Snake45

Do these figures include the backing paper? Or did you take the foil off and measure only that?

We just missed each other. I think I left on October 6. He dodged a hellish hot, humid summer!

Well, I tried to change the subject off dog dirt....

ZZ Top allowed me, for the first time in my life, to get "ahead of" my hip musical friends in my hometown. I discovered them in the summer of '72, which I spent in San Antonio for USAF basic and tech training. They got a LOT of airplay on the album-rock radio stations down there, but no one in my town had ever heard of them. I bought their first two albums at Joske's, an old-school department store right across the street from the Alamo (in those days). IMHO their finest work was done on those first two albums. IIRC, they went big nationwide in early '73 with the release of Rio Grande Mud. The big hit from that one was "La Grange," which you can still hear today on Classic Rock stations. Later in '73, or maybe '74, I saw them live when they opened for Alice Cooper. I remember they got brought back for three encores (the opening band, as you recall). I believe during the encore Bill Gibbons played a guitar that looked like an old cigar box. RIP Dusty. You and your friends brought me many, many hours of LOUD happiness.

Trying to put mags from a MONOGRAM '57 Chevy onto a MONOGRAM '65 Corvette. Should be direct bolt-on, right? Wrong. The wheel diameters aren't even close--the mags are much bigger. So I can't use the Vette tires, I have to use the '57 Chev tires, which aren't bad but not as good as the Vette ones. But I don't have the '57 Chev wheel backs, so now the Vette wheel backs are way smaller than they should be. Had to thin both the fronts and backs of the wheels to get them both in the '57 Chev tires, then had to wrap the Vette wheel backs with strips of masking tape (it took five wraps) to get them into the '57 tires. So there was about 2 hours of tedious, annoying work that I hadn't counted on. Sigh. It's always somthing, innit? Oh well. I guess if building models were easy, anybody could do it.

You know me so well, old friend.

Saw Don't Breathe the other night. A truly spooky, terrifying movie, and you're not sure who to root for or against. Very original!

Very sharp, very clean build of a beautiful car! I've been wanting to build a model of its stablemate, Mickey Thompson's Boss 429, for decades and you are inspiring me to get to it. Well done and model on!

Very sharp, very clean build! I've been binge-watching all past seasons of Street Outlaws and this thing would look right at home there! Well done and model on!

Painted the spokes on the American 200-S ("Daisy") wheels for my latest project. I have been dreading and putting this off for at least two weeks, maybe three. I hate, loathe, abhor, and detest detail-painting wheels. The only thing I hate worse is undetailed, chrome wheels (except Cragar S/Ss, of course).

Dunno about BMF, but I just happened to have a piece of cheap kitchen foil and my dial caliper on the bench, so I miked that. Looks like it went about a third of the way to the first mark, which is .001" And BMF is much thinner than THAT. Few here would have an instrument that could measure it. Ace Garage might.

I hate to sound like a smartazz, but it all depends on what you're gluing. I have different solutions for different problems. None of these solutions involves Testor or any other kind of "tube glue."

I thought this was the Dragster thread, so my bad on that. But if you're not interested in some Atlantis kit(s), why are you worried about where they're sold? Santa hasn't brought me a kit since I was about 13. I haven't trusted him to get it right; would prefer to buy it myself.

I didn't miss anything. You seemed interested in owning THIS kit. You don't want to order it online yourself. That means you're gonna have to let your LHS know about your desire, and perhaps have them order you in one. Have you tried that? Because I'm pretty sure Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny isn't just gonna drop one on your doorstep.

That's some Olympic-level back-pedaling right there! Anyway, glad it all worked out for you. Model on!

The Tamiya and Testor/Model Master lacquers are very mild. I haven't used every color of course but those I have used have yet to react badly with anything. And if they by some weird chance happen to, they can be removed easily and quickly with 92% rubbing alcohol.

Needs some bait boxes, rifles, and dead crocs, but overall, RJ and Jay Paul Molinere would approve! Choot 'im, Lizbet! Well done and model on!

I've found it usable for plain (unribbed) rocker panel trim), but not much else. As you say it's thick, and won't take much/any "contouring."

First off, get some wooden toothpicks and try to scrape/scratch it off. You'd be surprised at how often and how well this works. If that doesn't do it, try 92% rubbing alcohol. Try just daubing and rubbing it first, if that doesn't work, try soaking an hour or so. If the buckets have any chrome on them and you're trying to save it, DON'T use ammonia or Windex or anything of that sort. A swim in Lake Purple will take EVERYTHING off in most cases. Last resort. I have a feeling ideas #1 or #2 will work for you.

Dunno, haven't tried either thing. I've been quite happy with the results using it exactly as advertised. I learned my lesson about 30 years ago about trying to shoot clearcoat over any kind of silver/chrome paint. I won't be trying it again.

You're saying basically the same thing I said. Where's the "irony"?

Probably everyone on the planet has an idea of how someone else's money could be "better used." Fortunately, that's not how we do things in America--at least for the time being.

Hey, things are available, but sometimes you have to make a little more effort than just showing up at some neighborhood shop and picking it off the shelf. Either order it yourself online (or perhaps over the phone, if you don't trust buying online), or have the shop order you what you want. If I limited myself to just what was available on the shelf at HL and Michaels--the only places in 40 miles of me that sell kits--I'd have probably grown bored with the hobby and quit several years ago. You have to get in the game to play the game.

I see the Baka peeking out under the Seiran's nose, too. That was also in the shop when I visited Silver Hill. I was able to get up close and personal and get cockpit pics of that one--what cockpit there is, I should say. My first thought was that any reasonably skilled home hobbyist should be able to build a 1:1 scale replica of the thing in his garage, out of mostly scraps, junk, and castoff material. Shouldn't be any harder than, say a simple boat. I'm not kidding.

Yes, Crafts, hanging on the wall with all the other markers and paint pens.