peteski

Thank you all for the info. Like I mentioned, I'm just a casual collector (just probably few hundred in my stash). The way I pick them up nowadays is when I go shopping (groceries and other stores), if I happen to walk by a Matchbox or Hot Wheels display I stop and check them out. If some model "speaks" to me I pick it up, but I do try to be selective. So it looks like the smaller packages has been around for a while. I just don't recall seeing them in the past. To me Matchbox always seem to make more in-scale replicas of actual vehicles than Hot Wheels. This was even more true 30-40 years ago, but they still seem to be doing it. That is not too say Matchbox did not make some wild models, but overall Matchbox still does it better than Hot Wheels. No matter, they are now both just brand names owned by Mattel anyway, so they are probably all designed by the same people and produced in the same factory.

Interesting. I've been dealing with electronic circuits (soldering included) for 40 years and I have never knew about solder balls! I wish I knew about these when I was building N scale (1:160) pool table. I made my own solder balls to use as cue balls, but they were a pain to make them all approximately the same size.

What is a "weld ball"? First time I've heard of those.

Of course the alternative is to take the mixing head out after turning the mixer off, but then a lot of paint is still left on it.

I'm a casual Matchbox and Hot Wheels collector. I found some Matchbox cars at a local $1.25 store. I noticed that some are packaged in blister packs which have smaller cardboard cards. They seem to be newer models. Is this a new development or has the smaller packaging been around for some time?

Here is an example how I hold bunch of small parts for painting. I use whatever item is convenient as a holder (clothespins plastic spoons, popsicle sticks, etc.). Some parts themselves are often pinned (drill small hole and glue in a thin brass rod). I also use various diameter insulation stripped from wire or heat shrink to hold round cross-section parts. This can also double as masks to leave areas unpainted. The flat clear plastic box visible in the background on the right holds a collection of various pieces of insulation and heat shrink tubing. I then stick the "mounts" to pieces of Alien Tape (or similar clear 3M adhesive tape). Or mount them with masking tape. Some parts which have small holes are skewered onto the tip of a cut down round toothpick. Doing this gives me the ability to easily hold the parts when airbrushing, and later to place them down so they can dry without getting stuck to the workbench or dehydrator.

Only 5 year delay - that's not too late. . Interesting explanation.

Bill, looks like I didn't compose my post correct way, as my second sentence read "And yes I know that when food in a can goes bad the reaction inside the can can build up pressure." You are correct.

Excellent quality 3D printed wire wheels and Dunlop tires can be purchased on eBay from @Jack Modelling in France. Or PM him here. They were created with the input from several forum members.

Yes, unlike aerosol cans which contained pressurized propellant, canned food is vacuum packed. As far as dented food cans go, supermarkets in my area have a rack with price reduced items and dented cans can often be found there. As Bill mentioned, as long as the can is still airtight, the food is good to eat. And yes I know that when food in a can goes bad the reaction inside the can can build up pressure. Bacteria can produce gasses.

That's a good idea but delaminated windshield is more than just 2 layers. There is a layer of plastic film and adhesive between the glass layers. In my experience the delaminated areas usually have a foggy or milky appearance.

Thanks Dave. LOL about Windows95. I actually still have a dual-boot PC running Win98SE and XP. No, that's not what I use for accessing the forum. I run my Alps MD and old HP DeskJet printers on it. It is on my internal network for transferring files from my other computers. As for the problem browser, it is SeaMonkey. It is actually up to date, but even so more and more of today's websites are not rendering on it properly. Will have to access the forum using Firefox.

The forum behaves correctly on the other computer - that is why I can post from there. The problem is obviously compatibility of the old browser with whatever changes must have happened in the forum software. There are no automatic or any upgrades being done to that browser, so something on the forum's side must have changed. I'm just curious what it was.

I have been accessing (reading/composing/uploading photos) the forum for long time from the same computer. Nothing has changes on my end, but when I accessed the forum early in the week it behaves differently. 1. the notifications symbol (bell) in the upper right corner. When I used to click on it, it would then open a small window directly under it showing a list of notifications. Now instead of that, it gets me to a full-window page showing the notifications. 2. When viewing threads with photos, instead of showing the photos in-line like before, I see either blank areas where the photos or videos shoudl be or URLs of them. 3. The "Quote" button on the lower left of a message is missing. 4. When I try to either start a new thread or reply at the end of a thread the window where I would type in the message is just a narrow slit and I can't type in it or stretch it. 5. There are also other small problems like when I hover the cursor over a thread title in the threads list, in the past a window would pop up showing me the first and last thread. That no longer happens. I cleared the browser's cache and cookies - no change. I'm actually composing this message on another computer because I can't post from my regular computer.

I thought Firecrown acquired *ALL* of Kalmbach. Basically acquired the entire company.

That might be ok for metal-bodied vehicles, but reducers (thinners) for 1:1 automotive paints can be hot enough to start dissolving the previous layer of paint or plastic (if bare plastic is being cleaned with them before painting)l Milder solvents such as isopropyl or denatured alcohol (I use 99%), naphtha or mineral spirits will do the job and still be safe on plastic. Do not use rubbing alcohol which is isopropyl alcohol, but usually with some other ingredients added. Using a cheap diswashing detergent (one with no added skin softener) and warm water also works well for prepping plastic for painting.

This is typical when certain type of questions or requests for assistance are posted in an online forum.

Yes, GFCI outlets, if wired properly, will also extend the GFCI protection to the other outlets wired from them. That fact (and how wire them for multiple outlets) is clearly shown in the instructions manual which is included in the outler's package. When you buy a GFCI outlet is usually included small stickers to stick on the additional protected outlets stating that they have GFCI protection. But just the fact that other outlets are on the same breaker as GFCI outlet does not guarantee that they are wired properly. Easy way to test those outlets would be to connect a small load between the HOT and GROUND on any of those outlets. That would trip the "master" GFCI outlet. But doing this test manually is not easy, however you can get GFCI tester which can do just that. https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/electrical-testers/gfci-outlet-tester

I mix mine on a piece of 2" wide masking tape stuck to a small flat plastic palette. Tape does not absorb the resin and when I'm done for the day I simply peel the tape off and replace it with fresh piece for next modeling session.

Not at all Steve. I'm vert happy that Ace took jumped in. I use a multitude of adhesives pick ones which I think are the most suited for a specific task. Both JB Weld and a 5-minute epoxy are in my arsenal of adhesives.

Hey Ferby, I have quickly scanned through 3 pages of this very "interesting" thread. Between the 5-minute epoxy peeing contest posts has as anybody in their responses mention that possibly the parts being glued were not perfectly clean and grease/oil/dirt free? That could be a cause for weak joint. Also if the joined parts were painted before glueing, did the paint stay on the parts or stayed with the hardened epoxy? BTW, if someone wants to use the 5-minute stuff for clear lens applications - don't. It will always turn amber after few years. I tried more than once (guess I was too stupid to learn after the first example of ambering).

Since it was established that the cloudiness is due to microscopic roughness of the surface (the windshield is perfectly transparent when wet or under water), then coating the hazy windshield with any sort of clear coat should fill and smooth out those microscopic scratches, resulting in a windshield that you see when wet. Back in the day a dip in the Future floor finish would have worked, but that stuff seems to be gone. Any not viscous high-gloss clear coat should do the trick. I suspect that Createx Clear Acrylic is one such clear coating (I have not used it myself).

Like Charlie I also prong my deals on the Alps printer and they are printed on a sheet with decal film covering the entire sheet. My technique for trimming the clear film is slightly different. I do not clear-coat my decals before application (I do clear coat my models after I apply decals), but yes, the Alps decals are quite fragile. The ink (which to me is waxy, a bit like something drawn with a Crayon) is fairly easily scratched, so when I know I'll be resting my hand on the sheet, I cover that area where my hand will be resting with an inexpensive (thin) fold-n-seal sandwich bag. If the decal image has a regular shape (like rectangle or triangle) I simply cut the image out of the sheet and trim it using scissors. But for irregular shapes my method involves leaving the image on the sheet and gently tracing the surface close to the image using a hobby knife with a fresh blade, with just enough pressure to cut through the clear film. Since the clear film is very thin, very little pressure is required. I leave the image on the compete sheet for trimming because it is easier to manipulate the while sheet than it would be if I roughly cut the image out first. Once I completely scored around the image, then I use scissors or a hobby knife to roughly cut the image out of the decal sheet. Next I place that piece in water until the decal is ready to be applied. I fish it out of the water and place the wet decal paper on my finger(s). Then using a pair of very sharp pointy tweezers I pinch the clear film outside of the traced image and pull it off the wet paper. Once the unwanted clear film is removed I can now slide the trimmed image applying it onto the model. It is very important to make sure that the tracing cut is fully completed around the image because if it is not, then pulling off the unwanted clear film the incompletely trimmed film will also snag the image. It is also important to make the cut as light as possible so the trimmed image will not snag on the scored paper.

On this forum there is no need to use those <> tags within the message. You just copy/paste the bare URL of the image and the forum will automatically add the image to your post at the cursor location. I never even tried using those <> tags.

Ah, this is the same problem you mentioned in the USPS thread. If you paid using PayPal, file a dispute with them. If the PayPal payment was through credit card, you could also start a dispute with the credit card. Yes, that is a hassle, but you will likely get a refund (since it seems that you have all the proof you will need). And don't deal with that eBay seller again (and leave them negative feedback).