peteski

Yes, but they are microscopic in size so water absorption should not be a problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_microsphere Or just Google "microbaloons" for some additional info. Then talcum powder could be used as filler. This discussion just gave me an idea that maybe the acrylic powder used with artificial fingernails might make excellent filler for CA glue. After all, CA is also a type of acrylic. Acrylic powder is available at beauty supply stores. Yes, it is more expensive than baking soda, but it would be much more stable. I'll have to try how it behaves when mixed with CA glue.

The fine-toothed Zona or X-acto razor saws (as pictured earlier in the thread) are made form hard steel. They are not just for plastic - the easily cut brass, copper and aluminum.

Thanks for describing the possible problem areas on this model Salih - it will help me when I get to build my model. It sure is a cute little car. Must be fun to drive the real one!

It came out beautiful! I also have that kit (unbuilt). Can you tell me what were the specific challenges? I also have a suggestion: This forum allows us to upload all our photos here for free. It would be nice if we tried to conserve the forum's space by reducing the size of the photos. The ones you uploaded are quite large. They are more than 3000 pixels across. I usually resize my the photos I upload here to 1024 pixels across. That still provides a sharp view of the model, but it takes up much less space on the forums storage.

Your model came out really nice. The wire spokes make it much more realistic. If some parts have no attachment to glue points, you can pin them together. Drill holes in both parts for a small diameter brass rod, then use CA glue to everything together.

Sometimes in online forums, topics take a slight off-topic turn. But it looks like that diversion is complete. Back to paint booths we go.

Baking soda powder Sodium Bicarbonate is a type of a salt. It is readily soluble with water. If used as CA filler and accelerator, it triggers very fast setting of CA glue (especially the thin variety). There doesn't seem to be much control over the reaction, and sometimes it bubbles up. That is one of the reasons I don't use for what Kurt uses it for. The other problem, which might not show up right away is more messy: If some of the grains don't absorb the CA glue, if humidity gets to them they will dissolve, oozing out as liquid from the glue joint. The likely does not happen in bone-dry climates, but where I live we have muggy summers, so I would never consider using it as CA accelerator/filler. If one looks on the Internet, one will find some examples of such oozing glue joints. With plenty of CA accelerates out there, and fillers (like talcum powder, plastic shavings, microbaloons, or other similar dry fillers), IMO there really isn't a need for using Baking Soda.

I would never believed that this was a TKM slush-cast model. You Sir, are a miracle worker! Is TKM even still around? Probably about 25 years ago I bought a '79-'85 Caddy Eldorado (since I own a 1:1 car), but after receiving and opening the package, back in the box it went. I don't even remember where I stashed it.

Few recent issues of FSM seem to have fewer and fewer pages, and only couple of printed reviews. They point to their website for more reviews. Well, the reason I get a paper version is that I want to see the reviews in print. I wrote a letter to the editor about this reduced coverage in print, but I did not receive a response (not I expect one). While I have subscribed to FSM for over 30 years, I do not appreciate the slow slimming of its contents. I might just drop it when my subscription expires later this year. But this move to digital versions of printed media seems unstoppable. Too bad . . .

Are those gauge decals similar to the ones https://www.ebay.com/str/bestbalsakits from Belgium sells?

Nice pair! I like it!

Well, the way I interpreted the problem is that the "scars" or lines are not only visible, but can be physically felt (maybe when running a fingernail over the surface). But whether the material, the injection temperature or pressure are not optimal, I believe the problem is with the manufacturing process (not the painting process). I have painted models which clearly had those injection artifacts in the p(usually metallic colored) plastic, and the the scars did not emerge after painting.

Thanks! I am not looking for a kit - I just verify my sanity (that the photo could not have been taken in 1944).

As described in the initial post "Hello, I have noticed that in many of the newer AMT kits, the bare styrene bodies and hoods have these random "scar" lines in them. It almost looks like a fracture, but I don't think it is", the flaw is already visible on bare plastic, before painting. Spraying the body with hot paint just makes the flaw more visible. The problem is not with paint, but with the manufacturing process.

Yes, looks like we are talking about the same thing. But "crazing" is the rough surface on the entire painted part, caused by the solvent in the paint partially melting the plastic. Like Steve said, hot paint that causes crazing also makes the "scar", this thread is about, more visible. The artifact your arrows point to (the "scars") would be visible, even on unpainted plastic (before the crazing takes place).

I was reading the latest copy of the AAA magazine and when I saw a caption for this photo I immediately thought that it is wrong. The pickup truck looks way too new for year 1944. Also, weren't phone numbers around 1944 only 6-digit (with the first 2 "digits" being letters)? I'm not a pickup truck expert, so I hope someone here will identify the year of this truck. Going by the shape of the body, the sharp corners of the door, and by the windshield, to me it looks like a late '50s or '60s truck. Gas price is 29 cents/gal, so that I think points to the '50s.

I think you guys are missing the point. The discussion is not about what looks like crazed black paint on the underside of that hood. The discussion is about the curved line on the lower left quarter of the hood. That line is at the place where the color of the paint (or the light reflection) also changes, so the area to the left of that line is slightly darker than the rest of the hood. I had to look at the photo for a while to figure out where the problem was. BTW, this model woudl never win anything at any IPMS contest: the prominent ejection-pin marks have not been dealt with.

Yes, inner tubes work well, and even if they burst, that won't cause much damage or send shrapnel everywhere. But I do admit that in this case, where low pressures are involved, using PVC pipes and end caps is likely safe. I just mentioned that PVC piping is not safe for any (higher) pressure applications in case someone reads this thread in the future and decides to use PVC for holding air under higher pressure. I use a portable compressor integrated with a (steel) 4-gallon tank that holds 110 psi, then oil/water trap, and pressure regulator to reduce the pressure to what I need for airbrushing. I would never consider PVC for anything on the high pressure side.

Yes, seems like a clever idea, but I would never consider using PVC sanitary sewer piping for a vessel holding pressurized gas. Yes, there is a pressure rating stamped on the pipes, but it is not designed to hold that pressure. I have seen PVC pipes burst (shatter explosively) from air pressure (well below the rating printed on them). https://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/resource-center/using-pvc-pipe-for-compressed-air/ But after stating all that, this looks like a small airbrush compressor that only puts out 30-40 psi. I suppose with such low pressure this setup might be safe.

I was told that no mold release agent is used in the injection-molded polystyrene process. And you right, unlike urethane resins which cure by a chemical reaction, Polystyrene is a thermoplastic, which for injection is heated until it is a thick liquid, then it hardens when it cools . As others have mentioned, those lines seem to be where the injected plastic (from multiple injection points) meets inside the mold. This is readily visible in metallic-color (like silver) polystyrene bodies or other large parts. The metallic particles clearly show the plastic flow patterns. But those artifacts are not supposed to affect the plastic surface. I wonder if the molds were too cold when being injected, causing each flow of the plastic not fully fusing with the other flow, creating a seam-like artifact. Ore like Casey mentioned, the here was insufficient injection pressure. I would consider those defective parts.

There is a Japanese rice-paper tape called "Washi Tape" that is used for crafts. It is pretty much identical to Tamiya yellow tape, but it comes on larger rolls (less expensive). I found some in my local Ace Hardware store (in the adhesive tape section), but it is also available all over the Internet. However, you have to put up with the cutesy markings (which do not affect its properties). Yes, Washi Tape is more expensive than standard masking tapes, but less expensive than Tamiya.

I mask and spray the black trim after painting the body. For this particular task I usually use Parafilm-M for masking. I use "mild-solvent" flat or semigloss black paint (Testors) because hotter paints can attack or soften Parafilm-M.

Cute video. My neighborhood is infested with rabbits. Your kitties must have been well fed to watch that rabbit so quietly.

Yes, you snooze - you loose. Fear (from the talking weather-heads) is the greatest people motivator. Not only for weather related panics, but also for political reasons (but we're not going into that). Even wars were waged triggered by fear, so food hoarding is not all the bad in the greater scheme of things. But it still stinks!.

Thanks! I was half-joking Lee. Well, I grew up in Poland, and back then in Poland not too many people owned pets. Few had dogs, and even fewer cats (compared to USA). There was no such thing as pet food (only table scraps) and while the dogs were given names, it wasn't customary to give cats names. I did have cat back then (a tuxedo cat). When I immigrated to USA, we adopted the one in the photo, and like in the "old country", we didn't name it. The vet wanted a name, so we said "Blackie", but at home we just called her "kitty" or "kotek" (which meant "kitty" in Polish). She would respond to that, but what really got her going was the sound of 9 Lives or Friskies cans being opened!