peteski

I find it amusing that their website still shows Model Master paints. Testors (actually Rustoleum and RPM) is a giant corporation, not some fly-by-nite company ran from someone's basement. You figure they would have someone keeping the website up to date.

Making the subject line a bit more informative might attract more members who actually use those paints to chime in. "Tamiya paint" seems too nebulous. You should be able to edit the subject line. Something like "Do Tamiya TS spray paints produce glossy finish?". Now that is a subject line you can really bite into. I have not used the TS spray lacquers but I've seen plenty of models painted with those paints in the WIP and Under Glass sections. If you could attract those members to open this thread, you would get the answers you are seeking.

The weave of 1/16" ribbon does not look very realistic for seat belts. This question came up here in the past (I'm sure more than ones). Last time someone recommend searching for 2mm and 4mm silk ribbon on amazon. I bought about half a dozen of the 2mm ribbons (different colors) and they are far superior in appearance to craft ribbon. it is also not as stiff (softer) as craft ribbon. Highly recommended. Edit: found the post about silk ribbon.

They are probably using whatever chips they have left to make SUVs as those are much better sellers than the sporty coupes.

https://www.testors.com/en/product-catalog/testors-brands/testors/enamel-paint Funny thing is that the Testors website still shows Model Master paints https://www.testors.com/product-catalog/testors-brands/model-master/

Thanks! No, I don't. It is a Gunze Sangyo 1:32 '57 Chevy BelAir from the '50s Collection. Very simple curbside kit, but they build up very nicely. This is the model featured on the BMF packaging. I built it about 25 years ago (before digital cameras). No in progress-photos. All that kit has is the body, interior, 2 metal axles, tires, wheels and chrome parts. IIRC, I used Colors by Boyd Pacific Blue and white. And BMF of course.

You took the words right out of my mouth. There are many "flavors" of Tamiya paints.

Yes, kit's molded antennas are way out of scale, but sewing needles just don't look right to me. They have a unrealistic taper to them. For non-retractable antennas I use stainless steel wire (thickness dpeents on scale of the model), and make a tip from a tiny piece of hypodermic tube. For retractable antennas I use telescopic sizes of hypodermic tubing with the last segment out of stainless steel wire. I get the tubing and wire from https://componentsupplycompany.com/ This is a 1:32 scale model with a telescopic antenna.

While I'm sure there is a lot of industrial spying and copycatting happening in the automotive industry, I'm pretty sure that some of the similar designs happen independently, just following the general design trends of the time. Also, some of the similarities shown here, are in the eye of the beholder. Yes, they are similar, but IMO not close enough to be considered as a copycat designs,

Shapeways keeps changing the names of their materials, but I do believe that "White Natural Versatile Plastic" is in fact Nylon. The prints are very porous and paint/glues will not adhere very well to Nylon. More workable are resins like "Ultra Detail" and "Extreme Detail" (used to be called FUD and FXD).

LOL, the only shortage is the funds for gasoline.

In the paints world, reducer is another name for thinner. It reduces (thins) the paint to make it less viscous. I have never heard term "leveler" but I suppose it is also some sort of substance to make paint less viscous (thinner or more runny) to help it in leveling out on the painted surface. Could just be yet another name for thinner.

Ok, thanks. Looks like solid copper wire to me. Electrical wire is almost exclusively copper (and rarely aluminum, which would look silver). Going by the colors, that stuff looks like wire used inside fluorescent lamp fixtures.

I think the clear smoke on the outside (clear red on the inside) should give the desired effect, but I also recommend testing it on a piece of clear plastic. However even if you did the test on the actual lens and it didn't work well, those paints can be easily removed with Isopropyl alcohol).

I used it on this replay and it seems to work (on my desktop PC).

I don't have any experience stripping that specific paint. If Super Clean doesn't work (even warmed up), then I would move onto other strippers. Next up for me would be Scalecoat Wash Away paint remover, or Testors ELO (used to be called Floquil Easy Lift Off) paint remover. ELO contains an ingredient from the same chemical family as DOT3 brake fluid. Do not immerse your model in those strippers - follow directions on the bottle. Also, have you tried 91% (or even better, 99%) Isopropyl alcohol? Again, it works the best when slightly warm.

Those actually look better than I would have expected. The coils look even and the tapered areas look good. What type of wire are you using? Going by the boxart, those springs could even be made from thinner wire.

Clever idea, but it is shown on bare plastic. If the model has faint scripts, paint will bury them, making the technique pretty much impossible. In those cases foiling the script before painting is probably a better option.

If there us a cat in your household, you will likely find whiskers it sheds. Those can make good antennas as they have a taper similar to the taper of some of the antennas (sewing needles don't look quite right to me). Trim the thinnest end of the whisker, paint it silver and install it in the fender. Job done! And a whisker is also flexible like a real antenna).

Mike, there are multiple types of paints and multiple types of paint steppers. Certain combinations of paint and strippers work well, others do not. As I said earlier, even the temperature of the stripper can affect its potency. There is no list of which stripper works the best with which paints. At least no list I know of. I don't even have my own list compiled. I have and use about half a dozen of various stripping liquids. it is not an exact science, but more like an experiment. You mentioned "enamel", but no specifics. What brand of paint is it? Maybe someone can offer some specific advice once we know more about the paint. As for the paint age, sure it can be harder to strip decades old paint, but usually there are ways to strip even old paint. However there seem to be some paints or primers out there which are very difficult to strip.

None of the online forums I participate in allow for deleting posts. You can edit a post, but not delete it. One way of dealing with it is to delete the contents of the post and replace it with the word "deleted". I've seen that done here. But by posting to an old thread you brought it back to the the top of the topics list for everybody to see. That can't be undone.

Contac "paper" is a vinyl film which shrinks slightly after few years. Don't ask how I know.

The taper is probably just a draft angle so the wheel can be easily ejected from the steel mold.

Some people (like me) likely stay logged in onto the forum on their computers (or phones) continuously (even as I sleep). Would that show them as "online"? If not, how is the online status determined?

Off the top of my head, several reasons (at least for me). The biggest one is drying time. I'm a CA glue junkie (instant setting). Also, silicone is soft and rubbery. That flexibility of all the model's part joints is not something I want in my model. Another thing is that it is messy. Even in small amounts, it will likely ooze from the joint, requiring a cleanup. I don't want to double my build time doing glue cleanup. The next one is related: this stuff is too thick. Some parts need to be assemble in a way that parts touch each other. Also the bond between bare plastic and silicone is not very strong (especially if there is only very thin layer of silicone). When I build my models, they are not designed to be taken apart.