peteski

Uncured urethane resin absorbs moisture from the ambient air. That will cause bubbles when cured (through a chemical reaction). If you had your resin for a year then it most likely absorbed moisture with the expected result. You need to buy a fresh batch. You can use a gas-blanket spray to prolong the shelf life (Micro-Mark should sell that too), but even using that the resin will eventually be unusable (it unfortunately has a short shelf life). Also, if there is any moisture in the molds, that will also cause bubbles to form in the resin.

It should be also mentioned that it is not really "chrome" - the process is vacuum-metal-deposition of aluminum over plastic. Same "chrome" process used by most model kit manufacturers. While it looks like chrome, the metallic coating is nowhere as durable as Chromium plating. While it will work for small 1:1 car parts, it will not withstand constant handling (on things like door handles or radio knobs).

It sounds like you were trying clear-film decal paper. Alps white "ink" is not any more opaque than white (not clear) decal paper. The other colors of the flag will be translucent and also need a white undercoat to show properly when applied to a colored car body. Since this basically a long and thin 3-color stripe, can't you just mask and paint it?

I religiously clean the bottle lip and the gasket in the lid before closing the paint bottles - never have any problems opening them.

Good for you! I'm glad to know that you are responsible driver.

I like it!

So the lenses have keyed center-posts which force you to position them incorrectly? That is pretty poor research on the designer's end. As far as the master cylinder goes, Steve is correct. No lines or wires should come out of the cover. But the master cylinder's lower part would have a brake fluid line going to the rear brake and also a wire coming from the brake light switch.

NICE!!

I'm glad someone mentioned this before me. The wipers are the only distraction from otherwise gorgeous large-scale model! IN this scale you should be able to fairly easily fabricate wipers which look as real as the rest of the model. Not only they are too thick for the scale, they almost look like their locations were swapped. Left wiper is on the right side of the car and right wiper on the left. They look really odd. If not for the wipers, that model could pass for the 1:1 car.

And hopefully make it harder to check the emails, Facebook, or text message while driving.

I have not used the Vallejo version, but I have used other brands of transparent and candy paints. Candy colors are transparent and they really stand out when applied over a silver or gold (metallic base). Transparent colors can also be used to tint clear plastic tail lights, directional lenses, emergency strobes, windows, etc. You could apply them as a body color over a light-colored non-metallic paint but the effect will not be very impressive.

Really nice job! But one thing bugs the heck out of me - the orientation of the lenses in the driving lights! Especially on a large-scale model this stands out like a sore thumb (at least to me). The headlight is correct but the striations in the driving light lenses should be vertical (like in the headlight). They are 90 degrees off. If they were keyed then the factory screwed up.

I'm not an industry expert, not I play one on the forum, but here are my thoughts: Diecast models have lower parts count (than full-detail plastic kits), so the would make them less expansive to produce. I don't think that making a mold for a die-cast body is much different than for a plastic body. They need to use slide molds in either case. Diecast models usually have opening hood, doors, and sometimes trunk. So that is more complex than a typical plastic model with an opening hood. Also don't forget that diecast models still use many plastic and vinyl/rubber parts. But plastic kits and diecast model cars are like apples and oranges - diecasts target totally different market. The big selling feature of diecasts is that they are fully painted ans factory-assembled. And some are very impressive with lots of details (hand-assembled bu some lady in China). They target the collector marked and/or the owners of the 1:1 cars, not model builders. Sure, some model builders are also collectors and they will buy diecasts, but I guess that the majority of people buying diecasts are not model builders.

Yes, the quad-headlights with a clear cover look really nice. IIRC, the inboard lights were articulated and hooked up to the steering to follow the path of the front wheels.

Aoshima tire/wheel sets include all sorts of nice tires. I think Expedias are included in one of those sets. I think they are included in "Aoshima 52402 Tuned Parts 01 1/24 BBS RG 17inch Tire & Wheel Set" http://www.ebay.com/itm/361903513848 This set was re-released recently and is all over eBay.

Yeah, why not? It seems like you enjoyed the experience. Or you will go again, just not enter any models? You models do look pretty nice.

It is expensive because it also includes the housing to contain the blasting media. It does look useful but the clear dome is made from plasitc and I'm afraid that with time the blasting media will frost the inside making it hard to see what you're doing. I have the Badger mini sandblaster and it works well, but it is also a pain to deal with. But it is much less expensive than the Micro-mark unit.

Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Md. sells steering wheels with real wood rims. They look great. The centers are photo-etched nickel silver. They do require some work, but are well-worth it.

Was it the tooling? At the model club meeting I attended last Saturday I've heard that the tooling was never a problem - supposedly it was some problem Revell had with the official Ford merchandise licensing. The licensing problem was resolved and the production restarted. Not sure how true or accurate this is but I figured that I would mention it. Alternative fact maybe?

But doesn't the black paint visible through the translucent light-color plastic darken and dull the color, and make it look weird? If I was going to paint the inside of the translucent light-clor body, I would either use color similar to the plastic's or white.

But aren't lenses over the gauges supposed to look like they are some distance from the gauge face decal? The clear coat needs to have some thickness to it. That is why things like white glue or UV-curable clear resins are often used.

Unless there is some magical software available out there, the results of a 3D scan require much cleanup in your CD software. You can't just scan and 3D-print the result. Well, you can, but it'll look like c r a p.

I know what you mean - back in 2004 I've built a Tamiya 1:6 Harley Fat Boy. I took lots of photos all around a real one for reference. I also measured all the hoses and cables with a caliper so I could make them to scale on the model.

Looks good! The colors look a bit gaudy, but I'm not tug boat expert. The other thing that I noticed is the interior lights shine right through the walls. That looks a bit funky. When I plan on illuminating a model I make sure to make the walls opaque enough to block the light. Usually it is few layers of black paint then silver, then white as the final coat (on the inside). The white paint evenly reflects the light so the single LED inside appears to evenly illuminate the interior (it doesn't look like a bright light in a black room). I use white because it does a better job reflecting the light than silver.

You can replace the out-of-scale hoses and cables with more in-scale items. I often do that on models. It makes a big visual difference. I usually use insulated wire - it comes in many colors and diameters.