peteski

Anything Juha builds is inspiring!

Still runs ok - it is not my main PC - I only use it because my Alps printer (about the same vintage as the OS) is very happy and reliable with that OS.

I scratch-built the AUTOLITE battery (and its tray)for my model of 298 AC Cobra. Keep in mind that it is 1:43 scale. I simply drilled through the posts and inserted the cables. It would be tough to make the clamps in 1:43 scale, and besides, once the body is installed the battery is mostly hidden from view.

No, Win98SE will not do anymore. Basically none of the browser versions which will install on Win98SE will properly render most of the contemporary websites. Time marches on and web designers keep updating things just for the sake of doing it without backward compatibility. How do I know? I still run Win98SE on a PC that runs my Alps printer. I have the latest version if SeaMonkey (that supports Win98) installed and it has issues dealing with most web pages. But I still suggest taking the SeaMonkey browser for a test drive - the name is funny, but the browser is very good. https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Good point about weathering. Here are few examples of it done right (not my models but I took the photos):

Orange peel is cause by the solvent evaporating too quickly not giving the paint chance to flow and level out on the painted surface. I'm surprised that acetone works well for you. Not only it is a "hot" solvent which will attach styrene, it also evaporates very quickly. That is a recipe for orange peel. The solvents designed for specific enamels or lacquers are a blend of solvents which have slower evaporation rate. That is doen to prevent orange peel and to allow the paint to level out. In the 1:1 car world, thinners are called "reducers". They can actually be purchased in different temperature grades: Hot, medium, or cold. Those designate in which ambient temperature they are to be used. Each has a different blend of various solvents which determine the evaporation rate. The hot solvent has the slowest evaporation rate. It is used when the ambient temperature is hot. Cold reducer is for use in cold ambient temperatures and it evaporates fast. The combination of the ambient temperature and the appropriate solvent results in optimal results.

What color is the plastic? If it is blue and the yellow paint is translucent then you would and up with it looking green (blue and yellow = green). If you want the yellow to show the true color, it has to be painted over white surface.

I don't recall seeing it in USA. I wonder if it is similar to the Testors/Floquil/Poly-Scale Easy Lift-Off paint remover. Are its ingredients listed on the bottle/can?

I mostly use the mill in my model RR hobby to mill out the loco frames to install a DCC decoder. But we are gettiing way OT. Sorry!

I'm pleasantly surprised to see another SeaMonkey fan. I thought I was alone in liking that browser. I have used it since version 1 (on my Win98SE machine). I never liked the Firefox user interface and SeaMonkey was more like Mozilla (which was my favorite browser). I also thing that Chrome is way too over-bloated and it spies on you. Not for me. BTW, both SeaMonkey and Firefox are based on the Mozilla Engine under their GUI hood. You can see that when you look at the "about" info: User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:36.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/36.0 SeaMonkey/2.33.1 But I would not put too much into the fact that SeaMonkey is only up to version 2 while Firefox is at 65. SeaMonkey releases are just as numerous (they just use different revision numbering). Still, SeaMonkey is the one for me.

But it still seems like we are on a downward spiral as far as the Testors paints go.

LOL! Isn't that always the way! No I don't belong to any of the blogs and don't get the newsletter. It is probably better than I don't know about all the goodies they keep introducing. I do very little machining lately (or even model car building in general). I'm mostly an armchair (or Internet) car modeler at this point. I've been more into model trains for a while. I have too many hobbies! I know, that is a common ailment amongst modelers.

Speaking of the gas prices, they spiked after the huricanes hit Texas (and affected the refineries there), but they still haven't really gone down to pre-hurricane prices. Funny how that works . . . I bet the next excuse will be that they are switching to the more expensive "winter blend". Um, but wait, isn't the "summer blend" the more expensive blend in the Spring?

Thanks Pete! I never ran into these on Sherline's website (but I don't visit there often since I have most of the accessories I need already). But I should go there more often because they always add more useful and innovative accessories.

That is one of the projects on my list. I like the Tamiya body proportions (and the taillight lenses) better than Revell's.

The engine looks good (I especially like the air filter decals - nice touch), but there is one thing that bugs me: the line where the bell housing halves meet. On the real car that area is smooth.

I had an old Nikon stereo-microscope similar to yours. Very handy. I got it when they were getting rid of it at work (about 30 years ago). But then I bought myself a new zoom stereo-microscope from AmScope. It is Chinese-made, but pretty good quality and relatively affordable. That one is even more handy since you can adjust magnification. I find it indispensable in my hobbies. I usually use it wit a 0.5x Barlow lens which doubles the working distance while sacrificing magnification. But even then with the x10 objectives the magnification is 22.5x. That is plenty of magnification for modeling. I know you will enjoy using yours. It is so nice to be able to see the really small items you work on.

I think I have a Hot Wheels model that looks very similar. Ugly thing!

Yup, the world around us is changing fast (and not always for the better). You are right about Polly-Scale - it was very thin and wasn't' very opaque. The original Polly-S was a much thicker paint. They "improved" good paint to make it cr@ppier and then killed the line.

Ah, a Sheline mill with some cool accessories! Are those chuck jaws custom-made? I don't recall seeing them in their catalog.

Yes, Radio Shack was at some point part of Tandy corp.

As others had said, when we use embossing powders to simulate carpeting in model car kits we are not using it for its intended purpose. That is why we do nto use the conventional way to get it to adhere to the plastic model. Craft people who use embossing powders for scrapbooking do need to use het to melt the powder into paper. But we use the powder cold and use an adhesive to make it stick to plastic. Modelers are a very creative bunch. For example, many of us use Future Floor Finish (or whatever its name is currently) as a clear coat for paint, for making clear windshields even clearer, and as an adhesive for small parts and photetched scripts (just to name few modeling application). But if you asked your wife about the Future Floor Finish, she would tell you that it is for making the kitchen floor shiny.

I agree with others about the cause of orange peel. The spoon thing (too small to get your technique perfected) might also apply here. Find a larger test object, install the larger nozzle, crank up the pressure to 20 psi and open the needle wide while spraying (to increase the paint flow). You will most likely also need to move the airbrush further away from the sprayed surface. Like it was said, to get a smooth layer of paint you need to spray on a wet coat.

I own one of those Badger sandblasting guns and have used few times for projects. The problem is containment of the blasting media. I ended up using a plastic storage container to blast into. Then the blast media needs to be sifted to be reused.

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.