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peteski

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Posts posted by peteski

  1. 5 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

    Peter, I hear what you say about the guy selling well made up models on ebay for thousands of dollars. But does he actually get the asking price above any reserve he puts on them?

    Were they built from straight plastic kits? Or were they well made from multi medium resin kits or white metal, as those appear to have more intrinsic value to collectors? I can only go by my own experience a few years ago when I approached two world famous London auction houses about selling some of my models who actually told me to avoid models made from plastic kits altogether. As far as the old classic Pochers go, I have seen what prices they fetch at auction and have been disappointed to see what they fetched, considering the amount of work involved to build them to a high standard.

    Is it me? Another thing is, have you ever been asked by people to build a Model for them from a plastic kit? I have on a number of occasions and wait for the incredulous look when I quote  them a fair price for the number of hours costed at a skilled rate to make a Model for them! Most people outside model making simply do not appreciate how long it takes to build a kit up to a high standard, and I wait for the sharp intake of breath when I tell them what I would expect to be paid!

    There was a lengthy thread about him, his models, and the eBay listings. I don't recall, but I think some are resin and some plastic kit build-ups.  Those built-ups are selling, so they must go over the reserve price.  I agree that even at those seemingly high prices, with the amount of time he spent on building,he is not getting rich, but he is enjoying his hobby and is generating some extra income which he can easily use to buy more kits.  Some people might just enjoy building models and they have no need to keep them.  So, they sell them as  complete models.  If their build quality is good, the will get decent price for their models.

    The point I was simply making (in response to your post) was that there is a market for build models (resin and plastic) where the selling price is more than a price of the unbuilt kit. I know it is an exception rather than a rule, but it is real.

  2. 15 hours ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

    Making money is not a bad thing. You picked a reasonable price to sell. There have been some ebay and amazon postings for $400.

    The problem in my opinion is when stupid crazy prices come up it creates an unrealistic expectation for what something is worth and others think that that is what they have is worth.  However the true price for anything is what someone is willing to pay for it and not what somebody has sold it for. 

    But someone here will always come back saying that what you consider "stupid crazy prices" is simply just your opinion and that the seller has a right to charge whatever price he wants.

    You can beat this thing to  death and you wont win.  This is capitalism at is finest.  BTW, I agree with your thinking  of which prices are reasonable, and which are stupid crazy.  As I said it time and time again, the current eBay listing price structure enables sellers to list things for months or years for what you and me consider stupid crazy prices.  They can list and re-list with no fees.

    In the early days of eBay (been on it since 1999), you had to pay a insertion fee and the percentage of the starting bit price, whether the item sold or not.  If you priced an item outrageously high and kept on re-listing over and over (because it would likely not sell anytime soon), you would go broke.  Back then, many listings started at 1 or 99 cents.  No Buy-it-Now either.  Those were the days when eBay was actually usable.

  3. 3 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

    .Bottom line is I'm just sick of hearing all these ads about "ED"on tv,in magazines,newspapers,and websites like this one.NO MORE..:oB):P.

    I know those are annoying (as are all ads to me), but while you say you're fine, some men might need some extra perking-up.  According to the ads, the problem effects a good portion of the aging males.  :D  There is an ad for one of those drugs where at the end they show a silhouette of the couple in bathtubs.  One wonders why . . .

  4. I've build one  of these kits decades ago.  Its photo was published in the Scale Auto Enthusiast 1993 Gallery (and to my surprise made the cover too).  Few years later I actually made a swap with one of my model club's buddies:  I gave him my built model and he gave me a complete unbuilt kit. My plan was/is to build this kit one more time.  My building techniques have improved over the last few decades, so this build should be even better. Reference photos always help, and your photos (both the model and the 1:1 car) will be great reference for when I decide to build mine.

    Thanks!

  5. 48 minutes ago, Bugatti Fan said:

    The irony about rare kits is that they are only perceived to be valuable if in the original boxes and in mint condition. The sad thing about plastic kits is that once started or built they are worth little no matter how well built! Auction houses tend to shun models made from plastic kits unfortunately. Even the big Pocher classics built well fetch  little more at auction than their kits on ebay!

    How about the guy on eBay regularly selling his well-built kits for thousands of dollars?  There is a market out there for everything.

  6. 4 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

    Well again,I NEVER EVER had the need for this product.Ahhhhhh:lol:But I guess Tony has.:D..

    Not really. He just likes getting paid for them using his name and likeness in those ads.  Celebrity endorsements are popular and create nice additional income for those celebrities.  Those endorsements don't really mean that those celebrities actually use those products.

  7. 12 hours ago, Jantrix said:

    This is 30 gauge wrapping wire. The insulation from a larger gauge for the boots. There are those that say 30 gauge is too big and not to scale. Mathematically they are correct. I think it looks good so I'm happy with it.

    If you are trying to build an accurate model then  that wire (0.016" diameter) is a bit too large for factory stock wires. Bu it is a good representation of some high-performance wires used in hot rods, pro-street cars and such.

  8. 18 minutes ago, oldnslow said:

    Yeah , we've ( here in Florida ) only got 3 more months before the heat starts to fade . :blink:

    Sure, but you chose to live there. I'm in Northeast US - if I wanted tropical heat and humidity I would have moved to Florida.  I didn't sign up to have to deal with this unrelenting tropical weather in the Boston area!  You can have back, thank you!  :D

  9. Skelzie caps?  So that's what they're called here.  Sounds like you guys did a bit more advanced stuff than we did.  But to sum it up, no matter in which part of the world you grow up, kids find similar ways to entertain themselves.  Or should I say "did"?  Kids nowadays keep themselves busy other ways.  And just like any old fart would say, I think that we had more fun back then.  We also didn't have to worry about being politically correct, or getting in trouble in school for making gun gestures with our hands or using a stick as a gun prop.   But I don't really want to start anything here - let's go back to talking about having fun when we were kids.

    As any self-respecting kid, I installed a "motor simulator" on my bicycle (a folded piece of cardboard rubbing against the spokes.  it was on a string attached to the handlebar. BY pulling on the string I was able to change the sound.  Then one time I needed new rubber brake pads.  I think I had no money to buy a new set so I just sliced up an eraser into a brake pad shape and installed them in the holders.  Well,, they sort of worked but they also shredded very quickly, covering my pants with eraser shreds.  They wore down in no time.  Ah, those fun memories. . .

     

  10. Cool story Joe!

    Growing up in Poland my cousin and I, along with his buddies caused all sorts of mischief.  Some of my favorites were getting a bag of saltpeter, mixing it with sugar and then pouring a small pile of it on cement stairs of one of the neighborhood tenements. We would stick a lit match in it and it would become a smoke bomb!  And it also left sticky mess on the step. We also use  the same mixture for making flying bottle-caps. We would take those metal screw-top caps from vodka bottles (plenty of those around :D) and pick out their cardboard seal using a pocket knife.  Then pour the saltpeter mixture into the cap, about two thirds full. Then we would cover it with the seal and crimp the metal cap around the seal.  Then take a pocket knife and drill a small hole in the top of the cap (just big enough for a match head to fit into.  We would then light a match and stick it in the hole, igniting the mixture, then quickly throw it up in the air.  Those things would fly like miniature jet engines, leaving a smoke trail behind it.  Those were the days!

    Then there was the time I was trying to leap over bushes I thin we were running after igniting one of those staircase smoke bombs. Unfortunately I didn't realize that in the middle of that bush was a post made of steel railroad rail.  My shin ended up slamming into that rail - still have a scar from it.

    We also used to climb a walnut tree in one of the kid's backyards and pick the not-quite-ripe walnuts off the tree.  They had a thick green skin over their shells and we used scrape it of by rubbing them on cement pavement. We would end up with brown-stained fingers, but the delicate flavor of those unripened young walnuts more than made up for the stained fingers.

  11. Alcohol is a good solvent for Sharpies. Hand sanitizer is guess what? Alcohol-based. :)

    I often use 99% IPA (Ispropanol, a.k.a. isopropyl Alcohol) in gallon cans from my local hardware store. I find it in the paint thinners section.

    But like Bill said, it is possible that the dye penetrated into plastic and it will be impossible to fully remove it.  The other thing that has me worried is that the solvent used in Sharpies might slightly craze polystyrene. If that happened then the only way to fix it would be to sand and polish the piece.

  12. I actually like Pizza Hut deep dish pizza, and even their thin-crust pizza (yeah I know, that is not a real pizza but it has a pretty good flavor and texture).  Make mine Super Supreme.  For chain-type pizza my favorite is Papa Gino's (probably limited to Northeast US).  I don't much care for Li'l Caesar's, Papa John's, or Dominos.  Of course I also frequent small mom and pop pizza parlors. I love New York style pizza too.  And a local Italian bakery makes sheet style pizza sold in rectangular slices. It has a nice sweet sauce.  Pizza is like art - everyone's taste is different.  :D

  13. Bare 30 AWG wire is 0.010" diameter.  A 30 AWG insulated wire wrapping wire has a total diameter (including insulation) of around 0.016".  That is useful for 7/8mm spark plug wires in 1:24/25 scales.  I have bunch of wire wrapping wire I bought from an electronic surplus vendor.  It has Kynar insulation which can be glued with CA glue.

  14. Bernard, you rock!

    One of the projects I have on a back burned is couple of ESCI Mercedes 500 SLC (the kit has undersized wheels/tires).  I was going to try designing and 3-d printing the correct size wheels, but I first have to learn how to use CAD programs. I checked out Misha's eBay listings and he has those exact wheels and tires available.  The price ($22 for 4 wheels and nice tires) is quite reasonable too!  Now this build can progress.  I'll also contact him to see if he would be willing to  produce wheels for the ESCI Mercedes 190 (that kit's wheels are also undersized).

     

     

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