peteski

I have few hundreds of various bottle and spray paints. Never counted them all (I would likely be surprised).

Good to know!

Small Parts Inc. used to be my go-to source before Amazon took them over. They are still around but the selec tion and ease of orde ring is not the same. Thankfully I still have good supply from when I stocked up on it years ago. (I had to split up couple of words to avoid the dreaded 404 error. )

I'm with Pete - nothing beats the original genuine Optivisor! I most often use it with the #7 lens plate. Unless of course you can afford the professional loupe glasses used by dentists. Those work great, but the price is in a 4-figure range! I asked my dentist if I could try them on and I couldn't believe how good they were. And as Casey mentioned, this subject has been discussed here many times (and not just only about headband magnifiers). Here are couple more.

Bill, from my earlier experiments I noticed that if I try to post something with triggers the SQL injection protection (404 error), and I keep trying to post multiple times (always triggering the 404 error), after several attempts the forum software totally blocks me from accessing the forum site. It probably zeros in on your IP address and maybe some browser information. This lockout lasts few hours and from my end it appears that the forum site is down (inaccessible). But once this "ban" expires in few hours, you are able to reconnect to the forum as if nothing happened. Using TOR browser hides your true IP address, so the forum website does not know that you were the one who was supposed to be locked out. That is what I think happened in your instance.

I wanted to say this for some time now: I don't know about the the quality and robustness of computer programming of today. It seems to me that any forum software which takes the text (or even HTML code) and if there are any database commands will interpret them too, is a pi$$-poor design. Then there is the error handling. Code 404 is not really helpful to anybody. The Error should be more descriptive, like "why are you trying to hack the SQL here?". Sloppy programming if you ask me. Yes, I know that you are not to blame here Dave. It is the programmers.

Who is forcing you to update? Pssst! Don't tell anybody, but I'm still running Windows 98SE on one of my computers. Yes, over 20-year-old Operating System. I use that PC for my Alps printer (which is about the same vintage). It is also running Corel Draw 10 as my graphic program for designing decals and other stuff. Then I have another laptop running Win XP. Those 2 are on my home network, but I don't venture out to the Internet with them. My newest OS is Win 7 on another laptop, and I'm not updating that one anytime soon. At work we have been using Win 10 for some time, but I'm not a fan (but I have no say in the matter).

Hmm . . . that thing above reminds me of

The homies who drive Escalades now. ?

While modelers for many decades used to generically call any thin clear plastic sheets "acetate" (like many people call all brands of facial tissues "Kleenex"). I don't think that actual "acetate" is around anymore. Sure, back 40 or 50 years ago, the clear plastic was actual "acetate", but that was replaced by other plastics, like what has been mentioned here already" Polystyrene, PETG, Plexiglas, Lexan (polycarbonate), PVC, and probably few others. "Acetate" is also not an accurate name. It is actually Cellulose Acetate . It is not very stable. Even if it was available for sale, I would not choose it to use it for my hobbies.

Being milky already shows that it is not like "Future", which is clear liquid. But it still might be wort trying (on some test project, not on your "good" model).

I print decals using my Alps printer on solid clear-film decal paper. For large complex shape decals I first take a hobby knife (or a scalpel) with fresh #11 blade, then using that blade I gently score the clear film around and close to the decal image. Decal film ls extremely thin, so it takes very little pressure to score it (without going too deep into the backing paper). Then I cut the scored image roughly out of the decal sheet (so there is extra area around the decal). Next, I place it in water until the adhesive softens up. I then pick it out of water by grabbing the paper with tweezers near some unneeded edge. Then I place it down on some surface and using tweezers pick off the unwanted clear film. This process leaves the trimmed decal image on the backing paper and leaves areas of the backing paper free of clear film, so you can then easily grab the piece with tweezers, place it on the model and slide the trimmed image onto the model (just like standard decals).

Looks like you figured it out.

Thanks for the info. So the trim is BMF? I'm used to seeing a bit more warm-tone color on BMF (chrome foil). That is why I thought it was painted with something like Alclad II or Molotow.

How about maybe going by smell? Can you describe what your stuff smells like? Although there is perfume listed on the bottle - they might be using different scent than what the pot in in the U.S. version. As you mentioned, the vague ingredients list could be describing something that is water-based acrylic finish (that would likely be the resin acids).

Nice clean build. Beautiful model! Nice color choice too. One thing that bugs me (and it is totally not your fault) is the out-of-scale size of the metallic particles in that paint. It probably looks fine when viewed in-person, but closeup photos bring it right out. BTW, did the stickers on the windshield come on the decal sheet or you made them or got them elsewhere? Also, what did you use for "chrome" paint? It looks good (and no bleed-through that I can see anywhere).

Yup! I don't know how long you keep photo submissions from model clubs, but I know that we sent in photos for few years and they they never showed up in the contest issues (when was the last contest issue that was published before this one)? The club in question is in my signature. We are, on the East Coast. Anyways, I don't want to sound too sour - congrats on your accomplishment. I hope that this issue sells out, and that more will be on the way.

. . . and whenever a new "Future" thread pops up, I always feel compelled to mention http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

I wonder if what you describe is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Railroad ? That is a "real" narrow gauge railroad. The one I'm talking about is a model railroad. It was live steam, but the tracks are only less than a foot apart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolwood_Pacific_Railroad There is actually a model train layout depicting Walt's original backyard (model) garden railroad.

Nice model. I always thought the Aircobras were cool because they had car-like doors to enter the cockpit. But then having a driveshaft for the propeller between your legs, much give you a pause.

I'm generally not a fan of most of the modern exaggerated-form exotic car designs. So while I might not like what you are creating, your modeling/scratchbuilding skills are absolutely amazing!

They are called "foamers" (at least the fanatical ones).

Yes, I read that article too. Yes, with enough money, anything is possible (and he also has few professionals helping him with layout construction). But with the size of that layout, and amount of detail on it, it would be hard for a single person to accomplish all that. However, Rod also happens to be a good modeler himself. There are/were also other celebrity model railroaders. Walt Disney for one, had his own garden railroad.

Yes, it is a great deterrent to to drivers who pay attention, but for distracted drivers, or speeders coming from the opposite side (like the ones mentioned in the post before yours), the appearance of your car would have not made any difference. They would have still made those knucklehead moves.

My club used to regularly sent the photos from our annual model contest to Model Cars for years, even after the magazine went into what seemed like hibernation, but we finally gave up, and stopped sending our photos in few years back. Scale Auto Contest Cars Annual is always more than happy to publish our photos (although last few years we had a problem with them giving proper credit to the photographer - me). But the photos were published. Hey Gregg, if you look through your archives, you might find lots of old unpublished model contest photos - you might consider publishing a "Retro Contest issue" with never before seen photos of some cool models.