peteski

Joe, simple solution: Go to your favorite search engine and search for "usb all in one memory card reader". There are lots available. It is a small box which has multiplpe sockets that accept pretty much every memory cart ever made. The box just plugs into any USB port and when you insert a memory card, it will show up as a drive on your Windows machine. As far as CD/DVD drives in laptops go, in the last few years laptops no longer have them built-in. It is considered old technology. Again, there are inexpensive USB CD/DVD drives available. I also have one of those for one of my laptops.

No problem Charlie. Since that majority of hobbyists printing decals use ink jets, I just wanted to prefer a disappointment of the ink beading up on the surface of laser decal paper. To the uninitiated: Ink jet specific decal paper has a special liquid ink-absorbing layer, so it doesn't bead up on the surface.

Charlie has an Alps MicroDry printer. Make sure not to use this paper in ink jet printers!

Strongest setting solution I have is Walthers Solvaset (usually stocked in hobby shops caterign to model RR crowd). Or order it directly from Walthers

Make sure to pick the decal paper designed for the printer you have: ink-jet, or laser (including other thermal transfer printers like Alps). Those types of paper are not interchangeable.

Bill, I don't question the 3D printing technology. I think it is a new amazing, and exciting addition to our hobby. Many model companies use 3D-printed masters for resin and white metal cast kit, and many 3D directly-printed model parts are available in the aftermarket. I was just stating that 3D scanning technology is not quite ready for someone to place some object on the scanner pad, and the scanning process magically creates a ready-to-print file. As you mentioned, Bill C. designs his parts in CAD (not by 3D scanning)..

Tamiya (Washi) tape I believe is made of some bamboo-based paper. It also does not have very aggressive adhesive. so the narrower the tape is, the less area is on it to adhere, and it will make it appear not to be very sticky. I would not expect very narrow strips to stick very well to anything. That is true about any masking tape, but if the tape has a more aggressive adhesive to begin with, the narrow strips will also have more "stickiness".

Well Rick, you seemed to be unhappy being stuck watch the boring parts. It seemed that you were not aware you could easily skip to any part of the video. It is silly to kvetch about something if you know what to do to remedy what you kvetchign about. Useless info? Well, you are welcome anyway. BTW, I didn't watch those videos - just offering very unhelpful hints. That's me, silly Peteski

You can always just move the video timeline slider forward past the boring parts.

Not much different from the CO2 gas in a carbonated beverage (like a Coke can or bottle). If you shake it, you'll see it bubble up.

Have you personally try that? As I understand, 3D scans (especially of small items) are really rough and require you (having CAD skills) to clean them up before printing. Often it takes less time to draw the object from scratch than to clean up the 3D scan.

Like others, I'm really surprised. I never had a problem with it adhering. Silly question: you didn't happen to wax the paint you were masking? Tamiya tape is rather pricey -- "Washi tape", which is available in craft stores or online is basically the same as Tamiya, but less expensive. Still pricier than regular masking tapes, but well worth the extra cost.

Greg, Why don't you let us know what tape and paints you are using, and what is your masking/painting technique?

Very nice model. The A-pillar repair was also done well. I like the color too. Too bad the stock wheels weren't usable, but the wheels you chose do look good on this car. What did you use for the "chrome" foil?

Some cars do show which tire has low pressure, but those are usually not the lower end cars.

Yes, it appears to still being issued. But the subject line you chose is really misleading. FSM has been published for decades. Wouldn't it make sense to use "Contest Cars issue still being published in 2021!" Instead of "Fine Scale Modeler?"

If you hover the cursor over the blue dot, it explains what it indicates. Not something you need to worry about. If you are using a phone or tablet, I don't know how to get the "hover effect". Actually a lot of new apps hide stuff under cryptic icons that you have to hover over to figure out what they mean.

Thanks for addressing the comments in my post Tim. Yes, you did not have access to the 1:1 vehicle, but I suspect that those dimensions could have been provided by someone on this forum. There are plenty of members here that possibly either own that car, or have access to one if needed. But at this time, it is neither here nor there, and you are correct that each one of us sees things at least slightly differently, and we all approach this hobby with a varied degrees of passion. I totally disagree with that Bob. 3D printing of prototypes from a CAD file is not only widely used, but also quite inexpensive. And why only "few times"? A print can be done hundreds of times, if needed. It is not like it is a resin casting from RTV mold that wears out. You can print however many times you need to. There are modelers on this forum who have 3D printers at home and print as many copies of some object as they need. There are also companies like Shapeways that allow the designers to sell as many copies of their design as customers are willing to buy. Your statement makes no sense to me.

Ah, in that case 8-pin connector makes sense. I too hope that the mount will be robust enough for your model!

Bob, cold is not what can damage the kit's parts and decals -- it is excessive heat and humidity.

Well unless you are modeling a car with the tires just sprayed with a tire protectant spray (like Armor-All, or some other tire spray). Then they are glossy. Many owners do this to their car's tires before they enter a car show. Byt yes, in most cases tires will not be glossy.

Well, (while my suggestions in that thread were not inflammatory), I think that Tim deflecting, or ignoring any comments about the inaccuracy of the body (which clearly seemed to be "off" to the knowledgeable modelers who actually cared about the problem) didn't help things either. If Tim simply admit that the model was "off", that would have likely prevented some, or all of the animosity. But then again, Tim being in the position that he was in (reviewing a preproduction model supplied by the manufacturer) had to defend the model's accuracy. It was a tough position to be in. Seems like in this case it was a no-win situation for Tim and for the knowledgeable modelers making (increasingly inflammatory, after being ignored) comments. But if (as I mentioned) the manufacturer showed the 3D printed prototype body before cutting the tool, they would have gained valuable info from the "experts" on this forum, so the original tool would have been cut accurately. At least that is how I see it. Work out all the kinks before cutting tooling, crowd-sourcing the knowledge.

After several comments I made in the Tim Boyd's build thread (to take measurements of the kit's body and 1:1 car, since the kit obviously did not look like the 1:1 car), and all the dancing around the subject, the body is now corrected. I had a chuckle seeing that a correction was made (requiring major retooling), and I'm also glad that the manufacturer listened to the modeler's comments. But OTOH, maybe the decision to retool the kit was made without any consideration to the comments made on this forum. We will likely never know. Either way I'm very happy that the model was corrected. I also think that with the way things are today (all this online presence), it would be beneficial to everybody if manufacturers allowed online modelers to comment on new kits being made, even before tooling is cut. Most are now CAD-designed and prototyped using 3D printing. Showing those to a bunch of knowledgeable modelers could prevent errors in the final product.

Thanks for your reply Simon, but my question was what was the reason for using 8-pin connector when only 4 connections were needed. As far as the styrene socket goes, even with just one kilo, the socket is relatively short and there will be a lot of pressure applied to it. It is a type of a fulcrum. If it was my precious model, I would reinforce it (maybe by using some metal straps around). I would not depend on just styrene glued with CA. Call me paranoid, but seeing all the work that went into this model, I would use the proverbial suspenders and a belt.

Pretty clever. Hopefully the styrene female "socket" will be strong enough to support the entire ship. I'm curious why you need 8 pins if only 4 connections are needed? Reliability? Extra current carrying capacity?