Ace-Garageguy

Right or not, tool-use was once thought to be exclusively human, but now we know some other primates, mammals, birds, fish, cephalopods, and even insects can do it too, but tool making is a whole 'nother level.

Group-think makes me wanna puke.

Yes, they're different things, but they can kinda overlap. Darker colored primers can "guide" you as to where imperfections lie, but that's not their primary purpose, as John says. A "guide coat" as he also says, is very often a dark color of primer or specific rattlecan material shot dry and speckled over a primered surface (and sometimes a powdered product that's dabbed on) that will subsequently be sanded further. Divots and dings and orange peel will jump out at you if you're using the stuff right...but I've rarely needed a specific "guide coat" on a model. On the other hand, using different colored primers as you build a surface is a great way to locate imperfections you might otherwise miss.

Thing is, all of the advice can seem overwhelming, especially when it's often contradictory...so tend to believe those who show their work over those who don't. AND...the wide array of products can also be intimidating to a relative beginner. BUT...after you have a little experience, including a few disastrous failures (which we ALL have had), the prep and painting phase of model building becomes a repeatable ritual with predictably excellent results. I've personally never quite grasped the mindset of modelers who don't seem to know how their builds, including paint, are going to "come out". The only guesswork or uncertainty for ME comes from trying new stuff for whatever motive, like trying to save money by using cheap primers or big-box rattlecan paint, or shortcutting "wasted time" on sufficient prep. Just figure out what works consistently well for YOU and keep doing it...and feel free to experiment, but don't do it on a model you care about getting good results on. And never forget, you're smarter than the inanimate models and materials you're working with. Use your intelligence to develop whatever innate talent you may have into skills, decide what level you want to work at, and keep trying until you're consistently reasonably well satisfied with what you produce. As for me, I'm never 100% satisfied with my work, and always see something I missed or could have done better. But I always know going in to a project that it's going to "turn out" well within the level I find to be acceptable FOR ME, at this point in time, because I've learned what works FOR ME, and also know that if something "goes wrong", I know how to fix it, whatever it takes.

Minutes spent in prep-work can save hours of fixing messes.

"Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth"

Surgery to remove 10 pounds of ugly fat could often be accomplished by headectomy.

Seeds are where a lot of the hot is in jalapenos.

Shell gasoline won't power drone birds, but if they install fast EV chargers, watch out.

Real drones don't eat seeds, but the birds around here sure do, and turn it into poo, too.

The oft-touted "spoon test" is essentially useless for checking paint compatibility with kit plastics. I've explained repeatedly that kit plastic compositions vary widely, and you have NO reason to expect some random plastic spoon will be the same formulation as the specific kit you're working on. Yeah, they're all basically a version of "polystyrene". And that's as far as it goes. For that matter, spoons from a reputable manufacturer made of styrene will most likely be MORE solvent resistant and harder than kit plastics, owing to them supposedly being "food grade". So your "spoon test" often tells you nothing. AND...NOT ALL plastic spoons are even made from polystyrene. There are other similar looking but chemically different plastics out there. The ONLY valid test you can make with spoons is color checking, and even that isn't guaranteed to be dead accurate, as paints CAN actually dry different colors when applied over different plastic substrates.

"Variety stores" went the way of payphones and the dodo bird.

Part of the reason I like coffee is no matter how much you drink late at night, there's no hangover.

B' bye.

Bad owie. I see some broken carbon that looks structural. Does that thing have a carbon tub?

My ISP is one of the most universally hated on the planet, and it's been on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/on/off/ all dangetydanged morning...naturally when I have to send a mass of photos for a billing cycle. Naturally. I pay for lots of bandwidth and a fast wired connection because when I need it I NEED IT (and it's the only hardwired connection available at this address). So what go I get when I NEED it? saergsdfbdfbdhx vbxfhhdvbbghhfjjgyffdgf................nada Fcrew it. I'm going for a hike. Maybe they'll get a chimp up in the tree to clear that bunch of bananas that must be shorting the cable.

Murry lawnmowers are still a thing?

Entertaining to some is incomprehensible to others, and there seems to be an increase among yootoob movie viewers of folks who can't follow a plot.

More alien species seem to be shopping at Walmart every time I go, and it's getting scary.

...or give this man a ride.

Production cars can be beautiful or boring or weird.

Money isn't something spiders have much use for, usually.

Everywhere I look it's either mo-skeeters or cockroaches or ants, which is why I've come to think of spiders as my friends.

Again, "hand rubbing" paint on a real car is just WAY too much work in this day of modren labour saving devices.