peteski

That is probably normal. Windows update process can be really hard on the CPU (which will make it run hotter). If you were to bring up the task manager (performance) while the fans are running fast, and show the CPU usage graph, it will likely show high percentage of utilization. Your PC also has a CPU fan (mounted over the CPU heat sink). That could also be clogged up with dust. The power supply (in the rear of the case) could also have another fan which might be partially clogged.

Greg, not too long ago (in another section of the forum) we were discussing this same subject. I'll quote my post there: To get familiarized with the terms and processes, some good info on both plating and metalizing (which is the process we want for plastic model parts) is in: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallizing We don't even know for sure (or do we?) whether either Dale or Kystom Khrome own the vacuum metalizing equipment, or have it done by an outside company. While I have no actual info, I suspect that the cost of the equipment might be a bit much for an individual to acquire, and start a business catering to modelers. If the equipment was cheap and easy to use, why would all of the current companies which offer this service to modelers outsource the metalizing to an outside company?

Optiplex is a desktop computer - no batteries (well except the little coin cell). What does "acts like it is overheating" exactly mean? As for the number of processes running, that is not unusual, however the longer you own your computer the more cruft (programs and utilities which run in the background, and sometimes spyware) get installed and run in the background, slowing things down. The Windows 7 update process itself has some known bugs where it will hog the computer slowing everything down. If you aren't computer literate, it might be the best to find a local computer geek (hopefully some friend) who could clean it up for you.

<Old man's voice> Well, I remember when my computer had 256KB of memory. I upgraded it to 1MB, then all the way up to 4MB! </old man's voice> The amount of the memory (RAM) has nothing to do with overheating. The cooling fans and heat sinks are likely plugged up with dust and lint. And if you have lots of programs pegging out the CPU utilization, that will make the CPU produce more heat (as it runs at full clock speed). If cooling is compromised, it will run hot. Depending on what programs you are running, and how many of them are running at the same time, 2 GB maybe be plenty. Especially since only half is being used. If you were constantly running at 80% utilization then I would start worrying about it. Also, where exactly are you getting the statistics? Is your computer is also running slow or is sluggish? The problem might not be low memory. There might be too many programs sucking up the CPU cycles. There are all sorts of cleanup programs available out there. Or a full reinstall of the OS would clean things up.

I can think of 3 reasons: 1. Laziness 2. Complete cluelessness (not realizing that the quoted post can be edited) 3. Total lack of caring about others who will be reading their post (with lengthy quote), and lack of any sort of logical thinking in general. I suspect that #3 is most common reason.

The Tamiya transparent acrylic paints can be thinned with 90% Isopropyl alcohol to extend their drying time. Alcald II makes transparent colors too. But the paint is very thin (designed for airbrushing) and hot (acetone-based). But since the piece is metalized, it might not attack plastic.

Yes, the non-acetone remover should work. But be careful as it might also affect the plastic (just not as aggressively as acetone).

I also started seeing random unformatted loads of thread pages on multiple computers. I use Seamonkey browser and one is Win XP while the other one is Win 7. Yes, going back then forward fixes the problem. Page reload also takes care of the problem. This is what the page looks like when broken. Also note the browser's title bar.

Nice find! That is a great kit! I have one (not yet built). My kit's gold decals are really dull. I'm planning on making a reprint of the gold decals on my Alps printer.

Nice to see you back Thierry! What an awesome build!

Simon, you might be new to this forum, but you are a very accomplished modeler! Excellent model!

Very impressive Simon!

Got it. Thanks Bob, and Dave!

Vacuum metalizing (using aluminum) is the type of metalizing used for a great majority of plastic kits. It is a simple and inexpensive process which results in very good metal finish (both chrome and satin). It is fairly fragile, but we have been using it for many decades and not many people complain about the fragility. The benefit of the fragility is that it can be easily removed (by scraping it off or by chemical stripping). There have been few kits out there (Trumpeter are the only recent ones that come to mind) where the parts were electroplated with much thicker layer of metal. Not only that metallic finish did not look as shiny as the vacuum-metalized parts, since it is actually layer of thicker metal, it was very difficult to remove. And the chemical strippers we use in our hobby were not stripping it either. While some people prefer the less shiny finish, I am not one of them. Vacuum metalizing for me please. As far as Dale Horner goes, I have spoken with him at NNL East few years back. Very nice older gentleman. From what I recall, he told me that at that time he did the "chroming" for Modlehaus. I was hoping to use his service myself (after some Chrometech issues), but now that looks iffy.

I think you guys are talking apples and oranges. The spray cans contain a organic-solvent-based (stinky) lacquer paints. The Tamiya paint in little glass bottles is acrylic paint (almost water based). The solvent is mild alcohol. They are different types of paint.

The way I understood this is that pure Polystyrene is very brittle. When broken it will shatter almost like glass. HIPS is Polystyrene resin with some additives which make it more flexible and impact-resistant. It can be bent quite a bit before it breaks, and the break does not result in sharp shards of plastic. IHIPS should be fine for model work. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-impact_polystyrene

Flat Earth is an old news - here is the newest theory. https://twentytwowords.com/flat-earthers-now-think-the-earth-is-shaped-like-a-doughnut/

There is another possibility: they just simply don't care or mind that they are tracked. Some people's reasoning is that "they are doing nothing wrong, so they don't mind being monitored". I know people like that.

That is exactly it! Complaints are plentiful, but praises very rare. Same goes for the posts in the 2 threads being discussed here. I'm not an unhappy person in general, but I have never posted in what pleases me thread, while I have posted several times in the irk thread. There really are very few things which would be pleasant enough to make me post in the pleased thread. I guess my threshold for telling the world how I feel is skewed towards the irk side. Other than being alive or having great sex, there is nothing pleasant enough in my day-to-day life to make me post in the pleased thread. And those 2 pleasant things I just mentioned aren't really good subject to post here.

I guess by not even knowing who Chrissy Teigen is I'm ahead of the game here. No need to elaborate - I'm ok not knowing (I'm not stupid - I suspect she was a host of the program). But it's ok.

I have feeling that Snake's token reply will be that the primer you are using is not opaque enough to fully hide the color of the red plastic (but opaque enough to cover blue plastic).

Fine, but like Bill said, it will all work semi-ok until some fun-loving hacker (or even some foreign government) hacks the self-driving car infrastructure and creates a pandemonium. If self-driving cars were self-sufficient and operating as single entities then this would not be a big problem. But in order to have everything work, all the cars will be dependent on an external wireless network. And we all what happens when there is an "impenetrable" network out there . . .

What exactly do you mean? Mr. Surfacer is not opaque enough to cover the red plastic, or some solvent in Mr. Surfacer is causing the red dye to leach out?

Bill, you made me laugh. As things are today, having a great handling car will not help in avoiding accidents when the driver is not paying attention to the road anyway, because he/she is staring at the smart phone they are holding against their steering wheel. These are sad times we live in. Besides, with the automatic braking and line change avoidance, the car is super-safe anyway. I also find it extremely amusing and silly (and sad) with all the Bluetooth-equipped cars people own (which is pretty much standard equipment in today's cars) I still see lots of drivers talking on their smart phone held to their ear. Use the hands-free capability dammit! I think there is a large part of the driving population out there which just can't wait for self-driving cars.

Looking at the photo Steamboat posted I would have thought differently. Besides, you made a blanket statement while there are many different formulations of polystyrene and red dyes being used for model kits. Some might leach out, while others don't.