peteski

I highly doubt that any fledgling newbie modeler will ever read through all these comments. I'm no newbie, and I can't believe I kept up with it! I'm pretty sure I'll start ignoring this thread. The only amusing thing left here is that the person who started this thread never came back to comment. I kept waiting, and waiting . . .

Bob, I'm not sure if this is your motor or not, but it very clearly shows something that very often shows up on model engines: The unfilled seam line on the bell housing and transmission body. ON real cars, those are solid castings with no deep seam running along the top and bottom. It is so simple to fill that gap with glue or putty and it would greatly improve the realism. Modelers spend so much time cleaning the car body: sanding mold parting lines, filling sink marks, smoothing joints, yet they totally ignore seams on the engine parts. The model engine in that photo looks really good and well detailed until your eyes notice that deep seam on the bell housing and transmission. I just don't get it. Thus could have been taken care of with couple of swipes of putty, and just a but of sanding. Do we really need more stickies here? Instead of stickies, moderators recommended adding appropriate tags to the threads (since tags are searchable), but it appears that tagging had to be done in the initial post. BTW, "sticky" is a topic (thread) that is pinned to the top of each forums topics list.

That looks like a fun (production-line type) project. You didn't mention what company made the kits.

My recommendation is to try to save some money and buy the real Optivisor. I owned one for about 30 years and it works REALLY well. I have tried other headband magnifiers (that friends or club members own) and I didn't like any of their inexpensive ones.

Maybe in few more years, when more grumpy old modellers kick the bucket, and more yutz join the forum, the views on the like button will change. But we don't know if the forum even has that capability. If it was by me, I would keep it "like-free". Yes, I'm grumpy, but nowhere near as old as some other members here.

I like that! "Civilized" version. I have a 1:43 kit of a military Harley, and I'm also planning on "demilitarizing" it.

Beautiful model Mark! I also hope that admins eventually fix this problem of posting photos as links to other sites. In the "Can't see my photos" thread I have offered workarounds that seem to work for others. One is to take the link to your photo from a 3rd party photo host and paste it into MS Windows Notepad. There, strip anything other than the URL link itself (it should start with "https" and end with ".jpg". Then copy the link from the Notepad (that is important), and paste it into the text composer window in the forum. That should properly show the photo (not its link) within the post. I am able to do that to the links in your initial post and they show up properly. Or if you want to host the photos here, and they reside on the computer you are using to view the forum, you can just select the photos you want to upload to your post, then drag them into the area that shows a paper clip, below the composer window. Once they sow up in that section you can add them to the composer window. And as far as editing posts goes, that is still available, but the new forum version very stupidly hid that selection. I don't know why programmers complicate things like that. Seems that they want users to go on a treasure hunt to find the hidden options. There are three dots at the upper right of your post. Click on them to bring up a "more" menu. Edit Post should be the bottom of the 3 options there. But if the "edit" selection is not there then that means the editing is no longer possible.

Neither kit has a really good set of wheels/tires. Revell tires are better, but the rear wheels don't have deeper offset (they look identical to the fronts). AMT has better wheels, but the tires have the wrong profile (the sidewalls are too tall).

Yup. I just use #3 and #2 for polishing plastic. #1 is more of a cleaner than polish.

After I'm done sanding clear plastic pieces, I use the Novus polishing system. It makes the plastic part as clear is it was before.

Any CA glue goes from softer than styrene, to harder than styrene as it cures. If you sand it few minutes after it cures, it will still be soft and gummy. But if you wait for 12 hours, it will be harder than styrene. Best is to let it set for few hours before sanding, but not to wait til the next day.

That is what happens when a car is designed by a committee. That's all I can say. I'm pretty sure I know what country it was made in, but I'm not going to look for the specifics.

Simca name always reminds me of Simka and Latka from the "Taxi" sitcom.

To me it looks like he replaced the plastic parts with scratch-built brass lifter and pushrod. Looks like pushrod is a brass rod soldered inside a larger diameter brass tube (lifter). Then the end of the lifter that is in contact with the cam lobe is beveled (usually lifters have flat bottom).

Glen, too bad you didn't take any photos of the "kit" to show what it looked like before you did your magic on it. Some younger modelers might not be familiar with TKM's creations. I only ever bought one TKM kit and it is still sitting untouched in the box.

Beautiful!

Congratulations on your steady progress. The filler cap (just like every other part of this project) looks very realistic.

Looks like I missed that post. Sorry! Who was the person stating that there was a Tamiya '57 Chevy? I was referring to the post below. It stated that there is no Tamiya '57 Chevy. I'm also getting more and more amused with how this thread took on a life of its own, without and additional input from the member who made the "lousy kit" statemenr. So funny!

I believe that the post you are referring to stated "if Tamiya made a '57 Chevy . . .". Seems that you took it way too seriously.

I participate in online forums, and I'm *NOT* a member of FB because of FB's things like the "like" button. That, and the fact that FB is like a constant stream of updates without much organization. I like things organized in separate threads and in separate sections of the forum. Makes subjects easier to browse and even search. And of course it is also nice to see even a short written sentence than just a "thumbs up". Of course I also hope that the nice short "kudos post" is not quoting some original post with 20 large photos in it, although the new version of the forum software seems to solve that problem, even if people fail to trim the quoted post's photos.

This thread is 5 years old, and just bright back recently. Looking at the old posts, the original problem seemed to be resolved by using another brand of lacquer thinner). Plus in 5 years who knows what other things have changed (like airbrush O-ring formulation. I know one thing for sure: Badger 200 (which I have been using for over 30 years), and probably other models, in the paint path use Teflon gaskets, which are unaffected by anything I shoot through it. No worries, no complications.

How about Schoolhouse Rock and Superheros (in the Hall of Justice)? Later on the Wonder-Twins joined them. Then there were silly older superheros cartoons with the Ropeman and Diaperman. Then all those countless Warner Bros. cartoons like Droopy, Foghorn Leghorn, Underdog, etc. Or were those Hanna Barbera? Anybody Remember Josie and the Pussycats? Was that the one that has that sputtering/stuttering dune buggy?

Testors liquid cement is pretty much all-solvent (MEK). There is no way age or evaporation would weaken it. If it was to evaporate, there would be no liquid left in the bottles (well maybe some residue left, but not enough to use it. I almost never glue painted parts. If I really have to use CA glue and BSI brand accelerator (because it is mild and doesn't attach paint like other accelerators). But other than that, I make sure I glue bare plastic parts. I use plan and mask the joining surfaces before painting. I use multitude different masking mediums. Pieces of stripped wire insulation, heat shrink tubing (for round items), masking tape, and lastly liquid masking medium. Evne with bare plastic I often still use CA glue or 5-minute epoxy (because I like using those over solvent cements for styrene). Planning ahead, parts prep, masking, and choosing from multitude of adhesives is what makes for a good modeler (if I might say so myself).

I attended many MassCar shows and was a spectator (but never a participant) in the slammer class event. I was never one to destroy models, but it was fun watching others do it.

Did you live in or visit the New England (Massachusetts) region back then?