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peteski

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Posts posted by peteski

  1. I originally posted this question in the Drag Racing Models section, figuring that it might be the best audience for this question, but I had no replies.  Trying the Off-Topis section.

    What happened to magazine and their website?  Going to http://www.fuelcoupe.com shows "account suspended".   I did visit their Facebook page (I'm not on FB) but I don't see anything mentioned there regarding the website being down. Last post on FB is almost 2 months ago.

  2.  

     

    Here in PA, I believe that at least two cars can still make their left turn into the intersection even if the light has turned red for their end of traffic. There are certain intersections where I live when it's IMPOSSIBLE to make a left turn UNLESS you get your butt out there into the intersection and make the left turn.........red light notwithstanding! Otherwise as has been said, you can sit through four or five cycles before traffic clears before you can make your turn.

    Sometimes you just have to get a bit aggressive and make your move, lest you have traffic backing up for literally blocks due to someones timidity.

    While I don't know rules in PA, I find it hard to believe that traffic laws in any state would allow:

    1. Running a red light (in any direction)

    2. Encourage aggressive driving.

    But what I do hate is the timid drivers who come to a full stop when entering a divided highway from on on-ramp.   That really makes impossible to merge with the traffic (which even in the slow lane is going at least 55 MPH!).  Especially where there is no breakdown lane on the right. There were few instances where I almost rear-ended those individuals.  There is a Yield (not STOP) sign at the end of the on-ramp. I also used to see "Merging Traffic" signs, but I don't seem to see those much anymore.

  3. Didn't even realize it was still available.

    I haven't used it in years because I thought it was long gone.

    If I recall correctly, it did work pretty well.

     

    Steve

    Oh yeah, this stuff is still made (and probably will be for a long time). http://www.parafilm.com/products#laboratory This film's main application is as a seal in laboratories. But some enterprising modeler figured out a way to use it for a masking film.  This was way before Internet forums. IIRC< the first mention of Mariafil M in hobbies was in an article in FineScale Modeler Magazine.  I also have large roll I bought many years ago (not the small quantities repackaged by Testors) - this stuff doesn't seem to go bad.  Like others mentioned, there are many online sources.

    One word of caution. If you used that stuff in a stretched form, the solvent from hot lacquers can soften it or even permeate it. I once masked a windshield with Parafilm to airbrush the black surround. When I peeled the Parafilm off the "glass" it was slightly crazed.  But I lay the paint rather wet and that might be part of the problem.

  4. So I'm sitting in the left turn lane, with one car ahead of me... our light is green.

    What would a normal driver do? Pull out into the intersection about halfway, then wait for oncoming traffic to clear and make your left turn, or at the very least wait for the light to turn red and then make your left. And maybe the guy behind you can squeeze in his left too, right?

    Well, this genius just sat there at the crosswalk. Even when oncoming traffic was completely clear and you could have safely made the left turn walking, he still just sat there. Sat there until the light turned red. When the green arrow came on, thank God he had that figured out and he finally made the turn.

    :rolleyes:

    I don't have enough info here and I don't know the traffic laws in IL to see if what he did was correct.  For example, since there was a dedicated left-turn lane, was there a full set of left turn signals (red, yellow,  and green left turn arrows)?  Or just solid green for all the directions? If there is a red left turn arrow illuminated then I would not make a left turn until I had a green left turn arrow.  But if the only traffic signal lit up at that point was solid green with no directions indicated then I would have turned left if it was safe to do so.

  5. What diameter is the wire you  need?  Many computer ribbon cables (like  the ones used to hook up the IDE hard drives, CD-ROM drives or floppy drives to the motherboard) use 30 AWG (approx 0.010" diameter) tin-plated stranded copper wire. You just have to strip the insulation.  It looks just like the cable in Skip's picture.

  6. We have a place for motorcycles. It's called "All the Rest." Been there forever.

    Ah, just like the Professor and Mary-Ann in the first season of Gilligan's Island.  ;)

    I'm a fairly recent member but I suspect that there just isn't enough members who build bikes and post in a separate forum.  So they go in the All the Rest Bucket.

    I build bike models too - just not very many.

     

    obj121geo87pg9p9.jpg

    obj340geo198pg9p9.jpg

  7. From what I just found, the cigarettes consist of a celluloid rod wrapped in tissue paper:

    Smoking Monkey Cigarettes

    Ah, so I remembered it correctly.  Maybe I should pick some of those little cigarettes and relive my childhood . . .

    :)

     

    BTW, that Google book is an interesting find. It really is amazing how much information is out there and how instant the search results are. No more doing research at the local library - the world's knowledge is at our fingertips, without even having to leave out home (or even on those new-fangled smart-phones).

  8. 40 for $10? Heck. that's pretty good. Depending on where you buy them here, a pack of smokes costs $14. :)

    The "cigarettes" are tightly rolled paper. A monkey "toothpick joint", if you will.

    I used to have one of those figures with smoke-ring blowing cigarettes when I was growing up in Poland in the '70s.  It wasn't just rolled up paper - the smoke smelled funny (like a burning table-tennis ball). I think that the stuff in them was celluloid.

  9. 180 degrees F seems way too hot!  That will most likely soften and possibly distort resin and styrene parts!

    I agree that warm stripping solution is more aggressive than cold, but I would never go over 90-100 degrees F.  If you work in a cold workshop (Like I do in the winter) where the ambient temps are in 50-60 range then the stripping solution is not every effective. Warming it up to 90 degrees F makes it work much faster.  But not 180!

  10. I really miss the part of the old format where all the replies were numbered. Made it much easier to direct someone to a relevant post.

    On he upper right corner of each post there is an icon which is 3 dots connected by lines (shaped like a "<" sign).  You click on that and it gives you the URL pointing directly to that post.

    Here is the URL I got for your post: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/104078-new-siteforum-look/?do=findComment&comment=1637001

    If you don't like the look of that long URL, you can just change the link text when you insert it in the post. Like click here to go to the post.

    That should be no different than pointing someone to a numerical value.

  11. If you are talking about the factory chrome (vacuum-deposited aluminum), and not the Alclad II chrome, then it should be safe to clear coat it with Future or even regular enamel clear.  Many kits with factory chrome parts already have clear coat applied over the metal layer (to protect it from oxidizing and fading away).  The metal layer is so thin that if left unprotected even the moist sweat (salty water) from your hands left on it would eat away the thin metal layer after a while.

     

    There is also another factory "chrome:" out there: It is used in Trumpeter kits and many of the factory-build diecast models. Those plastic parts are electroplated with copper and with real chromium. The metal layer is much thicker and chromium is very durable (just like on 1:1 cars). No protection is ever needed.

  12. I'm a happy customer too. I have bought several tools and the pair of sprue cutters I received had poorly ground cutting surfaces. After couple of emails (with close-up photos of the problem area), a replacement sprue cutter was sent to me - no charge and no need to return the defective one.

  13. I picked up one of these at NNL East (I couldn't resist the $16 price, and also the fact that I was in love with that car and wanted one like it as my first car - I ended up with a 1976 Camaro instead).

    But the shallow-dish mag wheels in the rear really bug me. Without going through 12 pages of this thread, does anybody know a source of the wheels which would have deeper dish for the rear wheels?

    The other thing which could have been done differently is the front parking/directional lights.  But I can deal with that.

  14. What was old is new again. Funny how things seem to go around in circles. Whether it is fashion or gasoline blends.

    I remember seeing the first modern retractable-top on a concept car (in the '90s, IIRC it was a Nissan) touted as something new and I immediately thought that it has already been done in the '50s (Ford Skyliner).

  15. With lines of perhaps upwards of 300 people waiting in line - it is a SLOW process of collecting money at the door no matter how fast the volunteers can shuffle the money.  Flash your prepaid ticket and stroll right in, 

    If you attend NNL East, they have this problem solved.  They have crew walking along the long line collecting admission charge and stamping your hand showing that you paid. They also give you a goodie bag with the raffle ticket and few other items. They also give you model registration forms so you can fill them out while waiting in line.  Registration forms can also be downloaded from their website before the show and filled out at home.  When the doors open, everybody just goes right in.

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