peteski

Tommy, there is a sticky thread dedicated to the Future. Looking at the last page or so of posts in there should give you some ideas. Why reinvent the thread?

Yes, you did this correctly. What you painted is the trim/gaskets. However, most contemporary cars also have the windshield and rear window perimeter area painted on the inside - check your own car to see that. And if you are tinting the windows that is also best done from the inside.

Yes, I also thought that was a very useful issue of FSM. Lots of good techniques covered .

While I'm not a big smart phone user, I believe that there are camera apps available for both Apple and Android-based smart phones, and they can be used in addition to the default camera app which comes pre-installed. Those apps should enable more customization than the default app, so things like custom color balance, aperture control (if the camera hardware is so equipped) and other advanced settings. Basically the settings which are available on dedicated cameras. That should allow for even better quality smart phone photos. But the basics like ample lighting and composition are still needed for producing good photos.

Most cameras (maybe even smart phones) have adjustable "color balance" or "white balance", so they will compensate for the light source's color temperature. Many cameras have manual color balance option, where you put a piece of white color material (like blank sheet of paper). The camera will take a sample of that and apply whatever color compensation is needed to produce truest colors possible for that light source. I use that setting for pretty much all the photos I take under artificial lighting. It works better than just selecting one of the preset color balance choices. Utilizing non-automatic color balance will result in good color even with the warm or bluish light sources.

Hmm, in my experience "soft" or "warm" white is 2600K color temperature (yellowish incandescent-like), and daylight is 4500K or higher (harsh bluish white). Some bulbs are rated for 3000K and that is basically the type of light you get from halogen lamps (not yellowish and not bluish). Also color rendering index (CRI) which is usually specified on brand name bulbs, makes a difference how true the colors are rendered. I recommend CRI or 85 or higher (the higher the number (up to 100) is how well various colors will be rendered. Here is my quick and dirty photo setup. I am using the magnifier light with a 3000K kitchens and baths fluorescent bulb. It actually has pretty good color rendering capability. I always preset the white balance on my camera for that bulb to maximize the color accuracy. If I need better quality photos I use two 250W halogen work lights with a diffuser to soften the shadows. That is how I also take the contest photos I submit to the magazines (but for those I use larger stage area).

Probably early 20th Century Stanley Steamer, but I cheated because the name is on the gauges, and one gauge mentions "boiler pressure".

What exactly does this mean Carl?

That was amusing, but I wonder if you got dinged because of sepllinng errors?

Yes Mike, you are going into the that rabbit hole. But what we are really discussing here is simple hobby photography. Most modelers will likely not do much cropping or using digital zoom (which as you said reduces the resolution of the final image). To me the DOF is still the most important parameter for model photography, so the ability to control the aperture and select aperture property shooting model is vital. But most phone cameras have very small diameter lenses and they produce quite good DOF without even having the ability to control the f-stop. I have not looked into the science of this but it seems to work. Also the photos we are discussing here basically need to be good enough to be posted to forums. Even if sent to magazines, they are likely published in quarter-page (sometimes maybe half-page) size. A 5 x 7 (or roughly half-page) 300dpi photo only needs to have 1500 x 2100 pixels resolution. In camera talk that is around 3Mp. That is very realistically achievable, even after cropping, with pretty much most consumer cameras (including phone cameras). Do we really need to take 48Mp photos and even after cropping still end up with 15Mb images? Also, many magazines are now printed on equipment which uses stochastic printing method (not the typical halftone printing). But this is getting way out of topic for this discussion.

Sounds to me like it is your airbrushing technique. The plastic is the same on the sides as it is on the horizontal surfaces. What you describe seems that you just aren't putting heavy enough of a coat on the horizontal surfaces to get the paint to level out to a smooth surface. Or possibly just the opposite: Maybe the Scale Finishes paint is hot, and you end up using a heavier coat on the horizontal surfaces, causing the plastic to slightly craze. Just couple of guesses. . .

Just up to 5 x 7 prints? Mike, I don't think the resolution of iPhones is an issue. Maybe with the original iPhones, but current iPhones have very high res image sensors. I don't own an iPhone but I think they now have 12 or 24 Megapixel sensor. Even my 20-year old Nikon CoolPix 8700 camera with 8Mp sensor can produce very sharp 8x10 enlargements. Images from newer iPhones could be used for good quality poster-size enlargements. Main thing is getting sufficient DOF (depth of field) so the entire subject is in acceptable focus. This is done by selecting appropriate lens and using numerically highest f-stop aperture. That requires bright lighting and often slow shutter speeds (so a tripod is needed). Photos of contest coverage done using my old Nikon are good enough to have been published in modeling magazines (like Model Cars and SAE Contest Cars Annual) for decades. For examples see http://classicplastic.org/show-2024.html

Yes, telephoto flattens the image while wide angle lens will exaggerate the perspective, making the model look more like a larger vehicle.

Yes, that special ink-absorbing coating on the ink jet decal paper can get melted on the the laser printer's hot fuser roller, messing it up.

Mike, if you read that post again it states "The odor free Easy-Off does not have Lye and will not work for stripping paint." Basically what I mentioned that the low-odor Easy-Off does not contain Lye and will not strip paint like the original stinky Easy-Off.

The paint stripping ingredient in Castrol Super Clean (CSC) and in the original Easy-Off spray is Lye (Sodium Hydroxide). The odor free Easy-Off does nto have Lye and will not work for stripping paint. CSC is really the best thing to use since it comes as a liquid which does not need to be sprayed (spraying is what contaminates the air with the nasty fumes).

Well, it still wouldn't hurt to clear the browser's cache and cookies (and restart the browser, or even a full reboot) on your desktop.

Yes, unlike the opaque paints/inks used in silk-screened decals, inks used in all consumer CYMK color printers (laser and ink jet, or even the Alps Micro dry printer) is translucent, and it relies on the print surface being white for proper color rendition. And yes, since ink jet ink is actually liquid, the printed surface has to be able to absorb the ink. Ink-jet specific decal paper has a special ink-absorbing layer on the surface. Laser printer decal paper does not - it has a smooth glossy surface, so liquid ink will just bead up on it. Laser printers use dry powder toners which are fused to the printed surface using heat (they are basically melted into the paper), so smooth glossy paper works well.

So it isn't the photos but what happens withign the forum's software after you hit the "Submit Reply" button. Weird! I wonder if you replied on that thread without any photos contained in the text, would it actually get posted, or also fail with the same failure? If you are using a browser on a Windows PC, you could try clearing the browser's cache and deleting cookies, but if you use a smart phone/tablet or Apple Mac, I have no idea on how to clear those.

Usually vehicles of that time with a unusual shape of the body had their doors swing open to the outside of the body. Your first idea should work. As I see it, you have to move the hinge point (the tubing) closer to the door opening's edge. The loops might also have to be larger (to increase the swing diameter. You will also likely have to thin the door's inner surface at the hinged edge. The fact that this is a suicide hinging does not matter. Since the sculpted body has the same shape at the front of the door, you would have the same problem with front-hinged door.

To be honest, I would feel weird about building a model where certain parts will be assembled under stress. I would be worried that after some time problems (such as cracks) might develop. When customizing 1:1 vehicles, the body's sheet metal can be shaped (bent, etc.) so any stress is minimized, but with plastic the stress will remain forever. Maybe that's why I don't do any serious body customizing on my models.

Ah, ok, so that's the clamping action. Got it!

I guess I have hard time seeing a "clamp" (at least going by what the word "clamp" means to me). Are those metal staples considered clamps?

To me this is looks like careless spelling mistake. It probably means "test" as in "needs test drive; something wrong". Maybe the person who wrote it did not know how to spell "test"?

Since they posted fine in this thread, they are now uploaded to the forum (in your attachments). Just go to the thread you want to reply in, then start your reply and when you want to add the images, just copy/paste the direct links to the 2 photos here: https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_12/20241205_130945.thumb.jpg.f9b1951dd4766ede7a1cb4eed12dd99b.jpg https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_12/20241205_130932.thumb.jpg.16532f67674c793dd3e999e5a5fc36ef.jpg As you paste those links, they will automatically expand to photos.