Anglia105E

Okay, I understand Harry, and your link is much appreciated . . . I shall read through the information, and I may learn something ! Have a look at my most recent post above, regarding the toothpaste and distilled malt vinegar method . . . David

Today I picked up some baking soda toothpaste from a local store, which is the type that is white and has no gel or coloured stripes in it . . . This toothpaste was applied to the roof area of my test model, by using a firm circular motion with a microfibre cloth, and allowed to dry for a few minutes. Then I used a clean microfibre cloth soaked in distilled malt vinegar to polish the roof, using the same circular motion . . . Well guys . . . The shine is wonderful, and this is only having applied the toothpaste once. I shall probably give it a further application, as this is purely a test model . . . I hope that you can see the result from the photos below, which has impressed me greatly. Look at the reflection of the thermometer. I do like the shine on this roof panel and I have never been able to achieve this standard of finish with any painting methods that I have used over the years. David

Many thanks Harry for your interesting input . . . I shall have a good look at the Tamiya acrylic paint Safety Data Sheet, because I do like Tamiya products, especially their paint ranges . . . The main problem would be the smell, because the minute my wife picks up any paint smell in our house I am in big trouble ! At the moment you may have noticed that the content of my topic suggests that I am going down the route of polishing the plastic, so I will not be using any type of paint . . . not even acrylics. Only brushed on water based emulsion paint might be acceptable. Should there be any way that I can use Tamiya acrylic aerosol spray paints, or their brush on acrylics, given my lung condition, then I would be happy to use them Harry . . . David

Well done with those two Mercedes finds . . . I always have a look at the seller's Ebay shop to see if they specialise in model car kits. When you see one model car kit offered for sale, and all the remaining items listed are not model car related, that is a very good sign because most likely the seller does not fully understand what they have. That one kit could be quite rare, and potentially has more value than their asking price indicates . . . David

Yes Jose, I like to find Franklin Mint and Danbury die casts on Ebay, using a search for ' Spares or Repairs ' which can be quite cheap . . . David

Your thoughts and observations are much appreciated Noel . . . Yes, I have dismantled Franklin Mint die cast Rolls-Royce model cars, both Silver Cloud I and also Phantom I versions. The Agora, IXO and DeAgostini kits are very nice, but as you pointed out, too expensive for me. Certainly, the OCCRE kits are interesting, and I particularly like the trams . . . All suggestions are welcome at this stage. I am fairly confident that I can find ways to go non-chemical, non-toxic and paint free with my new approach to model car building. I am able to use water based emulsion paints, albeit with no primer allowed, and I shall be testing the bonding strength of PVA glue in terms of holding styrene to styrene. The use of products such as Bare Metal Foil, Sharpies and Vallejo acrylics will help with this approach . . . David

I did once place an order for several Rolls-Royce kits directly from Minicraft in Illinois, USA, and they were shipped to the UK . . . This was 7 years ago. ( no, I don't mean that I placed the order 7 years ago, and they were shipped to me but haven't arrived yet, but that is how it reads, sorry ) I did receive those kits. David

I have an original Hubley promo of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, made in 1960, which I purchased from a seller in the U.S.A. . . . This model is moulded in blue plastic, and has been polished way back sometime but not painted. I seem to remember one other MCM Forum member trying out the polished plastic technique, with mixed results . . . David

Yes John . . . Apparently the non-gel toothpaste is best, so the plain white type. I shall certainly try the mix of toothpaste and distilled malt vinegar or water. Thanks for your continued interest . . . David

Several of the following photos show the labels on the back of the Meguiars Carnauba Wax bottle, and also the Traditional Beeswax furniture polish . . . Both of these products contain harmful solvents, and there are warnings regarding the dangers of inhaling the vapors, as well as not allowing the product to come into contact with your skin. I do not feel safe using either of these polish products, particularly taking into account my lung condition. This evening I washed the body parts in hot water with dish wash liquid, then rinsed them in cold water and dried them with kitchen towel. Once dry, I polished the roof panel area with a new micro fibre cloth, applied firmly in a circular motion. This was followed by a second polishing application using distilled malt vinegar and buffed with a clean part of the micro fibre cloth The resulting finish on the surface of the roof might be good enough, but this is just at the experimental stage for now . . . Minor scratches in the plastic could be removed using toothpaste at some point. David

I have never seen that wooden kit before Robert, but you are dealing with this build in a very confident manner. Good luck, and I wish you good progress . David

Thank you very much Ken, and your kind wishes are greatly appreciated . . . I hope that your condition can be managed as well as possible. David in England

Well. late last night I somehow managed to find a Silver Cloud kit on Ebay . . . This one is the Entex version and the Ebay seller is in the Netherlands. The asking price was quite reasonable, and I noticed there was also a ' Make Offer ' option available. The price was in US.$, which at first led me to believe this kit was being listed by a seller in the US of course. The price in brackets was in GBP, and what surprised me was there was no price in Euros, which I had expected from a Dutch seller . . . Anyway, the asking price was US.$. 46.80 plus a shipping cost of US.$. 21.60, which is high postage from Holland to UK . . . I made an offer of US.$. 30.00 which was accepted. All of the Ebay seller's items listed in their shop were action toys, so no scale model cars, only this one kit of the Rolls-Royce . . . I figured that maybe the seller was not fully aware of how rare this kit is these days. So, the kit will be delivered to my home within 7 - 10 days and I can get started on the build as of now. First stage is the polishing of the body shell, trunk lid and two hood panels . . . I shall test the polishing on one of the three body shells that I have already, and from the photos on Ebay it looks like the body from Holland might be in better shape than my three bodies. I have previously built 8 Silver Cloud kits, but none of them are Entex . . . They have been Revell, Minicraft and Masterkit, but not Entex. Judging by the photos, the tyres tell me that the Entex kit is similar to the Revell kit, which is a good thing . . . David

Thank you for your concern Jose, but don't worry, I have stopped aerosol spray painting, airbrush painting and brushed on enamels painting around six months ago now . . . This is why I am hoping to polish the bare plastic and avoid using paints . . . David

You are absolutely right about the meds and the patient having to pay close attention to lifestyle, diet and exercise. Encouraging words indeed. When you think that Rolls-Royce put a V12 in the pre-war Phantom III, and then later put the V8 in the Silver Cloud II, you do wonder why they put a straight six engine in the Silver Cloud I . . . Actually, many owners of these wonderful motor cars do say that the inline 6 runs smoother and quieter than the later V8. Certainly, if I win the National Lottery, I shall treat myself to a Silver Cloud I with the 6 cylinder engine between 1955 and 1959 . . . The 1955 and 1956 versions did not have power steering, whereas the cars built from 1957 to 1959 did have the much needed power assisted steering. I have had the pleasure of driving a 1957 Silver Cloud on grass, and you cannot steer such a large heavy car without PAS . . . David W.

Goodness me John, you were lucky to survive that experience, and I am pleased to hear that you are okay now . . . I shall be 72 years of age this October, so I have to take precautions and follow my doctor's expert advice . . . David

Ha, Ha . . . You are not far wrong there David . . . Even more surprising is that I cannot find any Revell kits for the Silver Cloud either. Apart from those three Hubley kits sitting there in France, there are no RRSC kits anywhere in the World . . . Those kits in France have been on Ebay for around three years at least, and the prices have not come down in all that time. The sellers haven't even changed their listing from ' Buy it Now ' to ' Make an Offer ' . . . How can items on Ebay be posted Free from China, and yet they want £20.00 GBP to post from France to UK ? ( £20.00 GBP is US$. 26.88 ) Someone on MCM mentioned that Tamiya acrylics do contain a harmful solvent ingredient, which is a shame because they are nice paints. They also have a strong smell, which my wife would pick up in the house and give me a severe telling off ! David W.

Many thanks John . . . We don't seem to have Createx products here in the UK, but the Vallejo paint products are widely available here for sure. I shall be carrying out a few experimental applications during the coming weeks . . . Thanks for following this topic. David

Thanks Anton . . . I might try using Vallejo acrylic paints for this project at some point. The body parts of this model are moulded in black plastic, so I thought maybe painting the body in black might not be absolutely necessary. I would like to try polishing the body to begin with, and see how it looks . . . This could involve using Meguiars Carnauba Wax if it does not contain any harmful chemicals, or perhaps natural beeswax polish, applied with micro fibre cloths . . . David

Thank you Fabrizio . . . The Rolls-Royce straight 6 cylinder engine was 3D printed by Shapeways in Holland around 3 years ago now, and at that time I primer painted the engine, as well as fully painting the engine also . . . This engine has been sitting on my shelf in the loft workshop for more than 2 years, so I the part should be safe to handle now ! You are right in saying that super glue ( CA ) is harmful to someone like me who has a lung infection, so this is why I am attempting to use PVA for the assembly of this plastic model car. As other members have pointed out, the PVA may not work with plastic properly . . . Again, if possible I will not be using paint on the bodywork of this car, unless I can use Vallejo acrylics brushed on . . . Thanks for reading my topic Fabrizio, David

Okay fair enough . . . Understood, thanks Topher. David

Thanks a lot for your concern Pierre . . . I do have a collection of Vallejo acrylics, but what I found was that you cannot simply wash the brush out with water. I had to use Isopropyl Alcohol to fully clean the brush. There is no way my lung can get anywhere near that chemical. Do you know if some acrylic paints can be fully cleaned with just water ? . . . Maybe the Tamiya spray acrylics could be an option ? David

Thanks Topher . . . I do have a collection of Vallejo acrylics, but what I found was that you cannot simply wash the brush out with water. I had to use Isopropyl Alcohol to fully clean the brush. There is no way my lung can get anywhere near that chemical. Do you know if some acrylic paints can be fully cleaned with just water ? Oh yes, I do have quite an obsession with the Silver Cloud, especially 1955 - 1959 . . . I have built 8 of them over the past 7 years, so this one will be 9, and as well as the kit built ones I have several Franklin Mint diecast versions of the car, and an original Hubley promo . . . For one of the kits I moulded and cast a resin body shell and chassis, which turned out really well. I am not able to use resin mixing materials nowadays of course. David

I do appreciate your concern David, and although life is a bit of a daily struggle at the moment I do try to remain positive . . . It is all very well for a doctor to say stop making model cars, and avoid this hobby, but I have already stopped driving cars just over two years ago, and I feel that at least if I can build model cars and dioramas then this should improve my quality of life, so to speak . . . The good thing is that my brain is fully active and constantly coming up with new ideas. I would like to build this Rolls-Royce if it can be done without using all those chemicals that the doctor has warned me against . . . I do have one 3D printed 6 cylinder engine that was printed by Shapeways from my own design using FreeCAD software. What has surprised me is that there are no Minicraft or Revell kits listed on Ebay for the Silver Cloud at this time. The Hubley kits that are available from Ebay sellers in France are moulded in grey plastic, and although they are quite nice, the price is way too high for me. The antibiotics medication that I am advised to take is supposed to manage the lung infection, but cannot remove the infection. I have been prescribed with Lansoprazole medication recently, which deals with acid reflux and stomach disorders. Both type of medication make me feel worse and not better. I would rather find natural remedies as opposed to pharmacy meds . . . Walking, fresh air and drinking lots of water should help also. David

Thanks Paul, and myself I am not sure how well PVA will work with plastic. We shall see ! David