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peteski

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Posts posted by peteski

  1. 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.

  2. 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

  3. 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. . .

     

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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

  7. 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.

  8. 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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