peteski

You're welcome George. I'm glad I was able to offer a suggestion for good decal paper.

Yes, that is a workaround for printing white, but its flexibility is limited. Yes, printing white images is possible, but when you replace the black cartridge with white, then depending in which order the printer prints all the colors, the white toner might end up on top of the colors, not under them. That is where Alps MicroDry printer shines again. It uses thermal transfer method of printing so the images have very crisp edges. Actually the waxy ink is somewhat similar to what is used in dry transfers. As for the decal paper, I use and like the BMF decal paper. Never had any problems. I use laser decal paper for my Alps.

Alps is still the king when it comes to decal printing. I'm one of the owners of Alps group on groups.io site. Group has over 4000 members. But Alps MD printer is a dinosaur with no updated drivers for any of the current versions of Windows, so we use workarounds. And since there are fewer and fewer Alps printers around, they are getting up there in price. There are printers which can print white (as a color or as undercoat for color images) but they are quite pricey. Not something a typical hobbyist could afford. For an average hobbyist I think the most economical way to get custom decals made would be to have the modeler design the artwork and sent it to one of the custom decal printing companies. But with that, you need to design artwork that well be sized correctly for your project and it will need to be in a vector format. So there is a learning curve involved. But at least the software is free. Inkscape is a freeware which works in vector format.

Yes, and if everything lines up. But that gets a bit more complicated than just printing. Plus you need to lean a new piece of software so you can draw the vector-based cut outlines. But yes, it is doable.

Well, not quite that easy. Any CYMK computer printer (like ink jet or laser) use translucent inks for rendering colors, so unless you apply the decal over white surface, the colors will not look correctly. You need the white undercoat. Printers which print white are capable of laying down a layer of white (opaque) ink before overprinting white with CYMK (color inks). You are also correct, no fancy graphic program is needed, but it does make precise design much easier and less of a guesswork about the sizes.

I'm not a muscle car expert, but I knew (mainly from looking at various model kit tire markings over the years) that back in the day tire markings were different than they are today. Plus the different numbers were mentioned on the box. Quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_code Prior to 1964, tires were all made to a 90% aspect ratio. Tire size was specified as the tire width in inches and the diameter in inches – for example, 6.50-15. From 1965 to the early 1970s, tires were made to an 80% aspect ratio. Tire size was again specified by width in inches and diameter in inches. To differentiate from the earlier 90-ratio tires, the decimal point is usually omitted from the width – for example, 685-15 for a tire 6.85 inches wide. Starting in 1972 tires were specified by load rating, using a letter code. In practice, a higher load rating tire was also a wider tire. In this system a tire had a letter, optionally followed by "R" for radial tires, followed by the aspect ratio, a dash and the diameter – C78-15 or CR78-15 for bias and radial, respectively. Each diameter of rim had a separate sequence of load ratings; thus, a C78-14 and a C78-15 are not the same width. An aspect ratio of 78% was typical for letter-sized tires, although 70% was also common and lower profiles down to 50% were occasionally seen.

Does "Abteilung 502" smell like ammonia? If yes, then it is latex (natural rubber). I'm nor sure what would remove it from brushes. I use latex-based liquid masks, and I apply them using toothpick (but I never mask large areas - I do those with masking tape).

Basically you are asking about custom decal producers (size is not really relevant since the enlarged artwork needs to be made). See this post for some info on the subject. You of course will have to discuss your needs with whichever company you select. And remember, this process is not as easy as just scanning the sheet and printing it out (especially if metallic inks are used). Speaking as an Alps printer owner myself, the artwork will have to be prepared in vector format and colors will need to be separated. If you cap prepare your artwork, you will save some money. If you can't do the artwork, I hope the graphic artist at the decal company provided you proofs before printing the decals so you can actually see if they properly fit the model. Remember models scales are not always exact or correct.

Thanks Charles! I went to MCG website and searched for 55 Chevy and all I found was the Cameo. I then searched for BelAir and only found '57. I guess I gave up the search too soon.

Yes, a very fine saw and miter box works well. If you have steady hand you can also cut it with a cutoff wheel mounted in a Dremel tool. Just hold the tubing steady on the edge of your bench. Then you can then use the side of the cutoff wheel as a grinding wheel to dress the cut (but do it gently not to break the cutoff wheel). I do use a hobby knife rolling the tube on a hard surface, but that works on the thin-wall variety (not the standard brass tubing) The knife blade will not wander if it is perfectly perpendicular to the tubing, so this is a hit-or-miss method (but I do have decent track record of doing that).

Is there such set available? MCG makes one for a '57 Chevy, but not '55.

If you notice on the box George, these show 4 each in sizes F60-15 and L60-15 . Those are different sizes.

She is a character from Star Trek TOS episode. Funny, I just watched that episode recently on MeTV.

I also celebrated one day earlier. Plus I celebrate on January 6, 8, 12, and 16. But I can't celebrate 32, 43, 87, or 160, but I'm ok with that. Some of us have lots to celebrate.

I meant to say "radial" Thanks Lee.

I have to take back some of the praises about new decals. They do look nice, but I just placed the sheet against the door and the guitar artwork is quite a bit longer than the door. That is way too large. Also the word "THE" uses style of letters I have not seen on any of the Monkeymobiles. Well, when I bought the previous release of the kit I was going to make my own decal, and it looks like I'll still have to do that to get the correctly sized artwork. I'm surprised nobody checked the artwork against the model's door before approving it for printing.

Thanks Robert. I was wrong (but in this case it is a good thing). I think I figured out why I thought they were all the same: The instructions do not indicate that there are 2 different sizes, They just give part number "2" for all the tires. I then looked at the tires, still in the bag, and while I noticed the nice printed sidewall details to me they looked like they were all the same size (I guess the instruction sheet made me think they were all the same). But I'm glad they are different sizes. Now if they also made the rear rims deeper, that would have been really nice, but that would have meant modifying the entire chrome tree mold, so I guess I can't blame them for not doing that. I'm happy, especially since the decal sheet is really nice. 2 different door artworks, 2 different GTO emblems, and few extras. And they used nice metallic gold ink. Only missing thing is Jeffries' crest, but that is probably due to licensing issues due to the cars changing hands multiple times. According to this strange blog https://themonkeesandmonkeemobile.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-true-facts-about-all-five-monkee.html over time there were like 9 different monkemobiles. Be careful visiting that website in case there is some malware there.

Well, after reading about the recent MPC reissue, I bought one of those kits. The decal is nice, and it has those beautiful blue-line Goodyear tires. But . . .all 4 tires are the same size! The real car has larger and wider tires in the rear! Oh well . . .

Yes, that is a complex paint job on a model that is probably less than 3" long!

https://www.wmbros.com/ Last update is in 2020 and their store shows they are still in a soft shutdown (probably since 2020). Doesn't look good. I wanted to order some of their rotary radial engine kits, but who knows if they will ever open up again. I agree with others - that is a nicely done model Phillip.

That is something new I learned today. Very informative video, and those sure are crazy wipers!

Not just the primer Richard. Some different paint brands or types (like the old lacquer over enamel thing) are just not compatible, and can wrinkle or crack when used together.

I have my doubts, but I could be wrong.

Actually alkaline batteries don't leak acid (but their namesake chemical). That needs to be neutralized with acid. Vinegar works really well. But those leaked out quite badly. If possible I would take the plastic cover off and see if any of the caustic liquid got inside the electronics. In the future try Lithium AA batteries. They are more reliable, but I guess if they are left long enough to discharge they might leak too.

I agree that most photoetched wipers look too 2-dimensional. I also fear that 3D printed ones would be very fragile. For decades I have been using 3mm and 5mm LEDs for lighting up various projects. I often have trim the long leads. Those leads have a square cross-section, about 0.020" thick. I used those leads as a base for my home-made wiper arms and blades. I take one of those cut-offs and bend one end 90 degrees (to make the mounting shaft). Then I determine the length of the arm and on the other end I make another 90 degree bend, then trim that one very close to the straight arm. That will be a mounting point for the blade. Then using soldering iron and solder I thicken the base of the arm. At that point it doesn't look very neat, but then I take a file and since the solder is very soft I file the solder into the tapered shape the arm is supposed to have. Using another piece of the LED lead I then make a blade. Either just a single straight piece, or 3-piece like the wipers on the Peterbilt cab. I then spray paint them silver, and brush-paint black for the rubber element. They to me look much more realistic than photoetched ones.