peteski

No wiper blades? Is this thing street-legal?

I will go one step further and say that BMF (original chrome only) stretches much more and much easier than any other plain aluminum metal foil (like their bright chrome foil for example). The BMF original chrome is not aluminum foil - it is some sort of an alloy which is much heavier than aluminum. Just crumple some waste pieces together into a ball and you'll be surprised how heavy it feels. Also, unlike aluminum, it melts using regular soldering iron, so I suspect there is some tin or lead in the alloy (or some other low-temperature metal). For those reasons, BMF chrome is the best foil for complex-curved surfaces. No aluminum foil even comes close.

Looking good Bo!

I own the 1:1 2006 xB and I was thinking of doing this to the Fujimi kit. But even if I do that, the wiper blades face the wrong way, and are the wrong shape to just be able to flip them around, so I'm not sure it is worth the effort.

Here is what I would try to do with the tools and equipment I have: Spray paint the entire license plate white. Find a piece of rubber sheet. I use scraps of rubber roof material (used on some houses or industrial buildings). It is flat rubber sheer about 1.5mm thick. I also have a rubber roller used for inking printing plates (I got it in an art supply store) Using the rubber roller spread a thin layer of black paint on the rubber sheet. Then place the license plate (letter side down) over the black paint. Make sure not to slide the license plate. Then press the plate down gently with your fingers, or roll over it with the rubber roller. Do it gently, just hard enough for the raised lettering to pick up the black paint. Then lift the plate off the rubber sheet and the numbers should be coated with black paint. The other alternative is to use the artwork for the license plate and make a black decal of the numbers. Print it on a laser printer on a clear decal paper and apply it to a white-painted plate.

Uschi might be German but you can get those decals in US on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/300987669452 If you look for wood grain decals in Toys & Hobbies > Models & Kits section you'll find many more.

The email address I have for Dale Horner (LMK Co.) is littlemotorkarco@verizon.net but that is from few years ago. Give a try.

The Tamiya fine surface primers I use go on smooth enough not to have to so anything to them to make them ready for the color coat.

I have used Chrome Tech several times but last few times I had the same problem. Bob offered to re-plate them for free, but that is not good to me - stripping many delicate and customized parts would not be feasible. That was several years ago. Next time I need some parts re-plated, I will use another company.

Very nice job - I have this kit (still unbuilt) and I know exactly how much work you put into those wheels.

Rubber is simply represented by semi gloss (satin) or sometimes even flat finish dark gray (almost black). If I was going to do this I would have masked the ribs and painted them that rubber color. Then I would have applied the BMF and trimmed just to be on the bottom part of the ribs. It would be tough but it is doable. One way might be to use thin strips of BMF and applu them at the bottom of the ribs. But at this point I agree with Cato - at this point leave them chromed.

Hornby (including Pocher) in trouble

Most plastic bags are polyethylene. Just put the stuff you want to glue over a plastic bag. I do that all the times.

I think Harry is just having some fun with us. Or if not, I think the above explanations clearly explained the differences and relations of speed and revolutions per minute on a circular track. If you look at an oval track for runners, the starting (or finish) positions are staggered as not to give unfair advantage to the runners on the inside of the track (that way all the runners cover the same exact distance).

LOL! So much for Auto ID #195...

Slow (or high temperature) reducers (thinners) for automotive paints have slower evaporation rate than medium- or low-temperature reducers. The slower evaporating solvents are usually less aggressive (so probably safer for rubber o-rings). I have a Badger model 200 airbrush and it uses Teflon gaskets for the areas which have contact with paint. Teflon is solvent resistant.

I have been using their paints for model RR subjects and they are excellent. But I do thin them further for airbrushing. I'll eventually be looking at their new automotive model paints too. I have never tried their masking system (I use the old tried-n-true Tamiya masking tape, other masking tapes, liquid masking agents, and Parafilm. I wonder if the masking paper is similar to Frisket film used by artists.

We all have our techniques - it doesn't mean that what others do is or isn't correct. I just describe what works for me. If we start going by what wins contests then I have taken first place awards at contests with models painted with no primer. Snake 45. Pigments are solid (like in a powder form). Pigmented plastic is opaque. But many yellow or red plastics are semi-translucent and I suspect that they use dyes (not pigments) to tint those plastic. .As far as dyes leaching out of plastic, that is not a myth. It has happened to me and to other modelers I know (or read about in the forums). As I see it, the solvents in paint cause the dye leaching. But those solvents are also mildly destructive to the plastic itself. If you tried to remove all the dye for the plastic using that solvent, the plastic itself would be destroyed. That is my best explanation.

Tree-killer!

Thanks everybody! I was asked about making the cars actually move. One possibility would have been to use some sort of vibrating floor to make the cars randomly dance around; like the old football game table. Another possibility was to use magnets on the cars and on a set of moving gears under the floor. But where they are located (and with the roof over the track) the cars aren't very easily visible to spectators. So it wasn't really worth the effort. Plus this is a portable setup, so there would be a good chance that the cars would fail out during moves and transport. We ended up modeling the time when people are getting on for the next ride.

If painting using hobby paints I try to avoid primer as much as possible (to minimize paint thickness). If using hotter paints, primer is needed to act as a barrier to prevent the hot solvent in the paint from crazing the styrene body. Of course if the plastic body is bright red and I want to paint it white, I will use primer, or even additional barrier coats, even when using hobby paints (to prevent the red plastic dye from bleeding into the white paint).

For many years a friend of mine and I were collaborating on his model of a carnival in N-scale (that is a model train scale of 1:160). He built the models and I animated and illuminated them. The scene resides on a pair of NTRAK modules which we display at the local model train shows. Here is an older video showing the original midway. Couple of years ago my friend wanted to expand the midway by adding another couple of feet to the module set. One of the rides was going to be bumper cars. Since there are no commercially available models of N-scale bumper cars I offered to make them for him. I decided to make a master and cast them out of resin. The carnival is set in late 1960s or early 1970s. I first gathered some photos of bumper cars. I then got some rough dimensions. These are the prototype on which I loosely based my model. I started with a piece of acrylic (Plexiglas) which I cut to the scale length and width of the car. The scribed mark denotes how high the car needs to be. Then I planned on how to get to the shape I needed. Next, using a saw, files, and dental grinding bits in a Dremel tool, I removed all the material which was not the bumper car's body. I then scribed the front grille and a trim line around the body. Finally, I polished the body using an 4-grit fingernail polishing stick. The steps which I didn't photograph (I should have) were milling machine operations: Using a 0.025" mill bit I made a hole for the electric pickup pole in the rear and holes for 0.025" styrene rod I would use for the headlight pods. Then I glued in the styrene rod and trimmed it to represent the headlight pods. I then separated the car body from the rest of the acrylic piece. Then, using a piece of 0.032" acrylic sheet, I made the "rubber bumper" base for the car. Base glued to the car body (using a methylene chloride based liquid cement). I then glued the master pattern to a flat acrylic base. Using masking tape, I created a dam to hold the RTV rubber and ... ...poured the liquid rubber into the cavity. Once the rubber hardens, I remove the tape and pull the rubber mold off the master. It is a simple 1-piece open mold. I just poured the resin until the cavity was full. Here is the first molding popped out of the mold. I also went a little nuts: I photoetched the steering wheels. Then I soldered them to a steering column made from a 0.010" brass rod. Steering wheels ready to be painted black. A finished bumper car. The body and the bumper areas were airbrushed with Scalecoat II paint and the seat and grille/headlights were brush painted (under a microscope). Here is a couple on a Nickel .... And a whole gaggle of finished models. Before you ask, yes, I had to cut off the feet of the figures before I plopped them in the cars. I'll try a 2-tone paint job on the next batch I'll make. I am totally nuts for making them this detailed, since they will be placed inside a covered arena, viewed from about 2 feet. But I just couldn't help myself... Here are the bumper cars placed on the track. And a night shot. Here is an overall view of the new part of the midway. This is an early photo, before the people figures and final detailing was done. This is a newer video showing the entire midway.

I just mentioned this on another thread: used cars are now called certified pre-owned vehicles! That also means the price is higher. I also work for a large corporation and sometimes have to communicate with Indians (dot, not feather). I often have to "do the needful" and "revert back" "urgently". That drives me u[p the wall! And now for some more fun reading I'll bring you few gems from The Oatmeal grammar comics (I highly recommend visiting that site for some amusing grammar instructions)

Only when discussing them with old farts like us! Ask any 20- or 30-somethign and they will give you a blank stare. They are now called "frozen entreé". Just like used cars are now "certified pre-owned vehicles". Going back to TV dinners, they came on aluminum trays. You had to peel off the aluminum foil cover over the brownie or the apple pie. Couldn't heat them up in a Radarange...

While I have seen some amazing-looking models with unpainted (polished) bodies, you have to make sure that the plastic is not slightly translucent. If it is, even polished, it will look plasticky. In my experience bright red or yellow plastic is often translucent. Easy test: look at a light source (like a table lamp) through the body. you'll be able to easily see whether the plastic is opaque or translucent.