peteski

I love to get my hands on one of the T-bird kits, but it looks like it will be an "unobtanium". That sucks!

Of the Modelhaus fame? I wonder if it is one of those special projects he mentioned that he would still take on after closing Modelhaus.

I had a feeling that this was some sort of take on Lotus Europa (but I didn't spent the time to find the actual car). The wheels, and the shape of the door were my main clues. The flat rear deck also has a strong Lotus Europa flavor.

Same here. I often have a 6" x 6" spot on the bench to actually work on. When I do clean the bench, it looks better, but that doesn't last long.

Yeah, those are some photorealistic flywheels! Nice! One very important thing with programs designed for graphic design is that you can easily accurately scale any object to the exact size you need. That functionality alone to me is worth the purchase price. PowerPoint does have some vector graphic capabilities, along with limited ruler, grid, and accurate object sizing capabilities, but it is not really geared towards graphic artwork design. MS Paint does not have those abilities, so you basically keep on resizing until you get it right.

I bought one of those at Michael's few years ago and tried it few times. But I never got used to is, so it just sits in a drawer. Maybe I wasn't "wearing" it properly?

How about Splash Paints? They seem to be a competitor of Gravity. They post on this forum

That technique is quite old. The box art for the old (mid '70s) AMT KISS van model featured a model done that way. The instructions on how to achieve that effect were included in the kit.

Are you proficient in 3D CAD drafting? If not, I would say that this is the first thing you should be looking into when getting a 3D printer.

Interesting. Not exactly sure what happened there, but I doubt it is a compatibility problem. Cyanoacrylate is cyanoacrylate. I have had some accelerators cause such fast setting of thin CA that it bubbled and smoked, but never increased in solid volume. I also use CA glue (sometimes with styrene shavings or talcum powder) as gap filler. It sure does beat putty. But don't wait too long if any sanding is needed - after about 24 hours the CA (basically acrylic) becomes harder than the typical styrene, so sanding becomes a problem. The BSI brand accelerator is the only one I use now (and I tried about half a dozen). It has a low odor, it doesn't attack styrene, and it acts slower than other ones I tried (but still plenty fast). I can't say I ever ran into the problem you have, but I seldom use thick CA. In most cases I use thin or regular thickens. But I have used gap filling and thick CA on occasion (with accelerator) and never ran into problems. The thicker the CA is, the slower the accelerator works. Also, I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, use the spray pump!! Ever! That is just way too messy. My favorite accelerator applicator is Microbrush. Usually the small (white handle), but sometimes I use yellow or green ones (larger heads). I open the bottle and using a pipette I place a small amount into a thimble-size glass container. Then, as needed, I dunk the Microbrush in the container , then apply the tiny bit of accelerator close to the glue area, the accelerator usually spreads out and contacts the liquid CA, then in few seconds the glue sets. With the thicker CA I have to apply the accelerator directly to the CA. Even if the Microbrush head gets contaminated with hardened CA glue, it can still be reused. Very small amount of the accelerator is needed to kick the CA over. If I can no longer use the Microbrush, I just trash it and get a fresh one - they are inexpensive. In some instances even use a wooden toothpick as the applicator.

Wow!

Oh God, no! Not that grille! Those wheel "covers" must be a murder on other cars and pedestrians! Once you have the design, maybe you could modify it to something more mundane? The Riviera is even more butchered, customized. Where did those headlights come from? Though the paint jobs are beautiful on both.

Yes, Mr. Prestigious is gone! I'll miss him dearly. We had way too many deaths in the club lately.

I thought at first that it was a ship's engine, but it still looks photoshopped to me. The way it is just sitting on the ground supported by few jacks is one oddity. There are also other things that just don't look like a ship's engine, but a smaller engine scaled up to look large. Buit I could be wrong . . .

79-85 Eldo gets my attention.

I don't know about Winnebago, but GMC had one back in the '70s.

Then there is "stellar".

Interesting. I started having the 404 error while trying to post last night, and even got locked out of the website for few hours couple of times. That was when all I was posting was the word "test". This whole computer world is getting way too complicated. Bring back the old-school BBSs! Text only baby - no viruses or malicious code. EDIT: this is the text which I thought caused the 404 errors: Then there is "stellar". There is also "stellar". 2nd EDIT: Um, it works tonight - so whatever was being done last night was causing my problem - not the above sentences. Good!

Yes, the white fuzz is in the areas that were supported by wax. When the model comes from Shapeways, the wax is not fully removed, so those areas look smoother. Alcohol removes the wax, exposing the rough surface. This i normal. Only way to get rid of that is by mechanical means (rubbing/sanding, then a coat of primer should smooth things out further.

Not a Photoshop user, but don't you still end up with a bitmapped graphic file? In the Corel Draw suite I also use PhotoPaint (which is their bitmap image editor) and it also has path and lettering tools, but the final output is still a bitmap. I use older versions of Corel (10 and 12, where the latest is 19). I picked them up on eBay for a short money. But here are also freeware versions of this type of program: Gimp is a bitmap editor, and Inkscape which is vector graphics. I just can't see myself using MS Paint or PowerPoint or MS Word for accurately manipulating graphics, where the tools I use give me much better control and accuracy. It might sound snobbish, but once you start using those tools (geared to what we are trying to achieve here), you will never look back.

OK, that makes sense. I, for maximum sharpness and quality, redraw most of the bitmap artwork into vector graphics (in Corel Draw). That way I can resize and otherwise manipulate the artwork without needing to worry about its print quality.

Bill, I have few diecast 1:24 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint diecast models from Hachette. They came packed in blister pack and were sold for a very affordable price. These kits have excellent wheels and tires (that was the main reason I bought them), but the car also has really pleasing lines so I'll keep one intact). If you want, PM me and I can send one of those your way. They do have a rudimentary engine detail under the hood (just a filler piece with top of the engine molded in) but the wheels are excellent. The grilles might also be usable for the Italeri kit. Like I said, the Italeri kit is also on my to-do list. Here is a photo. The holes in the wheels are actually open, but could use a bit of a cleanup.

Huh? How can higher printing resolution get *TOO* grainy? Are we talking about the same thing? Or something is not done correctly.

I'm pretty sure that either of the Tamiya clears will dull your Alclad chrome paint. Only water-based acrylic coatings should not dramatically change the Alclad chrome sheen.

Beautiful restoration of a gorgeous model.