peteski

Good to see that libraries in the 21 Century are keeping up with the current technological advancements. I still have my local library card somewhere.

Orange peel surface is caused by very bumpy paint surface. To make it smooth, those bumps have to be removed until the paint surface is even with the thinnest areas of the paint layer. That is why you will see lots of paint being removed. I would recommend practicing spraying or airbrushing in a way minimizing orange peel. I manage to paint my models in a way no sanding/polishing/buffing is needed. It is doable. Like this one:

I would say that they are similar in quality to Tamiya kits. Like Tamiya, many are curbside kits, but in majority of cases, they much better fitting than any of the older domestic brands (MPC, AMT, Monogram, Revell). The "enthusiast series" kits are much more detailed than Tamiya kits, but that means they are also much more complex to build.

Thanks for all the train station photos Kaci. I enjoyed them. That ornate canopy over the platforms looks like it's over 100 years old. They don't build them like that anymore. All your models look nice displayed like that. Yes, living quarters in UK are different than in the States. I also noticed the minimalistic ceiling light fixtures. Is that normal in UK apartments? I also get a chuckle seeing those giant mains plugs used in UK. They are so much smaller in the States. When I was growing up in Poland, the plugs were larger than in USA, but nowhere as large as the ones in UK.

Now we're seeing some real sport cars!

Here I have another pointer: When using CA glue and activator/accelerator as a filler on plastic surfaces which will have to be sanded smooth, do the sanding within few hours of the CA setting up. At that point it is solid enough, but not fully hardened. When CA (basically type of acrylic) is fully cured, after about 24 hours, it becomes harder than polystyrene most plastic kits are molded from, so when sanding you can likely end up sanding the surrounding plastic lower than the hard CA spot.

UV resin in my experience doesn't bond well to styrene (or to any other hard smooth surface). I would be afraid it could pop out sometime in the future. It is also not as hard as styrene. I never used it as adhesive (unless I wanted a temporary bond).

Oh man, do I miss my "box", "fridge", "toaster"! I had a 2006 Polar white (with a bB badges and some mild mods) from 2006 to 2019. Traded it in when some rust started showing up. I think it had around 120k miles. Bought a 2019 Kia Soul. While it is similar size and shape, it is nothing like the xB. While it has many more luxury features, it is nowhere as easy to get in and out of, the back seat doesn't fold flat and the rear hatch opening is much smaller. It also has less legroom in the back. xB rode nice and low and handled really well. It was also much easier to work on and an excellent printed service manual was available (and often used by me). The Kia only has a PDF-based manual which stinks. Here it is is against a big bad Dodge Ram for size comparison and a chuckle. It is just a bit longer than the truck's wheelbase! Dude, keep yours as long as you can! You'll never find anything even close to it.

We already had this covered in. That's where my reply is.

Well Bosco, spill the beans! What is your source for those boxes? Dimensions are similar to the boxes used for promo models.

I was judging it strictly by its appearance (I'm an Amurican). And even if it is British, to me there are also lots of commonalities between Brits and Aussies (again, from my point of view). But this one for some reason looked Australian to me.

Blue dots or not, stickers all over the windshield, etc., what you pointed out happens likely due to the fact that there is severe lack of laws enforcement. You were right on target. It is like we live in a modern Wild, Wild West. It is a free for all without suffering any consequences.

In my experience that GOO does shrink. why? Because the added solvent volume while making the GOO evaporates when styrene to get back into solid state (it doesn't cure - it dries). Since the liquid solvent has volume, when it evaporates it leaves the GOO, causing it to shrink. It might not be much shrinkage, but I guarantee it will shrink. That's the scientific explanation. The other problem is that it can take long time (like days, weeks or longer) for all the solvent to evaporate. Again that depends on the thickness of the GOOey repair. I have tried the GOO method and I was not happy with the results. I figured out the reason for shrinkage (same as with any 1-part solvent-based putties), and I never used it again. YMMV.

Yes, I agree with Tim.

That confirms what I thought by looking at that car: it has a flavor of automotive design from the "down under".

NICE! Looks like a commuter train. I also like the roundabout, and you are also nearby to what I think your Brits call "motorway".

Not really a "build", but I do all sorts of things besides building models. My most recent project was to service my GF's Mantle clock. It is a Seth Thomas Linton 1E clock made in December of 1950. It has a nice chime. Not something one hears in people's homes anymore. It was a flea market find back in 2012. It did not work. I took it apart and found a broken gear. I fixed it and my GF has been using it ever since. Power cord was also replaced. Every couple of years I remove the movement and lubricate it. This time I did a complete disassembly, cleaning and lubrication. Here are some photos. I wish I took photos of when I had the movement totally disassembled.

How about a Laundromat? I have washer/dryer but use a Laundromat for some really bulky items which won't fit in my washer.

Nice! The view seems to be better than at your last place. You're also close to what looks like a busy railroad line. As model railroader and a rail-fan, for me that would be a nice place to live.

Just FYI, here is a quote from that Road&Track magazine article Greg linked to in an earlier post (and with which I agree). "What is a sports car?" In the postwar era, a "sports car" was any car that seated two, had a soft top, and could be used for competition. Thus, the Sports Car Club of America. An MG-TC was a sports car, as was an XK-120 or a Jowett Jupiter. That same car with a permanent hardtop was considered a "Grand Tourer", meaning it would be appropriate for a young man to drive around Europe in varying weather conditions. Thus, the MGB-GT is an MGB sports car upgraded to Grand Tourer configuration. The definition of "GT car" has always been more flexible than the definition of "Sports Car" because it is based around prospective usage. In the modern era, virtually anything from a Scion FR-S to a Mustang to an Aston Vanquish would serve the would-be Grand Tourer well and so we can call them all "GT cars." I recommend reading that article - it has some mind-provoking info and possible explanations why the "sports car" moniker is used so indiscriminately. https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a28225/sports-car-definition/

Wow David, you sure are taking this Dime Store toy to a whole new level! Impressive!

Lookign good Johnny! Yes, USS Constitution is still around and often open for tours. I lived in Boston for several years on the '80s and saw it on my daily drive to work over the elevated Expressway (aka. I93 which is buried underground now). I often thought of visiting it and the museum but I never did. I have moved away but not too far for a visit. I should visit one these days. It was recently out in the Boston Harbor for the July 4th celebration for the 17 gun salute, but its masts and rigging are being work on, so it doesn't look as impressive as it would normally look. This is how it currently looks like. 40 years ago or so I've built the larger Revell model (I think it is around 1:87 scale) but had to leave it behind when I moved few years later. I have started a duplicate mode after I moved but I never finished it (got busy with other projects). I still have it in my basement, gathering lots of dust and cobwebs.

Looks good! Nice to see modelers leave their comfort zone and built another kind of a model. And this one even includes real sailing instructions! Also it warms my heart to see someone else's workbench surface looking similar to mine. Just enough space to squeeze the model we're working on.

Deal is the same as with all the colored (other than white and amber) lights on the front of the cars, like purple, green, blue, red, etc. halos on many Jeeps aftermarket headlights and other cars. I remember when just installing tiny "blue dots" in the taillights would get you stopped by the law enforcement. Same with dark tinted windows. Why do we have so many crazy drivers totally ignoring traffic rules? Because law enforcement seems pretty much non-existent on the roads and in inspection stations.

Since the resin is transparent, the thickness (up to a point) should not matter much. The chances of skin damage by long-wave UV light (in the high 300nm range) from a low-power light source should be minimal. Still, nothing wrong with being ultra-cautious. And I agree that looking at the light source is not a smart thing to do. Using common sense is highly recommended. Is someone is interested, here are the FAQs for the resin I use, covering some of the questions asked here. https://bluemoon-studio.com/products/uv-resincraft-resin (select FAQs on the right side of the page).