peteski

Unless you placed several bids in one dollar increments to arrive at that $12 then you misunderstood what Ace mentioned. Those "nickel and dimers" as I call them, bid in one dollar increments trying to outbid a higher bid placed earlier by someone, and ebay is doing the automatic proxy bidding for that earlier bidder, outbidding the "nickel and dimer". You have to understand how eBay's automatic proxy bidding works for this to make sense to you. Maybe people do not understand thst eBay does the bidding automatically for the earlier bidder who placed a large bid earlier, but the high bid amount that shows is only the minimum of the bid increment above the lower bid. It is actually simpler than my poor explanation. Then there are bidders who bid some high amount early on, then "cement" that bid towards the end of the auction by placing even larger bid. If that bidder wins the auction you will see two bids for the same amount placed by the same bidder, but showing different day/time of the bid. There is a whole science to understanding various bidding tricks. My method is simple: I snipe. Doesn't guarantee that I win, but it minimizes the bid creep. What you did I considered a "lucky break". You were the lone bidder and got the item for the starting price. I see lots of bidders who bid the starting price bid, but most of the time they are outbid. You got lucky that nobody else wanted the item.

Here is my speculation: Those "chrome like" paints have thin flat shiny metallic particles (flakes) suspended in the liquid, which consists of the solvent which evaporates, and binder which is the clear resin which remains after the paint is dry, and which also encapsulates the metallic particles. When in liquid form those flat metallic particles are free to rotate in all direction scattering light, appearing like swirling shimmering silver paint. Once sprayed onto the surface, when the solvent has not yet evaporated, those silver particles settled down in the liquid, aligning themselves flat on the painted surface. They stay that way until the solvent evaporates and the binder (clear resin) hardens protecting the silver particles), so they stay aligned That creates the "chrome like" appearance. I suspect that the airflow from a fan nearby keeps swirling the liquid (and the metallic particles) preventing them from settling down flat as the solvent evaporates. Since they metallic particles can't align as the paint dries, they will just look like silver paint (since they scatter, not reflect the light like a mirror).

The actual metal conductor in 30AWG wire has a diameter of 0.010". Insulation in a wire-wrapping type wire has outer diameter of around 0.016". You can figure out the actual 1:1 diameters by multiplying those dimensions by either 24 or 25 (depending on the scale of your model).

If you could remove the center core wire then it would be much more flexible. Not sure if that is possible though.

Looks like we both missed it! Thanks for the info Tomasz.

That's exactly what I was going to say and ask. Bombowy model!! It must have taken very long time to build. The amount of very fine detail seems to imply that it is a large scale model, but if it is 1:24 I'll be totally speechless. I have a feeling that if you were to photograph this model against natural background it would be impossible to tell it from the 1:1 scale car.

That's pretty clever Rob. But I'm curious how long did it take you to physically align the models perfectly. How many tries? Or did you do the aligning in your image editing program? I also assume you used a tripod mounted camera.

If the ID (Inside Diameter) of the tubing is 0.0215" then any wire smaller than 0.0215" in diameter should slide into the tubing. Greg proposed 0.020" wire - that'll work. But that size seems a touch thick for a 1:25 model car (assuming that is what you have). The 0.028" tubing in 1:25 scale comes out to 0.028 X 25 = 0.7" in 1:1 scale 0.7" would be but thick for an antenna. I have used this technique for making antennas, but I used thinner hypodermic tubing, and thinner stainless steel wire for the top segment. Here is a 3-piece antenna made this way. This is on 1:32 scale car. I don't recall what size tubing I used. I would have to dig that car out of storage and measure it. I'm pretty sure though that the top segment wire is 0.005". I used to buy my tubing from Small Parts Inc., but amazon assimilated them some years ago, and finding anything on amazon website stinks. I did find another company which sells similar range of tubing, and has an easy to deal with website. https://componentsupplycompany.com/

I've been lucky not having to deal with any of the new "bad" BMF chrome foil. Would any of you in this thread be willing to cut a piece of your bad BMF and mail it to me? Just fold a piece of letter size paper, but the piece of BMF in it, and put it in #11 envelope. If you are willing to do this, PM me and I'll give you my address. I can reimburse you for the postage and if you want., for the foil.

Make sure not to use the stripper in cold environment. Cold reduces potency of all the strippers. Use them at warm room temperature (80-90 deg. F).

Thanks for the compliments David. I did not know that you were familiar with my N scale FedEx van. It is nice that you inherited your Dad's N scale layout. It probably also brings back some nice memories. I don't have a train layout, but I have been adding details to couple of friend's layouts, and I belong the local NTRAK modular club. I have some photos of another illuminated model, in a larger scale.: http://classicplastic.org/pete-w-pb.html . Using moving magnets under the roadway to animate vehicles is a workable idea. It is done commercially in H0 scale. As far as LEDs and precision soldering goes, I do have an advantage over average modeler due to the fact that I have been involved in electronics since early teens, both as a hobby and later in a professional capacity. I have been also using LEDs in my projects almost as long. But LEDs are not rocket science, and more and more modelers are using them for model illumination. There is plenty of info about LEDs on the Internet, and if you don't want to go at it yourself, there are also LED lighting kits for model being sold by online vendors. Advantage of using LEDs is that wiring (using thin enameled magnet wire) can be easily hidden, the are bright, and the light can easily be directed (even just by painting some opaque paint over the LED). As far as soldering goes, it is an acquired skill, but it is not very difficult. Again there are plenty of video tutorials on YouTube. Good quality pencil-type soldering iron with a fine pointy tip is also helpful. I have a professional temperature-controlled rework station, but for years I got by with a a basic pencil soldering iron. Nowadays, you can get a decent quality temperature-controlled station for less than $100 US. For ful disclosure, I do use an Optivisor magnifier for delicate soldering operations. I hope that you will be able to embrace the LED technology to expand the range of lighting techniques available for your excellent diorama and other models.

Personally I would like to have more daylight hours at the end of the day. Especially in the Winter. I hate when it gets dark outside around 3pm. But I'm sure nothing will come of this.

Yes, looks like someone spilled some cream on the model. Looks nothing like snow. For the price I would expect something looking more like snow, and applied in a way snow would settle on a car.

There is no need to do that. While you could use Sharpie on the lens of a white LED to change its color there is no need to do that. Just use red LEDs. The diode die inside a red LED will emit red light. Same goes for other color LEDs. Early LEDs only produced red light. Later on green and yellow LEDs were manufactured. They were all rather dim. As technology advanced, LEDs got brighter. Then blue LEDs revolutionized the lighting industry. The white LEDs are actually blie LED die which is coated with a phosphor which emits other colro lights to make the light appear white. Here is a basic explanation of what LEDs are (from https://www.ledsmagazine.com/leds-ssl-design/materials/article/16701292/what-is-an-led ). In the simplest terms, a light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when an electric current is passed through it. Light is produced when the particles that carry the current (known as electrons and holes) combine together within the semiconductor material. Since light is generated within the solid semiconductor material, LEDs are described as solid-state devices. The term solid-state lighting, which also encompasses organic LEDs (OLEDs), distinguishes this lighting technology from other sources that use heated filaments (incandescent and tungsten halogen lamps) or gas discharge (fluorescent lamps). Different colors Inside the semiconductor material of the LED, the electrons and holes are contained within energy bands. The separation of the bands (i.e. the bandgap) determines the energy of the photons (light particles) that are emitted by the LED. The photon energy determines the wavelength of the emitted light, and hence its color. Different semiconductor materials with different bandgaps produce different colors of light. The precise wavelength (color) can be tuned by altering the composition of the light-emitting, or active, region. LEDs are comprised of compound semiconductor materials, which are made up of elements from group III and group V of the periodic table (these are known as III-V materials). Examples of III-V materials commonly used to make LEDs are gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium phosphide (GaP). Until the mid-90s LEDs had a limited range of colors, and in particular commercial blue and white LEDs did not exist. The development of LEDs based on the gallium nitride (GaN) material system completed the palette of colors and opened up many new applications. So you can purchase LEDs of different colors to be used in your projects. Then to power the LEDs you will need to limit the current (which controls the LED brightness). You will need resistors. None of this is "rocket science", Anybody can do this. See https://www.instructables.com/LEDs-for-Beginners/ There are many LED resistor calculators on the Internet, so you don't even have to do the math. Here is a link to one of my models with LED lghts: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44000.0

You are correct, a wax has no thickness to it. Waxes cannot be used as a clear coat. Future (or whatever it is now called) is an acrylic clear gloss floor coating (which modelers found useful as a clear coat on models). It has never been called "floor wax". Look at the label. But for some reasons many modelers seem to assume that because it is for floors, it must be wax.

That is a production car?!

That is a handy model RR scale chard, but G-gauge track is used for multiple scales. 1:22.5 is one of those oddball scales - that is why I asked the OP. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scale_model_sizes

I'm not a fan of using Black permanent Sharpies for several reasons. Yes, they are really very dark purple (not black). One of the main reasons I don't 'like them is that they have glossy finish (rubber gaskets are not shiny). They can also smudge, or be rubbed off. They can affect the paint under them. Many clears will make them run (turning your model into a purple mess). CA glue will make them run, as will most solvent-based styrene glues. If you still want to use Sharpies, and want true black, buy and use Sharpie Industrial marker. Those have red (not black) legends on them. They have real black ink, but it will still have the problems I mentioned above (except purple).

Thanks for the info on your photo setup - very handy info (and you do seem to have some professional equipment at your disposal).

Sorry, it was not my intention to point out errors - I was simply curious about what I noticed. While Fiber Optic Lightning is handy, have you considered LEDs? There are lots of very small sizes available and they are quite affordable. You can even buy them prewired on eBay. If you look on eBay for example for "0603 prewired warm white led" you should find some good deals. LED wlll likely be brighter than the fiber optics, and the wires are much easier to hide (like glue them down the lamp post). I use LEDs almost exclusively in my models.

The model is gorgeous, and yes the photos look like they are taken by a professional. Admit it, you are professional photographer? I would love to see your photo setup - any chance of you posting some photos of it? The other question I have is why you masked the entire body with Tamiya tape? That to me seems unnecessary. I usually use the tape just in the areas where I need the paint demarcation, and cover the larger areas with some other material.

Well, the difference is 25-22.5=2.5 That is a vague question. What are you specifically looking for? Model in 1:25 scale is smaller than one in 1:22.5 scale. 1:22.5 scale sounds a bit unusual. More like one of the scale used for garden model railroads ( "G" gauge ), not model automobiles.

Your room temperature and humidity is ideal fr painting (it actually seems a bit dry, but that would be ok). I suspect that by "won't dry" you mean that the paints are tacky to the touch (not still in liquid form on the model surface). What brand/type/color of paints? Have you used successfully them in the past, or is this first time you are trying them? Are they maybe fresh bottles or cans of paint? Sounds like you have no problem with primer drying, correct? Maybe you started using new brand of primer, or the paints don't dry even over bare plastic?

Thanks for the explanation Jim. I know that some 3D printing setups come with software that automatically generates supports for the 3D object being printed. Have you ever tried that feature? I also realize that there is a lot of experimentation required. It is not exact science. BTW, did you check that "Why 3D prints fail" video I posted while ago? I thought it was very informative (even for an armchair 3D guy like me)..

These are very artistic photos, but with all the working lights I'm wondering why the streetlight is not illuminated? I'm also curious as to what is the loop of what seems like fishing line on the roof of the trolley?