Chief Joseph

Just remember a Dremel tool typically has terrible run-out at the collet (it wobbles), so anything you turn won't be as accurate compared to the same item turned on a Sherline, Taig, Unimat, or one of the other small hobby lathes. It probably won't matter that much for most parts, though.

Just get the neon from Smooth-On and use it with the resin you have. They might send you a small sample if you call them.

Pour some Future into a small dish and drip some food coloring into the dish to make your color. Stir it up a little with a paint brush to make an evenly-colored solution, but don't whip any air bubble into it. You can either dip the clear part into the tinted Future or apply it with an airbrush; I've had an easier time with dipping. Refer to this page for in-depth details: http://www.swannysmodels.com/Tinting.html

Nice! They look much better on a TA than typical "urban" wheels.

You can also mix food coloring into Future to make a tint. It's easily removable if you don't like the result. I've used it for lighter tints; for really dark limo tint, the real thing is probably the way to go.

The ancient Alps printers can print white decals. If you can supply the artwork, I can print the decal.

Here's a very neat application of that particular method:http://www.hotpopfactory.com/blog/2013/01/22/3d-scanning-and-pez-hacking/

I've played around with Autodesk's free 123D Catch program, where you take a series of digital photos of your subject, upload them to Autodesk, and let their system create a 3D model for you. It works surprisingly well, but I don't think it would be accurate enough to reproduce a 1/25 scale wheel with any precision. And for a wheel you need precision. I have wanted one of those Next Engine scanners since I first saw it last year. I would be a scanning fool with one of those.

Looks great! Just curious, but why did you choose this Alumide material over the Frosted Ultra Detail or Strong & Flexible material that's used to print most scale model parts?

It's cool to see the process. I'm sure this style of decorating could be applied to model cars as well, as long as the vinyl were super-thin. Wrapping with waterslide decals is possible, too, but avoiding wrinkles would be much more difficult.

Gorgeous! I always loved the colors on that car.

Monogram's old short-body 1/24 scale Huey that Casey showed has been reissued by Revell and it's available now. http://www.squadron.com/product-p/rm5633.htm Don't recast an existing kit. It's fine to make detail parts to use with the kit, but to recast the entire thing is a no-no. No matter how old it is or how long it has been out of production. Revell is still in business and they own that kit.

Thanks Mike! One of the neat things about modeling parts in 3D on a computer is that you can take a laptop with you on a trip and get work done. Overall, the Internet created a renaissance in scale modeling... The ability to communicate with a world full of modelers really changed the hobby in a big way.

You're just getting ready to learn about how much space this hobby can take up . We're packing to move next weekend and I have way too many boxes devoted to the hobby! Thanks! Since we started the moving process late last year, I haven't worked on anything physical or virtual. I can't wait to get settled in at the new place and start back at it.

Well, if you do 3D modeling, you can work and surf at the same time!

Absolutely

If you want represent real-life 1-3/4" tubing, you can use 5/64" tube. I'm pretty sure Plastruct sells that size. It will be just a tad thicker in scale, but that is about the closest you can get in fractional sizes. 2mm would be close if you have access to metric sizes. Hope that helps!

I use them and I like them. You can reduce them like crazy and they just work. They'll go over clean styrene easily as long as you don't build it up too fast; they work well at higher air pressures. The regular Wicked Colors dry to a semi-gloss sheen and the Detail colors dry to a smooth matte finish. You can use virtually any clear on top of them, too. The best source of information for any paint is from the maker of the paint. Look at this guide on the Createx website: http://www.createxcolors.com/PDFs/hard_surface_guide.pdf

Anyone here from the Eastern Alabama Gulf Coast area? I'm talking Fort Morgan, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Foley, and into the western Pensacola area?

A quick Google search turned up www.tomstoolstore.com in Massachusetts. It seems he is a Unimat guru, so maybe you need make friends with him

With an old decal sheet, the challenge is getting them off the sheet and onto the model. The lacquer ink has a tendency to crack when it gets old, and the decals can shatter into pieces when they're soaked in water. Painting a coat of Microscale Decal Film or Future onto the decal sheet before using them will greatly increase your chances of getting the decals onto the model in one piece. Once the decals are fully dried on the model, age doesn't matter-- use the same clear coat you'd use for brand-new decals. As plowboy said, you can paint a coat of Future over the dried decals before clearcoating the model. That will help prevent damage from a hot clear lacquer. Hope this helps

That Kosutte Gin-san stuff is awesome. Is it still available anywhere? I wonder if you could let the solvent in Alclad II Chrome evaporate off and use the metallic stuff that's left as a rub-on product...

Tomorrow morning, Scott Girvan from the Scale Model Addict website, will stream his build of a '32 Ratrod online. His deadline is 32 hours! What a cool project! Scott's a member here (ScaleModelAddict) and he has a great forum at SMA. More info at www.scalemodeladdict.com

Thank you, Steven and Ray! This model is now in the hands of its new owner; I gave it to one of my friends as a Christmas present. He has quite a nice collection of my models now!!

Fantastic paint. Very easy to use, but the downside is that it is solvent-based and must be used with good ventilation. Several years ago I used Floquil gray thinned with lacquer thinner as a primer for many models and it worked very well.