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peteski

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Everything posted by peteski

  1. Just to let you know, the rim's outside diameter (what is visible on a model) for any automobile wheel is almost exactly 1.5" larger than the stated rim (or tire) diameter. So on a model a 13" rim would be 14.5" / 24 = 0.604" diameter. You can do the metric conversion.
  2. We call them "future Darwin Award winners".
  3. Yeah, that meme is funny on 2 levels.
  4. Yes, on 1:1 scale white-wall tires the white wall is only present on one side of the tire. The other side is a "black-wall". That has been true for all the cars I owned (including my current 1985 Caddy Eldorado).
  5. I don't live in a tropical climate where large or nasty spiders are common. I was never bitten by a spider. Spiders here are not very scary looking. The nastiest ones are the ones that look muscular and move very fast, but I seldom see them indoors, and they don't usually get larger than 3/4". The largest ones are what we call "daddy long-leg". They can be around 2" in size, but they have tiny bodies, and very long spindly legs. They don't spin webs, and as I understand, the aren't even real spiders. If I find one indoors, I just grab it by a leg and take it outside.
  6. I leave spiders alone in my basement because they catch and eat other bugs that find their way in there. The dead bug shells under the web are a proof that those spiders are doing their job. It is like having a free environmentally-friendly exterminator service. It is also amazing the a spider can trap and eat bugs much larger then they are.
  7. That is cool. Looks like a fairly large item as far as plastic kits go. I had no idea it was produced.
  8. Are those "copper" parts even plated? To me they look painted with (burnt) copper paint. Steering wheel looks like it is "gold" plated (likely standard aluminum metalized plastic with clear yellow top-coat).
  9. I remember those. They were supposed to protect your mom's precious dining room table where you were building your models. Good idea, but a plain brown paper grocery bag cut open and laid flat would do a better job than a thin plastic mat.
  10. Back in the day the ads in the magazine didn't have either a website or email address info in them (much less Facebook or Twitter). Only phone number and address (so you could send a SASE for their catalog). No linking required. Plus many companies in those older ads no longer even exist.
  11. A selection of model photos from the contest has been posted to the club's website. http://classicplastic.org/show-2023.html
  12. While everybody is dismissing the Compact DIsk media in favor of the current online cloud storage, or memory-based media (like SD cards or thumb-drives), to me CD media is still the best for archival storage. I have pressed CDs that are over 35 years old with absolutely no signs of any deterioration, and some 20+ years old "burned" CD-Rs, with no signs of deterioration. I believe the CD media will outlast any of the Flash memory based devices, and who knows what will happens with the cloud based storage when it starts raining data. The N-Scale Magazine archive on CDs is distributed by the N-Scale Magazine itself (sold on their website). I'm sure they have the CDs produced elsewhere, but they do their own distribution. They recently announced that they will be producing the next CD in 2025 (each CD volume contains 5 years of issues). So there are sill publishers out there who provide "hard" archives of their publications.
  13. Why? Because to have smooth bumper ends, the molds would get more complex. But yes, I agree that it is not optimal. Some Japanese kit companies even go as far as to make the gates (attachment points) on hidden areas of the parts, so no touch-ups are needed.
  14. God idea. While I like mine to stay put, I don't get that serious - I roll my pins on a 320 grit wet/dry sandpaper. That gives the glue a nice bite.
  15. Actually I do (along with a 3.5" and a 5.25" floppy drives).
  16. Not really - I have an Alps printer for making decals and I use laser paper. But I do know that ink jet decal paper has special coating to absorb ink. I think the best advice here was to try different type of paper setting as the amount of ink printed changes depending on the type of paper. I also seem to recall reading that some ink jet printers do not work well for decal printing.
  17. Interesting. Is that model made of metal or silver resin? It appears to be "slush-cast", which is an old crude method of casting models, yet the wheels, axles, nylon axle retainers, and Philips-head screws all look modern. Also since most models/toys are made in China, that "MADE IN USA" lettering also seems vintage.
  18. That sounds backwards. Laser decal paper just has a "plain" decal film, where ink jet decal paper has decal film which is coated with ink absorbing coating to prevent the liquid ink from beading up. The problem as described states that the ink beads up on the paper surface (it is not being absorbed).
  19. Ordinary (stinky) contact cement has hot solvents which can warp styrene (sometimes it takes months or years for the warp to develop. But there are also water-based contact cements which should be safe.
  20. I have been subscribing to N-Scale Magazine since its premiere issue decades ago (before widespread Internet use). I'm pretty sure that even back then the magazine was laid out using some sort of a computer (not manually typeset). That N-Scale Magazine made all of their back issues available on a set of CDs in a pdf format. I imagine that Model Cars Mag. has been laid out on some sort of digital format for decades. It should be possible to convert whatever file format was used for the magazine in the earlier times to some currently used format (like pdf). That would sure be easier than scanning the older copies.
  21. I like how you simulated (or is it "emulated"?) the green glow with paint. A 3-D painting.
  22. I didn't think anybody is accusing you of inventing the dual-fan setup. Since the prototype car you are modeling has them, your modeling is accurate. But it is a modern modification since I'm sure the original Bentley had a large single fan mechanically driven by a belt from the crankshaft pulley (like most other cars of the day).
  23. Well, that explains it. I saw it on the body scans, but I figured you would have noticed it for sure.
  24. Yes, it is safe to apply Future (or whatever the current name is) floor finish acrylic coating over kit "chrome" Unlike the recent "chrome" paints or inks which use microscopic reflective particles suspended in a vehicle (the clear part of liquid coatings), kit "chrome is actually a very thin layer of metallic aluminum deposited in a vacuum over plastic. The process is called vacuum metalizing. Because it is a thin solid layer of metal, spraying a liquid clear will not disturb the metalization. With "chrome" paint's the reflective layer consists of millions of individual reflective particles, and clear coat can disturb them or change their reflective quality (make them look dull). Why the lengthy explanation? I firmly believe that one can be a better modeler by understanding at least some basic principals and chemistry of the products we use.
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