peteski

I think that it is finally sinking in that these are just plastic toys, not some super-precise and very expensive equipment. Same applies to decals. You aren't building a precision stopwatch - just a plastic toy for crying out loud. As far Alps printers go, here is an example of decal I designed and printed (in Corel Draw, in vector format of course) for a fellow club-member. For size reference, the model is 1:25 scale. All the graphics (including the license plate, and the bumpersticker on the back window) were printed on Alps. All the graphics (including the tire lettering) are Alps printed decals.

Since this thread was brought back from the dead, I read the initial post. "Models from before 1981"?! LOL! Some members here weren't even born at that time! How can they have models build (by them) before 1981? I propose the criteria should be changed to just post photos of models from someone's early days of modeling. Yes, I know this forum is full of old farts, but for a member now in their 30s, their "survivor" would be a model likely built between 1998 and 2008.

I believe those higher prices are MSRP prices set by Tamiya. Since these are different than regular Tamiya paints, it is feasible that they will charge more for them.

Is that Testors color similar to Tamiya Smoke?

Alps neither understand or deals with Pantone colors. It is a standard CYMK printer, but there are tricks that can be done to achieve solid (non-dithered) colors by layering multiple layers of 100% saturation inks. This techinique is not something mentioned in the usr's manual - these were developed by hobbyists, after lots of experiments. I woudl not expect anybody but a hobbyist who owns an Alps printer (and understands all the tricks) to use the Alps spot color method to get good quality results. Also there is no choice of Metallic silver hues with Alps - there is a single Metallic Silver cartridge and it only produced one type of metallic silver hue. if you don't like it - tough! I suspect that you really have to notch down your expectation as what you can get from small custom decal manufacturers. If you really want to get top-notch decals, you need to hire a "real" decal company which will mix the inks to your exact specifications, and use either the screen-printing method, or a $100k printer to produce your decals. Company such as Microscale can print custom decals (IIRC in minimum qunatity of 250), or one of the absolute best decal printing companies: Cartograf in Italy. Then your fantasy models will have absolutely best quality decals. Yes, it will be expensive.

Nice job on the spokes! I'm also disappointed that model companies unfortunately make such mistakes, especially when the 1:1 vehicle is readily available for reference, and they design the model in CAD. And German workmanship (accuracy and quality) used to be well known all over the world. But those times seem to behind us. This is also not the first time I see inaccuracies on models. Older models also often have inaccuracies.

The guy in that 20-minute-long video gave me a headache! He talks way too much!! I also think he put too many coats of those Tamiya "metalizer" paints over the glossy base. I would treat them like I would Alclad II chrome. 1-coat!! As I see it, those paints are supposed to be used to represent bare polished metal, while he keeps comparing them to standard metallic colors. I don't think they are meant to be used as a car body color (especially since the clear coat is not recommended). Then there is the price. Yes, they are pricey (per can). But if they are to be equivalent to Alclad, I think that ounce per ounce, Alclad is even more expensive than those Tamiya metalizer paints. One thing that was not tested is how durable the Tamiya finish is vs. Alclad Chrome.

No, the name "Testors PLA enamel" long predates the modern biodegradable plastic called PLA (Polylactic Acid). I also asked that question here some time in the past and someone wrote that ti likely stood for "PLASTIC" as in "polystyrene", meaning that the Testors paints were safe to use on PLAstic. but this is just speculation.

Condiments included with take-out foods are often packaged in very handy reusable containers. Some look like the containers you can buy for making Jello shots.

Thank you Charles!

LOL!

Wow Grzegorz, you keep crafting all those cars from late '70s and early '80s, and they look really good (especially for scratchbuilt). Is there any possibility you could start a WIP thread on one of the ones you already created, or on one of your future models? I woudl love to see how you make them. I'm sure it would be very interesting and educational information for most of us here on the forum. I would love to see you build a model of 1978 Olds Toronado XS with that cool looking backlight.

I'm not sure if you already answered this question - is this model scratchbuilt, diecast, or a kit? If not scratchbuilt, who makes it?

Tom, that version of this Monogram kit only had a diecast body. Rest of the kit was identical to the 100% plastic one. Also, that metal body looked as if it was molded in the same mold as the plastic body. The quality and fidelity was the same as the 100% plastic kit. I'm not even sure why Monogram even decided to make the body out of metal for that release.

Is there a "rump" depression cast in the cushion of the driver's seat?

No clue either! And the steering wheel seems to be located in the center of the car (neither left- or right-hand drive)! The wheels look like one of the custom wheel sets from Aoshima or Fujimi. EDIT: I think what I see as a steering wheel is just a headrest of the right front seat.

Wow Michael, you must have spend many hours on this! We appreciate it, but I'm also thinking that we might be taking this too seriously. So if there is a repeat, so what? I don't think that people will scan all the older quiz posts looking for an easy answer - I think most people are honest. Plus, this is just for fun - it is not like this is an entrance exam to some high-prestige university. But at this time the point is moot - you already spent the time cataloging all the quizzes. Thanks again!

Good percentage of people who get emails do not understand (or care) about the difference between "reply" and "replay to all"! There is a cure for this (which they also should teach your son in school), but they it will be up to you to use that method. The cure for "reply to all" is to use BCC on the original email sent to a large group of recipients. That way, even if they hit "reply to all", it will only go to the sender of the email. Simple and effective way to avoid email storms and frustration. I work for a large computer company and sometimes some employee accidentally emails something to an email containing thousands of recipients. That results with initially couple of replies (to all) stating that the sender must have sent that out to the wrong address. Those emails in turn start an "email storm" from others asking to be "taken off that email alias". Which is stupid, because that email alias for large group of people was created for a valid reason, and people cannot be removed from it. Then we have other well-meaning people reply (to all) asking others to stop "replying to all"!! This just spins out of control! We then get people reply (to all) with cute memes or other helpful hints. Since my company is global, the storm continues as employees come on shift in other time zones, and they also start replying (to all). Sometimes the storm last longer than 24 hours! This all results in hundreds of useless emails in my Inbox. Eventually things quiet down, but it takes a while. The weirdest thing is that this is a high-tech company so you woudl figure the employees would be savvy enough to understand how email system works! Nope, we have a lot of clueless people working in my company.

I suspect that this is because Legos do not require paint or glue, the blocks can be reused for other purposes, and a large portion of the Earth's population needs instant gratification. There is likely also more Lego advertisements there then there are for model car kits. Plus the Legos really are fun to play with.

Thanks CL! It is mostly LEDs, except for the white-color lights (and the fog lights), which are small 1.2mm 1.5V micro bulbs from Miniatronics. At that time there were no affordable or small enough white LEDs available. The red and amber LEDs I used were the early SMD type from Panasonic (purchased from Digikey). I worked as an electronic tech at that time, so that masked easier form me to look for electronic parts and design my electronic circuits. If and when I build another one of those, it will be all-LEDs, and I have some better ideas on how to simulate the rotating emergency lights. There was one place I used LED-illuminated plastic fiber optics: I used those for illuminating lights on the instrument panel.

While Duct Tape is often touted as a cure-all solution for our manly needs, I have had bad experience with it and I avoid it like plague. All the duct tapes I have ever used have adhesive that melts and oozes after some time. Very messy! I would not use it for any type of permanent solution, especially ones that suppose to look good and can't easily be redone. Just the opposite with masking tape: its adhesive dries up after several years, and stops being sticky.

That sounds more like a browser than OS version problem. If you can find a current version of some browser to install on XP, that will probably cure your problems. But that might be difficult nowadays with the XP support stopping few years back.

Thanks Patrick! You want to hear something funny? I suggested "Peter-built Peterbilt" as the title for that article.

Are you posting any information here (like credit card, bank account, SS number) or other information that you think should be encrypted? Secure https simply encrypts data transferred between the website and your computer. Why should we encrypt info like what kinds of paints we use, or what our latest model purchase was, or photos of our models? I don't see a problem. I'm sure SSL certificates cost money, and this website is free to use. IMO, this thread really belongs in How To Use This Board section.

Yeah, GasStationTV! Super annoying! Some (but not all) stations allow muting the sound by hitting the keys on the sides of the screen. .Sometimes you can press the same key repeatedly, sometimes you have to press more then one key. Just try pressing multiple keys to mute the sound. The UrinalTV is just too much! I feel like I'm being attacked when I'm at my most vulnerable. That has crossed the line! If I see one of those I might just pee in the sink instead!