peteski

To me the takeaway of this is not to use that silver paint for primer (unless you have a very specific reason, like a bright red or yellow plastic body and you want to paint it white). Why not use a proper primer otherwise? And I'll say it again: just because some online "modeling influencer" recommends some technique, it might not be the best, or work well for everybody or every application.

Often just paint is not enough (in time the plasticizer can soften the paint too, and then get to bare plastic). Using Bare Matal Foil as a barrier works, as it is real metal and plasticizer will not pass through it.

Keep in mind that not everything you see on the Interwebs is good advice. Primers are designed as undercoat for paint (so it adheres well), and as a barrier for hot solvents from penetrating to and crazing plastic. There are some who recommend silver paint to create a barrier to prevent the dye from bright colored (like yellow or red) plastic bodies leaching out and into the top paint coats, but not as a general purpose primer.

I'm glad it worked out for you. I never tired them, but I they were recommended on another forum. The decal looks pretty good, and with the white undercoat the colors will show up properly applied to any color surface. I do see to render colors they use CYMK printing, so under magnification, you can see the halftone patterns (not solid colors). That is visible on the yellow and blue "new york" decals. However, this is probably not easily noticed when viewed in-person. As for the speedy service, I suspect you provided them with print-ready (and probably vector-based) artwork. That makes things easy for them.

Did Ed pass away or just left the hobby? Yes, he was a great guy. Very helpful too. I met him in-person at a NNL East, and ordered bunch of parts from him (mostly wire wheels).

Yes, those are sharpened with a split point which not only bites into the material better than regular points, it also does not walk on the material being drilled. I also stocked up on the bit sizes which I use most often. I have hundreds of several single size bits. Several years ago there was an eBay seller who sold used TC bits in boxes of 50. These were removed from PC Board drilling machines after drilling certain number of holes. While they were no longer considered usable for drilling the fiberglass/epoxy boards, they are still plenty sharp.

The tolerances of the drill bit shank and drill gauge is too loose for a clean cut. Foil will just fold into the hole in the gauge, and the edge of thicker materials will be rather rough. There are punch-die sets available which have the proper tolerances to cleanly punch even thin material. And yes, a cover is required over the die part to hold the material steadily. Of course those punch/die sets will cost you. I have sets from Waldron (long out of business), Micro-Mark, and even Harbor Freight. For oddball sizes I also use the brass tubing method Charlie described. I use a hobby cutting mat as the base. Works well for paper or other thin materials.

Just the opposite for me. Growing up and being schooled in Poland metric was all I knew, but after I came to USA few decades ago I had no choice but use inch system. I still find the fractional representation a big pain in the butt, so for modeling I use decimal representation.

You mean the kits? No, It was a very obscure French manufacturer - long gone. https://www.scalemates.com/brands/europe-model-kits--4475

David, go to your favorite search engine and look up "cell phone tower near me" , then select one of the websites to find your tower. Towers can be shared by several providers.

It's in the front, under the "hood". The starting crank is up front. You can see the crank on the model. Here is a similar car. I believe it was powered by this spindly looking V-twin engine: Another view of the engine compartment: Some good info on https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Panhard-Levassor

Pretty clever Steve, but don't the 1:1 filters have a rubber seal on top and bottom which has smooth (not corrugated) edge?

I fixated on the piece marked .040 and didn't notice the other numbers. I just write the actual number. I guess if you have a 0.050" and 0.005" pieces, you will mark both as "5", but visually you will be able to tell the difference.

Yes, it is the plasticizer in soft vinyl that leaches out and softens polystyrene. This has been an ongoing problems for certain tires and certain manufacturers for decades. Placing the tires in a plastic zip-loc bag isolates them from other kit parts.

I also do this. I assume that .040 is the thickness (0.040"). That is how I mark mine. Saves getting the calipers out.

Yes the Tungsten Carbide PC Board drill bits with 1/8" shanks are very handy, and I use them as much as I can. Over the years I acquired a good range and quantity of those bits. I also bought a set of the GodHands bits (0.5-0.9mm, 2.5mmm shank) and I I'm not very impressed. They aren't made very well compared to the PC Board bits. Of course their advantage is that being made from HSS, then are nowhere as brittle.

Very nice build! I have that kit, along with few other Europe kits of the late 19th Century cars. Nice to see one in finished state. While fiddly, it sure looks like very finely molded kit of you put some care into the assembly.

That would be good, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Yeah, I miss the days when you had to not only pay insertion price just to create the listing, but also percentage of the opening bid. That is why so many auctions back then had opening bid of a penny. EBay is like wast wasteland nowadays, full of commercial sellers and opportunists hoping for suckers. The search engine also stinks, and all the "helpful" similar items to the one you are viewing are also very annoying.

Yes, as you well described it, there are many ways to skin that "cat". I still wonder if the question is about doing it on a touch screen device (which I do not use).

When I try, even if the quote box has text in it, if the cursor is under the quote, the Backspace key deletes the whole thing at once. Again, on a PC in a Web Browser. Many people use smart devices and those probably behave differently.

I have never sanded or rubbed out base or clear coat of any of the models I have ever built (sans for some occasional spot sanding and touch-up of some schmutz that got into the original paint job. I find my models glossy enough for my own taste, and many have placed first or 2nd in model contests. If I had to resort to sanding, I would not enjoy this hobby enough to stay in it. Primer: Tamiya Fine White Primer. Base coat: Nail Polish. Stripes: AccuPaint White. Clear Coat: Testors Wet-look Clear. No sanding no buffing, no rubbing. Maybe I'm just lucky. My "Secret" probably is that I airbrush minimal number of coats using heavy application. The paint self-levels.

If you are using a PC you should be able to delete the quote from the "compose" window just as you would delete a word or a picture. If on a tablet/phone, I have no idea. I just tried here by quoting you. If I place the cursor right under the quote, then press the Backspace key, it deletes the whole quote. Like I mentioned, a quote is just another object (liek a picture).

They might have been out of stock for quite some time. Last time I bought some was probably about a year ago, and at that time Randy had issues producing them and didn't know when the would be available again. They are really nice wire wheels. 3D printing is the only way one can achieve true interlaced spokes. Photoetched spokes can't emulate that.

You answered your own question. Yes, they likely get the wire from industrial suppliers who sell the wire in bulk. It probably comes in 1000' reels, and it costs probably more than you're willing to pay (or use in your lifetime). Then companies like Detail Master repackage that stuff in modeler-friendly lengths. Repackaging takes time, and some additional profit is also to be made to keep the company in business, so the price for small packages is higher than what the original wire cost.