peteski

Hi Herb, welcome to the forum! Nice to see someone else here directly involved in the now-vintage model kit production. It's been a while since I've build any of those older kits. Were those decals the ones which had rather thick clear film, and were a bit of a pain to work with? Currently Cartograf in Italy seems to be the top quality decal manufacturer, utilized by multiple model companies. Their decals have very sharp images, colors are in register, and they use very thin clear film. They are a pleasure to work with, although some modelers find them too fragile. But I guess that is the price to pay for decals which look painted-on with the clear film pretty much invisible.

You are in Germany, so the oven cleaner where you are might not be the same as what is available in USA. Actually, even in USA, there are oven cleaners which work, and others which do not work. The active ingredient that strips the paint is Sodium Hydroxide (also called Lye in English). Check if your oven cleaner contains Lye. If it does, it might not be as concentrated as in the American version. As for IPA, the stronger concentration, the better. 70% is useless, 91% works better, but 99% is the best. In USA, I can buy 99% Isopropanol (pure IPA) in quart size cans at a local hardware store. It is usually displayed in the paint thinners isle. If the store does not stock it, they can special order it for me. Of course the price has really gone up since COVID. Glycerin? Borate Esters? Did you maybe mean "glycol"? DOT3 brake fluid we use to strip paints consists of mainly Diethylene Glycol and Butoxytriglycol. See http://championbrands.com/MSDS/DOT3BrakeMSDS.pdf . As you mentioned it can affect certain formulations of polystyrene or ABS models cars are made of. Actually the "official" plastic safe model paint strippers like PollyScale/Testors ELO uses similar family of chemicals (Isobutyl Alcohol, Diethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether). But even ELO has affected some polystyrene I stripped in it. Each stripping job is unique. and one has to be careful using "plastic safe" paint strippers.

I did few small tests some months ago, when I first received my sheet, and I don't recall having problems trimming it on the model. Maybe I'm not remembering it. I do agree that it looks just like chrome, where the BMF has slightly duller look, and a slightly warm tone.

Nice!

Wow!

That is some serious H2O hauling. Cool!

Mike, I thought that by "tags" you mean the tags you assign on this forum when creating the first post of a new thread. But your question is not very clear. Are those the tags you mean, or some other tags? And why is Google part of the problem?

I had to reread Patric's post couple of times to get the gist of it. Not Patric's fault - my brain was focusing on Molotow (since the thread is about Molotow). Patrick is stating that there are now other brands of chrome pens available at HL, and asking whether anybody has tried any of them (not Molotow).

I agree that Hasegawa products are high quality. I also did not say that it shrinks. It merely tries to go return to its relaxed state if it was burnished into depressions on the model's surface. That process does take several days, and it doesn't fully flatten, but I can take a toothpick and press the foil back into the concave area. It is likely because it is a stretchy plastic film which wants to go back to its relaxed state (because it was not stretched enough to permanently deform it). When metal foils are used for the same task, the metal permanently stretches into the concave areas. The Hasegawa adhesive seems quite strong and I don't think it will dry out.

Could be I guess. I just quote the info directly from the horse's mouth.

Ah ok, I'm used to seeing small-block Chevy engines. got it.

I found the skill level definition on https://www.revell.de/en/faqs/ It confirms that the rating is strictly based on parts count. FAQ 13: What is the meaning of the Skill Level indications for the model kits? The indication of the Skill Level (1-5) can be found on every Revell model kit. These levels categorise the model kits into different difficulty levels. They can serve as important guide for your purchase decision and help to avoid that a modeller buys a model kit which is “too easy“ or “too complex“. The Skill Levels represent the following product characteristics: [1] includes snap kits for beginners which do not need to be glued or painted. [2] comprehends simple model kits to be glued and painted with up to 30 parts for beginners. [3] is the category for challenging models with up to 100 parts to be glued and painted. [4] is suited for experienced modellers, with up to 150 parts to be glued and painted. [5] refers to models requiring the highest handicraft skill level, with more than 150 individual parts to be glued and painted.

Not sure if I follow. If you remove the intake manifold on a 1:1 V8 engine, you will expose the lifter valley. No?

If by cutting you mean trimming the film after it is applied to the model, I don't see cutting as a problem.Very sharp hobby knife or scalpel work well (just like with BMF). But if the film has to be made to conform (stretched) to adhere to depressions it will eventually want to return to its unstretched state. That is a problem.

I read somewhere that the Revell's difficulty rating is directly related to the kit's parts count, not the actual difficulty of assembly or the poor fit of the parts. EDID: Seems that I've just seen it in Helmut's other thread.

I never had problems with BMF decal paper (and Alps printed decals). I don't overcoat the decal before application since Alps wax ink is waterproof. You should not need the overcoat either, as laser printer toner is also waterproof. Only decals printed with ink jet on ink jet paper have to be overcoated as ink jet inks are water soluble. Also are you sure you are using laser compatible decal paper (not ink jet compatible)?

Ok, what a wonderful advice. Thank you *SO* much. ? The problem is that I enjoy participating in this section - just kill all the death notices.

Sure, 32AWG and smaller. That is what Detail Master wires are. The problem is that those companies are geared to deal with industries, not with individual sales. So someone like Detail Master or ProTech figured out what companies make the wire then buy the wire in bulk, and repackage it in small lengths for hobbyists. If you could find out the wire manufacturer's info and bought the wire in bulk (like 1000' at a time) then you would have the wire for much cheaper cost per foot than what the Detail Master charges. But then what would you do with a 1000' of single color wire? Cut it up, package it and sell it to the hobbyists? That takes time and money. We should be glad that there are Detail Masters and ProTechs selling the fine wire in small quantities (for a reasonable price). In the past I needed a larger quantity of the ProTech ignition wire to use for a model RR project (actually using the wire in its intended purpose to conduct electricity), and he was willing to sell me the wire in longer lengths than what he normally sells for a slightly discounted price.

On eBay? If yes, then the asking prices have nothing to do with "real" prices. To get more realistic numbers you would have to look for the competed auction prices.

The Real Estate market has been in a "bubble" of extremely high prices for few years now. As I understand it was due to the demand caused by (what else) COVID, and very low mortgage rates. Similar bubble happened several years ago. Buyers were in a bid wars offering to pay over the asking prices. At least in some parts of the country. But the inflated prices were likely seen everywhere. The bubble will burst (like it did last time this happened) and house prices will come down to a bit more reasonable level. Actually the bubble seem do be deflating even now (partially due to the mortgage rates going up). As others have mentioned house prices should not be really considered when comparing prices from the past to now.

Yeah, the muggy weather is the pits! It's been in the upper 90s here for several days, and dew point in the 70s (tropical). We did have a brief t-storm here, which only things even more humid. No need to live in Florida - we have their weather in Boston. Summer? Neah, I prefer Spring and Autumn, but those seem to get shorter and shorter every year.

You must have "our" rain. Northeast USA is in drought. But mosquitoes aren't as bothersome as other years.

Bill, we are talking about your hobby here: Building and painting model car kits. Something you really enjoy (or you wouldn't be doing it). Why not splurge a bit or the activity you enjoy? Other's spend lots of money on much more expensive hobbies like golf, boating, or car racing. Our hobbies cost fraction of what those people spend on theirs. There are likely plenty of other things you could be a cheapskate about.

And I will again, for the umpteenth time have to reply with: I HAVE NO PROBLEM SKIPPING THE CONTENTS OF THE OBIT POSTS, BUT I CAN'T NOT-SEE THE CONTINUOUSLY APPEARING "DEARLY DEPARTED" SUBJECT LINES IN THIS SECTION OF THE FORUM. KAPISH?

Charlie, I'm curious: do you use an airbrush in your hobbies, or just spray cans and brush paint?