StevenGuthmiller

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

Of course. There always seems to be a "legitimate reason". Steve

I'll go along with that! Steve

It's a cut throat world, but there we are. Steve

Thank you John! Steve

I live in Minnesota, close to the North Dakota border and within a couple hundred miles of the Canadian border, and I can certainly attest to that! It's not only been this year, but the past couple of summers. The US government should begin sanctioning Canada for polluting our air! Steve

Yeah, the discussion seems to me to be a little bit closer to investigation than hysteria. Topics like this are how things get hashed out and the truth gets discovered. Steve

In all honesty, it's not their job to be police men. They're a selling and auction site. Unless something they're selling is obviously or completely illegal, they're not going to waste time and resources trying to make sure that every item that goes through their system is a legitimate or genuine article. I've bought articles that were obvious knock offs through eBay, (I bought a very nice NFL jersey knock off from China a few years ago, that was every bit as nice as a domestic one for a third of the price) but I was completely aware of that fact. If you consider how many items come through their system on a daily basis, it would be a near impossibility to monitor who or where it comes from, and whether or not it's genuine or not, especially when it comes to something as inconsequential as a model part. Whether it's fair or not, it all boils down to the old adage, "buyer beware". We can't expect anyone else to do that work for us. Steve

If they did that, they would have no reason to exist. it’s their only purpose. Steve

I use one of those. Steve