peteski

Those easily-changed nozzle "cartridges" seem like a handy feature, but since they can't be disassembled, they can't really be completely cleaned. This is not good, especially with the water-based acrylics. My friend (who had been using a dual-action Badger airbrush for years bought one of those Azteks because it seemed like handy airbrush with a sexy body design. But he ended up ditching it and going back to his Badger.

Sure, we all find or of fabricate tools which give us best results. As I also mentioned, the needle ones work really well for me. I have multiple size needles for when I need different amounts of CA dispensed. I agree that mounting your applicator in a permanent handle does seem like an excellent idea.

Alex, we seem to be going in circles here with your dissing of siphon feed brushes. My siphon-feed Badger 200 is all-metal precision-machined airbrush, which as mentioned I owned for few decades. Not some cheap plastic toy. It works well. I believe all Badger airbrushed are metal. I'll say again that the airbrush you had bad experience seems to have been some crappy airbrush, and now you are hung up on badmouthing *ALL* siphon-feed airbrushes. That's not cool. YOU STILL HAVE NOT ANSWERED MY QUESTION ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH USING AIRBRUSHES. Was the crappy airbrush your first one?

Glad the issue is resolved. I doubt it was related to the Fotki site itself - more likely related to the internet connectivity between your smart phone and the Fotki servers. The errors you were seeing seemed to point in that direction.

Yes, good tip for getting even and repeatable cut. Does this mean you have to sacrifice a set of wheels from another kit?

If you have a some good size sewing needles, Dremel with a cutoff wheel and something to make a handle (I use 1/8" acrylic rod, but a dowel will work too), you can make your own applicator which will last for years. I mentioned this in a post here, back in 2021 I have made these many years ago. Needles are made from hard steel and will not break like the photoetched applicators. Yes, they will eventually clog up, but I just scrape the glue out with an old hobby knife blade (not burning it off) after each modeling sessions, and as you see in the photo, they all look clean and ready for use. As you can see I have several sizes for dispensing different amounts of glue (although I mostly use about 3 sizes). The double wire design looks useful for dispensing larger amounts of CA than what I usually need.

Alex, there is nothing inherently wrong with siphon-feed airbrushes. You had a bad experience and destroyed it before even trying to figure out what caused the issue, then you started to badmouth them. Many modelers (and as shown, even 1:1 body shops) successfully use siphon-feed airbrushes and spray guns. Looking at the posts in this thread you seem to have gone from describing the problem, to "taking a bat" to your misbehaving airbrush in about 2 hours. Why bother asking for assistance in troubleshooting since you can solve your problem so quickly in a very drastic way? Let me ask you again: is this the first time you tried to use an airbrush, and if you used them in the past, how much experience you had and what brand/model airbrushes have you used? The bottom line is: buy and use whatever type of airbrush you prefer. There is no need to put down some a well established design just because you had a bad experience with a single example of some off-brand airbrush.

Lets think this through logically. First of all, anybody (non-members) can access Fotki (not login, but they can view photos) and the other way is that registered users login into their account and they can view and upload photos into their account and also view other photos like non-users. If I understood him correctly Brad mentioned earlier that he cannot even access any other user's public photos on Fotki, while accessing the site as a non-Fotki-member. If that's really the case then the problem likely is not on Fotki site and contacting them will likely not help much. For example, can you see photos on https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/academy-instructions/academy-ac-289-cobra/ If not, what is the error you are seeing? Brad, any chance you can try accessing Fotki from a real computer (not a smart phone)?

The term is "break up the wall". You were close Luc. I agree that tires with even generic sidewall details breaking up the smooth surface would be large visual improvement over the "bald" sidewalls. They could still leave enough blank sidewall for possible future branding. Not sure why manufacturers opt for smooth sidewalls. And the 1:1 automotive manufacturers requiring model companies to get a license to use their logos is also silly. Using the logos on models is like free advertising for them (and advertising is normally very expensive).

I've been using my Badger 200 siphon-feed internal-mix single-action airbrush for over 20 years and painted lots of models with it. Never had a problem like you described. I never heard of Vevor. Might in fact be a crappy airbrush. Have you used it in the past, or was it the first time you tried it?

Well, while cellulose is a compound in wood, I don't think that the reason you mentioned is for use of cellulose nitrate (nitorcellulose) based lacquers being used to paint wooden musical instruments. As I mentioned earlier, that name is often used in Europe for lacquers used to paint any type of surface, not just wood. It is more about the fact that nitrocellulose lacquer produces a high-gloss finish. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose lacquer manufactured by (among others) DuPont, was the primary material for painting automobiles for many years. Durability of finish, complexities of "multiple stage" modern finishes, and other factors including environmental regulation led manufacturers to choose newer technologies. It remained the favorite of hobbyists for both historical reasons and for the ease with which a professional finish can be obtained. Most automobile "touch up" paints are still made from lacquer because of its fast drying, easy application, and superior adhesion properties – regardless of the material used for the original finish. Guitars sometimes shared color codes with current automobiles. It fell out of favor for mass production use for a number of reasons including environmental regulation and the cost of application vs. polyurethane finishes. However, Gibson still use nitrocellulose lacquers on all of their guitars, as well as Fender when reproducing historically accurate guitars. The nitrocellulose lacquer yellows and cracks over time, and custom shops will reproduce this aging to make instruments appear vintage. Guitars made by smaller shops (luthiers) also often use "nitro" as it has an almost mythical status among guitarists.

I suspect some of the European members will chime in at some point to mention that "nitro" or "nitrocellulose" lacquer is a common term they use to describe lacquers using "hot" solvents. It will likely attack bare polystyrene. You shoudl be able to use it following methods you use for painting your models using automotive lacquers. You need primer or sealer to protect the plastic from the effects of the "hot" solvent. And of course, like with any new paint product or a technique you're using for the first time, a test spraying (on a plastic spoon or similar) is a good idea. And a reminder about plastic spoons: You need to find ones made of polystyrene (they have recycling symbol 6, 06, or PS). That will be most similar to the plastic models are made of. Some plastic utensils use different plastic which is more flexible and resistant to the solvents in paints.

Yes, looks good!

Has anybody used the Spotlight Hobbies plating service yet? What did you think?

Did you read

I suspect like with posting standard messages and getting that error, your PM's text contains some word that the forum software deems as dangerous (hack). See

As usual, Jason comes up with another winner!

Ah, the new thing is to buy mattresses online without in-person visit to a mattress store to actually lay down on them to try them out first. Also, you couldn't vacuum pack a conventional mattress with steel springs in it. I do like the concept of sideways-installed (landscape mode ) outlets in your bedroom. You don't see this often.

That orange Z looks pretty good! Badger 200 might be an older airbrush, but it is a pretty good single-action internal-mix airbrush. I've been using it myself for about 30 years. Single-action airbrush is all that's needed for most automotive model painting needs. It is like a precision miniature spray gun. Fancy dual-action airbrushes are useful for things like weathering or fancy shading, but for basic paint jobs, the dual action is not needed.

When growing up I used to see lots of this car's Polish versions (Warszawa M20). Basically the same car with different grille. Many of them were taxi cabs. Their Polish nickname was "garbata" (hunchback), same nickname used for VW beetles at that time. Polish version was in production for much longer than Pobeda, and other versions like sedan with a conventional trunk, wagon, and few cargo versions were developed. The chassis and drive train was also used in other Polish made cars, vans and small trucks.

Sure, there are lots of uses for Lego blocks besides playing with them. Another non-standard use is for moldmaking. https://davidneat.wordpress.com/tag/using-lego-in-mouldmaking/

Maybe strange but it is a scam.

I thought that for some time now new member's posts are moderated. How did a 4-hour-old member manage to post directly to the forums?

That is correct. He frequents the https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/forum/16-car-aftermarket-resin-3d-printed/ bb forum.

Why don't you ask (PM) the person who makes and sells these? He frequents MCM forum.