Bainford

Cheers, Steve. That is about the nicest 'leather' I've seen. Very impressive, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the comprehensive test and report, Dusty. Very interesting, and results look promising for some applications.

Welcome to the forum, Jim.

Welcome to the forum, AT. Nice looking Kenworth.

I dig it! Very cool conversion, and it looks like good work. The only problem, to my eye at least, is the side mounted spare tire. It kind of messes with the overall look.

Great looking build, John, done in your typical clean style. Engine detailing looks spot on. It always a pleasure to check out your builds.

The Nova makes for a tidy little drag car, and your build captures that vibe nicely. Cool, understated build. Well done.

Cheers David. Good looking Mk 1. I have a Mk II in the stash, and looking forward to building it. I always liked the look of the front end of the 420, though.

Another good looking Jag. Nicely done. Seeing quite a few of these E-Types on the forum now.

Nice Jag, and cool little model. Nice work on this one. I'd love to build one of these in 1/24.

Cool project, and coming along nicely. Very impressive kit.

Looking good, Bill. Nice grill work.

Beautiful Z. Super clean work, and that foil is especially tidy. Lots of realism under the bonnet. Simply gorgeous. I love it.

Nice clean ‘49. Im digging your wiring harness. Very nice!

Wow! This thread is sensory overload. Such beautiful examples of the coolest race cars ever.

Stunning model, Claude. Just beautiful. That's a lot of work, but it looks like a fun build. Lots of innovation there. Excellent!

Beautiful build of the ferocious 917-30, Rich. The paint, finishing, decals look fantastic. You have captured the essence of the beast nicely. Very well done.

Good looking Lancia. Nice work on the decals. Well done.

You are a man of vision, Alan. It's fun watching this come together.

Normally, I would agree. I sometimes do this with other items when the buy-in cost of quality is too much to bear at one time. But, with low-quality small drill bits, the cutting quality is what suffers, creating bores that are oversized, crooked, off-centre, bell-mouthed, and sloppy, and requiring many more turns of the pin vise to make the hole. When doing small, precision drilling, the quality of the work will suffer, as will the enjoyment of the task. Also, some cheap drill bits are much less breakable than quality bits, some having the molecular integrity of a over-cooked noodle. I have even bent them without breaking.

There are some things it never pays to scrimp on, and small drill bits is one of them. This will include many drill bits sold to hobbyists as a set. A properly ground drill bit requires precision manufacture, necessary for a bit that will cut well and evenly from both cutting lips and bore a straight, clean hole. I buy machine shop quality bits in packages of 10 or 12 from jobber shops that sell tools for industrial use. Places such as Acklands-Grainger or McMaster-Carr, or many other similar shops sell them. Most recognised name brands are good for model use, Dormer and Greenlee come to mind, but there are many. The difference in cutting performance between a proper bit and cheap hobby junk is night & day, and there is nothing more frustrating then doing some precision micro-drilling on a small, delicate piece with a cheap bit. They cost much more, but for anyone doing scratchbuilding, they are worth it. If you are only using them for pinning, then you could get away with buying only one or two sizes that correspond with the size pins you like to use.

Good looking Europa. The red works well. The decals look well done. Did you have any problems getting them on? I have this kit on the bench right now, and have recently applied the decals. It was quite a chore getting them on straight and tidy. Thankfully, I found them to be very high quality decals.

Interesting project. I'm interested in seeing this come together.

Interesting. I have used my Badger 200 since 1981, and it has always been a faithful workhorse of which I am quite proud, but I have had no luck with the Fine .25 tip/needle. It was the only airbrush I had ever used until two years ago when I finally bought the gravity feed airbrush I had wanted for years, and which I absolutely adore. As to OP's question, For the last twenty years I always clean enamel and lacquer with lacquer thinner, and acrylics with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I have never had any problems with seal or finish deterioration. In fact, the head/tip and the transfer tube (joins the bottle lid to the airbrush) are always stored in a jar of lacquer thinner. They have been there for may years with no detrimental effect on the finish or the base metal. In most cases, if your seals or airbrush finish is negatively effected by hobby standard solvents, the problem is likely the airbrush rather then the thinners/cleaners. A quality airbrush will be equipped with solvent resistant seals. As for Chinese knock-offs of a highly precision instrument, well, "you pays your money, you takes your chances".