peteski

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.

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?" 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.

Those directional "hands" on the B-pillars look cute. I have no clue what car it is, but the fender-mounted mirrors say something to me. We'll see if I'm correct . . .

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!

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.

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 . . .

The old Model Master paints were basically the same as old Testors PLA enamels. They could be tinned with Model master thinner (minaral spirits) or lacquer thinner. But aren't the new Model Master paints water-based acrylics? Many of the hobby paint manufacturers seem to be going to the water-based paints.

Hmm . . .how could that be? The charging consumed X-number of kilowatts, so that had to show up on your bill. There is no question about that. Maybe you just happened to use less electricity elsewhere in your house? Does the car's charging system tell you how many kilowatts it took to charge the battery? If you know that then you can easily calculate how much it cost you. For example if the cost for kilowatt where you live is 15 cents/kW and the charging your vehicle consumed 50kW than the cost would have been 0.15 X 50 = $7.50.

Yes, the forum does seem to be much more responsive. Thanks !

For that reason I add one inch to the tire diameter to get an approximate wheel fact rim diameter (since that is what is used on a model). So to me a a 1:1 17" wheel will be 18 inches in diameter.

For laughs, watch these: Someone created bots to keep telemarketers occupied as long as possible.

Um, for how much longer? What if you don't use those browsers?

I have been involved with computers since the early '80s We used 300MB washing-machine-size CDC hard drives for the CAD/CAM systems we were making. Had my first personal PC in the early '90s. I bought 130MB hard drive for it and I thought that I would never fill it up. Now I work with iSCSI storage arrays which have *HUGE* capacities. 57GB seemed huge just few years back, but now you can pick up a 3.5" 8TB hard drive for less than $250. Compared to that single 3.5" 8TB drive, 57GB seems insignificant. But I also understand that it is still a pain to manage a forum like this and make backups, etc. Thanks for your efforts!

Just pointed my camera towards the handset and snapped the photo. CallerID is easily spoofed. One spammer actually called me showing my own name and phone number. How could I be calling myself? But maybe you are right about the scam thing. Reading through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID shows that "The calling party name is added by the consumer's terminating central office if the consumer has subscribed to that service. Calling name delivery is not automatic."

I hope that the button which allows for editing HTML source in the message will reappear.

You are lucky that the part was magnetic! When you lose brass or nickel-silver parts the magnet doesn't help. Actually most photo etched parts I work with are non-magnetic. Even the stainless steel parts are usually only slightly magnetic. That is when you have to get the vacuum cleaner and a some pantyhose out.

This is what my phone's CallerID showed for a call yesterday. They are getting very creative - maybe they are hoping someone will get curious what that is all about and pick up the phone?

If you do, I'll be in a corner of the hall taking model photos - come by and say "Hi".

I love the spotted seat covers. Mooooo!

Blue doesn't do much for me. I prefer my Panteras in bright orange or yellow.

Another easy one for me. :-)

OMG! Those are Harry's BEST models! I saw at least couple of 1:8 scale (very large) Pocher models! I wish I had room for some of this. Tresure trove of beautiful models.

Our 25th contest will take place on October 8th at the Elk's Hall in Lawrence, MA. Contest flyer is available at http://classicplastic.org/CPMC-flyer-2017.pdf and the model entry form is available at http://classicplastic.org/cpmc-entry-form.pdf Come, bring lots of models, and help us celebrate 25 years of Classic Plastic model contests.

Thanks! The threaded bolt works, but in my example I used thick enough wire that I wrapped each turn tightly touching the previous turn. It sort of looked like one of the thick guitar strings before I dipped it in the Plasti-Dip.