peteski

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?

Ok, I'll bite. This stuff does look promising. The website seems to have been designed with primary focus on stripping paint from furniture, with model stripper also being offered. Having said that, I wonder of the (wood) furniture stripping solution is the same stuff as the plastic model stripper? The wording on the labels of both types of strippers is identical, except for the mention of models on the model version. I'm wondering because the furniture stripper (as a 4-pack) is a better deal (and the discount code works on it too). Anyway, I'm always looking for new and better plastic (and resin), so I'll order the model version. I do wonder how safe it is on resin bodies? I think I'll let someone else find that out.

One possibility is that those panhandlers collect more (or even much more) "donations" than they can make having a basic low-wage job. When they leave for the day they probably drive off in a Mercedes parked few blocks away. The only sure way to stop panhandling would be for people to stop giving money to them, but too many people out there just can't help themselves to feel better by helping some poor lost soul. The ubiquitous "God bless" scribbled on the bottom of the brown cardboard sign also helps them to collect from all all the soft-hearted individuals. Just like with all the scam calls we are flooded with, panhandling is a scam. There are plenty of ways in this country for a truly homeless down-on-their-luck individual to get help.

That is a one sweet build!

Sorry to hear of his untimely passing. My condolences to his family. R.I.P. Josh.

If hovering over other email addresses still works, then it is likely something in the way the email header is formatted. That is where the email reader gets the info you see hovering over the email address. I'm sure they doing this to prevent people like you from screening spams. Some email readers allow you to view the email in "raw format", but unless you know what you are looking for, the raw email looks like gibberish, so my recommendation is to just hit "delete".

Alclad II Polished Brass airbrushed over a coat of glossy paint (gray or maybe even dark yellow) should also look close to real brass.

According to the post earlier in this thread (March 12), this floor coating has been discontinued. Discontinued products show up on amazon and eBay, but usually at ridiculously high prices.

The way I look at applying multiple layers of paint is that the solvent in the paint being applied softens (or melts) the surface of the previous (dry) layer, so no "extra tooth" is really needed. To me sanding just to get some "tooth" is not needed. But if the dry paint has some schmutz in it, sanding will be beneficial to sand the flaws out.

I've entered 1:160 (model train's N scale) models in small scale categories in contests (and placed in the top 3). I actually had tiny "NO SNEEZING" signs posted by the model (as a joke). This is one of the models (Photoetched brass kit by Micron Art).

Looking at the subject line of this thread made me cringe. "Smothered in honey" is exactly the kind of glossy paint job you *DON'T* want. Thick, "honey dipped" paint jobs look very unnatural. Well, it looks like the model was actually dipped in honey. the body details/features get smoothed out, the door lines disappear. Key to a good realistic looking paint is to get it glossy, while keeping the paint thickness to the minimum.

That would also be my high recommendation. Yes, it is 1:32 scale and curbside, but it is very cleanly molded, has good proportions, and low parts count. Chrome is nice, has rubber tires (and metal axles). Due to the smaller scale, it could even be considered as cute. It was a pleasure to build it (back in the '90s). it was my first model on which I used BMF.

I thought about this some more. I think part of the problem is that some people are just less fastidious than other, and that is reflected in the quality of their work. I see examples of that here. It is in their nature. and if they decide to produce and sell product, it will not be top quality. There are (or were) casters out there like Don H., Norm V.,Paul Hettick and others. But there are also many other casters whose products are not as good as the ones I mentioned. They are probably ding their best, but they are just not as fastidious as others. I suspect that they think that they are producing the best quality of product they are capable of (and they are probably correct). They just don't have in them, to take their work to the next level.

To me "classic rock" is before the '80s, but I might be getting old and living in the past.

Please let us know how well the paint sticks to the soft vinyl tires. Many military models (to which this set is likely geared to) have tires made of hard resin (same resin used for other parts of the kit).