peteski

I never tried to use it just to coat the decal images. I simply brush-paint several coats over the entire decal sheet. When I am ready to apply the decals I just cut out each decal out of the sheet, trimming the paper as close to the image as possible.

There are several different decal setting solution formulas. I have about half a dozen brands/types, so if one doesn't work, I can try another one. There are however 2 distinct types of decal softening solutions. Let's take Microscale's solutions for example (since they make and sell both types as a complete decal setting solution): They sell Micro-set (blue label) and Micro-sol (red label). The Micro-sol is based on acetic acid (smells like vinegar) but the Micro-sol formula is based on some other (unknown) organic solvent. It has no vinegar smell but it does have very distinct smell (maybe some sort of alcohol). If you read their literature, they recommend using both of those solutions to get the best results. Here is the official info about Micro-sol and Micro-set http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/graphics/Instructions/MSISysteminstr.pdf

Many Matchbox diecasts also had raised door and other panel lines (for the same reasons mentioned here multiple times).

No, it is an old discontinued, but still very valuable thermal transfer printer. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroDry for more details.

Yes, the angle and elevation of the camera makes a big difference in realism of the photo. Also using wide angle lens will exaggerate the perspective (and increase the depth of field). It all adds up to having a model looking more like a real car. Here is a photo I took of a friend's model. It was taken outside under natural overcast lighting.

That method does work well for any flat piece of plastic or even sheet metal. But most model car windows are curved )often compound curves) so they cannot be clamped between to flat pieces of wood.

I actually sand the foil/epoxy emblem over 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper until the flat areas in the foil separate from the emblem. I then have the emblem ready to apply to the model. It takes some practice to get the technique right and not all the emblems can be done that way, but I had good luck with it. But I always finish making emblems before sanding the originals off the car body - that way if I mess up sanding the emblem I can just make another one until I get them right. To attach them to the painted body I use either 5-minute epoxy or some clear paint.

I print my decals on an Alps printer which can print white and metallic colors so my techniques are different than what you normally use for ink-jet or laser printed decals. I also prefer using vector-based graphics rather than bitmaps (but I understand that this is not everybody's cup of tea). But I want to make one comment: DO NOT USE JPG for saving your decal designs!! JPG is a lossy format (it compresses the file to save space but that also means that there is a loss of image sharpens and even some color irregularities. This gets progressively worse when the file is opened, edited and saved multiple times. Do yourself a favor and use one of the non-lossy bitmap formats like TIF, PNG, GIF or even the old BMP format. PNG is probably the most widely used non-lossy format (which uses compression). That way you can open and manipulate the image 100 times and the image will be as sharp as the first generation image.

The picture doses have a look of a computer-generated image. Since it is not Photoshopped but rendered from some sort of CAD drawing, would that make it a model? Otherwise it is a strangely looking photo of a real car.

...and I thought that the Tamiya 1:6 scale motorcycle kits were large scale! This baby is quarter scale! Wow!

I take photos for Scale Auto Contest Annual, so I can't post them on the Internet. But I take few extras for our club's website - they usually show up on the website a month or two after the contest (depending on how quickly the webmaster updates the website). But there will be others taking photos and making their online albums available for viewing. I'll try to find some links and post them here.

Ah, that makes sense. I just never seen them sold under IMEX name.

The show is this Sunday - I hope to see bunch of you there.

No problem Joe - I just wanted to set the timeline straight. Looks like Art Anderson came through again with a nice writeup. Hopefully he will be attending the Classic Plastic show this weekend - he always has all sorts of goodies to show off to us mere mortals.

Interesting. But the few IMEX Harley kits I've built were 1:12 scale. They also made 1:9 scale ones? Bike kits made by Protarwere usually made in 1:9 scale too.

If you look harder, there are 8oz glass Coke/Pepsi bottles available, and almost every larger soft drink brand is also available in 8-packs of 7.5oz mini-cans. The mini-cans are especially widely accepted. All the supermarkets I shop at carry them. Whenever I need to fulfill my guilty pleasure of drinking a Coke on Mountain Dew, I go for one of those. Those sizes are all I have in my fridge.

You know, the above timeline kept bugging me. No that it makes any difference in the paint availability but it still bugged me. Then I dug up couple of Floquil model RR paint bottles. The one on the left is from the late 80s (it is the REV.1 plastic compatible formula) and the one on the right is from early 2000s. As you can see, both labels have the RPM logo and both still use the Floquil/Polly S Color Corp. name, and the NY address. This seems to indicate that Testors never actually acquired Floquil/Polly S Color Corp. It was RPM that already owned Floquil/Polly S Color Corp. back in the 80s, through 2000s, and all the way until it was discontinued. Floquil was not part of Testors at the time. Testors and Floquil seemed to be parallel product lines and separate companies owned by RPM all the way until demise of Floquil

I saw it with my own naked eyes. Checked it out when it was about half eclipsed then right as it was getting fully eclipsed. Very cool!

If you have used Smooth-On products to cast your own tires then you know at least the basics of mold making and casting. Smooth-On offers a range of Urethane resins for casting parts and Silicone or Urethane RTV rubbers for making molds. I would stick with Smooth-On and just get what you need. When I need to cast some parts (I use simple 1-piece open molds) I use Smooth-On products.

As with any highly reflective finish, it has to be as glossy as possible (and free of any defects). That is no secret or nothing new. The same applies to any other type of highly reflective silver surface. Whether it is this method, vacuum-plated aluminum (ChromeTech) or Alclad Chrome, or even real chrome on real car parts. If the base surface is not perfectly glossy or polished, it will not be mirror-like after the final coat is applied.

Um, not all strippers work equally well on all types of paint. That is why I uses several types. Also, what was the ambient temperature? ELO (well, all paint strippers) work best in warm environment. As far as staining goes, some paints do permanently stain plastic. Red is often one of those nasty paints - especially if it is a hotter paint which slightly etches the plastic. Do you know what brand of paint was used on those parts?

How does it stand up to handling (with greasy fingers)? Can it be clear coated?

That is a great primer! Smelly? Don't you know that the best paints are the smelliest?

Poison? No wonder we don't have many new young modelers joining out ranks. Geez!

Nice build Harry! If you want some really small and very inexpensive LEDs go to eBay and do some searches. The SMD (Surface Mounted Devices) LEDs are extremely small. I most often use size 0603 (which is 0.060" X 0.030" footprint) or 0805 (0.080" X 0.050" footprint). There are smaller LEDs like 0402 (0.040" X 0.020") or larger like 1206 (0.120" X 0.060") and many more sizes. You do have to have some good soldering skills to solder wires to them (I use thin magnet wire) but it is quite doable. For example if you search eBay for SMD 0805 amber LED (for your directional signals) you will see many of them available for sale (usually from China) with free shipping for really low prices. Something like 50 of them will cost you less that $10. For example, here is a listing for 50 0805 amber LEDs for less than $6: http://www.ebay.com/itm//111113907642