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peteski

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Posts posted by peteski

  1. Yeah, I'm getting back into trains and there's a pretty huge gap where Floquil and Polly-S used to be.

    I'm also wondering how much of the problem is attributable to the hazardous-material-panic crowd. Non-solvent-based materials simply lack the performance of their smelly, scary predecessors, and not a few self-stripping real cars on the road today can testify to the veracity of that statement.

    It's a pity that what were once cottage-industry model paint manufacturers got swallowed up by corporations that can't afford (or just don't want to be bothered) to produce products for a small market.

    I am also into model train hobby (N scale). Yes, RPM International is a giant chemical manufacturer (they don't just own all the hobby paints). DAP and Rustoleum are just some of their brands (along with Testors).  Here is a round-up of just their consumer brands. But Floquil has been owned by RPM for decades before they killed it off. I have some old Floquil bottles with the Amsterdam, NY address where the label states that it is "an RPM company", so it is not like the giant swallowed all the paint companies and killed them off quickly.

    I think that the hazardous-material-panic as you called it (and all the government regulations) are big part of them discontinuing those hobby paints.  But Polly-Scale was a water-based acrylic paint, not like the smelly Floquil. So I don't know if its demise can be contributed to the above mentioned panic.

    It is a pity  to see this happening. Others are trying to fill the niche, but it is not quite the same.  For example True-Color paints has a wast line of model railroad colors and they are even getting into automotive model colors. And more and more modelers are now using the inexpensive water-based acrylic craft paints.  I have not adjusted to that yet.

  2. I like the overall shape. The only thing that bugs me is the taillights. They just don't look right. I know that they are play off the headlights but the tiny round lenses with even tinier lights inside don't fit the rear end. Just like the headlight openings are blended into the car's shape, something similar should be used in the rear.

  3. Few years back RPM (the parent company of all of those model paints) killed off the entire line of Floquil and Polly-Scale model railroad colors. Looks like they keep on cutting their hobby paints lines. Maybe this hobby is dying after all. If it is true what they said then the hobby shops are simply not ordering enough paints to make it profitable for RPM?

    Sure, other brands of hobby paints keep appearing, but it is too bad that the old standbys are disappearing. New paints mean we have to learn new techniques and figure out compatibilities between the new lines of paints.  I don't like what I'm seeing.

  4. Pete, what did you use to thin the Plasti-Dip?

    I looked at the ingredients list on the Plasti-Dip can and used some of those chemicals. IIRC, it was Naphtha and acetone.  Then I poured the thinned stuff into a small diameter glass test tube (about 2" long) and I dipped my metal spring in it multiple times (letting the previous coat dry).  It took some experimenting for arriving at the right viscosity for dipping.

     

  5.  

    They still have them!  It's called New Jersey!  :D

    I live in Pennsylvania and work in New Jersey.  I buy most of my gas in NJ because they have attendants. I hand over my credit card and can sit there and relax or fiddle with my phone.  They will occasionally clean the windshield too.

    And the clincher... gas in NJ is about 20 cents a gallon cheaper than PA!  

    That's true. I forgot that when I go to the NNL-East and need gas I don't have to get out of the car. :D

    My mom lived in NJ for several years (in the '70s) and her take on the cheaper gas was that NJ is chock-full of oil refineries, so the gas stations get their products locally (thus it is cheaper). But I'm not sure how true that is.  There probably is more to that than just cheaper wholesale gasoline. It is probably also related to the added-on local taxes or something like that.

  6. Well, Trevor, you just ruined this for all the others trying to guess.  But you are new on this forum so you just didn't know any better, and Michael didn't include the usual instructions in his post.  Normally you PM your answer to him and then at the end of the week he posts a list of members who provided the right answer.

  7. That color is a very light green, definitely not blue.

    Art

    Trying to determine  colors from color photos (and especially when viewed on a computer monitor) is really difficult and can fool your eyes.  There are so many variables which can affect the color.  Here is an example of what I mean:

    ColorCompare01.thumb.png.d2f789c4ce36036

    I took a screen capture of both of the model photos in the initial post and also of the color chips.  I then created a blank (white image) and pasted the snippets of the color chips.  Then I took a swatch of the model from both photos and placed it next to the color chips.  The swatch of the model's color on the right side of each pain chip is from the top model photo while the left swatch is from the 2nd model photo.  They are not even close to either of the 3 color chips I chose.  The model color swatches look almost neutral gray.  But the model in those photos does have a green hue.  So I copied the swatches from the left side of the image (against white background) and copied them on the right side, against a rectangle which has a color of background from the model's photos. Against that warm-hue background now the model colors sufddenly show that green tint.  And also neither of those color paint chips is very close to the mode's color.

  8. Many Japanese automotive model kits (current and older releases) did not include either any engine details, or just included a rudimentary plastic insert with the top of the engine compartment molded on it. Many snap kits also do not include engine details (just whatever is molded with the under-body). Those kits are curbside by design.:)

    I know an excellent modeler whose models often wins trophies at contests (with super-detailed engines). He sometimes builds the most basic curbside models (perfectly-painted bodies) with nothing more than black-tinted windows and a flat piece of styrene for the undercarriage with the wheels simply glued to it.  I guess he sometimes needs a break from detail modeling.

  9.  

    Funny story I read about eBay on the internet, so it must be true. Or should be:  when Meg Whitman left eBay and the new CEO took over, he announced that he was going to drive the business toward more eBay Stores and Buy-It-Now items.  He said eBay "looked too much like a flea market."  He immediately got several thousand angry e-mails, saying: "It IS a flea market, you idiot."

    Well, even if that story is true, looks like he did what he wanted to do - eBay is no longer a flea market, but it is now more like Amazon Jr., full of ByN sellers. :angry:

  10. I agree that they found another way to bombard us with flashy and loud ads. No peace, even when pumping gas!  Whatever happened to the full-service stations where the attendant not only filled your tank but also cleaned the windshield and checked the fluids while you were there?  What has happened  to this country?! :D

    Funny, I was just talking to my mother about this Gas Station TV thing. She said that she hits some buttons on the side of the screen and that turns it off. I'll have to try that next time.

  11. There are so many variables that you can't just ape someone's technique exactly. One of the variables is the person who is airbrushing.  Every person is unique and does things differently :)

    I don't use Tamiya paints (in the little glass jars) much but to me it seems like you thin them bit too much.  You have more thinner than paint (12:8 ratio) but like I said, everybody does things differently.  The pressure and distance from the object being painted are in the range I usually use for small items like a spoon.  I rarely go up over 20 psi.  Once I build up some paint on the object being painted I like to spray the paint on heavier to smooth out the surface).  The photo of your spoon seems to be lit a bit strangely (back-lit or bottom-lit?) so it doesn't show the paint surface. But if it looks ok to you then it works.

     

  12. I clipped all the ends and stripped all the wire out of the center leaving just the braided outer.

    The problem with hollow braid is that it will easily collapse when you bend it. Then it looks like krap, um, a kinked hose.  :) If you replace the center wire you took out with a piece of solder in the approximately same diameter then the "hose" will retain its shape when bent and it will also bend easy (as the solder is soft).

  13. Bought the wife a Cube in 2009. She thought it was cute.....my 6' 2" frame was very comfortable in it. 

    The few times I drove it I never warmed to the CVT....LOVED the design of the car.....biggest small car on the market.....but that CVT just was not my cup of tea. Does yours control it's speed on downhills in cruise mode??? Ours would run away from us. 

    I love my 2006 Scion xB (aka. Toyota bB outside of USA).  Tiny brick-shaped car with enormous passenger compartment and oodles of headroom.  It is like a clown-car. You should see the look on peoples faces seeing 5 tall guys get out of it.  I think it came out before the Cube and Nissan simply copied the idea.  Then there also is the similar "hamster-mobile" (Hyundai Soul).  When xB first appeared I thought it was the ugliest car around, but it grew on me enough to buy one. I actually like the fact that it stands out of all the soap-bar-shaped around us.  It has a conventional 4-speed automatic transmission with converter lock.  It handles pretty well too (probably due to the wheels placed at the extreme corners of the vehicle). Like a go-kart.

    But the Cube never grew on me. With the thick pillars, rounded windows, and asymmetrical rear it to me looks like a caricature of a car. Like it came out of a Roger Rabbit movie. But I'm sure it is just as fun to drive as my "box", "fridge", or "toaster". :D

  14. Ghost flames are nothing but the same color you are painting on just a shade or two either darker or lighter depending on the look you want. If the base color is candy then use a shade lighter or darker of that candy color.

    Tim

    That is one type of ghost flames. But the other one is, like someone already mentioned, to paint the flames over the base color using a pearl or metal flakes. Those will be almost invisible except when the light hits the pearl or metallic particles from a certain angle. Then the flames show up.

  15. I mostly use BSI (Bob Smith Ind.) glues. No specific reasons. I sometimes use other brands too. IMO most CA glues work pretty much the same. But to me the more important question is "what CA accelerator you use?" :D

    I exclusively use BSI accelerator for several reasons:  It has a very mild (almost pleasant) odor, it does not attack styrene (like many other accelerators do), and it has a gentler accelerating action than most other brands (so the CA glue does not bubble up).  I never spray it on but apply it with a micro-brush, just to the area being glued.

  16. Not helped, of course, by Tamiya describing their TS sprays as acrylics... They are “hot”, and will certainly craze or eat away anything underneath except primer or another TS spray. The other way around, you can paint any Tamiya acrylic that comes in a pot and thins with water or X-20A over the top. It can be tricky to get the acrylic to “wet” the shiny surface of the cured spray paintjob, so I tend to mask and airbrush the acrylics using very light mist coats to start with to build up a “key”...

     

    best,

    M

    Some modelers, years ago, started this silly (and incorrect) usage of the term "acrylic" to mean "water-based acrylic enamel".  For some reason that stuck and now everybody is now misusing the term "acrylic". I'm no paint chemist but I educated myself a bit about paints (since I use them in my hobby).  For example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint some good basic theory and terms.

    Paint consists of the pigment (color), binder (the resin which hods the pigment and also adheres to the painted surface), and solvent/vehicle (the liquid which evaporates).  The solvent in both, lacquers and enamels evaporates, allowing the binder to dry on the painted surface. That is where the difference between lacquer and enamel comes in. The dry binder in lacquer can be redissolved by applying solvent over it. But the binder in enamels, after it is dry, continues to change (harden or set) chemically. Usually that change is caused by exposure to oxygen. Once fully hardened, the binder in enamel paints will not redissolve when exposed to the solvents.  It will soften, but will not re-liquify. It will wrinkle and come off in sheets.

    If you have some lacquer which thickened in the bottle (because the solvent evaporated) you can add more solvent and the lacquer is usable. But if the same thing happens to enamel paint and oxygen also gets in the bottle  you end up with a jelly-like mess and no amount of solvent will bring the enamel paint back to usable state.

    Enough of the chemistry lesson. What bugs me is that modelers keep using the term "acrylics" for any of the "water-soluble" enamels. Why? Because the acrylic resin can also be used as a binder in organic-solvent-based (the stinky and bad for you kind) lacquers and enamels. There are many different binders (like urethane, acrylic, or other resins) which can be used in both water-based-solvent, and organic-solvent-based paints and enamels.  So every time I see modelers assume that acrylic means water-based enamel.  I wish people were more educated and used more accurate terminology.

    The "hot" and "cold" paints is also a broad generalization, but I can live with that.

    Here - I feel better now! :D

  17. In my opinion, GM has been making seriously questionable decisions for a long time. Of note:

    . . .

    Deciding to dump the IC engine for a total-electric future may well be another costly mistake.

    Of course, to most consumers these days, a car is an appliance much like a toaster or a fridge. It stands to reason that a non-gearhead corporate culture would evolve to play to that market.

     

    As I recall hearing recently, GM is not the only company which stated they will go all electric in several years. I think one of the other companies might be Volvo (or whoever owns them now). That is another problem, there were so many buy-outs and mergers in the automotive manufacturing that all the car brand lines are blurred.

    Going back to the original topic, just because they say they will do something doesn't matter that it will actually happens. They can change their minds or have unforeseen problems fulfilling their promise.  It is not like someone will shut them down if they don't go 100% electric.

    As far as cars being appliances that is true. Most of the Millennials, and even younger crowd, would rather not drive. Gone are the days teens wanted to get away from home and make out in the back seat of their own cars. Instead, they are constantly glued to their smart phone with the need to socialize every second of their waking day.   Forget electric cars, I predict that in 20 years people won't need smart phones - they will all receive a brain interface implant allowing direct communication with others by thoughts. No more tiny keyboards and sore thumbs - all you will have to to is think. :)

  18. What I'm saying is that over the course of the summer months, there was no discernible difference on our monthly electricity bill from June through August. I had the car for the month of July. So in normal usage, without doing any additional power saving or conservation, our power bill didn't really change by more than a few dollars. Was there additional power usage because of the car? Slightly, but it was less than the following month, When looking at the total dollar amount, roughly the same. 

    June 2014 - $102.07 - 594 kWh

    July 2014 - $97.54 - 596 kWh

    August 2014 - $97.06 - 656 kWh

    Those amounts are lifted right from our power bill.

    And let's be serious here, anyone saying they base their power bill on usage instead of dollars is either lying or not being entirely truthful. It's the same people that freaked out on VW for emissions. No one buys the car because of the cleanliness of the exhaust, they buy because it will go 1300km on $50 of diesel.

    At the end of the day, people will look at what their monthly bill costs them, and that is what they'll base their perception on. As I did.

    :)

     

     

    But regardless of how you see it, the fact is that the July bill include the cost of that car being charged.  However much it cost. If we know how many kW was needed to charge the car you coudl figure out how much of that bill was for the charging.

    As far as electric cars go, there are a lot of "green" people out there who will buy one of them just because it is electric (even if it would cost them more to drive it than an internal-combustion car).  As far as electric bill goes, usage is related directly to cost so I really don't see your point.  You use more electricity, you pay more for it. Simple as that. In USA where you can buy electricity from many different suppliers, some of those suppliers guarantee that their electricity is generated by100% "green" sources.  They are actually more expensive per kW than most other companies but I have feeling that some of the "green" people sign up with them and pay more for their electricity just to be able to say that they are using "green energy".  Go figure . . .

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