SfanGoch

You're right, Novus 1 isn't a polish. It's a cleaner and antistatic which leaves the surface very shiny and prevents fingerprint smudges and repels dust. We used it on flight helmet visors and plexiglass helicopter windows for those reasons and why it's it's great on models with a gloss finish. No. 3 is not for use on coated, i.e. painted, plastics. It's used to remove very heavy scratches. Novus No. 2 is great for removing fine scratches from parts after any sanding work. I also use Flitz Metal Polish (aka Blue magic in the States) for scratch removal and polishing parts prior to using Metalizer or Alclad products.

Soitenly! Three Stooges related items sell. End of story.

"Be careful or you'll put your eye out"; "You could hurt yourself doing that"; "Do you want to kill yourself in that thing?".....BAH!!!!! Enough with this "safety" already! All these here regulations take the fun out of doing stuff. "They" are turning us into human veal. Does anyone know how much gun cotton I'll need to cold crank a Chrysler Slant Six?

Drinking the fifth is more enjoyable. Hic!

Welcome Matt! Nice to see another Lawnguylanta on board. That T-Bolt is a beauty, man.

I usually let the acrylic clearcoat dry for about a week before I attempt to polish it. But, hey, that's just me. I want to make sure that it's completely dry and hardened. Other modelers might tell you that a day or two is sufficient. Experiment on a scrap body or some sheet styrene to determine what works for you. Everyone has different results based on coat thickness, dilution, temps, humidity, etc.

You could polish any type (flat, semigloss) paint to a glossy sheen. If you allow the acrylic clear to dry thoroughly, it produces a rock hard coat which will hold the shine without dulling. Just don't handle the finished model too much. Your skin oils will mar the finish. Use cotton gloves to prevent this from occurring. I've used Turtle Wax and Novus 1 and 2 to polish out acrylic clearcoats. The Novus is especially good because it provides anti-static properties to the finish,ie, it won't attract dust particles.

More. RPM acquired Testor Corp. on Jan. 20, 1984.

I was thinking more in the line of Platte River Associates. But, Ashley Madison works too.

I love this kit. Great work, Aaron. Good choice on the color. The technique you used on the pipes is convincing.

I'm liking this one, Steve. The upholstery looks dead on.

Also, check out art supply stores which have a section for architectural modeling. There's a Dick Blick Art Materials store in Tempe and it carries Plastruct products which are just as good as Evergreen.

Depends on what you're building. Are you planning to use "U" channels, rectangular tube or plain old vanilla chunks of styrene bar stock for the rails?

5/16" equals .3125". .08" equals 2/25" or 2 mm.

There's a company in Colorado that can help them with server issues.

Quick and dirty: get some thin copper wire, place the end in the jaws of box pliers, squeeze the end and trim to desired length.

If those are glass bottles, aren't the contents "Under Glass"?

I have 40+ year old tins of Humbrol and 35+ year old tins of Revell Color enamels. With the exception of exactly three tins between the two brands, all of them are still good to go. The same with older cans (some are almost 35 years old) of Testors spray paints. They still spray like new. These spray cans appear to be constructed from a heavier gauge of steel when compared to recent offerings. This might have something to do with leakage from the newer cans. The seam on the thinner walled cans doesn't crimp tight enough to prevent the pressurized contents from leaching out.

Like AC mentioned, Humbrol Enamels are great. You can hand brush them because they have excellent coverage and self-level nicely to minimize brushstrokes. Humbrol enamels and acrylic paints are readily available in more than a few shops here. Revell Germany's Revell Color enamels are also good paints. Unfortunately, they aren't available stateside. You can order them from European shops although there are restrictions on shipping volatile materials. That said, there are shops which will ship them. Depending on the country, it's hit or miss if the paints aren't snagged by postal inspectors. You can always ask the proprietor before ordering.

Well, Testors Model Master paints (enamel and Acryl) were reformulated late in the last century . The enamels are now "Lead Free" and environmentally friendly. Isn't that special? That means they ain't what they used to be. The enamels are thinner in viscosity and don't cover as well when hand brushed.

That don't look like no barrycuda. That there's a catfish.

Stop making sense (gratuitous Talking Heads reference). Using a phone to send what amounts to a letter is a pretty stupid use of what is supposed to be a mobile voice communication device. It takes longer to type out a text message than it would just calling the stronzo in the first place. Texting is why a lot Millennial yoots have zero social skills. This isn't a blanket generalization, it's a fact. No personal interaction required. Take away their phones and they're as articulate as a department store mannequin. Ever notice that people who walk along with their heads buried in their phones while texting think they have some type of Star Trek-like deflector shield surrounding them and you are supposed to watch where they are going? I'm a two legged Death Star and they find out really fast when attempting to walk through me. Allegedly irresistible force, meet unequivocally immovable object. Going back to why more young people aren't entering this hobby, three words: short attention spans. Model building requires one to focus his attention on the task at hand for extended periods longer than the present 8 seconds possessed by Millennials today. That's one second less than that of a goldfish. I see it every day on the subway or on the bus. A toilet plunger shaped, bedbug incubating beardo gets on and the first thing he does is pull out his iCrap toy and starts thumbing the screen in order to check whether anyone mentioned him within the last 1 1/2 minutes. He can't sit still for his two stop, three minute ride without scrolling the screen every twenty seconds. Dude, you're not that important to warrant such attention starved behavior. Don't skip your Ritalin dosage before leaving home. If elected president, I'll sign an executive order to make selfies punishable under U.S.C. Title 18, Part II, Chapter 228.* *Don't anybody get yer shorts bunched up. I'm kidding. Life without parole is plenty good enough. P.S. I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to derailing this thread and making it a thoroughly enjoyable trainwreck. Seriously. Now, what were we talking about?

Technology is great. Total dependence on it isn't. The Millennials will be in a world of major butthurt if some nation(s), who shall remain nameless , decide to detonate a nuclear device in the atmosphere over this here country and cause an EMP which will literally fry the innards of every piece of unshielded electronic equipment. No smart phones, no internet, no GPS and no fancy-schmancy, aerodynamically designed, look-a-like Silly Putty eggs with sunroofs. I'll wave at all the lost and helpless yoots as I pass by in my 1967 Coupe de Ville.

I just take a pair of pliers with the cutters on the back and squeeze them hard enough to score heavy piano wire. Then, I bend the wire at the scored area until it snaps off and use a sharpening steel to smooth down the break. Works for me.

The one at the bottom has better off-road handling, especially in water.