Odds & Ends you'd Like to See

[LDO]

1 hour ago, Texas_3D_Customs said:

I am going to be honest, I don't know enough about that engine much less any Mercedes engine other than the train wreck of the OM642 that I had.

I found a place that makes transmission adapters. I would love to put a built 6R80 behind it. Let’s talk about a custom scan for that. Not asking for a discount. You have tools and skills that I don’t. There’s value in that. 

[chryslerjunkandstuff]

Direct replacement parts for vintage kits and promos - bumpers, hubcaps, taillights, hood ornaments, steering wheels, windshield frames, etc..

Also, convertible up-tops..

[ChrisBcritter]

1/24 scale correct wheelcovers for the Monogram '58 T-bird.

Non-SS Chevy Impala wheel covers for '63-'66.

Four-lug 13" steelies.

Four-lug Cragar or Rocket mags.

[Texas_3D_Customs]

On 1/30/2023 at 11:04 AM, JessicaMartin said:

The OM642 engine you had might have had issues, but not all Mercedes engines are the same. It's okay to not have knowledge about every engine, it's a big topic.

The om642 in the GL/ML series was not a good idea, come to find out they are known to just lock up at random times. My daughter drives a 2000 E320 and other than burning/leaking oil it does really well except it's slow.

[Horrorshow]

Gasser front suspensions

[Calb56]

Federal Mogul Thermo Flow heads...

[Calb56]

McCulloch supercharger, I know RMoM used to offer one, once upon a time

Edited February 2, 2023 by Calb56

[iamsuperdan]

On 1/28/2023 at 9:39 AM, Mike C. said:

Decals.

 

 

Just make your own! Pack of decal paper from Amazon and your inkjet printer. And you don't need a fancy program. Microsoft Paint or even Word works just fine to set them up.

The only downside so far is that you can't print white or metallics.

[Mike C.]

31 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

Just make your own! Pack of decal paper from Amazon and your inkjet printer. And you don't need a fancy program. Microsoft Paint or even Word works just fine to set them up.

The only downside so far is that you can't print white or metallics.

The other downside is my inkjet printer took a BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH years ago. 

[peteski]

1 hour ago, iamsuperdan said:

Just make your own! Pack of decal paper from Amazon and your inkjet printer. And you don't need a fancy program. Microsoft Paint or even Word works just fine to set them up.

The only downside so far is that you can't print white or metallics.

Well, not quite that easy.  Any CYMK computer printer (like ink jet or laser) use translucent inks for rendering colors, so unless you apply the decal over white surface, the colors will not look correctly.  You need the white undercoat. Printers which print white are capable of laying down a layer of white (opaque) ink before overprinting white with CYMK (color inks).  You are also correct, no fancy graphic program is needed, but it does make precise design much easier and less of a guesswork about the sizes.

[Texas_3D_Customs]

4 minutes ago, peteski said:

Well, not quite that easy.  Any CYMK computer printer (like ink jet or laser) use translucent inks for rendering colors, so unless you apply the decal over white surface, the colors will not look correctly.  You need the white undercoat. Printers which print white are capable of laying down a layer of white (opaque) ink before overprinting white with CYMK (color inks).  You are also correct, no fancy graphic program is needed, but it does make precise design much easier and less of a guesswork about the sizes.

But you can use white backed water slide paper and if you have a cricut...

[peteski]

8 minutes ago, Texas_3D_Customs said:

But you can use white backed water slide paper and if you have a cricut...

Yes, and if everything lines up.  But that gets a bit more complicated than just printing.  Plus you need to lean a new piece of software so you can draw the vector-based cut outlines.  But yes, it is doable.

[Texas_3D_Customs]

1 minute ago, peteski said:

Yes, and if everything lines up.  But that gets a bit more complicated than just printing.  Plus you need to lean a new piece of software so you can draw the vector-based cut outlines.  But yes, it is doable.

Oh a cricut is much simpler than that, drop any image format in use the included software, my daughter who is not all that tech savvy figured it out hit print move to cricut and it cuts right on the edge of the print. It's actually pretty good, but then you're working with insanely small waterslides though

[Mr. Metallic]

12 hours ago, Calb56 said:

McCulloch supercharger, I know RMoM used to offer one, once upon a time

I don't think Rep+Min offered one, but I'm pretty sure The Parts Box out of Australia still does.

And there's a 3d one floating around ebay too.

[iamsuperdan]

11 hours ago, peteski said:

Well, not quite that easy.  Any CYMK computer printer (like ink jet or laser) use translucent inks for rendering colors, so unless you apply the decal over white surface, the colors will not look correctly.  You need the white undercoat. Printers which print white are capable of laying down a layer of white (opaque) ink before overprinting white with CYMK (color inks).  You are also correct, no fancy graphic program is needed, but it does make precise design much easier and less of a guesswork about the sizes.

 

Most of the decals I've made have been put on white trucks, so colours looked accurate. On darker colours, printing on white decal paper works fine. You just need to be more precise when trimming the decal from the sheet. 

When I decide on a logo or whatever that I want to print, I just look for the highest resolution image I can find and use that. Once it's scaled down to fit a 1/24 or 1/25 body, it looks good. 

 

Yes, a bit of guesswork when sizing, but if you have a full A4 sheet of decal paper to work with, you can size and print several options, then pick the size that works best.

 

 Some definite limitations, but it's inexpensive and works well.

 

 

[Mike C.]

I've been waiting for years now for a printer to come out that is really easy to get good results with. A printer (also decal paper) that even a person like me (really bad with technology) can use. Years ago, it was the ALPS, but I have no idea what the good setup is today.

[Mike C.]

And If somebody could come up with ink cartridges that don't dry up if you don't constantly use them and cost a little less, that would be huge.

[Texas_3D_Customs]

2 hours ago, Mike C. said:

And If somebody could come up with ink cartridges that don't dry up if you don't constantly use them and cost a little less, that would be huge.

I have a Canon mid level printer ~$300 that never has issues with ink tanks (no print head to exchange) and produces fantastic results.

[Mike C.]

14 minutes ago, Texas_3D_Customs said:

I have a Canon mid level printer ~$300 that never has issues with ink tanks (no print head to exchange) and produces fantastic results.

I should look into some now.

[Texas_3D_Customs]

31 minutes ago, Mike C. said:

I should look into some now.

I could tell you what model I have I don't think they make it anymore but they have a newer version of it that probably took away some features and maybe added something else like I think mine can print directly on DVDs which kind of is a dead thing now so there's that but I use cheap ink off Amazon I think I pay like 20 bucks for six or eight cartridges something like that works great Will print up to like 19x13 or something like that huge portraits that look fantastic

[George Bojaciuk]

Some great tips Charles! Thanks!

I sprung for a Ghost white laser cartridge. A little learning curve, but it works! Not cheap. Neither are the rest of the cartridges ! Lol! A diecast collector from my FM days suggested I try dry transfers. I used them a lot in house at FM. I can do white and metallic foils. Again, a new technology, but worth learning! Dry transfers give you an extremely crisp edge. Every ad that you ever saw from Franklin Mint, the cars markings were dry transfer. In many early instances, even the texture was dry transfer from art films.

I would like to find a quality decal paper. Some usual suspects, that I have tried lay down milky.

Edited February 2, 2023 by George Bojaciuk

[peteski]

4 hours ago, Mike C. said:

Years ago, it was the ALPS, but I have no idea what the good setup is today.

Alps is still the king when it comes to decal printing. I'm one of the owners of Alps group on groups.io site. Group has over 4000 members.  But Alps MD printer is a dinosaur with no updated drivers for any of the current versions of Windows, so we use workarounds.  And since there are fewer and fewer Alps printers around, they are getting up there in price.

There are printers which can print white (as a color or as undercoat for color images) but they are quite pricey. Not something a typical hobbyist could afford.  For an average hobbyist I think the most economical way to get custom decals made would be to have the modeler design the artwork and sent it to one of the custom decal printing companies.  But with that, you need to design artwork that well be sized correctly for your project and it will need to be in a vector format.  So there is a learning curve involved. But at least the software is free. Inkscape is a freeware which works in vector format.

[peteski]

34 minutes ago, George Bojaciuk said:

I sprung for a Ghost white laser cartridge. A little learning curve, but it works! Not cheap. Neither are the rest of the cartridges ! Lol!

Yes, that is a workaround for printing white, but its flexibility is limited.  Yes, printing white images is possible, but when you replace the black cartridge with white, then depending in which order the printer prints all the colors, the white toner might end up on top of the colors, not under them. 

That is where Alps MicroDry printer shines again.  It uses thermal transfer method of printing so the images have very crisp edges.  Actually the waxy ink is somewhat similar to what is used in dry transfers.

As for the decal paper, I use and like the BMF decal paper. Never had any problems.  I use laser decal paper for my Alps.

[George Bojaciuk]

I’m happy for you Peter. 

[peteski]

26 minutes ago, George Bojaciuk said:

I’m happy for you Peter. 

 

1 hour ago, George Bojaciuk said:

I would like to find a quality decal paper. Some usual suspects, that I have tried lay down milky.

You're welcome George. I'm glad I was able to offer a suggestion for good decal paper.