dmthamade

Some excellent responses!! I get what your saying, Tomo, makes absolute sense. Still trying to find myself in the car model niche. I go to the hobby store and 95% of the car kits are...old school. I get the feeling that the shelves would look identical if the clock was turned back 15 -20 years. Great for the old guys. Not much to see in the new/ modern stuff. I can see where there would be no attraction to cars. OTOH, like Dave, I see the stock of Star Wars, Star Trek, Gundams, Space Battleships has increased, and I can see the shelf stock is always changing, good sign!! Hmm, lots to think about.

Thanks for the positive feedback, guys. I had this paint go bad on a complex build, wanted to see if I could beat it into working. Changed primer and all was good. I like the different colors and sheens they have available and the ease of cleanup. Great for old NMF finishes on aircraft, i'll find uses on car models. Don

Went and had a look, reasonable price, but i build 1/32. Eyes getting old, hands not as steady... Don

I had to look that up. Don

Unlimited racers are fantastic!! Purists object, but I really like the "hotrod" fighters. I would really like to see some kitted, especially Precious Metal. Don

This is something I've seen posted of different forums with different hobbies. The two aircraft centered forums this seems to be oft posted. Kids in the hobby, yeah, I think It happens. We don't see it because, well, they're kids. Have to say, if I was kid age, I wouldn't want to hang around old fogies, would rather be around my peers, talking the hobby, talking about what concerns me in the world with others MY AGE. I don't think teens can relate to what is posted in the What irked you/what pleased you threads, can all of you understand what your teens/grandkids talk about, do they want to hang with you? Give them time, life will get in their way, hobby gets forgotten, then picked back up. Look in the "Welcome! Introduce yourself" thread. Most all are returnees to the hobby and or old guys. We can relate to each other and understand the lives each of us has gone through. Hands up, how many of us come here for the model building, but also for the dialogue and talk about other things besides models. Don

When you do this, can you take a video? Never know just what may happen... Don

I remember reading about counterfeit fasteners and parts in the aerospace industry, scary reads they were. Understand this is a problem in our trade, too. I'm going to say I haven't seen it yet, probably because I haven't been looking. Scary about the fasteners, we do a lot of Euro stuff, they use a lot of one time inverted Torx aluminum bolts. Would really suk to have one of the fake ones go bad...we do dealer or World Pak for the parts and fasteners, so hopefully we should be good. Don

Yup!! Bad enough you have to sometimes fight the car your working on(I live in the great rust belt), you don't want to fight the car AND the tools your using!! Cheap tools might be ok for light use, eg. 8mm/10mm/12mm sockets, Torx bits on Euro, I have these for home use, but for working on the bench where I've worn out high use Snapon sockets in 9 months, cheap tools are verboten. Think long and hard what you need the tools for, think clearly of your projects, don't get sucked into the "I only buy the best" thinking, you should be good. Don

I bought the Snapon boxes for many reasons, one of them being how it could be configured. Facing it, I have the most used and needed tools in a 7 drawer area centered in the middle of the bottom and top. Don't have to bend down, I can look into the drawers to find the tool, see what's missing. I do have two cabinets as well, one is 72" tall two door metal cabinet. I use it for those tools in plastic boxes, pullers, scanners, lab scope...$100.00 used, lockable. Another is 48" tall two doors wall mounted, tools in plastic boxes, lubricants, chemicals, there when I started. Couldn't justify the $$$$ for Snapon kind of storage, it's cheap and secure, I likey. Have seen samples of the Box Condos, nice, but not spending that much. Old saying, not the boxes that make you the $$$, it's the tools inside and the guys skill that swings them that pays the rent. Have to say, those stainless tops look nice. Had one on my roll cab. When I bought the top box the stainless top came home, it's one of the benches in the model room. Don

Hammers... yeah, ones that are specific like dead blow are from tool truck, as is the very small ball peen because it feels right. The big ball peens aren't no name offshore, are still quality hammers. Don't want the head coming off due to crappy wedge locking it in. Co worker had his cheap hammer come apart when doing ball joints on a caravan, head made a nice dent in the cavalier in the bay beside him. About tool feel, speed handles from Snapon feel and work right especially spinning one handed on say, an oil pan on an engine on a stand or a trans on the bench. Other speed handles, not so much. Don

Boxes look OK, prices look in line. I found that the non tool truck boxes aren't as deep as the 3 truck boxes. Small thing but it does matter. Have seen the non boxes have the sliders fall apart/wear out/break. In the 40+ years I've been a auto mechanic, I found that boxes by Snapon/MAC/Matco last. Sliders get cleaned/lubricated, boxes get wiped down, otherwise they last. Off brands are fine for home/light use, but daily hard use it's almost always the sliders that give out first. Casters are next if the boxes do any rolling. Bought a Snapon top box to go on my lower Snapon roll cabinet, waited for good prices on both. I did look at other makers, found lacking in areas. Also, the Snapon drawers could be moved and configured for what I needed, looks completely different from the brochures. As far as tools go, I do have a lot of S/M/Ma stuff, but I also have offbrand. Ratchets I get Snapon, stuff works esp. the older stuff and just as important, they "feel" right. Wrenches are the same, except for the bigger ones, they get off brand. Sockets can go either way, I did buy some off brands 3 years ago to see how they would hold up. These are 19mm/21/mm deep impact sockets, been working fine. Flex sockets esp. 3/8 or 1/4 drives are Snapon, they work, they fell right. Hammers,...it's a hammer..they are a mix of off brand and tool truck. Gear wrenches for racheting box ends. STAY AWAY FROM EZ RED ratcheting box ends esp. their new stuff. My electric impacts are DeWalt brushless, electric ratchets are Snapon. I've seen Milwaukee electrics esp. the Fuel range are fine. My experiences are from a lifetime of wrenchwork, what I need may be overkill for some. Be realistic about what you really need, go from there. Don

I'll have a lookaround for the film or something similar. Don't have Hobby Lobby up here, see if Sprue Bros. has in stock. Meantime, i'll grab a pop bottle and practice. Don

Just from the examples I've seen here, I think it is worth it. It's small details that really make any build whether it be aircraft, armor, ships, figures etc etc. Like the wiper blades, should have a fine black line. PITA to do I imagine, but would add so much. Don

Some great ideas, here!! The idea of retainer strips on the inside sounds like a plan, Bill!! Soda bottle plastics sounds good, too!! I like that 1967 Bonneville!! Up here in Canada we got chevy powertrains in our Ponchos, they were chevys under Pontiac bodies. We also got Beaumonts/Chevelles, Acadian/Novas, Astre/Vega, Ventura/Nova...probably a few more I missed. Don

Vacu-forming would be last resort, though it would give thin clears. I can see thin clear plastic working for side or vent/wing glass. Don

Okay, I've been doing aircraft for decades. Canopies on the scale I worked with (1/32) were thin enough that they looked "right" for the most part. Aftermarket ones are also available for some as well. Car kits I find the clears seem to be really thick especially on older kits where they are joined with a web. Are there thinner alternatives available? Is there a way they can be thinned?(long shot)Or are the clears just the way they are? Don

Actually from last week. Got the Audi, Mercedes and BMW finished right before I took two weeks for vacation. The weather has been great so far with more on the way

Do you apply this before or after the clear coat. Just wondering if adding a sealer on top would help to stabilize and lock the tape into place. Don BTW, that BMW looks great!!

Yup!! As far as I can remember, visible on outside on older vehicles. Newer stuff, sealing glue on inside, sometimes. Like I said, check refs. Been thinking about small details like this since I started car models. As In any genre of models, small details make the build. I thought of black fine point Sharpie for the seals, small things to learn... Don

Looks good!! Black decal material too, maybe? Check refs, sealing materials are inside the glass sometimes. On most aircraft, seal is on inside, looks "off" when applied on outside. Don

New tires have a bigger inside diameter than the old tires, wheels fall right through the new tires. Don

This one sat on the SOD for a while. I had some issues on another build with Vallejo Metal Color paints. This build is done primarily to test these paints for color, masking, weathering and durability. Have to say, the paint worked great as long as you stay away from their recommended primer!!! Absolutely nothing accurate as far as markings to pain scheme here, this is only a test. Don

Like steve, i use paper to cover big areas after masking borders, or i just exercise airbrush control. As far as tape goes, i use Tamiya, Aizu, Jammy dog, post-it notes and green painters tape. I have had issues with pulling paint with tape, though it never happens anymore. Last time it was with Vallejo primer, never again. I have to say, i haven't done a lot of gloss schemes, warplanes are a flat finish. Something to keep in mind as i use different sheens of paint. Don

It's a different color, red is usually the default color for these builds. Wanted something different. I hit it with another coat of clear today, has a nice shine that i may be OK with. I used Tamiya X-22 thinned with Mr.Color thinner sprayed at 15 psi. Has the look and shine of Tamiya TS-13 clear but i have better control through an airbrush. Working on the front and back chrome parts, found the rear piece that has the park lights is poorly done, the lights barely show through the grille due to flashing. I stripped the chrome and will work on opening the grille slots so the red shows better. Don