peteski

If the network is WiFi, it will handle multiple computers. If it is a wired network, each computer needs to be connected to a separate port on the router. The cable modems/routers usually have multiple network ports that can be utilized. Mine does WiFi, and also has 4 network ports available on the rear panel. As for any questions/drivers related to Alps, join the Alps group I mentioned in my last post.

There are also other choices of rusting solutions for modelers. Another one is https://www.rustall.com/

With the ever-increasing, Spam filtering makes email communication iffy. If your email account is Yahoo, Hotmail, or similar, those are often tagged as Spam. Your email might have been tagged as Spam by Firebird's email provider. I would not give up after first failed attempt. Try sending another email (maybe from another email account, if you have one). Sometimes the subject line, or even the contents of the email can trigger false Spam tag. It is unfortunate, but we just have to expect that. An yes, sometimes people (especially when the business is a side-gig) will take several days to respond. Heck, they could be away on vacation, not checking emails. Don't give up!

John, Since this is unrelated to Reliable Resin, or even to 1:24 scale, why not just start a separate thread about your TVF1 experience? That way the new subject line will make it easier for members to find your experience with that vendor (not buried inside Reliable Resin thread).

Yes, standard twisted pair copper phone line has a limited bandwidth. It is around 3kHz (which is what was needed for low-quality human speech transmission. Of course the advancing technology enabled to squeeze more bandwidth out of that 100-year-old copper wire technology. If you were within short enough distance from the central office, the DSL technology allowed for fairly high data transfer rates. Before internet I used to use my 300 baud modem to call bulletin boards (BBS) to read and post messages. The 300 baud speed was a comfortable speeds to read as the text message was being transferred. It was all text-only - no pictures. Well, there was ASCII art, but that was painfully slow, so it wasn't user much.

LOL! That reminded me of the early days of online forums where some people still accessed the Internet via telephone line modems. When we posted larger resolution photos (and even those were really low-res compared to what we have now), we used to put a warning "not 56k safe" or "not 28.8k safe" in the subject line, so people would not get stuck waiting few minutes for the photo download over their slow connection.

I always try to resize the photos I upload to be less than 1200 pixels across (which makes them around 1 Megapixel), making the JPG file size usually 200kB or less. I really don't see the need to post high resolution photos to a forum, just to be viewed on a computer, or even tinier smart-phone screen. That saves space on the server and makes the backups faster too. Yes, it takes extra time and effort on my part, but I think it is worth it.

That is a peeve of mine too. I guess it would be too much trouble for some, and others probably didn't even think to do it. Not only quoted photos can be deleted, then can be edited and resized. Sometimes quoting a photo is necessary to the reply,. I usually leave the quoted photo but click on it and edit it to a smaller size (like 300 pixels across). like a large thumbnail). I guess I like to do what I would expect others to do to make reading threads easier, with less needless scrolling through lots of quoted photos.

Oops - created this post by mistake.

Exactly, that is why in my post I user "oh" in the American context, and "zero" in the Britis context. While it is a "zero" gauge, Americans chose to represent it with an uppercase "oh". I tried to explain that on a U.S. model RR forum I frequent, but it is a losing battle.

Looks like more companies are changing their parts metalizing process and are using electroplating, which results in a thicker layer of metal over the plastic. That is good for the parts durability, but as mentioned, becomes a real hassle when it comes to removing the metal layer for gluing. The thicker plating can also obscure small details. As I understand, electroplating plastic starts off with application of electrically conductive lacquer. Then, since the parts are now electrically conductive, the rest of the process is similar to how metal parts get electroplated. First a layer of copper is plated over the part, then the final coat of chrome, nickel, or whatever shiny silver metal is being used. I think on 1:1 cars there is an intermediate layer of nickel applied between the copper and chromium. I"m not sure why this change to the new plating method is occurring. The "standard" vacuum metalizing is a fairly simple and clean process. Parts are sprayed with a clear base coat (to make them smooth and glossy), they are placed in a vacuum chamber where sliver of aluminum is vaporized (electrically). That produces the chrome-like look. That's all. Sometimes an additional clear coat is applied to protect the delicate metallic layer. The "new" electroplating method is messier, and it involves not only more steps, but also nasty, poisonous chemicals. Except for durability I don't see any advantages to this process. And since these are usually static models which do not get handled, durability is not really an issue. Plus, I like the looks of the old-style plated parts.

Ah, PIF (Pay It Forward) system.

Maybe PM one of the moderators, or just post this request to change the rules in http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/forum/38-how-to-use-this-board/ section.

I've actually been using 5-minute epoxy several times in the last few days, and I'll be using it again soon. I'll time myself to see how long I mix it.

I don't even have to click on the person's name. When I hover the mouse over the name for a second or two, and a popup window appears with that person's information. On the bottom of that window there is message link (with an envelope picture). Click on that link and it will bring up a composing window for a personal message (PM).

LOL! Were you mixing it for 5 minutes? I have been using various 5-minute epoxies for decades and I always have plenty of time to apply it. Sometimes, when I hold the parts being glued, it seems to take so long that my fingers get sore. There are also 2-minute epoxies out there - maybe that was what you had? funny, there was another thread recently where someone using 5-minute epoxy had no luck in getting it to harden! There is no trick. I squeeze out the epoxy and hardener onto some flat disposable surface. I like to use cheap wide masking tape (the tan-color variety). Then I thoroughly mix it for about a minute. I don't actually count out 60 seconds - I just mix it until it looks uniform with no streaks in it (streaks indicate that it hasn't been fully mixed yet). At that point I still have few minutes to use it. I only mix as much as I need for the moment (only one or few glue joints at the time). If I have to hold the parts together, it means only one glue joint per mixed batch (as I don't have 4 arms). If yours sets too fast, I suspect that you are mixing it too long, or you are trying to use it for gluing too many parts using a single batch of glue.

While vacationing in the state of Maine last week I spotted one of these: These were fairly rare when new, and they are exceptionally rare nowadays. I can't recall the last time I've seen one of these. Same goes for the Dodge Rampage K-cars. This cool VW was in an excellent (restored?) condition. It had an aftermarket steering wheel, and a performance shifter.

Actually American O scale is 1:48. I guess British 0 scale is 1:43. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scale_model_sizes

You are right, there is at least half a dozen various liquid masks geared toward the artist and hobby market. I have tried (and used) some of them. But now I use industrial type of masking medium. I used to work as an electronic technician and we used to use solder mask to keep solder off specific areas of printed circuit boards. Now I mostly use that type of masking medium for masking. Here is a link to the TechSpray peelable Wonder Masks: https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/t/techspray/wondermask-px-wondermask-p The link is to Digikey Corp. because I buy a lot of electronic components there, but you will likely find this stuff on Amazon or eBay too. Unfortunately, even the smallest quantities sold are rather large, and I usually end up with half the container going bad, but to me, it is still worth it. There are 2 types: ammonia-based natural latex, and synthetic-latex. Natural latex is easier to peel off, but has a shorter usable life. This masking medium is rather thick (more like a paste than liquid). I have in the past used household ammonia to reduce the viscosity of the natural-latex mask. But I could have also used one of the hobby liquid masks which are usually much less viscous.

I also avoid gluing painted surfaces (the paint layer in that case is the weakest link). Whenever possible I simply avoid painting the gluing surfaces. I pre-assemble model's parts, noting all the areas to be glued, and then mask them before painting (usually using liquid masking medium. Then after painting, I simply pull the masking off revealing bare plastic. That minimizes paint scraping. Yes, this all involves extra steps, but IMO, well worth it, and it insures a clean build, with strong glue joints.

I'm glad that the Sharpie permanent marker worked for you. I had problems with it slightly crazing clear styrene, but that was probably 20 years ago. I have not tried it ever since. Back then Sharpies had a very distinctive, strong solvent odor (more in line with lacquer thinner than with alcohol). It possible that in those 20 years, they've changed the ink formula to be more environmentally friendly (and just alcohol-based). I figured that I would mention my experience - better safe than sorry.

Few years ago had an interesting experience with USPS. Priority Mail package was sent to me. Tracking indicated it was delivered to me but I couldn't find it anywhere on my property (and I was home at the time tracking showed delivery)! I looked everywhere! I even went and asked my neighbors if maybe the package was accidentally delivered to their addresses. Nope! I was going to contact USPS next day, but the package just showed up with that day's mail! No explanation why it was delivered one day after the tracking showed it delivered. I mentioned that with hopes that your packager will show up at the destination address in the next few days. Good luck! One thing is for sure: in my daily life I run into more and more incompetent people who often just don't care how well they do their jobs..

I suspect that your coax cable at home connects to a router/modem device. The router is likely the type which provides a WiFi and wired Ethernet connectivity. The cable modem has a unique address registered with your cable provider, and it is tied to your account. You cannot just run a coax cable to your shop and connect another modem/router. Your cable provider will not be able to tie that new modem's unique ID to any account, so it will not allow it to come online. If your current modem/router has a WiFi capability, it will likely allow you to connect your shop computer wirelessly. If your workshop computer doesn't have a WiFi capability, you can buy a WiFi card for it. If it is a laptop then it likely has a WiFi capability. If the distance is too great to get a good WiFi connection then running an Ethernet cable will likely be your only other option. As far as Alps MicroDry (MD) printers go, I own several, and been using them for around 20 years. I have also been actively involved in an online Yahoo group dedicated to those printers. When Yahoo abandoned groups we moved to groups.io. https://alps.groups.io/g/ALPS In "computer years" Alps MD printers are ancient. The latest drivers available for them (verson 2.2.4) were written for Windows XP, however various users managed (after lots of tech hacking) to run them even in Windows 10. But there are some complex steps involved that most non-geek Windows users will find very challenging, and often unsuccessful. There is a version 2.3.2 driver available which was created for the MD-5500 capability, but it is almost identical to 2.2.4 adding the recognition of the MD-5500 printer. It was only available in Japanese version, but it did get translated into English. Instructions for that driver state that it is compatible with Windows 7. But it is also a bit buggy. My recommendation is not to try running the Alps printer on any OS newer than XP. Also, to get full functionality, only use the on-motherboard LPT1 (parallel port). Like I said, these are old-school printers. I happily run my Alps from a Windows 98SE desktop computer and LPT1 port. Easy and reliable setup. Actually that computer is dual-boot (the other OS is XP), but I mainly use Windows 98SE. I do all my graphic artwork in Corel Draw 10 also installed on that computer. It is on my home WiFi network so I can move files between it and other computers at home, but I don't let it go outside of my home network (for security reasons). I've been running this way for 15 years and I'm not planninong on changing anything. As for where to find an older computer with XP, you should be able to find an older laptop on eBay for short money. Preferrably with an LPT port. If not USB/parallel adapter can be used, but the setup is more difficult and often does not provide full bidirectional communication with the printer (so the printer will not provide verbose notifiications about errors, like running out of ink ribbon during printing). As for Apple Macs, no drivers exist for Alps for any of the new Mac OS, and I believe the older driver only worked with Alps printers equipped with SCSI interface (not the typical parallel port used on Windows PCs). There are very few Mac users with Alps printers out there.

Worth a try . . . Try on a piece of sprue (runner) made from the same plastic as the lenses (clear spoon might use different formulation of polystyrene).

Detail Master tried to compete with BMF (about 25 years ago) and came out with their own version of adhesive metal foil. I tried it once and I still have the rest of the sheet stashed somewhere (unused). It was vastly inferior (too stiff) compared to the original chrome BMF. I'm another BMF (original chrome) addict.