Dave Ambrose

I think I would use the 2-part bondo or epoxy for filling that frame. Most modeling putty contains lacquer thinner which will eat into the plastic. Plus, it shrinks when it dries. You can't really put it on thick. Bondo should be readily avaiulable from your local auto parts store.Epoxy from just about anywhere. You can then finish it off with a thin layer of putty.

OK, here you go, but I think you'll prefer my avatar.

Yes, I call it a bake box, but it's the same thing. Mine is very simple. I take a medium sized cardboard box; like the ones you get from Amazon. I cut a small hole in one side for a cord, and put an automotive trouble light (aka drop light) in the box. Insert parts, turn on the light, and close the box. My drop light is two small fluorescent tubes. Not a lot of watts but enough to get the box up to 95F. It helps a lot with enamel paints.

A "real" mini. I like it. I didn't realize they came with dual SU carbs. You did a nice job. The engine looks quite real -- and I was working on one this afternoon.

Agreed. The cooler is a nice touch. It gives the car a bit of back story.

Nice pictures. We found ourselves there one afternoon after a LACMA field trip. I thought the scooters would be boring, but they were awesome.

Sometimes, I miss the old days when it was smart people sitting at dumb terminals.

The last shirt I got was pinned with a bunch of silver-headed pins. The heads are just the right size for shifters. It sometimes amazes me what finds its way into my detail parts box.

Bare Metal Foil is really the best stuff for a lot of chrome trim work. But, for fine painting, there's no substitute for the fine sable brushes. Most art supply stores, like Michael's, carry them. They work well with enamels and lacquers, not so well with acrylics. They don't hold a lot of paint so you'll be going slowly. Make sure your hands and the object you're painting are well supported. Ultimately, you should be resting both on the bench. With my eyesight, I find a magnifier is a required accessory.

Hmmm.... Zen is about being present, stillness, and lack of desire, but we'll go with the contextual definition. I like to build things. I can't afford to build real hot rods, so that energy goes into cars. I also like to build aircraft, but only unusual varieties. For me, the deep feeling comes from connecting to my dad, who did build models, and my grandfather. Grandpa did not build models, but he instilled in me his emphasis on craftsmanship, awareness, and learning.

Welcome to our little community. That Paasche will last you a lifetime. There are several good painting threads going on in General.

My name is courtesy of my parents; not terribly original. My avatar comes from the old cartoon series Space Angel. It used to be a picture of my '69 MGB-GT.

As someone who's done mass mailings, let me tell you that the post office really tears stuff up. There's not a lot you can do short of putting it in Kevlar envelopes. There were times I swore they kept a teething puppy out back just for our newsletters. We eventually found a few ways to reduce the problem, but it didn't go away until we switched to email.

You would think that in a metropolitan area of 2.5 million people there'd be one good hobby shop. but no. We have a couple of OK independently owned stores, Michael's, and Hobby People. There are also a couple of good train stores in town. Sometimes the good weather here is a detriment. Our local hobby shops have big RC selections, and quite frankly, that's where they make their money. RC cars and planes are expensive. They crash. you buy, repair, and repeat. One of the mom and pop shops has a good selection of models, but most modellers in San Diego build armor and aircraft. Not too surprising with the big military presence. Car modelers are actually a bit of a rarity. But, none of our local shops compare with the shops I visited in Toronto. Man. Not big in square feet, but stacked floor to ceiling with kits, and a good stock of detail parts, tools, and finishing supplies. They'd kill and eat any shop in San Diego. I try to shop our local stores first, but they can't always get what I want, so I either have to mail order or drive an hour and some north to Pegasus Hobbies who seems to have just about everything, especially in terms of detail parts. I'm not complaining tho. The owners are nice, and try their best. I just have esoteric tastes.

I use 30 ga wire wrap wire. I have a lifetime supply from when I was an independent electronics tech. I think you can still get it at Radio Shack. I use it both with the wire in, and using just the insulation after stripping it off the wire.

I checked #4. I've been building a lot of sci-fi models lately; Batplane, Orion Space Clipper, and am getting set to start on something else sci-fi-ish. This interleaved with various cars. Over the years, I've build planes, trains, automobiles, and ships. I like cars a lot because I can let my creativity run wild. Besides, who'd ever think a purple plane was something serious. I did paint the batplane a deep metalic blue. Shiny paint drives aircraft modelers crazy. I still have a few planes in my stash and I intend to build them.

My attitude is pretty simple: So long as my builds are on an upward trajectory, I'm happy. They're never perfect, but they can look pretty good. I have, on occasion, bitten off more than I could chew. On the other hand, if you don't push the envelope some, you don't grow either, and personal growth is important to me. When planning my car builds, I pick a couple of new things to try, and keep it at that. It's a strategy that seems to be working for me, though I haven't finished any cars in a while. (self-employment is not the right choice for those who love free time). I find that building other models helps me regroup and feel like I'm getting something accomplished. This is mostly because my personal standards for sci-fi space ships and airplanes isn't nearly as stringent as for my model cars. So, I get reenergized ready for another model car build. And that's cool. My current interest area is paint. I seem to have paint drama with almost every build. Now, I'm to the point where I don't get frustrated by it so much. Just accept it as part of the learning experience and keep moving. Almost anything can be fixed with some sandpaper and patience.

I love Bug-eye (Frog eye in the UK) Sprites. That's the nicest model of one I've ever seen. Thank you......

you should have seen my early paint jobs. On second thought, maybe not. It takes practice. I still run into paint drama with almost every build, but now I know I can fix it with some sandpaper and a couple more coats of paint. I use the blue 3M masking tape. But, more importantly, I use a burnishing tool along the edges. It was originally used for dry transfer lettering. Not sure where you get them now days. You might find one at an art supply store like Blick's. The burnishing pretty much eliminates bleeding. As for spraying, with either airbrush or spray can, I found it very helpful to actually stop spraying the paint at the end. So aim the can beyond the model, start the spray, and move the spray across the model. When you get past the end, stop the spray. I don;t know exactly why this works, but my paint jobs improved a lot when I did. You can get a cardboard box and a cheap can of Krylon or something from Wally World, and just practice on the box. Work on getting even coverage with no drips, runs, or sags. I still practice on some newsprint when I'm not feeling confident about my paint mix or painting conditions. It helps a lot. .

As a contract engineer, I more or less live by my resume. I found a few things that seem to work well: Dynamic verbs and flowery prose is a little like hot sauce. Some is good, too much is inedible. Remove the objective section. You don't need it. Anyone other than your spouse, claiming to be concerned for your career development is lying. Stick with chronological format. Functional is very useful, but so many people have used it to hide things, that it almost automatically sets off a red flag. If you have valuable skills and experience from volunteering outside of work, list them. I've seen people list them as if they were jobs (they usually are), and get a good reception. Just make sure that they say volunteer position when appropriate. Most resume's are found via computer search. If you can get a hint of the keywords they're searching for, and they fit your experience, make sure they show up on your resume. Don't worry about keeping it to a single page. Keep your network going. This is one good reason to get out to lunch with former coworkers. If you put your resume on a site like monster.com. Be sure you "update" it every couple of months. For some reason, companies don't search older resumes. OK, that's more than a few. Sorry, I can get long-winded sometimes. It's also important to keep active during your unemployment; volunteer, learn something new, Just stay active and be prepared to talk about it.

Welcome. This is a good place to be. I came from the model train world, so I can assure you, all types of modelers are welcome here. There is an "other models" section for when you go screaming bat-brained crazy and build something other than a car. I seem to be building about 1/2 cars and 1/2 other stuff these days. There's also a chat room that's worth visiting.

I'm also a very satisfied One-coat customer. I've never seen anything like that, though I have managed to put down some paint that would have an orange calling it cousin. I have a couple of ideas -- First, don't put the body in the dehydrator. Lacquer paint dries plenty fast on its own. The warm body may be driving the solvent out too quickly. I've also seen the gas used to pressurize the spray can stay dissolved in the paint long enough to bubble up on the surface of the model. The paint needs to stay liquid long enough for the bubbles to reach the surface.

I'm a dinosaur. I use enamels. Some people think I'm sick. There, we got that out of the way. I use the sniff test to determine dryness. If I can still smell a lot of solvent on the model, it's not dry. Barely detectable is OK. Sometimes it takes a couple of days in my "bake box" to get adequately dry. Enamels skin over, and dry slowly after that. Your reward for your patience is a nice, smooth, paint finish, even without polishing. Once you get your airbrush back online, you can use lacquer thinner when you spray enamels. This completely alters their behavior and they dry fairly quickly, even without a bake box.

My German might be a little rusty, but this is an Austrian creation. The interior rises on hydraulics to give a full featured, modern DJ booth. To borrow a bit of phrasing from the article; Es ist sehr coolen! Ich sage, ausgeseichnet!

I see an armor kit in my future.....: