peteski

Donny, back in the old days most of us modelers used Pactra or Testors PLA enamels in bottles and spray cans. Those all use mild solvents which did not attack plastic. But pretty much any paint made for 1:1 autos will have much more aggressive (hotter) solvents which attack plastic causing crazing like it is visible on your spoons. This also applies to several lines of paints sold as model paints, but in actually are those "hot" automotive enamels or lacquers. It makes sense to always test new paint you try on plastic spoon first. But to complicate things (because nothing in life is ever simple or easy ), the polystyrene or ABS plastics used in various brand models can have slightly different formulations and some will be easier crazed than others. Same also goes for plastic spoons. While many plastic utensils are made from polystyrene, recycling code 6 or PS (which is good material for paint compatibility tests), some utensils are made from different types of plastic. Other plastics are basically impervious to even the hot paint solvents, so they are not really good for testing paint compatibility. Make sure to use the polystyrene spoons. If no recycling code is shown, polystyrene is more brittle, and can be broken easily, while spoons made form other plastics are very flexible (you can basically twist and tie the spoon into a knot without it breaking).

I have used Alclad II Chrome over gloss black (no clear coat) and mine looked much "chromier" (more reflective) than what you show on the spoon. Closer to what you show for un-cleared Molotow. I have also seen model photos on this forum with Alclad II Chrome painted parts and those also looked better than what you got on that spoon. That's weird.

Another new thing I learned today! These look way over the top (but so were the fins of those '50s cars).

Jerry, I'm always curious why people use subject lines like "quick question" instead of something like in this instance "Engine Swap question", which to me is not much harder to type up, but would be more descriptive. Or you all are going for the click-bait effect? I'm not trying to be a wise-ass - I'm really curious.

That is true, but even after stretchering it, when shrunk, its wall thickness returns to the as-designed thickness (which is the same as if you shrunk it unstretched). I too have worked with heat shrink tubing for decades and used it in unconventional ways.

How does the seller know that this was a base of an outside mirror? The large footprint of its base doesn't look like it it could be realistically attached to either the side of the door or front fender.

Hmm, I haven't bought any of the items from the new Archer, but on the original rivet decals I purchased the lettering was 3-dimensional. It is printed by the same printer which prints the rivets. It is all printed using a special ink jet printer using thick UV-cured ink. I recommend browsing through the entire Surface Details section of their website for some very interesting and useful items. Armor, Naval, Aircraft, and Other Scales sections. Yes lettering (but not a full alphabet) is there (under Armor section). There are items like diamond thread, woodgrain, weld beads, and lots of other items.

Like David said, the word "varnish" is used differently in various parts of the world by modelers to describe clear coatings. And for education purposes, here's some info : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varnish

Good idea, but to me the bellows shape is a bit softly defined. There are many different types of heat shrink tubing available. I suspect that using a thin-wall tubing would give even better results.

The main active ingredient in Easy-Off oven cleaner spray (the original stinky one) and Purple Power (or Castrol Super Clean if that is still available) is Sodium Hydroxide (Lye). Yes it is corrosive and will damage your skin if it comes in contact with it. Lye was also the main active ingredient in many model paint stripping solutions from cottage industries I have encountered over the years. And as mentioned, Lye is also good as a plastic safe paint stripper, and it is mentioned in multiple forms in another sticky thread:

There is a huge difference between sending a scan (bitmapped image) of a decal sheet and basically a print-ready artwork that LOBBS provided to STS. The LOBBS' vector-based artwork can be used directly for the artwork to print the actual decals. A scan like yours has to be cleaned up and converted into vector graphics. That could be a lot of manual work, and can take quite a bit of time. I know that it consumes a lot of time when I do this for my decals. STS probably has better tools for cleanup and vectorizing bitmaps, but I'm sure there is still a lot of manual labor involved.

LOL! I don't think it will actually freeze - it sill likely become more viscous. I have stored CA glue in a refrigerator (at about 2 deg. C) but never tried the freezer. Either location will be relatively low-moisture. Keeping the CA container tightly sealed is the best way to prolong its life. Even so, like most chemicals, it does not have unlimited shelf life. Some modelers like to buy large bottles (because the per gram cost is cheapest) and store them in a fridge, decanting smaller amounts for immediate use. I buy the smallest bottles sold by Bob Smith Industries and usually just keep them on my workbench. I prolong its life by minimizing its exposure to ambient air. I only take the cap off for few seconds to dispense few drops into a small well from aluminum foil (I showed a photo of that in my earlier post). That usually last me the entire day's modeling session. I also religiously clean the dispensing tip so the glue does not cake up on it, causing the cap not to fit tightly. Even if the glue thickens to the point I decide I no longer want to use it, it will take usually over a year to get there, and at that point spending another 3-4 dollars for a fresh small bottle is acceptable to me. This is mostly for the extra-thin-CA. For medium viscosity CA I often use the very small metal tubes or bottles. I buy in a dollar store. I suppose that like with most chemicals the reaction will be slower when the adhesive temperature is low, but I never really explored that since to me the advantage of CA is its fast set time. I use the accelerator to speed up setting even more.

The airbrush I own and use is a 30+ years old siphon-feed Badger 200. I do also have a paint cup attachments for it but I almost never use it. I like the that airbrush. It performs well. Cleaning is no problem either. Not looking for another airbrush. Can't comment on Iwatas.

The newest Unimat (show above) looks very similar to Proxxon machines. Unimzt sounds like a misspelling.

@Donny , good to see you looking over older threads for tips. Many newbies just start new threads asking questions without even trying to find answers to those questions asked multiple times. Here are some other CA glue related threads: https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/155447-ca-and-other-things-im-clueless-about/ https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/165362-ca-glue-wells/ https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/182361-bob-smith-industries-glue/ https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/168907-any-glue-i-should-stay-away-from-with-resin/

Funny thing is that the subject line of this thread states "Frames" not "Flames". I looked in because I was curious about FRAMES being modified with a grinder, and all I see is some yahoo with extremely silly ideas. No, I didn't watch the video. The video's still image here clearly showed me all I needed to know.

That's an unusual model. Nicely built. How large is it in 1:10 scale?

Excellent modeling! I love it! The theme song sure is an ear-worm!

Nothing to argue about Bill. I was referring to the original Metalizer airbrush-ready paints supplied in glass bottles. This is before the company was bought out by Testors. It was long time ago but as I remember they were never offered in rattle cans. Only when Testors bought that paint line they started offering them in spray can form (and I believe they also changed the paint's formula). Testors sold their metalizer line of paint in airbrush-ready bottles and some were offered in spray cans.

I still have some of the original (even before Testors acquired them) Metalizer paints in airbrush-ready bottles. I think that most similar product today is Alclad II series of their metallic lacquers. https://alclad2.com/finishes/regular/ and https://alclad2.com/finishes/high-shine/ These produce smooth metallic finish with no discernible flakes, but you really need an airbrush to apply them (just like with the original Metallizer paints).

Ah, you want to go that way? Gauge is the distance between rails. Scale is just like with model cars, the actual scale of the model itself. Your standard gauge H0 scale (1:87.5) model train runs on H0 gauge (16mm) track. I mentioned standard, because you could also be modeling H0 scale narrow-gauge trains which, while still 1:87.5 scale run on N gauge (9mm) track. Or going the other way, you could be modeling narrow-gauge 0 scale (1:48) trains and those could run on H0 gauge (16mm) track. "Scale" always indicate actual scale of the model, while track of a certain gauge can be utilized in more than one modeling scales. Things are never simple and easy. Many modelers refer to model train's scale as "gauge". Also, I use "zero" and not upper case Oh because that is the most proper nomenclature. In the early days of model trains when scale was not very precisely defined, large gauge was called "1" (one). Then a smaller gauge was developed, and that one was called "0" (zero) because it was smaller than "1". Then even smaller models were produced, and those were called H0 (as in Half a Zero, because their scale and gauge was approximately half of 0). That is how H0 was named. But probably since it was easier to pronounce, modelers (especially modelers in USA), started pronouncing it Eich-oh, replacing the zero with an upper case "oh". Not very useful but fun trivia. Not sure how wheel flanges come into play. Those are the the protruding rings on the inside of wheel treads which prevent the train from derailing.

All those are valid and correct when used in the correct context. Turnout is the the entire configuration of diverging track. Points are the individual movable rails of that turnout. Switch is also part of the turnout. It contains the point rails, the throwbar, and any other components involved with the movable points. Remember that a frog and guardrails are also parts of a turnout. But yes, model railroaders often misuse the term "switch" to describe a complete turnout. But we are getting astray of the wheel wells.

Instead of calling the rear ones "wheel wells" and front "inner fender wells" wouldn't simply calling them "rear wheel wells" and "front wheel wells" suffice? Those terms are unambiguous. Also isn't the sheet metal over the rear wheels also called a "fender", so "inner fender wheels" isn't really pointing exclusively to the front fenders? But there are other examples of not very clear or correct names for various automotive items. Like wheel covers are called "hubcaps" even though they cover more than the wheel's hub, and "valve covers" where those are actually rocker-arm (or cam in OHC setups) covers.

If it's on the Internet, it must be true! BTW, misuse of "its" and "it's" is also rampant. Actually I had a problem with it until my GF straightened me out on the usage.

Well, I'm glad that you were able to find the way to search the MCW site. But I'm confused. If you already exchanged emails with MCW and they informed you that 2158E is available, why not just ask them how to order it since it appears not to be showing on their website.