Ddms

While we're plugging CAs and CA caps, let me put in a good word for Gorilla Glue's Superglue. This is not, repeat NOT, Gorilla Glue. It's Gorilla's version of cyanoacrylate. It's medium thickness and contains rubber, so joints are less likely to fracture when stressed, or while you're working on some other part of the model. It's much less brittle and seems to keep its adhesion better even when you use accelerator. Bob Smith Industries sells a similar impact-resistant CA, but it's much more expensive. The Gorilla CA also has an excellent cap. It hardly ever clogs, and if it does, it's because I left the top off. Even then, only the top of the applicator "freezes over," so it's easy to clear with just a fingernail. My only complaint with GSG is the shape of the bottle and cap. Like many CA bottles, it seems deliberately designed to topple at the least provocation, like when somebody in the neighborhood sneezes. BTW, isn't Tamiya Extra Thin Cement a plastic welder?

If you live in Baltimore, you are almost certainly painting in humid conditions. The humidity in Baltimore as I write this is 100%. That is definitely high. For comparison, the humidity in Burbank, CA, is 49%.

So it will cost $25 to enter just one model? Hmmm. Except for clubs, I wouldn't expect to be overwhelmed with entries.

Neither do I, but only because it's more efficient. With U-POL and Tamiya TS-Series syn lacquers, "key" or "tooth" has no effect on adhesion. The coats melt together, so the next coat will stick regardless. Yet another good reason for using syn lacquers instead of enamels and acrylics.

I can see how this technique could save a lot of grief. Duly noted and recorded for future use. But... just in case someone is looking for wide tape that has less adhesion and less cost than Tamiya's wide stuff, 3M Scotch makes a blue tape specifically for delicate surfaces. Unsurprisingly, it's labeled "Delicate Surfaces." I get it at my local hardware store; I'm sure it's widely available.

This hobby, like all skilled crafts hobbies, is in trouble, faced with a bad economy, a shrinking market and intense competition from every direction. Why add to the problem by trivializing your own hobby - and the people in it - with demeaning phrases like "it's only plastic" and "they're just toys"? A well-built model car display is often the product of hundreds of hours of work, and maybe thousands of hours spent learning the skills that went into it. IMO, to turn a blind eye on cheating is to say "Ethical standards don't matter. This is a ###### hobby and our work counts for nothing." Is that a message we want to send along to the next generation? It's a simple matter of self-respect.

Silk comes in many weights, some extremely light and thin, so it seems like the best bet to me. My wife is a graduate textile engineer and she's Chinese. So she knows a thing or two about silk! If anyone runs into a specific problem with the cloth, let me know and I'll ask her for suggestions.

Tamiya Finish will have no effect on scratches. It's more a polish than a compound, and a very fine high-gloss polish at that. I use it only after applying Tamiya Coarse (which isn't very coarse) and Tamiya Fine. (My favorite feature: It works with any motions you want to use! ) If the scratch is very shallow, you might try that sequence. But even if the scratch is down to the color coat, you should be in good shape if Testors Wet Look is a synthetic lacquer and not a urethane. I would start by wet-sanding the area with 2000 grit until the scratch is no longer visible, then re-clear the area. The only real concern is the risk of sanding right through the color coat down to the primer, because then you'd need to put on another color coat - a major pain. If you see color on the sandpaper, stop! Before re-clearing, mask off any nearby areas that shouldn't get another coat of clear. I sometimes use a "soft mask," that is, I lift the edge of the masking tape. That way, there won't be any hard edges between the newly painted are and the area that you're leaving alone. Unlike urethanes, enamels and acrylics, synthetic lacquers work great in that way; the new coat will blend in perfectly. Good luck! Ddms

Purple Power is the all-purpose cleaner. Somebody ought to tell Obama, and we could spray it on the Taliban. Since it's re-usable, it's very cheap over time. I sometimes augment it with a brass brush to get paint out of the nooks and crannies. In addition to removing paint and chrome from styrene, I use it for: Scrubbing bodies before painting (mixed into water, of course). Cleaning paint bottles and caps for re-use. Cleaning paint brushes and airbrush parts. Cleaning oil paint stains from my artist wife's painting clothes. Other stuff that I can't think of right now. Be interesting to hear about other uses.

Really like Marcos' cut tape method! Easy to control and not nearly so messy. (To be honest, I don't like getting stain all over my carefully polished surfaces.) Seems like it would work well with either acrylic or ink. Thinned, of course. Definitely worth a serious try. BTW, I've started using dry charcoal powder for engine and chassis parts. And liking it more and more. Apply powder with a small soft brush, wipe it off, and that's it. It gives light colored parts a natural, realistic depth without making them look dirty. And the transitions are smooth - there aren't any edges like you get with washes.

Are you SURE that's a forty-three? I'd guess a 1/12. Gorgeous.

Back in the day, there was no such thing as a flat finish, except for primer. Everything else about that car screams KOOL KUSTOM KAR, so... YA GOTTA KLEAR IT! Ddms

Real deal. Ddms

X-20A will thin Tamiya acrylics but it won't remove them. It's hard to completely remove a fully dried wash without damaging the underlying finish. Well-cured enamel or lacquer are the best bet to stand up to wash removal. Because acrylic is so soft, once you've applied a wash to it, you pretty much have to leave well enough alone. That's one reason I prefer enamel for interiors. Acrylic washes over lacquer or enamel work better, but I still don't like their hard edges. Microbrushed Windex helps soften the edges, but right now I'm experimenting with acrylic inks, charcoal pencil and brushed charcoal powder for adding depth to upholstery and engine/chassis parts. I'm a long way from any satisfactory (to me) solution for panel gaps. Sak, what is methyl hydrate and how do you use it? Ddms

Can you get different size nozzles for your brush? Some paints - like Model Master metalizers - spray better through a smaller nozzle, while other paints - like water-based acrylics - work better with a large nozzle. How much did your AB cost? Is there any visible sign that you've used or messed around with the brush? Do you still have the receipt? (Do you see where I'm going with this?) The Harbor Freight AB might not a good learning brush for you, especially if you can't get different nozzles for it. A crapola airbrush is like a "budget" musical instrument: its main function is to discourage beginners. There are some decent quality brushes available at a reasonable cost. I have one myself - a Paasche Series H. It's by no means the most versatile brush you can get, but it's well constructed. It takes a variety of nozzles and it's designed to accept either cups or bottles. Parts are easy to find. There are good reason that it's been the frugal modelers' workhorse AB for many years. I'm not saying it's the only game in town, but it's an example of a "starter" brush that gives good results and never wears out or breaks. (By the way, don't fool with latex paint. Latex is totally unlike any paint you'll use on a model, and it will surely clog your airbrush.) Ddms

When I first tried Future years ago, I made a mess of it and decided it was not for me. Not long ago, someone on a forum convinced me to try it again, and WOW! Now I use it for all clear plastic parts that aren't absolutely pristine. And for some that are! It gives them wonderful clarity and sparkle. I thought polishing was the only way to go. But windshields and other small clear plastic parts won't withstand a lot of strain. Polishing involves a lot of unintentional bending and twisting, especially when you're going through many stages to get a high gloss. Even if you're trying to be gentle, all that handling adds up. It can stress out a small, thin piece of clear plastic. The more polishing you do, the greater the risk that the part will break. Or that you'll put stress cracks in it. Once that happens, your windshield is probably history - although I've heard that stress-cracked clear plastic can sometimes be rescued by... Future. And... polishing can take hours. Future gives equivalent (IMO) results in a just a couple of minutes. The trick with Future seems to be to spray or dip it, wick it, and forget it. And use it generously! Future loses a lot of volume when it dries. If an area seems to be too thick, just let it be. It will probably be invisible when it dries. But if you brush it around on the surface, it will lose its luster. (I think that's where I screwed up initially.) Future also gives you almost endless "second chances." If a part doesn't come out right, just dip it in household ammonia; it will wash right off with no harm to the part.

Are there any clubs that meet regularly in the Los Angeles area?

Where was the show?

Really like that bottle idea. We don't use that much soy sauce, so I hope it will also work with bottles used for other kitchen ingredients. For small, light parts, I usually use poster putty, aka poster tack, to attach parts to a paddle for painting. Michaels sells it under the name "HandiTAK." It will lose its stickiness if you get much paint on it. I stick the paddles into a lump of clay to dry. I don't use clips much anymore because they attach to both sides, and I'm usually painting one of the sides. Double-sided carpet tape - the white stuff used to tack down rug edges - holds the part more securely than looped masking tape. You can get small rolls that don't cost too much - about $6 a roll as I recall. It comes in 1 1/4" wide rolls and has a slick paper cover that has to be peeled away from one side of the tape. The tape tears off easily; only a small piece is needed for a strong hold. It's best attached to unpainted surfaces because the adhesive is pretty strong and there's a risk that it will pull paint off. Carpet tape is one of the most useful items on my table. I think I find a new use for it every day. I have a square of it stuck to a corner of my workbench. Whenever I need to hold small parts firmly in an exact position, I put them on the tape. When the sticky surface gets too dirty, I just put another piece over it. Now I'm also going to put some on a bottle cap and use it to hold car bodies and other large pieces. Thanks, Marc! You can get carpet tape at any DIY home store like OSH, Home Depot or Lowes.

I hope the dry transfer method works out for you, because it's got to be easier than placing, drilling and inserting individual rivets. But with the dry transfers, you'll have to cut each row of rivets from the sheet. Since you can't trim right up to each rivet individually, each row of rivets will sit on a raised "platform" of film. I can't figure out how all that will not be a problem, especially on your car, which will have many, many rivet rows laid out on flat surfaces. Every row of rivets will be on a raised strip of film. You can see what this looks like on a submarine at http://www.travel-net.com/~gcauley/U673/. The boat was built by the guy who worked with Archer to develop their rivet system. The dark line of film is clearly visible between the rivets. I realize that the rivets on my car are too big, but, as I said in my post, smaller ones are available. Regardless of what aircraft modelers do, I still think the 1:1 method - one rivet at a time - is more realistic. And more faithful to 1:1 practice.

Dry transfer rivets may be easy, but it seems like there would be problems. Wouldn't the film border be visible as a raised surface on the car? On that Bugatti, you'd have film borders running all over the place. And if the rivet line is curved, how would you bend the film to follow the curve?

Terrific subject! My favorite era, scale and type of car. Only Ettore's mama could love the "styling" of his tanks, but they certainly had character. Hope you'll do a WIP. Do you have a source for those tall skinny wire wheels? Recently, I spent quite a bit of time searching for some early wires with no success. The only solution I could find was to cannibalize a diecast. The car looks like it has about 50 lbs. of rivets. I've just finished riveting up my Finescale 1/24 BRM P57, and learned a lot in the process. Here's everything I found out; hope you find it useful: I looked everywhere for rivets. There are some amazingly expensive metal ones out there. There are even decals that are supposed to look like rivets. Don't know how you would hide the film, though. I ended up using styrene Tichy Train Group rivets with .030" heads and .015" shafts. They come on a sprue and are intended for HO train applications. They are cheap - only $2.50 for 200 rivets. The Tichy rivets themselves are fine, but I'm not very happy about the size I chose. They scaled out too big. I think something like an .008" head would be correct. The smallest you can get from Tichy is .020". Scale Hardware has even smaller ones. They sell 100 brass .016" rivets for about $10. They're expensive and harder to handle, but they would look a lot more realistic, especially since there are so many on your Bug. For spacing the rivet holes and punching starters, a good pair of drafting dividers with pin-points on both legs is indispensable! Dividers would also be very useful for spacing those louvers. To look right, a straight line of rivets has to be very, very straight. The tricky part is not so much spacing the holes - that's easy with the dividers - but in drilling the holes in a straight line. I scratched a line in the primer, then, wearing an Opti-visor, I used the dividers to punch pilot holes along the line. Well, I thought I was punching them on the line. The pinholes even looked like they were lined up pretty straight. But then I drilled them (#74) and inserted rivets in the holes. Aaargh! As it turns out, any deviation from the line looks awful. If I were to do it again, I'd use a scribing tool to cut a fairly deep groove - not merely a scratch! - along the entire planned rivet line. (Dymo Tape works well as a cutting guide. Softer tape allows the scribing tool to wander.) Then it's just a matter of stepping the divider down the groove and making a pilot hole at each step. Once the holes are fully drilled, you can sand away the groove. Or fill it with putty. Or both. Obviously, the groove has to be totally "disappeared" before you insert the rivets! Inserting each rivet individually sounds tedious, but it's surprising how fast it goes once you get the hang of it. I use a wet finger to pick them up and needle-nose pliers to insert them. For some reason, the pliers worked better for me than tweezers; I was surprised that they were so gentle with the rivets. I was also surprised at how sturdy Tichy's styrene rivets are. I inserted more than 100 and ruined all of three. So there's no durability advantage to the more expensive metal ones. Instead of dipping each rivet post in glue, I inserted about ten rivets and then applied glue to the backside of the panel - Hurray, no glue on the surface of the car! I used CA, but just about any glue would work. After the glue dries, the rivet shafts inside the panel can be sanded off. Keep in mind that it's very hard to sand or polish an area after it's been louvered or riveted. That will make sequencing your build a bit of a challenge. Best of luck with that Bug! I'll be especially interested in how you end up doing the rivets. Ddms

Donn, do you know if anybody makes a a semi-gloss black enamel in a spray can? Testors makes spray-can gloss and flat enamels, but no black semi-gloss in a spray can. I'm on the verge of mixing some flat into some gloss and spraying it with my airbrush - thinned with lacquer thinner, of course - but I'd rather use a spray can, especially for small parts. Ddms

I've had no problem putting decals over Tamiya compounds, and I'm sure the same applies to Novus. But lots of people polish their cars with Meguiars Scratch-X, and I'd be careful putting decals over that. It almost certainly contains silicones, so decals probably won't stick to a Scratch-X'd finish. Before applying the decals, scrub the car with soapy water to eliminate possible contamination by fingerprints, fly specks, etc., I use Purple Power for this, but any detergent will do. Be sure to rinse and blot dry - if tap water is allowed to evaporate on the model, it will leave a residue. Ddms

Hmmm. Sounds like the nozzle is no good. Just checkin'. If all else fails, there's always a .22 at ten yards. Wear a raincoat and a helmet.