peteski

Ah, a nice vintage Matchbox. Nice! It has much better proportions than the new version. Even the castings were thinner, and the new one has slightly exaggerated "chunkier" look. Still nice, but not as good as the older one. As I mentioned earlier, the older Matchboxes had more accurate look to them. The body castings were thinner and the clear plastic parts was also mold thinner. Even the interiors were better looking. They had actual steering wheels (even if the "cross" spokes were inaccurate), not solid blobs they are like in most contemporary models. The detailed Tampo-printed decoration on new models is nice, but to me it still does not compensate for the clunkiness.

Can't you use "forgot password" procedure, or your current email address is no longer valid? Still, admins here do not like users to have multiple logins. If you PM one of the admins (like Dave Ambrose) he should be able to help you taking care of this problem.

Well then, using PVC as a baffle for diffusing the released air is ok. Looks like the pressure pipes on the bottom are iron.

While we don't have a more detailed description of what it looks like other than "little oxidized", I suspect that as Bill mentioned the "oxidized" look is due to the metalized layer simply missing and no amount of polishing will bring it back. In order to polish a solid metal surface, the dull layer needs to be abraded off the surface. That is what polishing compounds do, They simply remove it exposing the clean metal underneath. But here since the "chromey" aluminum layer on the plastic surface is so thin, there is no pristine metal to be exposed. But at this point you have nothing to lose by polishing it - give a a whirl!

Yes, using PVC pipe for pressurized gases is a big no-no. I've seen what happens, and it is not pretty. A BIG Kaboom!

Time of some education. Kit chrome (in 99.9%) of the kits is not chrome. It is a very thin (couple of atoms thick) layer of aluminum applied in a vacuum over a glossy clear coat. The process is called vacuum metalization or vaccum metal deposition. The metal layer is very fragile (as Bill pointed out). If it was real chromium (very hard and chemical resistant metal), it couldn't be easily stripped with bleach or lye. Polishing it (polishing compound is abrasive) will instantly strip the aluminum exposing bare plastic. Your only options here are to strip it, then either paint it using one of several chrome-finish paints, or sent it out to be "replated" (vacuum metalize) as that service is again being offered.

Welcome to the world of today Tom, where ineptitude is rampant. Who will fix things when the older experienced folks are gone? At least we, older folks won't have to worry about it. After reading your towel bar adventure I was ready to tag it with a sad icon, but the Washington image in the unsanded spackle on the wall made me smile. You're a good father Tom!

What could come in really handy for you is a $20 digital caliper from a place like Harbor Freight. I bought one about 25 years ago and I use it all the time in my hobbies. With the resolution of 0.0005" (0.01mm) it is more than up to the hobby tasks, and you can measure inner and outer dimensions plus depth. Just watch our for the really inexpensive (usually made of plastic) digital calipers with a resolution of just 0.01". Those aren't worth the money. The brass eyelet is likely a common item but without knowing the dimensions it is difficult to find info about it. Is the eyelet really needed there? Looks like it acts as a bearing for the axle, but since this will be a static model, just wrap some paper on the axle to compensate for the missing thickness of the brass eyelet. The replacement spring can likely also be found. Since it appears to only be cosmetic, something close to the original (or 4 replacement ones which are slightly different dimensions) would likely do the trick. You could even wind your own from a piece of bare copper wire. 1/64" is 0.016" and 26AWG wire diameter is ~ 0.016".

Thanks for doing the research Rob, even if inconclusive. As for Polyurethane resin, we know that the liquid resin absorbs moisture from the ambient air, and when it hardens the moisture causes bubbles to form.

Yeah, as I mentioned few posts earlier, that is confusing me too.

I'm not sure Rob. Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way. Yet, I have doubts that air (mostly Nitrogen in the ambient atmosphere) gets absorbed by the liquid resin when under pressure. I know carbonated drinks (like Coco-Cola) have CO2 dissolved (?) in the liquid when under pressure, but then the gas escapes when not under pressure (when the sealed bottle is opened), but I'm not sure similar process can take place in resin. But my opinion is just an opinion. I have not done any scientific research about it.

Yes, pressure casting will force resin into all the crevices in the mold. But if those crevices had voids in the when resin was poured, they were not empty. The voids were full of air. Pressure pushes the liquid resin into the void by compressing the air that was in it in the first place. It does the same to all the air bubbles within the resin itself. Since the compressed air doesn't just disappear, it is still there in a tiny bubble under high pressure (60 psi or whatever the pressure pot has in it. When the hardened resin part is removed from the mold the compressed air from the void will be vented, but any bubbles which were within the resin itself, will remain trapped and under pressure. At least that is how I understand the pressure casting. Vacuum casting process sucks any air that is in the mold's voids and the resin itself, so no compressed air remains in the resin after it hardens. Mold itself is air-free RTV material - it doesn't collapse since it is solid. That's because the RTV itself was also vacuum cast. Robs illustrations show all this quite clearly.

Well Dave, I am confused. I thought the screen name (forum name?) and current login name was the same. Then you stated "the vendor is dropping support for using screen names in the next big release so we also want to get ahead of that." I took that as if we will no longer be able to use screen names on the forum. What exactly would be used? Dunno. Maybe email address like for the logins going forward? That was my complaint - I like using my screen name. However your latest reply seems to indicate "The only change is to your login credentials. Your forum name will continue to be used as it has been", so that's why I'm confused. As for stating my approximate location on this planet, there was a thread in the off-topic section some time ago how it was too bad that the member's location was no longer seen. I did suggest that members could put their location info in their signature which is exactly what I do.

Vacuum casting seems to be a better idea to me. Pressure casting leaves highly compressed air bubbles in the resin, while vacuum casting eliminates the air, leaving the resin air-free.

Well that to me is a bummer and to me a stupid move. I have been "peteski" to family/friends/co-workers for close to 40 years. Software developers and designers seem to be on some weird kick to make our lives less fun, usually in a name something like security, or just because they think it is better their way. Same thing seems to be happening here. Not too long ago user's profiles showed each members location (well, whatever they chose to use for it). With this forum hosting members from all over the world it was good to see that info. For example I wouldn't suggest that a member in Germany or Australia go looking for some chemical available in an American-based store or, use some local product which is not available abroad. But that information was hidden, for our own safety. Pretty soon we will all have randomly assigned user names to protect our personal info. That's a 2-way street. Anonymity to me breeds misinformation. More and more fun is getting sucked out of our online presence.

If I understand your question, bold subject line in the thread list page means that there are new messages you haven't read yet, and there will be black dot or star to the left of the subject line. Clicking on the dot or star will get you to the first unread post in that thread. Star will do the same, but a star means that you have at some time in the past already posted something in that thread. If you hover your mouse cursor over various items on the forum pages a popup will show up which tells you what the item means or is for. It is very helpful in understanding and utilizing various forum features. If you use smart phone I have no clue how to get that functionality (I access the forum on my computer and a web browse with a conventional keyboard/mouse). I like to read the forum and view photos on a 24" screen, not squint and struggle seeing things on tiny phone or even a tablet screen.

I sure do. I used to watch the repeats few years ago when they were shown on MeTV (one of the independent CATV TV stations in U.S.)

Thank you all for the info. Like I mentioned, I'm just a casual collector (just probably few hundred in my stash). The way I pick them up nowadays is when I go shopping (groceries and other stores), if I happen to walk by a Matchbox or Hot Wheels display I stop and check them out. If some model "speaks" to me I pick it up, but I do try to be selective. So it looks like the smaller packages has been around for a while. I just don't recall seeing them in the past. To me Matchbox always seem to make more in-scale replicas of actual vehicles than Hot Wheels. This was even more true 30-40 years ago, but they still seem to be doing it. That is not too say Matchbox did not make some wild models, but overall Matchbox still does it better than Hot Wheels. No matter, they are now both just brand names owned by Mattel anyway, so they are probably all designed by the same people and produced in the same factory.

Interesting. I've been dealing with electronic circuits (soldering included) for 40 years and I have never knew about solder balls! I wish I knew about these when I was building N scale (1:160) pool table. I made my own solder balls to use as cue balls, but they were a pain to make them all approximately the same size.

What is a "weld ball"? First time I've heard of those.

Of course the alternative is to take the mixing head out after turning the mixer off, but then a lot of paint is still left on it.

I'm a casual Matchbox and Hot Wheels collector. I found some Matchbox cars at a local $1.25 store. I noticed that some are packaged in blister packs which have smaller cardboard cards. They seem to be newer models. Is this a new development or has the smaller packaging been around for some time?

Here is an example how I hold bunch of small parts for painting. I use whatever item is convenient as a holder (clothespins plastic spoons, popsicle sticks, etc.). Some parts themselves are often pinned (drill small hole and glue in a thin brass rod). I also use various diameter insulation stripped from wire or heat shrink to hold round cross-section parts. This can also double as masks to leave areas unpainted. The flat clear plastic box visible in the background on the right holds a collection of various pieces of insulation and heat shrink tubing. I then stick the "mounts" to pieces of Alien Tape (or similar clear 3M adhesive tape). Or mount them with masking tape. Some parts which have small holes are skewered onto the tip of a cut down round toothpick. Doing this gives me the ability to easily hold the parts when airbrushing, and later to place them down so they can dry without getting stuck to the workbench or dehydrator.

Only 5 year delay - that's not too late. . Interesting explanation.

Bill, looks like I didn't compose my post correct way, as my second sentence read "And yes I know that when food in a can goes bad the reaction inside the can can build up pressure." You are correct.