peteski

While I don't want to scare anybody, the official word is here. As with all government regulations, it seems very complicated. Having said that, I have been buying model (and some other) items online from foreign sellers (through eBay, Amazon, etc.) for about 17 years and I have never been charged any duties.

After exchanging couple of PMs with fiat boy I realized that I missed the fact that he mentioned that he was a subscriber to the magazine. So his question is not as strange as I first thought.

I would be cautious with this one too. To begin with, it has a slightly amber tint and also since it is UV-cured, it does not (by design) have any UV protection, so it might also yellow in time.

Yes, I agree - I have experienced this problem few times and I no longer use any of the epoxy adhesives (especially the 5-minute type) to represent clear lenses. Also, most epoxies have slight amber tint to begin with. But I had it turn deep amber after several years.

If anybody solely use any online photo hosting site for the only copy of a photo, that is foolish. I would not feel sorry for them if they lost them. The only reason I upload photos to online sites it to share them with others. Mostly in online forums. I always have multiple copies stored locally (one on a live hard drive on my PC and couple of backups on removable media). I like the idea of hosting photos for a forum, on the forum itself - that way they will be viewable (in the posts) for as long as the forum is around.

I only use my photos on the forum I'm posting them to. So I like the idea of having the photo hosted here for the posts I create here. And now we can do just that. Of course I have all my photos on my PC and also 2 copies of backups.

I've have heard that too, but it seems that it is an urban legend. This is some good reading material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System I also see this sign on I 93 North right before crossing from MA to NH.

The 30AWG Wire Wrapping wire's outside diameter (with insulation) is about 0.016" or up to 0.020". That is good for representing the 1:24 scale high-performance ignition wire, but too thick for average pedestrian factory-stock model car. Detail Master sells 0.012" overall diameter ignition wire which is expensive but gives a better scale representation of the factory-stock wire. I also use Detail Master 0.007" detail wire for ignition wires in 1:43 scale cars. Pro-Tech also has some nice ignition wire. Those thinner wires are pretty much imposable to find in small quantities.

Yes, many of the model train hobby items can be used for our hobby and vice versa (I dabble in many hobbies myself). Yes, the prices are usually higher when things like wire are bought from model railroad vendors instead of other sources (like industrial electrical suppliers). The model railroad decoder wires are nice and flexible, but most are too thick for representing 1:24 plug wires. They are good for modeling thicker wires - like battery cables or for representing rubber hoses.

You might be diluting the paint too much. Try thinning it less. Last time I did a grille black wash I used slightly thinned Testors flat black enamel (from the little square glass bottle). I wasn't too worried about the parts of the grill which are supposed to remain shiny getting some paint on them. Right after the paint dried (became flat), I wiped the surface of the grill with a piece of old T-shirt slightly moistened with Naphtha (Ronsonol lighter fluid). I suppose that the Testors paint thinner would have worked too. The trick is not to wait too long - if you let the paint dry really well and harden, it will be difficult to remove.

That is what I was thinking too. Some new car designs are just a bit much for me.

Piękna figurka!

I guess there are many definitions of what "works". The site is extremely bloated with unneeded functionality and hard to navigate. Don't get me started on the searches. I wish we could go back about 12 years. At that time eBay was simple and easy to navigate. I used to spend a lot of time there back then - now I mostly avoid it. They also try very hard to become another Amazon with the type of listings they now allow. No more being a worldwide flea market - it is mostly full-time professional sellers.

The 30 AWG Kynar wire-wrapping wire is often used for high performance spark plug wires in 1:24 scale models. The 30 AWG wire itself has a diameter of 0.010" and the overall diameter with the insulation is about 0.016". That works out to be 0.38 scale inches in 1:24 scale model.

Actually Art, BMF's original chrome foil has a warm (slightly yellow or brown) tone. It reminds me of nickel plating more than chrome (which as you said is slightly blue). I think that some early car manufacturers started using nickel plating at the end of the brass era.

I have one of those kits (partially started) and I wish I bought few more when they were still in production. I think I bought mine from Satco (another great company I miss). So of course they seem to command pretty high price nowadays.

...and he has close to 300 posts under his belt. Almost as if someone hacked fiatboy's account and wants to post some SPAM to reac all the members.

Um, it is a bit more potent that that. It contains, among other chemicals, Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) which will literally destroy human tissue. That's the stuff murderers use to dissolve the corpses of their victims!

I think we use the name "Acetate" like "Kleenex" is used to describe facial tissues. I don't think that actual Acetate has been used by hobbyists for the last 40 years or longer. The clear films we use nowadays are Polystyrene, PET, PETG, Acrylic, Lexan and few others. While they are all transparent, they are much more stable than Acetate.

The Chrome BMF (not the Ultra-Chrome) has a warm tone to it. It always has. It is normal. The color of BMF chrome foil in your photo is what I would expect to see (when compared to a kit's "chromed" part). That is because it is neither chrome nor aluminum - it is some sort of custom alloy of soft and pliable metals. There might be some tin in that alloy because, unlike aluminum foil it can be melted with a regular soldering iron. But because it is a special alloy, it is very easy to work with and it conforms (stretches and compresses) over curved surfaces. If you really want the chrome-like cool tone then you would have to use the Ultra-Bright foil. That one seems to be made from aluminum which has a more chrome-like color, but it is much stiffer and harder to get to conform to curved surfaces. Another alternative would be to use the Alclad II Chrome paint method, Spaz Stix or a Molotov chrome pen. Or if you are really building a contest-quality model then you could sent those parts to be "chromed" (which is the same method of vacuum aluminizing used by the model companies for their "chromed" parts).

Yup - very creative (and looks good too)!

While what Photobucket did is really underhanded I doubt they will go out of business. There are probably still millions of users (both free and with paid subscriptions) that use Photobucket for their Photo storage and sharing. After all, they only disabled 3rd party hosting. You can still view user's albums on the site and share links to the photos in emails, etc. I have a free account and was only using them for 3rd party hosting, so I'm no longer using them. I left my account active in case they decide that what they did was stupid, but I'm not holding my breath. The forum sites I frequent now allow for local photo storage so I'm slowly updating my old posts with locally stored photos.

Well, if you want to split hairs, the word "etching" was not even mentioned in the original post - only the lines exposed after priming. But since the surface crazing/etching (or whatever you want to call it) also prominently shows up in those photos, and both, the lines and crazing are caused by the same thing (primer too hot) I can see why both were mentioned in the replies. Then a solution was provided (to fix both problems). I don't see anything wrong with that.

I also have doubts that if a listing disappears, how can a buyer be scammed. Ok, if someone does buy the item, I don't think the listing cab be deleted after it is sold. SO that woudl show up in that sellers completed items history. If the listing is pulled by the it usually still shows up with a reason it ended early. I'm not sure if there is an option to just delete the listing but then again, that would have to be done before someone bought it. So how does the scam work? I also noticed some strange activities from a Chinese seller. I watch for the Revell Can-Do wrecker kit and few weeks ago there were 2 listings for that kit from China by a seller with zero feedback for a really low price and free shipping. I found that odd since it is a rather large box. I was watching both listings and one of them was actually completed (someone bought the kit) while the 2nd listing just disappeared. The sellers name is skvhv689097 and I'm watching to see if they will get a feedback for the kit that sold.

Wow! That is pretty drastic. Faded from warm gold tone (orange) to chrome silver. And same with the taillight lens.