peteski

My mom owned one of those back in the '90s. It was metallic gray with very plush gray velour interior. Very comfy car to drive, but watch out for static electricity when getting out of it in the winter! ZAP! It was very painful. It was so bad that I eventually I figured out a way to drain the static from my body before getting out. That elegant body style was similar on many GM cars from the first half of the '80s. My '85 Caddy Eldorado has a similar body style, and those Centerline wheels look like they just came off my '76 Camaro (I drove in the '80s and '90s).

That is where the naming gets confusing. Testors ACRYLIC paint will not play well with mineral spirits or similar solvents. It is what I call a water-based paint. Alcohol might curdle it. Try on a small amount of paint to see if it will work. I would also try plain distilled water or maybe Windex. Best would be to use Testors ACRYLIC paint thinner. None of the thinners (or paint) mentioned above should harm the kit's chrome.

Those are some really nice restorations. If you were able to use powder coating then you sure have access to some professional equipment. Those restored models are probably better than new!

If one uses resin to make truly realistic looking colored lenses, the resin itself can be colored with color tints. I use SmoothOn brand 2-part crystal clear resin and I also use their tints. You add tiny bit of the tint to the resin and the entire resin (not just the surface, or the reflector) has the correct color. The tint does not affect the smoothness of the surface.

Not to start an argument, but Tamiya clear red applied over a clear resin casting will be at least as glossy as your rotary beacon.

Marcus, I was specifically responding to your method which uses colored reflector with clean resin lens. But as you mentioned, the surface of a clear resin lens can be colored with some transparent color paint or ink. Like you mentioned, Sharpies dry to a dull finish. That is why I use transparent paint from Tamiya. It dries to a glossy finish.

I like the mudflaps, but the wooden trailer doors (if that is what they are) also looks "interesting".

That is a good and easy method fro when the lens is thin and flat. But it will not work for many taillights on passenger cars where the lens sticks out away from the body.

Well, did you put those 2 word within quotes? If not, as I mentioned the default behavior is to look for Any of my search term words, so it will show you matches of either single occurrence of those words and of course if both words appear in the same post (together or separately).

This is not unexpected. If you did a similar Google search, it would also result in matches which have both or either word in them. What you typed in was Ferrari OR Daytona. Like someone else mentioned, if you put that 2-word phrase in quotes, that will give you results of that exact quote. This is what the default search criteria are: https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/search/ . By default it searches entire forum for match to any of the words. But even if you select "all words", it will show matches where either of the words Ferrari and Daytona are anywhere in the post (not just next to each other).

Here is a long abandoned Texaco gas station in Hooksett, NH. Looks like it has been abandoned many decades ago. I'm surprised it is still standing. Also surprising that there is no graffiti on it. The container was tagged (but it might have been tagged before someone dropped it off there). Maybe the structure is too old and decrepit for taggers.

Yes, as I see it most kit "glass" is way too thick, often creating distortion. That is why when replacing the kit "glass" with another material it is nice to be able to use more to scale (thinner) material.

1.0mm?! That sounds rather thick for a 1:25 model "glass"! Maybe you meant 0.1mm?

In my experience actual polycarbonate bends instead of snapping. Acrylic (Plexiglas) will snap. Sometimes those two can be confused as they are similar visually. If it is only 0.010" thick, polycarbonate it can easily be cut with scissors. Acrylic might crack when cut with scissors.

You can also use clear plastic, then once the taillight is shaped paint it with one of the transparent red hobby paints. Like we have to do when kit's taillights are molded in clear plastic.

It cures by chemical reaction similar to 2-part epoxy resin adhesives or even urethane resins used to make resin models, or even the 2-part polyester putties (like Bondo). If you leave some 2K paint in the airbrush, it will harden sold. Not dry, but harden.

I agree in general, but in this specific instance it doesn't really matter since both black and sliver are very opaque. Ether can fully cover the other. But even then, to me it makes sense to paint the silver first, mask it, then spray the black. Now I'm wondering in what order the 1:1 cars were painted.

You are correct of course. My goal was to point out that in the household bleach it is lye (sodium hydroxide) that reacts with aluminum in the "chromed" plastic parts. The chlorine (in the form of sodium hypochlorite) does the actual bleaching of laundered fabrics. At least that is how I understand this.

Not aware of any companies offering to use Alsa system on your parts. But Alsa does sell small kits of their product for individuals to use.

Ken, Trumpeter "chrome" is *NOT* a typical aluminum coating used in other kits. It is some different metal electroplated (much thicker layer) onto the plastic. But I'm glad that whatever you came up with worked for you. Be very careful with such strong solution of sodium hydroxide. Best to use glass container. BTW, most household bleach contains a blend of both, chlorine (sodium hypochlorite) and lye (sodium hydroxide).

You might get lucky at your local beauty supply shop. Or at a nail polish sections of a pharmacy, supermarket, or even dollar store. Beauty supply story would likely have the largest selection.

Well, just because someone took the mandatory education and know how to handle the vehicle, there is no guarantee that they still won't make a dumb choice and go wild. Some people can't help themselves. They just don't think of consequences. Call me cynical.

The text on that page states We offer a complete headlamp re-silvering service and we can restore all types of headlamps even sealed beam units! But we can only do them if they are metal and not plastic and we can remove the metal part from its surroundings.

I don't believe that specific glass silvering process works with plastic. They did it on plastic?

Oh, I don't blame Dale or hold it against him. But it is sad that this leaves the more advanced modelers with nowhere to get their parts "chromed". The spray on chrome paints out there simply do not match the reflectivity or durability if the vacuum metalizing process.