Ace-Garageguy

UNINTENTIONAL DOUBLE POST

There's no blanket answer, though there seems to be an implication in this thread that there should be. Plastic 3D parts are made from a variety of different plastics, using different processes. Filament-printed parts are made from thermoplastics like polystyrene and ABS, and will exhibit the same longevity and stability characteristics as the base plastics the filament spool is made from. Just as model car "styrene" can vary in quality from manufacturer to manufacturer, so can printing filament. 3D printed parts made from liquid resin are essentially modified thermoset plastics, with some characteristics in common with traditional "resin" parts...but light, typically UV, is used to initiate and complete the cross-polymerization that makes the goo hard. With traditional "resin" parts, the polymerization depends on the addition of a chemical "hardener" or catalyst, and sloppy measuring can have a dramatic effect on part performance over time. The light-curing liquid resins don't depend on idiots adding carefully measured chemicals to make them work. The chemical engineering that's done by the resin supplier should be a reasonable guarantee of uniformity and stability, but you really can't depend on that 100%. Light-curing resins in 3D printing applications may also depend on "post-cure" procedures, like a lengthy bath in UV light, to fully harden them after printing. If this isn't done, or isn't done correctly, you're going to have instability and deterioration with these as well.

^^^ Yup.

I would have to disagree with that. One reason I got in the hands-on end of the car biz after engineering school...5 decades ago...was because I could consistently make more money than I could as an entry-level engineer. There was no shortage of people joining the trades back then, and the pay increased rapidly with experience. I was able to get into racing, and all kinds of other fun stuff I wouldn't have been able to afford until much later in my career, had I stayed as a salaried engineer climbing the corporate ladder. I was also able to launch my own garage business soon after learning the ropes...but I didn't hang out my shingle as an independent engineering consultant until 1995. My point? Skilled mechanics and bodymen have always been able to make good livings...at least for the 50 years I've been involved in the car biz. And there's never been a time I couldn't get work pretty much instantly, if I needed to...anywhere in the country. Somehow, many of today's young people have been convinced that the trades aren't respectable work, that everyone needs a college education, and that there's an unlimited market for 3rd rate programmers and emoji designers. Or they're saddling themselves with crippling debt to get useless degrees with majors in, let's say, art history, focusing on things like 16th century Inuit basket weaving...and then whinge because they can only get minimum or sub-minimum wage jobs as Starbucks baristas, having to live in mom's basement, or with a dozen roommates, and can't afford cars and insurance. America's youth are being lied to, misdirected, and screwed in general. Much of America's largely vanished middle-class was made up of skilled tradesmen and factory workers. Until somebody who's driving the bus realizes that, and does what's necessary to bring it back... EDIT: Just as an aside, a non-CNC machinist who can make one-of-a-kind parts can pretty much write his own ticket these days in any metropolitan area, because there just aren't many guys left who can use a mill or lathe with no computer interface. The machine tools themselves aren't that horribly expensive when you consider what you can do with them, and how much money you can make...and that you'll have virtually no competition. The hardest thing is marketing to a populace that's all but forgotten THINGS CAN BE MADE BY PEOPLE WITHOUT APPS.

Holy sweet mammajamma. That is some kinda fine.

But the mags are going AWAY...not just going to a digital format. There are MANY more people in the country than ever before, but far FEWER real hardcore dirty-hands car enthusiasts. Just as the percentage of drivers who can operate a manual gearbox is declining every year (in 2017 it was down to less than 20%), the percentage of the population that would even think working on a car was something they might like to do is dropping rapidly. I'm in the industry. Even though a good mechanic or bodyman/painter can still make high five- to low six-figure incomes, we have NO entry level folks coming in.

Funny in the face of this how people still insist we're not seeing the total wimpifying of American "men", evidenced by a rapidly declining interest in icky dirty smelly dangerous things.

Duplicolor primers are my go-to 95% of the time. As noted, they're safe under all paints. HOWEVER...they are "hot". They will craze some kit plastics if shot wet, so it's imperative to TEST on the kit you're working on. You MAY find you can't shoot them dry enough (from the can) to avoid crazing without getting bad orange peel, but this can be overcome by decanting them and airbrushing very fine "mist" coats. There is also a wide array of products in the Duplicolor primer family..."sandable" primers that are quite thin, in black, red, gray, "hot rod" dark gray, and white; "high build" or "scratch filler" primers in several colors (excellent for finish work over heavy body work, but too thick for general use, as they'll obscure fine detail); "self etching" primers in green, black, and red (hotter than the others, well suited to metal models and resin for better adhesion; and a "sealer" for which I've never found much use. ALL the Duplicolor primers are sandable, except the sealer. Some modelers like to use Duplicolor as a "barrier" coat, and shoot Tamiya or other hobby-specific primers over it. Again, TESTING of the combination of materials you want to use is IMPERATIVE EVERY TIME.

NOTE: Your primer is an enamel. Most enamel primers are non-sanding. Sanding opens the surface and MAY allow solvents to penetrate enough to cause wrinkling. I've had this happen on real cars a couple of times when I didn't know what crapp the previous jackleg had used. NOTE 2: 2X primer IS NOT RECOMMENDED UNDER THE BLUE YOU'RE USING. Here's the TDS for the blue. Read the list of recommended primers. Problem solved. https://www.rustoleum.com/~/media/DigitalEncyclopedia/Documents/RustoleumUSA/TDS/English/CBG/Stops Rust/SRT-07_Stops_Rust_Outdoor_Metallic_Sprays_TDS.ashx

One more time...ALL PAINT PRODUCTS FROM ONE MANUFACTURER ARE NOT NECESSARILY COMPATIBLE Some quick research on the web pulls up pages saying that the 2X Ultra Cover product is Acrylic Modified Alkyd enamel. We know Fusion is hot like a lacquer. There's problem 1 The blue metallic the OP had an issue with is FROM A DIFFERENT RUSTOLEUM PRODUCT LINE THAN THE 2X PRIMER. There's a good chance that's problem 2. But it's not my dog, and that's all the research I'm doing. All these products have technical data sheets available explaining how to use them, and what their chemical composition is. AND WHEN IN DOUBT, TEST FIRST.

One of those terms that got perverted over time, like "lakes pipes". I was there. As espo implied, it's from the '50s and referred specifically to cars with heavily leaded custom bodywork...more often than not in dark gray "hot rod" primer, as it was a whole lot easier to repair when poorly-adhering leadwork done wrong in the back yard fell off.

I guess you missed my remark about products from the same company not necessarily being compatible. That's why you TEST FIRST.

This probably has NOTHING to do with using alcohol as a cleaner. UNLESS...the rattlecan primer you're using is so wimpy that the final alcohol wipe softens it enough to wrinkle under a topcoat. BUT...I've been using alcohol cleaner prior to painting everything under the sun for over a decade...including full size aircraft where f'ups are VERY COSTLY...with never a problem. HOWEVER...I only use lacquer or catalyzed urethane and polyester primers. I SUSPECT the MAIN reason you're having a problem is that the solvents in your paints are hotter than what your primer can resist. Fusion is a VERY HOT paint, designed to adhere to plastics by etching into them. It's SO HOT that it will craze bare kit styrene badly. There have been numerous threads about this. Your other Rustoleum blue is obviously hotter than your primer can tolerate as well. Just because two paints are made by the same company, that's no guarantee they're all compatible...and consumer paint manufacturers are notorious for not thoroughly testing for inter-product compatibility...or providing thorough compatibility info on the cans. TEST ON A SPARE BODY (OR ON THE UNDERSIDES) BEFORE PAINTING ANY MODEL DO NOT RELY ON ASSUMPTIONS AND OPINIONS

HEED THIS WARNING

Other than maybe burning your house down. Breakers are sized the way they are for a reason, and wires in a circuit designed for 15 amps can be too small to carry 20 amps. Yeah, the breaker might not trip, but the wires can overheat and start a fire. Sure as hell wouldn't be the first time that going to a heavier breaker without upgrading the rest of the circuit was the last thing somebody did.

It's available here as "rubbing" alcohol, or as a disinfectant, in drug stores. It's not drinkable, but is flammable. It's used as lamp fuel too. 70% is a great cleaner. 90% or higher will strip some lacquer paints, so it's good to have around.

It's pretty simple to figure this out, really. First, determine what breaker each receptacle is on by plugging in a lamp, and getting somebody to turn each breaker off in turn (and on again, of course) until the lamp goes out. Do this for all the receptacles in the room. I've encountered some bizarre logic-free wiring in a lot of houses, and just because one receptacle in one room is on a particular breaker, you have no guarantee they ALL are on the same one. Make a note of the amp ratings on the breakers for each circuit. This is the total load that will "trip" the breaker. Most breakers will only handle about 80% of this number. Look at the labels on the things you want to run off of one breaker and add them up. A lot of household circuits are only 15 or 20 amps. For reference, a hair dryer or small space heater rated at 1500 watts will draw about 13 amps. Some houses will have overhead lighting on the same circuit as receptacles too, so bear this in mind. You may need to do some math, because some appliances, power supplies, and tools show ratings in amps, and some are only marked in watts. You'll need to convert watt ratings to amps so you can add them all up to see if your breaker will handle the load. Bear in mind that the starting current of some things is higher than running current, too...so your compressor might pop a breaker when it starts, though it would theoretically run fine. Here's some help... https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/common/watts-amps.php https://www.homelectrical.com/understanding-capacity-your-circuit-breaker.6.html

About the only things I buy in diecast are subjects that never have been or probably never will be available in styrene or resin, and then usually only damaged models that aren't too bad, but are really cheap. I've often been able to buy several messes with enough parts to build one nice one for a fraction of what a decent model would cost, but I've ended up with a few disasters too...like a crumbling '55 Pontiac that's not savable. Only thing I don't have that I kinda want is a bullet nose Stude Starlight Coupe.

Trash resin can sometimes be porous, and no matter what you do, you'll never get all the release agent out of it. Couple that with some folks using silicone-based release agents, or bizarre cheapo "just as good" release agents like Pam, olive oil, Vaseline, talcum powder, or dog knows what...well, you can get some really oddball problems. The only thing I've found that will reliably remove silicone contamination, by the way, is isopropyl alcohol. And if the substrate is porous, fuggedaboutit..

Man...he's got some kewl stuff. Not cheap, but nize. I've been stocking up in case he disappears.

My new baby is a '96 5-speed Land Rover Discovery with about 90K on the clock. One owner, from the same guy I bought the white XJ6 from last year. He's getting older and downsizing his fleet. One of the reasons we've been friends for about 100 years is because we have similar interests and taste in vehicles, so I've been getting first dibs on some keen stuff. The Rover includes a spare low-mile takeout engine, and a pickup load of parts. I'd intended to buy a 4X4 after I got moved West, but the deal on this thing was too good to pass up, even if I have to pay to get it there. Both the Jag and the Rover will be coming home in a couple months, after I move a couple cars down to the shop. EDIT: Just bought a brandy new 1000 + page factory manual for the thing too. I must be planning to keep it. Happily, it's OBD II, so I can talk to it when it's not feeling good (though I'd rather have the earlier SU carbs and a distributor).

No comment.

Yesterday was the last day of support for Windows 7 from TinyLimp. Win7 was not broken, still works just fine for everything, but in order to be relatively safe online from the countless security holes TinyLimp always leaves in their operating systems, I was forced to "upgrade" finally. It's the same as if you had a car that ran just fine, but after it was 10 years old, could only be driven back and forth in the driveway, never again on the road.

I'm just not seeing how you get "short and squat" out of the redesign. It's lower, more aggressive, and if it were real, would remove at least 1/2 a ton of useless blubber.