Aaronw

I fully understand the unintentional collections. I have quite the empty sprue collection going, I feel like I should find a use for the sprue so I just throw it all in a box instead of the trash.

I'll believe it when I see it (or actually don't see it ). Last week there was a rumor started by a distributor that Revell of Germany was shutting its doors. It seems to be common practice regardless of the product that when a store or distributor can't get somethig they claim the company is out of buisness, rather than admit their short coming.

I never thought of a glue collection, it sounds kind of dumb at first but I have to admit it is kind of fun seeing the old stuff. I see you are strictly a tube glue guy though, no liquid cement? You really need a sample of the horrid blue tube Testors non-toxic glue. It has a pleasant citrus smell, but doesn't work so good. Still it is an important stage in glue history even if it is a what not to do moment.

Your welcome, I hope it gets a few more people to try using resin parts with their kits. Probably a good thing to know. I use Westley's but mentioned the rubbing alcohol because I've seen it mentioned as an alternative, I haven't used it myself.

I think Ken Kitchen does a 300 I-6 in resin.

Not from anything I could find, it isn't good to breathe the stuff (as with most dusts), but it isn't particularly bad for you. There are a lot of unfounded rumors out there about resin though, so I'm not surprised by your comment. This is a safety policy from from MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, it was the first document addressing the issue that came up in a search and MIT is probably a more relaiable source than Wikipedia. "Dust released from the sanding and machining of completely cured epoxy products is generally considered to be a nuisance dust." If you want to read it for yourself it is at the bottom of the hazard assessment section. http://psfcwww2.psfc.mit.edu/esh/epoxy.html From a Wikipedia article on polyurethane (the resin used in casting is polyurethane resin). Fully reacted polyurethane polymer, CAS # 9009-54-5 (CAS registry number), is chemically inert.[22] Foams In the United States, no exposure limits have been established by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) or ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists). It is not regulated by OSHA for carcinogenicity. Polyurethane polymer is a combustible solid and will ignite if exposed to an open flame for a sufficient period of time. It begins breakdown at approximately 240 °C (464 °F), a temperature which can be reached if the material is cut with a power saw rather than a shearing-type tool.[23] Decomposition product can include isocyanates, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and hydrogen cyanide. Firefighters should wear self-contained breathing apparatus in enclosed areas. Polyurethane polymer dust can cause irritation to the eyes and lungs. Proper hygiene controls and personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves, dust masks, respirators, mechanical ventilation, and protective clothing and eye wear should be used. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane

Because of the greater variety of subjects available, many people will eventually end up buying some resin parts or kits. Resin is a bit of a mystery for some, but luckily it really isn't all that different from working with styrene. Resin is a plastic like substance, and well cast resin parts may be hard to tell apart from plastic. Resin starts out as two different chemicals, and when combined they solidfy. It is very similar to a two part epoxy which you may have used (JB Weld, 5 minute epoxy etc). When in the liquid state resin can be poured into a silicone mold to form a part. Resin is used by aftermarket suppliers because it is relatively cheap to work with compared to styrene plastic which requires very expensive machines (hundreds of dollars vs millions of dollars to get started). There are a couple of different ways you can buy finished resin. Parts - resin may be used to make custom parts like wheels, motors, a modified hood etc. This is the easiest and least expensive way to see what resin is all about, because you are just adding something or swapping the resin parts for kit parts. Body - This will require a plastic model to finish, often a very specific kit. This is usually done to provide a slightly differant body style from that offered in a kit, like going from a hardtop to a convertable, or from a stock body to a custom body. This could also be considered as the simplest form of a transkit. Transkit - This is a more than a body shell, and generally involves a more complex modification. It also requires a plastic kit to finish, but usually will include far more than just a body. A new interior tub, seats and other parts are usually included. When you are done you will probably have a lot of the plastic parts left over (great way to start a parts box if you don't already have one). Common transkits are changing from a 2 door body style to a 4 door, or station wagon, also a different year or make of vehicle (Chevrolet to Pontiac for example). As the plastic kit frequently is just used for the Chassis and running gear there will often be much more flexibility in the selection of a kit used to complete a transkit. Full kit - This is a complete kit, it includes everything you need to build it, just like a plastic kit (although decals may still be needed). Full kits may not technically be complete, as some resin casters will sell wheels or other parts seperately allowing the customer to do a little personalization of the kit without adding redundant parts. OK, on to techniques for working with resin. I put together a little walk through of how I build a resin kit, there are many options, this is just how I do it. Plastic and resin share most techniques, but there are a few differences. #1 is glue, you will need to use a CA glue (super glue) or an epoxy. Regular plastic model glue will not have any effect on resin and can not be used to attach resin parts, luckily CA glue and most epoxies do work on plastic. #2 is paint, resin often has an oily mold release left over from the casting process. Even if the resin caster does not use a mold release, unprepared resin will frequently repel paint, so resin needs some additional preparation be fore it is ready for paint. On the plus side "hot" automotive paints that can damage plastic will not usually hurt resin. #3 resin is much more brittle than plastic. You can often trim plastic very closely with a sharp knife. When working with resin it is better to use a razor saw for removing large bits and a sanding stick for the final shaping. Cutting resin with a knife or sprue cutters may cause resin to shatter. When you are sanding a part check your progress frequenly, it is very easy to sand right into the part. #4 resin dust is not toxic but it is an irritant, so it is best to do major sanding outside and a dust mask is recommended. If you can't sand outside, sanding over a box will at least make it easier to catch the dust for later disposal. Other than these issues, there is not much difference between working with resin and plastic. Recommended tools and materials A plastic container large enough to hold your resin parts and enough liquid to submerge them. Westley's Blech Wite, this is a tire cleaner you can find at most auto parts stores. This is my choice for prepping resin parts, but there are others. TSP, and rubbing alchohol are other popular cleaning solutions. Sanding sticks, sand paper, razor saw, epoxy and / or CA glue, model putty, paint. I'll be going though step by step with a 1950 Jeep pickup from RMR. Step 1 Seperate the parts, clean up flash. Thin flash may be trimmed away with a sharp knife, thicker flash should be sanded. Step 2 Place parts into cleaning solution. Most of these solutions are very harsh on bare skin, so gloves are highly recommended. I prefer a container with a liquid proof lid to help avoid spills. Times very, I usually leave the parts overnight but if I am in a hurry a couple hours usually seems to be long enough. Step 3 Rinse parts with warm water. I like to use a clean container filled with warm water to rinse the smaller parts as it makes losing parts down the drain less likely. A soft stiff brush like a toothbrush also helps clean the surface. I give the parts a final wash in warm soapy water, then rinse and let the parts dry. You can check the surface with masking tape, if tape sticks paint should as well, if the tape won't stick to an area you might want to go back and clean it some more. Step 4 Hunt down and fill any bubbles or other imperfections. When I can I prefer to open bubbles from the inside and fill them with putty. This usually leaves the surface clean and unblemished which means less work for me. Step 5 Do any additional sanding or filling. I find emery boards work well on resin. Step 6 Based on your preferences, you may choose to do some assembly before painting. With this particular kit, I chose to prime before doing any assembly. Prime your parts, any primer should work, but I personally have found Krylon and Plasticote seem to work better on resin than other brands I've tried. All resin is not the same though so a primer that works well with one brand may not work as well on another. I start with a light mist coat, then add another coat every 5 to 10 minutes until I have a solid coat of primer. Once the parts have been primed, there is little difference between working with plastic and resin except for the glue you are. Just like when working with plastic if you have painted the parts prior to assembly you should scrape the paint away from areas you will be gluing together. From this point on there is little difference from building a plastic kit, so I don't have any more to say. Now go find an interesting piece of resin to work with and good luck.

I also just use a large (1/4" maybe?) soft brush. I tend to use a white nylon brush because it doesn't shed little bits of hair and any dirt or dust is easy to spot before you start brushing. Except for the size brush I use the technique described by Mike. You can also dip small parts like headlights, windshields etc. It actually makes the clear parts more clear and they look thinner even though you added a layer of clear. This also helps to remove the small nicks and scratches you often find if the clear parts are not bagged seperately. I have a wide mouth jar I keep the Future in, then leave the part / parts on a piece of sprue for a handle and dip them into the future. I shake off as much back into the jar as I can then just touch the corners where the Future accumulates to a paper towel which draws the excess away. Then I just hang it by the sprue until dry. Besides making the clear parts look better it also protects them from glue fumes and paint. Dipping the clear parts is now my first job when I start a kit, because if I touch them and have a little glue or paint on my hand I can easily clean it off with a little windex on a paper towel and start over instead of destroying the part.

If you go to FSM Hans Von Hammer is the guy to watch for old Revell / Monogram aircraft models. That is just about all he builds so he knows the kits pretty well.

You could probably just cut and paste a link to the first page of all the builds here, that would make it easier for Gregg to find them and move them. I know there was an emergency vehicle one too, but now I can't find it.

This stuff looks really interesting, have you tried it? If it will work on decal paper it would provide a much cheaper way for people to get metallic lettering. Thanks

Fine Scale Modeler is a good general modelling site with armor, aircraft, autos, ships, sci-fi etc (but no trains to my knowledge). Although it shares the same publisher it doesn't have the same tightly controlled moderation of Scale Auto. Not a very active auto forum but the rest are very good (and we have this place for autos). http://www.finescale.com/ The Air Resources Center (better known as ARC) is a good aircraft specific site. http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/

Ok, I just left messages, 4 yes, 1 no.

It says I have to be logged in to vote, maybe I'm missing a step somewhere?

If you just need a review it is a fantastic kit, lots of detail and the parts fit is camparable to Tamiya. It provides one of the best stovebolt 6 engines available. It also has a bunch of custom bits for the motor which I believe is a unique option for the stovebolt. I've been building one as an ambulance using the Jimmy Flintstone Barnett body. It has been very easy to extend the chassis for the longer body. Galaxie's series of trailers are also very nice, so I am happy to hear there may be more coming from the company.

Are you trying to build a custom camper or a factory built camper? If you are trying to build a factory camper they didn't have a full size couch / bench. The ones I've seen the back was beds, and the side had a counter / sink / fridge / stove, and a little breakfast nook / table. I've only seen 70s and newer camper conversions though, I'm not even sure they offered that in the 60s. The standard seating in a bus was a full width bench in the back, and a 2/3 width removable bench in the middle. The rear bench of the 70s VWs could be folded down allowing the rear area to make a nice sleeping area. I'm also quite sure the bus is less than 6 feet wide.

Jimmy Flintstone does two resin hearse bodies for that kit too. One is a fancy carved side hearse, the other is basically an extended sedan delivery, if you open up the side windows it can be used for an ambulance body as well.

I've flipped through that or a similar one. The guy seemed to randomly select cars he didn't like, I got the feeling he picked cars he owned that he had bad memories of like his ex-wife got the car in the divorce so he said it was a bad car. The Model T was considered one of the worst cars ever because it was the car that got people driving in large numbers . It was really kind of sureal reading through the book, I had the feeling the editor didn't make the author take all of his required meds.

I've used the decal paper from Micromark and it was decent http://www.micromark.com/SearchResult.aspx?deptIdFilter=0&searchPhrase=decal Bare Metal Foil's decal film was good too http://www.bare-metal.com/model-decals.html Testors also has decal film, its not bad but it is an odd size (5.5x8" or half a sheet of paper). If you do have it done with a copy machine most of those use the laser printer paper. After they are printed you will need to clear coat them before applying them or the water will make them smudge. Testor's sells a decal setting spray that I like but most clear coats will work, I know a lot of people use Krylon clear. Microscale makes a clear coat for decals you can brush on. Although the Testors paper is an odd size, I think it is a good place to start, the software included is pretty useless, but you get a few sheets of film, a can of the clear coat and decent instructions telling you how to do it.

I really don't think you can go wrong with any name brand printer for sale these days. I went printer shopping a few months ago, and the specs on the cheap printers were better than the $250 printer I bought 9 years ago. I bought an Epson Workforce 30 for $60, I haven't done a whole lot with it but it seems to be a good one, fast quiet, makes pretty pictures. The thing I really liked was the color cartrides are seperate (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) so no more throwing out a 1/2 full cartridge because one color ran out before the rest. An ALPS is very nice if you happen to have an extra $1500 laying around, but with careful planning you can do some nice work with an inkjet or laser jet as Roger shows.

This is one I made several years ago out of foam core board, I'm pretty sure it was under $10 for the 3 pieces of board, and some heavy clear tape. By using the tape I could fold the box up for storage. Now I'm even lower tech, I just use a piece of heavy white paper, I tape the top edge to a shelf to keep it in place and let it settle into a 1/4 circle. This gives me a bottom and back without a seam. This is using the sheet of paper, the background just curves away smoothly and the old way with the foam core box, I almost always ended up with a seam in the background

I don't have personal experience with it, but from others I understand they really don't like to run the decal film through their machines. Unless you have a really ancient printer most can print decals just fine within their limitations (no white, gold, silver etc). Just make sure you have the right kind of decal paper for your printer, inkjet or laser. The paper is not interchangable between the two.

I'll make a point of checking it more often. I've bought a few things and it is easy to use, unfortunately I just don't usually find much I want to buy. I did have some luck getting some old modelling magazines which was nice.

I agree with your comments about the trucks, they are not comparable with cars based on their purpose and use. Any ideas on what put the Colorado on the list? We had one at work and I really liked it. Its the only compact truck I've driven that I liked as much as my Tacoma. I haven't really heard of any issues with them, and I thought the 5cyl engine was kind of neat, pretty zippy but still got decent mileage.

Silly me , I understand how you are using it now, the raised detail is on the backside of the plastic. If you used thin enough plastic that would even give you a little lip for the edge of the plate. Thanks, I will keep my eyes open the next time I go to Micheals.