peteski

I've seen Scale Motorsports carbon fiber decals being coaxed to conform to complex surfaces using hot air from a hair dryer.

That is very similar material millions of East- German Trabants were made from. My uncle owned one and he used epoxy glue to fix a cracked trunk lid.

Jeff, did you look at the top pinned thread in this section of the forum? There are many posts in there recommending all sorts of paint strippers. More info than you'll ever need - all you have to do is read it.

And giant cockroaches. . .

As I understand, Polystyrene (styrene) in its natural virgin form is clear. Colored or opaque styrene is created adding dyes and other additives. Plasticizers can also be added to make it less brittle. As mentioned, clear kit parts are usually most brittle, but there should not be any problems with gluing it. I have also encountered clear styrene which was less brittle. I suspect that plasticizers were added to the mix. For vacu-forming clear styrene is not the best material to use. PETG (Vivak) or Polycarbonate (Lexan) are much easier to deal with.

Thanks for the thorough explanation Vinnie. I was also an electronic tech few jobs ago, and I still dabble in it as a hobby. I'm into lighting and animating my models. For a writeup of one of my LED installs see this thread. What are "low-heat LEDs"? All the LEDs I use are low-heat (unless I smoke one, which generates a short burst of high-heat and smoke). I almost never do that - I know better. Sounds like you either want the curbside models to be easily disassembled, or to just glue the wheels to the body and leave the chassis off (so you can install the wiring)? But the interior should still be attached to the inside of the body? As far as multiple scales go, the smaller scale cars could be used in the background, creating a forced perspective. The buildings should also be smaller scale. This trick is often used on model train layouts.

Do you want the modeler to install working LED head/tail-lights, or is that something you want to do yourselves once you receive the donated models? If modelers are to install the lights, what voltage will you be using to power the display? How close will the viewing public be to these models?

It is too bad that the thread was lost and that moderators are unresponsive.

White Strong & Flexible material is IIRC Nylon. It is also fairly porous. Maybe it is absorbing the catalyst from the RTV mix? As others said, I would test how the rubber hardens by just immersing a small part of the figure in it (head or hand).. As far as painting/sealing it, I expect it to absorb paint like a sponge.

Interesting parking location for the wiper blades - spread them wide!

I doubt that Shapeways puts any RTV inhibitors on their printouts. They are simply a printing company. They don't know or care about how the printed items will be used. Plus, what if the designers themselves wanted to use their printout as a master for castings? Out of curiosity, with what type of material was the figure printed? More likely the bad chemical reaction was due to either the material used for the printed object or maybe the wax or rinsing agent residue remaining on the object.

Like Bill said, Pro Weld and Tenax are methylene chloride based. Why buy the stuff from Micro-Mark for extremely inflated price per 1oz. bottle when the similar stuff is available from any well-stocked hardware store. I use Weld-On 3 (which now seems to be the stuff Bill pointed to). It will bond Polystyrene, ABS, and Acrylic.

Same here - on eBay since 1999 (1,164 transactions) and have bought and sold mostly problem-free. Same with PayPal.

1055? That is really ancient Art! I do understand that it is a primitive kit. I wouldn't mind sanding off and re-scribing the raised door lines if that was all that is wrong. But this kit has so many major inaccuracies that to me it is not worth the effort.

You guys are losing me on this purchasing designs or getting free pre-made files and just printing them on your own printer. How is that different than buying a plastic model kit, some resin model, or detail parts? You can buy those without spending money on your own 3D printer and having the hassle of maintaining it. To me the reason to own a 3D printer is so I could design and print my own unique items not available elsewhere.

I smile every time I see this type of info being posted. Even if the 3D printer is given to you free, it is useless unless you know how to design objects in a 3D CAD program. Sure, some simple shapes can be fairly easy to learn but if you want to do anything more complex there is a steep and long learning curve.

That looks identical to my Weller unit (even the Styrofoam insert and the case). Looks like the unit was sold under multiple brands. I even added variable speed controller to mine. I upgraded to a variable-speed Dremel tool when they started using ball bearings in them (that eliminates the longitudinal play on the motor shaft). But I did use my Weller tool for many years. I still have stashed deep in my basement.

Thanks! I got tired of looking for all of them on my workbench.

Tamiya makes something similar: https://www.tamiyausa.com/items/paints-finishes-60/finishing-supplies-62000/masking-tape-for-curves-2mm-87177

Wow! That looks like a Weller motor-tool! I had one many years ago (before buying a Dremel). Is this an old one or do they still make them?

What scale?

Nice equipment! As far as car stereos go, I still have my Vector Research car stereo (bought in the '80s in a Tech HiFi store). It was a re-branded BELTEK unit. It is mounted in a BENSI box (anybody remember those). You needed one of those living in a thickly settled urban area.

Nice tip (pun intended)! I put either a piece of thin wire insulation or heat-shrink over the tip of some of my tweezers. In this photo I used red insulation on one of them.

You've built some nice replicas Alan! I'm involved in a carnival project, but on much smaller scale. Friend of mine and I modeled the Royal American Shows Carnival as it appeared in the '60s in 1:160 scale (N-Scale). He does all the kit and scratch building and I do the animation and lighting. The carnival is part of a set of NTRAK modules (model railroad) which we display at many train shows. My friend also modeled the entire Royal American Shows train. This thread shows how I made the bumper cars (and gives you an idea of the size of those models) and also links to couple of videos of the carnival.

I can easily see a well-weathered beater beat out a nice shiny paint job. Maybe people think that weathering is easy, but good realistic weathering takes time and skill, and I would say that it is as difficult or even more difficult than a good glossy paint job. I also don't polish my paint jobs and yet I have won some pretty prestigious awards for my models. If I had to spend hours sanding and buffing my models I would quit the hobby - that is not for me. To me my paint jobs are good enough without polishing, but I know that everybody's different.