Jairus

Steve, Nobody’s ignoring you. I just don't have the time right now to do the research but your question IS intriguing to me. I am up to my eyeballs right now painting customers slot car bodies and will look into this as soon as I can. Jairus

Manny, thus far I have not disagreed with what you have written about this subject but I must add something. You mentioned Lexan paint being Ready-to-shoot.... You must be talking about the FASKOLOR line. Right? Because I have found the Pactra Racing Finish colors by TESTORS does need thinning. If shot right out of the bottle, will create way too much air-dried-dust-balls forming around the inside of the racing shell. Doesn’t matter if I use my Badger 150 or Iwata gravity feed! So, definitely thin this paint with Lacquer thinner prior to loading it into your airbrush. Probably best to use the specified RC Lacquer thinner too. I have used the cheap stuff and it WILL work but for some reason it creates little globs at the bottom of a jar of paint that is getting low and old. Luckily that doesn’t happen to me very often... and I cannot believe you guys read this far down.....

Nicely done so far... keep us updated!

Very cool......er, HOT!

Manny, That is a very nice start! Beautiful bed too. I would really like to see it finished... what graphics are planned? Jairus

I am going to answer this question once and then refer people to this thread for the answer because I can see this question coming up alot! Photo storage: To post pictures on this Forum you need your pictures stored somewhere OFF your computer. There are many photo hosting sites, some free and some with a nominal charge, that will work. Fotki and Photobucket are just two of many. You can also store your pic's on a web site if you have access. You just cannot store them on your computer or on this forum. Photo size: A good size to shoot for is 720 x 490 pixels (10 x 4.5 inches) at 72dpi. Thats a file size of 156Kb. We want to keep this forum friendly for everyone including those who still have dial-up. Shooting pictures with your own camera, set the resolution for SQ2. Any higher quality and you will need some type of photocropping software on your computer that can reduce the size. Photo posting: Ok, lets say that you now have an account on Fotki! Those pictures now have an address in the system you can access. That address is in the address line of your browser. You can highlight and copy that address. Open a new browser window, paste that address and hit Enter. If the picture opens in the new window then you can post that address on this Forum and everyone will see it! If it opens the "picture hostings web site" asking for a pass word.... it won't work on this Forum. But... let's just say that it works. OK, you click "Post Reply" or "New Topic" and you start typing in the little box. Up above the box are a row of buttons, among them is one labeled (Img). Click that button + Paste or type the address for the picture you want to post + click (Img) again. It should look something like this: [ ] - Brackets tell the browser that something important goes next. [/ ] - Brackets with a back slash tells the browser to turn something off. You have to have both for the photo to post like this:

Steve, the reason that this works is the sun will warm up the body and soften it very slightly. Just make sure that the rubber bands are not tooo strong or you'll be creating a worse problem! I had an award winning 1986 Mustang convertible that I was retiring. A local hobby shop wanted to display it with a bunch of other models in the display window. The problem was... the 1986 Mustangs used a prop rod instead of spring loaded hood hinges. Sooo... I replicated the prop rod, including storage space along the top of the core support. Just like the real car! 2 months later I picked up my Mustang from the hobby shop and the hood was soooo warped after sitting in the open window.... in the sun.... with the hood propped open! My car sat in a display window, which slightly multiplies the heat factor, but I live in the Pacific Northwest, halfway between the equator and the North Pole. The window sat on the east face of the building and there was a slight overhang. I do not remember what time of the year it was. I estimate that the window had direct sunlight no more than 4 hours each day..... after that it was too high in the sky to have much effect. You might take these factors into consideration and make sure that your car only gets periodic doses of the sun.

Unfortunately there is no easy fix for such a warp. Most modelers will glue in the chassis and interior which are much more "boxy" and that will force the body into a correct stance. How ever, I happen to know that you’re a slot racer Steve and most styrene bodies you use are attached loosely about the middle of the chassis so there is nothing available to "force" the body. Do not use heat in any way shape or form. Styrene plastic has a very low melting point and when you get it near heat it will want to draw back to it's natural state ... which is a blob of plastic! Instead I would place the body on a flat board with something to force it into correct position. Rubber bands will work just fine. Then set it out in the sun or on a window sill. Have patience because it will take a couple of months! This WILL work but I didn't say it would be easy....

Bob, welcome to MCM forum. I see all forms of Model car building, including slot cars, as being in the same fold. I hope you will visit often and participate from time to time.

I started 29 months ago and have not stopped yet!

I think we need a forum for Slot cars! Hard body cars of course. Something to bring them into the fold. What do you all think?

I think you have too much time on your hands Robert. :roll: