peteski

Interesting. My kit (with photoetched parts) has a part# 24040, and it has the model pictured on a solid white background. I wonder what is the difference between it and the 24041?

When I build model bikes I usually use various gauges of stranded insulated wire, not tubing. Things like brake, throttle, or clutch cables, oil lines, fuel lines. A wide variety of colors and sizes is readily available, and it retains shape better than hollow tubing. I do the research to find out the outside diameter of various cables and hoses on the 1:1 bike, then I divide it by the scale of the model. That gives me the OD of the insulated wire I'll need to represent those items in scale. That's what used on this Protar 1:9 Harley Springer Sometimes when I need a piece of hollow tubing, I simply strip a piece of wire insulation and use it as a hollow tube. As an example the short piece of rubber brake line between the metal fitting on the caliper and a metal brake line going up the fork. That way I can simply slide the hollow wire insulation over the metal "brake lines" (which are actually made from solid wire). The metal "crimp fittings" are pieces of hypodermic tubing slid over the insulation. This is IMEX 1:12 scale Harley Springer . On this one I also used stripped wire insulation for under-tank connecting hose, and the oil lines going to the oil cooler. In this smaller scale I used silver paint marker to simulate crimp fittings.

I have couple of LUXO Magnifier lamps. I got them from the company I worked for back in the early '90 when they were downsizing. They are about 40 years old now and still work perfectly well. They are all metal and very sturdy. They are old-school and use circular fluorescent lamp. I installed the newer3000K Kitchen and Bath bulb in them for better color rendition. Looking at their website, they now sell modern versions of my lamp: https://www.luxo-lighting.com/luxo-magnifiers I'm sure they are pricey, but as the saying goes: you get what you paid for. If you get one of those, it should last you lifetime. But I almost never use it as a magnifier. Instead my Optivisor (with a #7 lens plate) has become my to-go magnifier). I also have a high-intensity halogen lamp (on a long goose-neck). When working on miniature projects, you can never have enough strong lighting. Photo of the half of my workbench., One of the LUXO magnifiers is over the lathe (I painted that lamp black). The halogen lamp is bent around the drill press. You can see a small part of the other (gray) magnifier at the left edge of the photo. There also is another halogen lamp on the left bench (not visible).

That's fine. The package arrived yesterday. It is just that this was my first order from a new company, and I was surprised how it was handled. Now I have to find something to strip. It will likely be a model train shell since that is what I'm working on nowadays. The product comes with 2 pages of info. One is safety instructions, and the other is usage instructions. That page only has a single sentence about using it for stripping models. The rest is about procedure for stripping paint from wooden surfaces like furniture (since this is the product's main use). Like HPIGuy mentioned in his video, this stuff has a very mild odor, but to me it smells a bit like pine, rather than like than alcohol. If it contains alcohol, it is likely not very much, since it is not flammable (and alcohol is). I'm surprised that the the label on the bottle does not have any details about the manufacturers (except for "A product of StripWell"). Usually product labels contain either address, phone number, a company's website. Not that it is a problem - just making an observation. The package included spray pump and a siphon tube (since the product is meant to be sprayed over larger surfaces). The bottles are sealed, In my bottles, after the factory seal was removed, the screw-on cap does not provide tight seal. I found replacement screw-on caps with gaskets which sealed the bottle properly. Again, not a big problem since most of us will pour the contents of the bottle into some larger container for stripping car bodies. Once I find something to strip I'll give it a try and report back. I have experimented with more than half a dozen of plastic safe strippers (including some home-brewed stuff) and I would welcome a universal stripper which works well on all finishes, and which is safe for polystyrene, ABS, and hopefully for polyurethane resins.

This forum seems to work quite well, and it generates a lot of traffic. Other than in this thread, where else you have seen grammar being nitpicked? Most of the posts on the forums here are actually quite useful and informative. If you think things are so bad here, when not leave? You also seemed to be judging me. So how many of my over 6,000 posts have you read, to know just what kind of modeler, or a person I am? You must have lots of spare time to be able to go through people's posting history? You seem to be the one with "bunker mentality" (whatever that means).

@W Humble Wick, I seem some confusion in how you are being addressed on the forum. Your first name is James, but you like to be addressed as Wick. Yet, nowhere in your profile I see "Wick" mentioned, although you sometimes you sign your posts as "Wick". If I may suggest, why not edit your profile, and add a signature? Just Wick" should be enough. That way "Wick" will be automatically added on the bottom of your every post. To edit your profile (assuming you are using a PC, not a tablet or phone), right-click on the little arrow to the right of your forum name (upper right hand side of the Web page), then in select "Account Settings" from the menu that pops up. On the next screen select "Signature" on the left hand side. Then type in what you want to appear in your signature, and click on 'Save".

@Michael Bentt You seem to have pretty "big mouth" for someone with 27 posts under your belt. That is not very nice. You not have much future on this forum. (No this is not a threat - just an observation)

Luke has a point. When using a metallic "chrome" paint for obtaining a mirror-like finish, the metallic "chrome" paint has to be applied over a glass-smooth surface. Think about it. Take a real glass mirror for example. A thin layer of silver is applied onto a glass-smooth piece of glass. The reflected light does not get scattered. But if a textured (or matte-finish) glass was coated with silver, it would still look silver, but the reflected light would get scattered - no longer producing undistorted reflection like a smooth glass mirror would. it woudl look duller. If a shiny-surface bare plastic (like a surface of a plastic spoon) is used as a base for the "chrome" paint, it will result in a mirror-like finish. Molotow is alcohol based. Alcohol is a mild solvent which does not attach polystyrene. I suspect that if Alclad II Chrome was applied over bare plastic, its stronger solvent could slightly craze plastic, resulting in a duller "chrome" look. Of course that also depends on the actual formulation of the plastic. As for using actual model parts, the same still applies. If the bare plastic part is polished to a glass-like smoothness (or first sprayed with a high-gloss clear) then Molotow will also produce the chrome-like finish. But if the part is not glass smooth, then the Molotow will dry to a duller finish.

Well then, don't email me one day after the ordering telling me the order has been shipped, and print the postage label, then have the item sit at their location. That is totally misleading! If they just sent a quick email stating that there will be a delay ( would understand and wait patiently). Or even put a blurb on the website stating that the orders might be delayed due to (fill in the blank). I'm giving them time, but I'm just disappointed in the way they conduct their business. I just checked, and the package was finally shipped today at 3:08pm.

Well, the product videos look impressive, but the shipping process is not so hot. I placed my order on June 23rd, and next day (June 24th) I received an email stating "product has been shipped", along with the USPS tracking number. I keep checking the tracking info every day, and as of now (June 29th) the tracking info still shows "June 24, 2022 at 1:03pm Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item". Not cool. EBay sellers sometimes do this too. I live in adjacent state, so when the package actually gets shipped, I should get it in couple of days. But so far it has been sitting unsent for 5 days.

Ah, the famous auto-correct feature which "thinks" it knows better than you what you are typing. Some of those "corrections" can be quite comical.

It takes a lot of (electrical) energy for the electrolysis process that produces hydrogen. We are again back to the energy problem with electric cars. Unless someone came out with a process which produces hydrogen without using much energy?

I don't know which kit provided the engine, but this sure is one cute little car. Looks a bit like the original Mini Cooper.

That is a cool project! There are few full size vans around here painted like the Mystery Machine. One that I see at car shows has a drastically shortened wheelbase. It looks real funny. Another one is just pained like the Mystery Machine - it belongs to a local "escapology" business.

The "service dog" designation has been seriously abused for several years now. Anybody can buy a service dog harness for their dog, and call it a "service animal", then take it anywhere (including boarding an airplane). Same with the "emotional support" animals which are often not dogs. I don't know exactly how it all started, but this abuse is rampant nowadays. A real service animal (usually a dog) will have paperwork from the owner's doctor certifying it as a service animal. No paperwork -- it is a hoax, and an excuse to bring the animal to places where animals aren't allowed. The abuse was so bad that I have heard that certain airlines started asking for the official paperwork designating the service animal before they allow it to board the airplane. It is very likely that the service dogs in your complex are not the real thing. Again, it all goes back to people's self-entitlement, and "it is all about me" mentality. But on a lighter note, it seems that certain stores started allowing customers to bring their well-behaved dogs inside while shopping (not just the real service-animals).

Problem? I don't see that as a problem at all. This is one of those threads I envoy seeing reviewed.

Was that the 6- or 8-cylinder Henway? The 8-cylinder one likely weights more.

Well, if you keep them for use, then by all means hang onto them. No need to recycle things you are using.

Funny you mentioned this here. Similar question was posted in the latest copy of the FineScale Modeler Magazine. Looks like Bandai is "that" company. Considering the cost of postage in relation to the value of the plastic sprues, it doesn't seem very logical (even domestically in Japan). Well unless the modeler (or a group of modelers) collect several pounds of spreue over time, and ship them in a single large package.

Funny that you mentioned that stuff. Few years back, it was heavily advertised on the TV stations I watch. At that time the thought that this stuff seems similar to Future did cross my mind. Since I don't use Future much (and still have some), I totally forgot about it. So the Quick Shine stuff is still around? I think it would be worth a try.

We sure live in "interesting" times.

That is very true, but insurance companies seem to have a problem with near-tailgating if it causes a rear-end accident. So I guess we have to pick out poison: either drive like old ladies and be aggravated by people constantly cutting in front of us, or leave enough distance for safe emergency braking so not to be found at-fault in a rear-end accident. Today's aggressive drivers are a major irk in general. I also observed that many of those very aggressive drivers are young women. In the past it was usually young man driving aggressively.

Who knows? It is likely the self-entitlement thing. Or a total cluelessness. Or both. The sad part is that regardless of what made the first driver slam on the brakes, the driver who rear ended the first vehicle will be at fault (because they did not leave enough safe distance between them and the car in front). But both drivers will have to deal with the consequences of the accident (insurance paperwork, being out of the car while it is repaired, etc.). Sad.

Thanks Bruce!. Like I mentioned, it might be some time before I need a fresh batch of the stripper. What got me to try this stuff was Zaks post - the stuff does look like it really works and seems safer and easier to deal with than the other strippers I have experimented with. I currently don't have any resin bodies to strip either. I wonder if HPIGuys guy who made the video testing the stripper on multiple types of paints could be talked into doing a test on a resin body. We know that the stripper works well on several different primers, enamels, and lacquers. We now just want to know if it will be safe on polyurethane resin, or will it turn it to goo?

I guess it makes sense. Oh well. I ordered 2 bottles of the "model" stuff when I could have ordered a 4-pack of the furniture stuff (and still getting the 20% discount). I'm hoping that the discount still works next time I'll place an order (but that'll likely not be for some time, so I doubt it). Hey Zack, do you happen to have any urethane resin items you could try stripping?