peteski

Why not just use inexpensive lacquer thinner for cleaning brushes? It will do as good (actually better) job as the X-20 thinner. There is absolutely no need to use either Tamiya or Mr. Hobby stuff.

BS or not, even if the economy is booming that doesn't guarantee that every line of business will also be booming. It is not that simple.

Looks great Mike! Nice to see another fellow Pocher builder. Interesting how similar our stories are. Around the same time you got yours, I bought the Mercedes (probably the one you missed). I mail ordered it from Hobby Expo after seeing their ads in FineScale Modeler about how realistic the Pocher models were. The most tedious part it was building 6 (yes, four plus 2 spares) wire wheels! While the spokes came as a V-shaped pair, each spoke has a tiny metal nipple that had to be installed. I still have that model in a glass display case. I was not a very experienced kit builder at the time. Funny seeing how my building skills have improved in those 35+ years. Looking at that model I would now do many things very differently. Here is a snapshot of my Mercedes 340AK Kabriolet (scanned from the original 35mm film photo 4X6). I should post my efforts too (I do have some WIP photos too.

Believe me - I do. I specifically mentioned that in my post. I also agree about never having too much glare-free lighting. I'm not talking about the dental magnifier you are describing. That sounds like something 19th Century dentist would use. The ones I'm talking about look like eyeglasses with miniature telescopes embedded in the glasses. It gives a stereoscopic magnified view. Here is an example (for $1300). And here is my workbench. I have a magnifier lamp (which I mostly use for illumination, small goose neck halogen spot work light (which I can position at the most advantageous location for whatever I'm working on), on the right you see part of a boom holding a zoom stereo microscope (with its own ring light), for when I need a lot of magnification. My Optivisor hangs to the right (not visible in the photo). I didn't just buy all this equipment at once. I acquired it all over couple of decades. http://classicplastic.org/image/Pete-workshop-5.jpg

There should still be several custom decal makers you might want to contact to see if they can do the job for you. There is a list available at https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/decals.htm#other You could also try https://fsdecals.com/ https://circusdecals.ecwid.com/ https://highballgraphics.com/index.php/custom-decals https://stsdecals.com/ Also in Canada https://www.pdc.ca/rr/custom_decals/ Some of those are geared towards model RR decals, but I don't see why they wouldn't print anything you want.

Sometimes it makes sense not to be thrifty. I'm a huge Optivisor fan, and my hobby would not be the same without it. I tried mutiple low-price headband magnifiers, but they all stunk! So instead getting few model kits (or with today's prices not that many kits, and some paints) I would recommend saving the money and getting an Optivisor. Nowadays (as I aged) I usually wear my reading glasses under the Optivisor. relatively speaking, Optivisor is not out-of-reach expensive. The magnifiers dentist use can run $500 and up. They work great (my dentist let me try his on), but those are too spendy for me.

Yes, modelers use small strong magnets to hold model parts while still allowing them to be removable. I believe Scale Master is one of those modelers. it is a great idea which I will utilize in my future models.

The search results link I posted shows you multiple posts with lots of good info (from actual users) about that paint. All you need to do is click on the link.

I always thought it had Isopropyl Alcohol but after just finding MSDS I see that I was wrong. Tamiya X-20A MSDS I have used 99% (not 70% or 91%) IPA to thin those Tamiya Acrylic paints. You can find 99% IPA (often called Isopropanol or IPA99) in hardware stores in the paint thinners section.

Yes, the demise of Alclad (II) paints is mentioned on the British site. I have some of the original Alclad paints (when they were first introduced on 1990s in USA). Back then there was a limited number of shades available and the paint formula seemed to be different than what they have now. The bottle on the left (with the tiny cap) is the oldest one. Going by the labels, it was a small cottage industry manufacturer. To me the Alclad name always meant "Aluminum" (as in metal) "clad". I don't know of any buyouts or mergers, but it is possible. The info in some of the links posted above seems to imply that there is (or was) a British version of those paints. The company name and address was Lumonz Products, PO Box 15571, Long Beach, CA 90815.

I knew what it was, but not they year. Now you made me find it.

That stinks! A simple solution would have been placing "DO NOT BEND" phrase on both sides of the envelope (and hope that USPS people listen).

Laptop? You should be happy. Many people (including quite few here) do *ALL* their Internet browsing on their small "smart" phone screens. I just don't get it. Personally, I still have a 24" monitor on which I do a lot of my computer work. But even that will will not replace printed materials. We're just old fashion.

The original Alclad and the current Alclad II is a well established hobby paints company. Probably over 30 years old. They are not a "new kid on the block". Should be able to defend their turf. They have good product and a wide range of finishes (not just metallic paints).

Decals should be applied to a smooth (glossy) surface. Is the pearl paint's surface smooth, or is it satin (like typical metallic base paint which needs a top coat clear to make it glossy). Also some decals can be affected by "hot" clear lacquers applied over them. what brand/type of paints (pearl/clear) are you using?

Nice save Tony!

Yes, some of us here use that paint. If you search the forum, you will find many mentions of this brand of paint and the usage. In this case even the forum's search function works well. Try http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/search/?&q=tru-color&search_and_or=or It took several seconds for the search results to show up, but they are useful. The all you need to to is read the posts shown.

That sounds very similar to Microscale Metal Foil Adhesive (a milky-white water-based liquid which dries clear and sticky). The fact that it remains sticky worries me. If the dot you apply is little larger than the item you are placing over it, the sticky adhesive will be exposed beyond the etched part. I would worry that after some time dust and fibers will stick to the exposed adhesive.

I believe those wheels are one-piece forged or cast aluminum. Then the rims are turned on the lathe, resulting in that shiny metallic look. The spokes are left natural rough aluminum (or maybe they are even sandblasted) to give them that dull gray/silver look. I have simulated this on the Revell '32 Ford 3-window coupe wheels by masking the outer parts of the kit's "chromed" rims, masking the hub and lug nuts with liquid mask, and spraying the centers with "steel" color paint. That was over 20 years ago and I don't recall what brand of paint I used. It could have been Alclad II steel. It is metallic with very fine metallic grain, and it has a dull finish. The spokes on Monty's wheels almost seem to have bluish cast to them. That might just be an artifact of the photo. If not, maybe use one of the Alclad Aluminum shades, and maybe even add some Alclad transparent blue to tint the color a bit. Alclad metallic paints have very fine grain.

"Perfection" is a very big word. Most modelers like to build models just for fun, and aren't as fastidious as others. To some gettign to "perfection" would be considered a tedious labor. To them "good enough" is good enough. When I build models I like to make them as good as I can, but I would not call them perfect by any means (although some might consider them perfect). I know they are not. But I have fun building, and satisfaction when I complete them. People are all individuals, and we all have different personalities. Striving for perfection is not everybody's goal. But I do know that some (after a very lengthy build) sit back, look at the finish model and declare perfection. Perfection, by definition means "flawless". Why even use that word in this context? They way you described it Pete, perfection has a sliding scale. That doesn't seem right. We should just ban usage of "perfect" when it comes to describing models, to free modelers from the word's burden.

Nice! To me they look like a box of giant chocolates - ever one different flavor. Just pick one and take a nice bite. Lots of really cool foreign cars. Not something one sees often. Usually collections like this are mostly American cars. Nice to see automotive history preserved.

Too flat to me is just as bad as too conical. Do we have to go to extremes? Why not just make them correct? It is not like cutting steel molds for injection plastic molded wheels. Changing the design would be as easy as few clicks of the mouse (yes, I know that I'm oversimplifying the CAD drawing, but like you, I'm just making a point). And to be honest, I don't think those DB4 wheels are all that exaggerated. Just look at the Jaguar wheel photo I posted. The hub sticks out quite a bit. I also want to apologize for hijacking Tim's thread to discuss the flaws of the wheels he chose. I should be discussing in another active thread about these wheels elsewhere on the forum. Signing off here.

That might be all well and good, but I was confused by your "Seems about as logical as the typical internet 'explanation', anyway. " Statement. From what you post I know quite well how you feel about the general idiocy and ineptitude of the current world's population, and that the Interwebs are full of stupid and incorrect information. Your statement to me seemed like you were serious (yes, there was an emoticon, but it didn't seem to fit the statement). That's the problem of indirect communication; Sometimes the meaning of someone's written statement is missed.

Not sure if you're joking or serious. Hasegawa "egg planes" are cute caricatures model kits of famous aircraft. They are not scale models.

Micro Mark also sells punch/die sets.