right?......well, I’ll just say that there are a number of reasons for priming anything that you’re going to paint, whether that be a house, a real car, or a model car. Primer doesn’t exist just to sell primer. Of course, if your spraying a benign paint such as an enamel or a water based acrylic, if you can get it to look decent over bare plastic, it’s not going to hurt to skip the primer. (That is if you’re not worried about the paint falling off down the road) But if you plan on using a lacquer of some sort, you darn well better plan on priming unless you love taking unnecessary chances with your expensive models. As I’m sure you can tell by my attitude in this post, priming is one of the processes that I would NEVER skip, but hey, you do you. Steve

Oooo, None of us want to see that! Steve

Just a few of the best, (or at least some of my favorites) from last weekend's show. Steve