peteski

And few more model RR scales: 1:64 S-scale 1:120 TT-Scale 1:150/1:160 N-Scale (British sometimes use 1:148) 1:220 Z-Scale Those are used for model railroads, but of course they also include lots of vehicles and accessories.

Picture tells a 1000 words, but here are two words: natural aluminum.

Here is a good one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/291025513310 That seller has been re-listing this same item (at the same price) for over a year (probably more like 2 years now). No bites yet. I once contacted them and asked why is their model worth so much more than the dozens of the same model on eBay which usually sell for between $10-$30 they didn't reply. Obviously they are looking for a sucker who doesn't know better and who will dish out $130 for a small diecast model. There is plenty of similar examples of this on eBay. Sellers looking for suckers.

Many automotive paints are "hot" enough to partially fuse with the plastic and nothing will completely remove them. Speaking of hot, warm stripping solution (whatever you are using) will be more aggressive than room temperature (or even cold) solution. I try to strip with the solution at about 90 deg. F (I have a laboratory hotplate and a contact-less IR thermometer. As others said, there is no good universal (plastic-compatible) stripping solution which will strip all types of paint. There are 2 more which you haven't tried. Floquil ELO (Easy Lift Off) which I think is not marketed by Testors, and Scalecoat Wash Away Paint Remover.

I have used dozens of methods (whatever works the best for each part). I often use wire insulation stripped from a wire as small tubing to stick small round parts in it (then tape the tubing to a larger piece of wood to hold them. I have also drilled holes into parts and super-glue brass rod to hold them. Here is an example of what I used for one of my builds.

Another vote here for painting over "chrome". Liquid mask will most likely not hold back the lye solution. Think about it , model "chrome" (actually vacuum-deposited aluminum) consists of a clear lacquer or enamel base-coat to make the part mirror smooth, then a few-atom-thick layer of aluminum, then a final clear lacquer/enamel coat to protect the fragile layer of aluminum. So when you paint it, you are actually painting the top layer of clear. The paint will stick to it just fine. Yes, it is more difficult to cover due to the reflective nature of the finish, but the paint will stick just fine. You can prime it first to cover up the shiny finish, then put on the final layer of color. Or use flat paints which cover much better than glossy paints.

I am also big fan of BSI CA glue and accelerator. I hava lso used about half a dozen of other brand CAs and accelerators. In my experience using accelerator does affect the properties of the cured CA glue. I don't think it affects the actual bond between the glued surface and the adhesive but it makes the adhesive more brittle. The viscosity of the CA also makes a difference in the amount of brittleness. The thinner the accelerated CA is, the more brittle it will get when fully cured. But none of this has ever caused any of my models to come unglued. So, I wouldn't worry about it.

For me the Tamiya tape is the absolutely best tape I have ever worked with. Maybe you didn't burnish it well enough? As far as paint goes, I agree that the thinner the paint layer is, the better the model will look.

Walmart and Target also carry good selection of nail polishes.

I didn't expect you to search first - I was just making a statement. This is the thread I was thinking of.

Well, at least the door handle is pitted. As far as rusty chrome goes, if it was done right, it should not be rusty, even on an old rusty car. Same goes for aluminum trim (for obvious reasons). Dull, maybe - rusty? No. I don't quite get this new fad. But I guess things go in cycles. People are tired of seeing all those prefectly restored old cars - they want to stand out in the crowd. This is one way of accomplishing that.

I use nail polishes for painting models. Sinful is one of the brands I have used. They have lots of really wild (and not-so-wild) colors available. And they can sometimes be purchased for like a buck a bottle. And since the nail polish is fairly viscous, a bottle can be thinned to at least a double its volume for airbrushing.

Tom, you're an awesome modeler! Not only a scratchbuilt and weathered trailer, but the figures too! That's amazing. And I love the show (still watch it sometimes on MeTV).

Don't we call them "Darwin award winners"?

This thread seems like deja-vou all over again. I seem to recall a similar thread not too long ago (in this forum too).

While I really don't like the PB user interface (including the fact that they use Flash to provide links to the photos), I have no problems with the site or with getting the links to the photos. I am still using Win XP, SeaMonkey (an oddball browser based on Mozilla, like Firefox), Older Java 1.7U51, Shockwave Flash 11.3 r300, NoScript AddOn, and my AdBlocker is active (as you can see by the sad puppy picture on the right side).

While I really don't like the PB user interface (including the fact that they use Flash to provide links to the photos), I have no problems with the site or with getting the links to the photos. I am still using Win XP, Seamonkey (an oddball browser based on Mozilla, like Firefox), Older Java 1.7U51, Shockwave Flash 11.3 r300, NoScript AddOn, and my AdBlocker is active (as you can see by the sad puppy picture on the right side).

To me that interior looks like pearl white. Slightly warm pearl white. There are many nail polishes out there which look very close to that color.

Don't ask. Better living through modern chemistry.

As it has been said, Tamiya paints in litle glass jars are colloquially known as water-based acrylic enamels. But in reality the solvent is not water but isopropyl alcohol, which is a mild solvent. Those paints in my opinion they are more like a lacquer than enamel. Spray cans OTOH contain "hotter" lacquers based on stronger solvents like acetone. Because of that, the hotter paint applied over the milder paint will most likely cause problems (as you witnessed) because the hotter paint's solvent can re-dissolve the milder paint. As far as what brands of paints I use, I have been in the hobby for decades so I accumulated a large stash of paints. Testors and Model Master, Humbrol, Pactra, Floquil, Polly-S, Accu Paint, Tru Color Paint, Tamiya, Gunze Sangyo, Alclad, Metalizer, and several other brands I can't think of right now. I also have cans of household spray paints like Rustoleum. I have hundreds of bottles/tins and dozens of spray cans. I prefer airbrushing so most of the spray can paint gets decanted for airbrushing. Here is my paint cabinet. All the drawers are full of paint bottles and the larger lower drawers hold spray cans.

Now you are just getting silly. Streamline the bloat! Don't get me started.

Cling wraps have some sort of substance on the surface (plasticizer maybe) which gives them the clinginess. Sounds like it affected the paint surface. If the paint is not completely dry, fuzzy toilet paper can also leave paper fibers adhering to paint. I use Parafilm to cover larger areas. But if the paint is not fully hardened/cured, any type of mask or clingy covering can leave marks. In my experience Scale Finishes paint never fully hardens (it is dry, but soft) and it is prone to ghosting if not clear coated. I think that Scale Finishes paint is a 2-part automotive paint sold without hardener. Unless you get the hardener, the paint will not fully cure.

ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) is a type of styrene-based plastic fairly similar to Polystyrene (which modelers coloquialy call "Styrene"). ABS is also sometimes used for more recent plastic model kits. Both types of plastic can be welded using solvent cements used by modelers (even though the instructions on the bottle do not specifically say that). If you want a specific solvent which mentions that it can bond both ABS and Polystyrene then use Plastic Weld from Plastruct. Of course CA glue will also work well on both of those types of styrene.

Ammonia applied to Alclad? No I have not, but I know ammonia is a caustic chemical, and that is why I stated that it "might" and not "will" affect the metallic paint. The "might" part is a clue that I'm speculating and not speaking from personal experience.

There are many photo hosting sites out there. I originally started on Imageshack.us. It was free, then they went subscription-only and I declined, so I lost access to my photos and moved on. I went with Photobucket. One thing that bugs me about all the websites is the fancy coding on the webpages. I miss the really simple Web interface with just plain HTML. No fancy flash pull-down menus and other silly BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH which makes it slower to navigate the pages and extract links for the photos. I don't need all that bloat - just give me a simple page with bunch of thumbnails and links to the photos.