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Dave Ambrose

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  1. Dave Ambrose
    May 15th is the San Diego Model Car club meeting at the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park (sdmodelcarclub.org for more info) We don't have nearly as many hobby shops as we used to. Discount Hobbies on Clairemont is the go-to for most of us. Friday evening is Crusin' Grand in Escondido. I highly recommend that event. Lots of cool cars in a very nice neighborhood. If you like trains, the model railroad museum in Balboa Park is worth visiting. PM me if you have any questions.
  2. Dave Ambrose
    Check the shafts under a magnifier. Sometimes, they have a number or something roll marked into the needle.
  3. Dave Ambrose
    This year's themes are 60 years of Chevy Impalas for the cars, and Poke the Bear (communist revolution to cold war era) for military models. Every year, the San Diego IPMS chapter, and the San Diego Model Car Club put on a model contest and swap meet at the San Diego Air and Space Museum's restoration hangar at Gillespie field. This year's model Expo will take place on Saturday, June 9th from 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM with awards presentation at 3:00 PM. There will be vendors with kits, hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch, and a raffle. The restoration hangar is located at 335 Kenney Street in El Cajon. Just look for the building with an Atlas Rocket as a lawn ornament. Once again, there will be a separate category for Gunpla, and Mecha models. For registration information, please read the flyer and category list below. Judging will be IPMS national rules, including the no sweeps rule.* The model car club supervises judging for autos, and the IPMS club judges everything else. If a category is too large, we will split the category and issue multiple awards. If you don't want to enter the contest, there will be a display only area. Please, come and share your builds. Categories: Junior All scales and categories, except automotive Aircraft 1/72 & smaller-Prop 1/72 & smaller-Jet 1/73 to 1/33 - Prop 1/73 to 1/33 - Jet 1/32 & larger - Prop 1/32 & larger - Jet Rotary Wing - All scales & types Military vehicles Armor-1/72 & smaller, all types Armor-1/48, all types Armor-1/47 & larger - Fully tracked Armor-1/47 & larger - Wheeled, semi-tracked Softskin - 1/47 & larger, all types Dioramas Small composition (fewer than 5 models or figures) Large composition (more than 5 models or figures) Ships 1/451 & smaller 1/450 & larger Submarine Sailing Figures 53 MM & smaller 54 MM & larger Other Sci-Fi & Fantasy Sci-Fi & Real Space Vehicles: all scales & types Gunpla, Gundam and Mecha: all scales & types Hypothetical: all scales & types Others: all scales & types Out-of-the-Box: all scales & types (non-automotive) Automotive Juniors Production/Replica Hot Rods, Street Rods and Street Machines Custom Competition – Non-Drag Racing Competition - Dragsters Large Low Riders Motorcycles Out-of-the-Box There are special awards for: Best Aircraft Best Military Vehicle Best Diorama • Best Ship Best Figure Best Space, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Best Automotive Best Irish Subject Best Tamiya Model Best 1:48 Stearman Biplane Best of theme for both autos and military Judges Grand Prize - Best of Show * The no sweeps rule says that a builder may win no more than one award in a category. This ensures that one builder doesn't flood a category and win all the awards. We also do not allow previous Model Expo, IPMS Nationals, or Region 8 winners to recieve awards. For more info, please visit the San Diego Model Car Club, or the IPMS, San Diego web sites.
  4. Dave Ambrose
    Cool. It wasn't working for me earlier.
  5. Dave Ambrose
    Irfanview is my go to utility for things like that.
  6. Dave Ambrose
    I think it's safe to say that continental private equity firms are different from their Anglo/American counterparts. My favorite coffee brand, Peet's was bought by JAB in Luxembourg. I was worried that quality would slip, and that I'd be reduced to drinking Starbuck's coffee. That hasn't happened. The coffee is just as good as ever, but the tea has undergone some changes. They merged it with another of their brands and explained that they were having supply problems due to increased demand for premium teas. We're getting by. They also own a bunch of other coffee companies, and Keurig. They seem to be making the synergies work for them. That's what these companies are supposed to do. I'm going to guess that there will be changes, but it seems like the continental equity companies are indeed in business to make money rather than bleed the cash, and stiff the suppliers like the American companies do. One advantage they have is access to eastern European mold making and manufacturing facilities. Their costs and capabilities are on par with China, and much closer. That takes a lot of time out of the product development pipeline, which reduces costs. I can't find what other companies they own, but it seems like they will take advantages of their portfolio, and the Revell acquisition is either part of an existing strategy, or the nucleus of a new plan. But, the long term challenge facing any of the traditional model companies is bringing younger people into the hobby. I feel like it can be done, but it needs a completely new strategy that hasn't been tried yet. Revell's previous management was good at marketing to people like us, but we're not the future.
  7. Dave Ambrose
    We actually have no limit on disk space for the site. In this context, anything included in a post is site content, and in accordance with our terms of service. I don't see anything that would cause you to hit any kind of space limit. I have encountered problems with files that contain spaces, or extended characters. There are also restrictions on the file types, but so long as they are gif, jpg, or png, you should be fine. I did resave those settings in case that makes a difference. Try it again, and PM me if you into any more issues. Attach the problematic image file, if you can.
  8. Dave Ambrose
    This is a great topic. I've been afflicted by the same thing. My Achilles heel being paint drama, and biting off way more than I can realistically do in finite time. I've been addressing this a couple of ways, and it seems to be helping. First off, I scaled back the difficulty. I'm a lot more careful about biting off more than I can chew. I've decided that box stock is a nice category for the moment. Second, I started going back to some stalled projects to find that my skills have improved by rather a lot since I suspended work on them. They're getting done, and looking pretty good in the process. Third is to realize that very few people will look at my build the same way I do. Yes, there are imperfections, but they see the big picture, which is a nice car. I can see that too, if I want. I started this year off pretty well, and I'm hoping to keep it going.
  9. Dave Ambrose
    Thanks. This is one of my favorite cars.
  10. Dave Ambrose
    A staysail schooner, nice. Gonna follow this one. If the models are anything like the real ones, any time you spend getting the frames just right will pay you back tenfold by the end of the project. It's a principle I've followed on a lot of projects, and it seems to be very true, almost regardless of context.
  11. Dave Ambrose
    Recently, it seems that motion gifs for avatars has become A Thing(tm). Please do NOT use any flashing avatars. They can induce seizures in epileptics, Yes, this really is a problem. I've seen it and had to fix the errant software. If we see any of them, we will remove them immediately. Please do not put them back. Smooth motion is OK. Thanks, Dave Ambrose
  12. Dave Ambrose
    Looks like he forgot to renew his domain and it got hijacked.
  13. Dave Ambrose
    That shouldn't happen. What type of device are you using to read the site? Is anyone else having this problem?
  14. Dave Ambrose
    I've run into problems with the air supply pulsing when using a diaphragm compressor and no air tank. The tank doesn't have to be large, but you need may very well find you need something.
  15. Dave Ambrose
    I stopped using that stuff altogether. Could never get it capped tightly enough. I switched to the Gorilla Glue CA in the little tubes. They seal up tight and the glue stays good until the glue runs out, assuming I don't leave the cap off.
  16. Dave Ambrose
    I've been using India ink applied with a Speedball quill pen. Doesn't matter what paint chemistry you're using, as it's a straight solution of bootblack in water. There's no vehicle (binder) to react. I usually apply it after primer, and before paint.
  17. Dave Ambrose
    I'm sorry to hear about your cat. It's so hard to say that final goodbye. They insinuate themselves into your life, and in my case, the hobby table too.
  18. Dave Ambrose
    I heartily approve. Love the D-Types. That's a very nice looking kit.
  19. Dave Ambrose
    I've noticed that the Sci-fi section (including Gundams) at my local hobby shop has been growing, mostly at the expense of armor, but also airplanes. Model cars have stayed about the same, but this is Southern California. We have a thriving car culture. Sci-fi and Gundam modelers tend to be a lot younger than your average IPMS meeting too. That's clearly where the market is heading, and seems to be where the development dollars are flowing. Moebius released a couple of super nice kits with the Proteus, and Discovery. Automotive subjects generally have very good coverage. Some are probably way overdone, but still popular. There's a robust secondary market, which eats into sales of new kits. I suspect your typical model car practitioner has a large kit stash and will only be selectively buying new kits. We're to a point where the things people really want are somewhat esoteric and are never going to be very popular. Moebius is a business first, and the development money follows the sales.
  20. Dave Ambrose
    A reminder from your friendly neighborhood moderator. Please keep it civil. That is all.
  21. Dave Ambrose
    The description on the main page makes allowance for questions as well. This certainly qualifies as a question.
  22. Dave Ambrose
    Uh yeah, I'm half tempted to lock this thread now. Suffice it to say that Reliable Resin doesn't enjoy a good reputation. There have been plenty of threads on the subject on this board and elsewhere. I recommend that you check those before you order anything.
  23. Dave Ambrose
    I've been using a 5$ piece of granite counter top tile as a poor man's surface plate. It's flat enough, and it doesn't readily break or shatter.
  24. Dave Ambrose
    I have British cars. They seem to need a lot of brake fluid. So, I generally use DOT 3 or 4. Works well, and doesn't attack the plastic. Get a large bottle of the cheapest stuff you can find. It seems to remove most any paint. You might have to scrub some of the paint in the panel lines out with a toothbrush. Denatured alcohol will clean off the residual brake fluid. Do NOT get the DOT 5 brake fluid. It's silicone and won't do a thing to paint.
  25. Dave Ambrose
    Hi Joe, welcome to our community. Your builds look very nice. I hope you feel free to share more.
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