peteski

Yes solvent cement will remelt and weld the plastic back to single piece. You can also add some more plastic if needed to build up the thickness. But make sure to wait few days to allow all the solvent to evaporate, or the plastic will stay softer.

Sure, that looks bright, smooth, and shiny, but it doesn't look anything like chrome finish. It looks more like polished aluminum. That is perfect for an aircraft which is made of aluminum, but doesn't quite look correct to simulate chromed automobile parts. Chrome has different type of reflectivity than polished aluminum. I guess not all people recognize the difference or are bothered by it.

After the last companies closed shop, the plating (well, actually aluminum vacuum metalizing) service for hobbyist is sorely missed. Hopefully Spotlight Hobbies will come through. The problem is that (like with most hobbies related businesses), nobody is getting rich doing it. It is more or less a labor of love that not many people want to deal with. There are several paint-type of chrome finishes available out there, but IMO none beat the look of the real "chrome" plating used by model companies.

That *HUGE* link to the eBay item Rodney posted it chock full of tracking info. If you don't like to be tracked, use the short version https://www.ebay.com/itm/353047744503 . No tracking! FYI, when posting a link to an eBay item, all you need is the part up to the first question mark. Trim the remainder (including that question mark).

Yes, moisture will affect the CA glue, and cause it to gradually thicken up. But if you protect it from moisture, it will remain usable for years. Bunch of useful info you didn't know about this stuff is in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate If you don't like reading technical and historical trivia, skip towards the end for the most useful info (like the shelf life). Personally I found it all interesting.

Looks like some sort of subscription-based model collection. I wouldn't mind getting few of those models because as Racine mentioned, those aren't available as plastic models. They look to be pretty well made. https://www.salvat.com/autos-inolvidables-mexico-219 Looks similar to series done by DeAgostini. Collections of diecast model cars with something in common.

Another hint is not to use what looks like (pricey) Tamiya tape for all the masking. I use it just for masking the areas close to the paint edges, then the remaining areas can be covered by less expensive Scotch blue painters tape or something similar.

True, but AI is still in its infancy. Give it a year or two and . . .

Interesting how some of the steering wheels visible through the windshield look like thin twisted ribbons.

Excellent modeling! I love the clutter in the cab. Looks super realistic. You have an excellent eye for replicating details.

Nice pain job. Reminds me of the Mako Shark Corvette. The blue-line wheels are a nice touch too.

Place the bottle upside down on your workbench, and using an eye dropper add few drops of lacquer thinner into the cap. Wait about 30 minutes and then try opening it. I used to use that trick until I got really anal and started cleaning all the paint off the bottle's lip and off the gasket/ and threads before I close the bottle.

Okay. If you want, a very simple and quick test would be to set your model on a flat surface and using your finger try to lift the model by the nose. Then with your hand lift the model by the wingtips and compare the weight you feel to how much pressure it took to lift the nose.

Maybe you misunderstood me. I never stated that the weight is evenly distributed on all the wheels in this specific instance of a tricycle gear. The main gear wheels support most of the weight of your model. I am also not discussing the actual 1:1 aircraft - just your tail-heavy model. In your model the nose wheel is now supporting very little weight. You added weight at the front of the model to counteract the heaviness of the tail section (well everything behind the main gear). You only added enough weight to bring the nose down, with the nose gear supporting very little of the total weight of the model. Many modelers seem to find this hard to visualize. None of this is related to weight distribution in cars. In the 1:1 aircraft the air frame is relatively light, and most of the weight is in those 2 large hunks of metal: engines. The are located ahead of the main gear which was placed in a location where it will bear the brunt of the total weight, with the nose gear supporting much less weight. Cars don't have wheels in the middle of the chassis like this aircraft.

It is a common misconception that the spindly nose gear supports the weight of the nose. In reality, the main gear is supporting all of the weight! Think about it. The plane is a tail-sitter. Without any added weight, the main gear and the tail sitting on the ground are supporting all the weight. The nose gear is up in the air, not supporting any weight. Now you keep adding weight to the nose (or any part of the plane forward of the main gear). The entire plane is getting heavier and heavier, and all that weight is still supported by the main gear. You keep adding weight to the point that the nose gear barely touches the ground. Again, all the weight of the plane is supported by the main gear. The nose gear is just sitting there looking pretty, barely touching the ground. Think: teeter-totter with the main gear being the pivot point. So you add a gram or two more so the nose gear doesn't accidentally come off the ground just by some nearby air movement. Now the plane sits solidly on the ground and the nose gear only supports couple of grams. The main gear is still supporting 99% of the entire model's weight. You can easily confirm that by placing your finger under the nose and gently lifting it off the ground. That shows you just how little the nose gear supports. I hope that you can visualize what I'm describing.

That's impressive! Not only that, but you are cutting and reassembling metal, not plastic.

Excellent! I'm glad I mentioned it. Gimp is a quite advanced drawing program. I use Corel PhotoPaint (a similar program). I however don't do freehand drawing. I mostly use for editing photos and some decal artwork design. You might also consider looking into getting a drawing tablet/pen to replace the mouse. That allows you to draw just as if you were drawing on paper. Something like https://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/pen-tablets

Wow! Hard to believe that all those working features are in a Matchbox-size model! Did the stock model have any working features? The paint job is also quite good.

If the plastic is too fragile to use typical polystyrene solvent cements, then I would use CA glue and accelerator. Specifically, the BSI brand accelerator as it does not attack plastic. Epoxy is fine, but to me it takes too long to set, plus it has to be mixed. I do use epoxy in some specific applications, but otherwise I like my glue joints to be instant.

The more I look at those rims the more I think that like many other aluminum rims on 1:1 cars, these are actually painted using silver paint. Smoke tint will make them look dark warm gray (smoky), and that's not what the 1:1 rims look like. They just look like they are painted with silver paint. Not sparkly metallic silver but just dull metallic aluminum.

The photo shows that those kit's rims already have nice factory-applied satin silver finish (not the super reflective "chrome" finish). If a more dull look is desired, use spray can of Dullcote or even aluminum paint. Not need to strip the factory finish - paint will stick to it just fine.

There is some additional info in https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=58304.0

Yes, they have been gone for few months now. We had a thread about it.

Problem is that the type of industry (if we can cal small cottage-businesses "industries") covered in this 13-year-old thread is always in a state of flux. Unlike large model companies (like Revell, or Tamiya), these resin producers are usually a 1-man operation, often in their homes. Usually not their main source of income either. So things happen. Sickness, death, people get old or get tired of their business taking up to much of their time, etc. There are some exceptions, but even long standing companies like Modelhaus eventually fade away. One of the exceptions is Replicas and Miniatures Co. of Maryland (RMCoM), but even they have trimmed their selection of available products. Heck, even the large model companies go out of business or merge, and some of their product line disappears. Nothing lasts forever. To have an accurate up-to-date list of aftermarket resin (and now 3D-printed) model parts/kits would require someone with a lot of dedication and spare time to keep track of them all. Some of those small manufacturers only sell on eBay or Facebook No more websites. How do you keep track of them all?

Well yes, my choice of that phrase wasn't just random.