Dave Ambrose

There were preview pictures of the Excelsior at Comic Con. It looks like a excellent kit. I think I might have to get one of those The Pacer? I thought they were ugly when they came out. Now my taste in cars is more refined, and well, I still think they're ugly.

Hi Sam, and welcome. That's a very nice first model. I've been finding it useful to limit myself to one new technique or material per build. I get overextended and frustrated if I try more than that, then the project goes on the shelf for a while. As for photo etch parts, they are made from very thin metal which has been coated with a light-sensitive resist. You expose the resist through a mask, and wherever there is light, the resist hardens, forming a barrier. You then wash away the unexposed resist, and put the metal on a backing tape. You drop it into a solution that removes the unprotected metal. Once the unprotected metal dissolves, you're left with the parts you wanted. You can make parts with very fine holes and details this way.

This game seems to be taking San Diego by storm. I live near a park, and it's been full of kids. On the plus side, they're out walking and face to face socializing. Nobody's gotten run over yet, but a couple of geniuses walked off a cliff near the beach. One fell 80 feet, the other 50, and had to be rescued from the cliff face. Both are going to be very good friends with their orthopedic surgeons for a while.

Finally, a rat rod I like. Nice work.

What an interesting thread. Thanks for posting it!

Good luck. It should be fun to learn something new. Good idea to pick something that can't be offshored.

I love those Minilites. I'm gonna have to get some. I wish I had a set for my MG. Full size, of course.

That looks great! The wood came out beautifully.

I'm pretty sure that houses are an infinite time sink. We've got a bunch of stuff that needs doing. My modeling time will be taken up by a gate, a new floor in out bedroom, an exhaust hood in the kitchen, and a new shed.

Yeah, that'll do nicely. :-) Thanks!

You have to accept little kids on their own terms. Early on, they're busy building motor skills. At that age, they actually understand quite a bit, but they have no way to communicate with you verbally. They're not completely wired yet. They'd like to come to you, but they can't yet. They will remember you, so being engaged with them is a good thing; even if it's making funny faces at them. He's trying to learn how to interact with you. At this point, he'll give you things, then come and take them again. He's actually learning an important concept, conservation, that we take for granted. Reading a book on child development might help put this all in context for you. It did for me, though many years too late for my niece and nephew. (but, they loved me anyway) The important thing is that you just care about him. He'll figure out that you're real quickly enough. They're very good at that.

Looks like you got a nice, craftsmanlike paint job. Paint drama is still my biggest source of modeling pain. I started making checklists. That helped a lot, but I still have things go awry for various reasons. It gets better tho. My last couple of builds have been largely paint drama-free.

I got rid of my afib today. That makes me very happy. I even feel like doing a happy dance.

Good luck, Harry. I hope you can get this resolved without major intervention. There's a reason they call us patients. We have to be.

The strangest thing on my workbench? Most likely the person sitting at the bench.

I like it. Great color too.

Very nice. The weathering looks very true to the theme, and I like what you did with the stand too. Finemolds makes very nice kits. Not too long ago, I finished the Finemolds TIE Interceptor. It went together well too. I just wish the stand was as nice as the rest of the model.

Love it! I can't wait to see it in real life.

This is a terrible thing to do to a Morris Minor.

I've used WEST System epoxy as a clear coat, though not on a model car. I think you'll find the results disappointing. It is incredibly durable, but it isn't as shiny as we like to see, and it goes on fairly thick. If you still want to try it, paint a plastic spoon and try the clear epoxy on that. It needs to be very thin, and typical laminating resins have some body (viscosity) to them. You might be able to thin it with Xylene. Personally, I'd recommend something like Testor's Wet Look clear. It sprays well, levels nicely, and is truly shiny.

Those look really good. One suggestion - real surfboards are not flat. They have some rocker to them, and the first third or so bends up a bit. 2-3 mm on these boards. The rear curves up too, but maybe only a mm or so.

If you make a base for it, you can attach some small diameter fishing line to the rear, then drill a hole in the base, route the line through the hole, pull it tight enough, and tie it off below

I use Kaizen foam rubber-cemented to a small block of wood. or another sanding form. Make the sand paper a little large so you can hold it with the sanding block.

I'm in southern California, and the local coyotes have been very aggressive; snatching domestic cats, and dogs. Even shooting them with a pellet gun will help. Even if you don't kill them, they will not come back. Putting barbed wire atop your fences will stop them from crossing.

Super Nice. It looks like it wants to eat whatever's in front of it.