peteski

I agree that the photo has been modified (including cranked up color saturation and contrast) which to me actually makes it look unnatural. If you looked at the car on the photo directly with your own eyes, it would look duller. Theoretically you can take any good looking model, and Photoshop its photo to do the same what has been done to that photo of a Corvette.

Another oddity. Those silver "gills" on the front fenders are a bit much for me.

Even ignoring those awful bumpers, I still don't find that design attractive. There is something weird about it.

Waterside decals need a smooth and waterproof surface to adhere to. It doesn't really matter what type of material it is as long as it has that type of surface. If the natural material has a rough surface or one which will absorb water, applying some sort of finish, like glossy paint first, will make it decal compatible. Decals can be applied to flat-finish or rough surfaces but they will not fully adhere and you will see "silvering" where there is air trapped under the clear film, and the decal can even flake off the surface if it is rough enough. Using decal setting solution could help, but likely still not be enough to make the decal film fully "melt" intro the rough surface.

Here we go again Bill. You're right, I never stated that I knew what specific alloy the original chrome BMF foil is made of. The only test I made was that you can easily melt it (just like you would melt the ordinary tin/lead solder) with an ordinary soldering iron (mine was at 700 deg. F). That alone proves to me that it is not just just aluminum foil. I then provided more details describing the other types of BMF foils. I do not have any sources to cite. This is all simply based on my observations. As you know, some of the older folks still have those critical thinking and keen observation skills, like looking at some foil and being able to tell that it is not just an aluminum foil. If a had an access to a gas chromatography–mass spectrometer I could tell you what is the composition of that alloy, but unfortunately I don't. I am also curious as to what that alloy is. But do modelers really need to understand the exact chemical composition of the BMF's original chrome foil? I think that just knowing that it is is quite stretchy (more than just an aluminum foil) would be enough. The goal of my post was not to contradict you, but to provide some additional info about the various BMF foil types. Even if that info is just my observations. You can take it or leave it.

Huh? Many people still use PCs running Windows. I rather read the forum (or do other things) on a 24" screen rather than a tiny 6" smart phone screen. Besides, someone has to support Bill Gates. But on a serious note, here is an AI overview: Windows is the most popular desktop operating system, with a global market share of approximately 72.3% (as of September 2025), significantly larger than macOS (around 4.35%) and Linux (about 3.17%). However, when considering all device types, including mobile, the market is split between Android and iOS, with Windows falling behind in second place overall.

Well sure, but check the percentage of aircraft model related posts in those sections compared to the number of all other posts relating to the forum's name. Just sayin' . . . Personally I would find another forum specializing in the subject for which I'm seeking info. I am also a model railroader, and while I might occasionally post something model railroad related here, I also belong to a model railroad forum for when I need model railroad assistance.

I agree with Ace. While there are some modelers here who also model aircraft or other non-automotive subject, we are geared here towards automotive models. For models other than automotive, for best advice I would suggest joining one of the many online forums dedicated to those subjects.

Same here. I have a copy of all my work (photos, artwork design, etc.) stored on my old-school Windows PC, and regularly take 2 backups of all the information. One copy of the backup is on a USB hard drive (which after each backup is disconnected from the PC). I also keep at least 2 older backups on it. Second "offsite" backup is also taken, less frequently, and stored in another physical location (not in my house).

Interesting. As I understood, the old-school online forums were a dying breed of social media. I'm surprised that scammers put in so much effort to infiltrate the old-school forums, when all most action is on Facebooks, Instagrams, YouTubes, TikTocks and all the other more modern communication venues.

Ah yes, that was a quite a rant from Mr. Texas3D (including several PMs to me), but that will not stop me. Striations, striations, striations! See, I did it again. To me the visible lines of 3D printing layering look like striations, regardless of what others think.

As I mentioned in my last post, another possibility is that the seller used an older, low-res printer which is incapable of printing thinner layers. 3D printing technology evolves continuously. They might own a older printer or one of the less expensive models which have lower print resolution.

One week works for me. I'm also surprised that with all the precautions moderators take there are still scammers getting through as legit users. Between all the scammers trying to scam people and general population seeming to get more and more gullible, we sure live is in crappy times.

Not surprised. Misunderstood or misheard song lyrics are a "thing". See https://www.kissthisguy.com/

@stitchdup For quite some time editing capability has already been limited to just few days. Are you shortening it to even less time? How much time? I often come back to my post next day and see something that needs to be corrected (I'm far from perfect and spell checker also doe not work very well).

Yes, those striations or artifacts of how the printer prints the item one layer at a time, are due to the thickness of the printed layers. It could be that the layer thickens is configured to be too coarse, or it might just be that the specific printer simply does not have the capability to print thinner layers. I suspect that it is the latter reason. Vendor's printer is likely a lower resolution printer.

For most realistic metal finish BMF is it. Just like their slogan states "Bare-Metal Foil looks like metal because it is metal™". It was also originally developed and sold for natural metal finish aircraft models. Using it for automotive chrome trim came in later. And sorry Bill to jump in here again, but the original BMF "chrome" (and now "Improved chrome") is *NOT* just an aluminum foil. It is some sort of soft, pliable metal alloy which is why it conforms so well to complex curves and raised surfaces. It also has a slightly "warm" metal look similar to how nickel looks like. You can easily verify that it is not aluminum because it will melt at low enough temperatures needed for soldering. If you have a soldering iron, you can easily test that. You can't melt aluminum using soldering temperatures (500-800 deg. F). Later on BMF also started manufacturing the "ultra bright chrome" foil. That is just aluminum foil, but it is nowhere as easy to work with as the original BMF stuff because aluminum is much stiffer than that special metal alloy. But it looks just like bright shiny aluminum. All the other color foils BMF sells also are the stiffer aluminum type.

Tamiya X paints are plastic safe. Thinning them with Lacquer Thinner might make them no longer plastic safe. Standard hardware-store Lacquer Thinner is a "hot" solvent which can attack (craze or soften) typical kit plastic. Actually different brands have slightly different formulations, with some hotter than others. Alcohol is plastic safe and the X paints do contain alcohol, so that seems like a safer alternative. Just don't use rubbing alcohol (as it is diluted and might contain other ingredients).

I'm for red light cameras which are used just by police for enforcing traffic laws. It is those new flock cameras that get my knickers in the twist. They are totally different animal and they seem to be sprouting everywhere (not specifically at traffic locations) like mushrooms after it rains.

It is pretty laughable that these are considered as rights violation when more and more of those pesky flock cameras are popping around my area (and everywhere else in the U.S., and nobody seems to be upset that those are basically tracking us, aggregate all sorts of info about use, and sell that to for-profit-companies and to law enforcement. I should start another thread about those. EDIT:I actually did start new topic about those Flock Cameras last night but that topic seems to have !poof! vanished. I didn't think there was anything political or forbidden in it.

Good advice for drilling metal, but not needed for drilling plastics. They cut plastic like hot knife through butter.

Well yes, they are very hard and the real small sizes can be fragile if not handled properly, but I almost exclusively use PC board drills in my hobby, and while I have plenty of spares, I don't break them often. I guess it is all in ones tough and handling. I hold very small ones shank directly in my fingers, and when I use a pin vise I prefer ones which have rotating top. I can rest the top in the palm of my hand while using the thumb an index finger to spin it, Only few of the alternate holders described here have that helpful feature. To me the advantage of the extremely sharp split-point cutting surface outweighs their inherent fragility. Storing those bits securely also reduces the breakage from accidental dropping. Here is my collection gathered over the years.

Oh yeah, the good old days . . . Why? Because the minimum wage in the '70s was less than $2/hr, and a loaf of bread cost 25-30 cents. It is called inflation, and while if someone is old enough to remember, those are pleasant memories, that is never to return.

Actually the Tamiya acrylic paints in the glass jars aren't true water-based acrylic paints. They use alcohol as a low-odor solvent. They seem to behave more like the stinky solvent-based paints than true water-based acrylic paints.

Actually, including in the Forum Rules sticky thread the number of posts required to be taken of moderation would make sense to reduce the need to ask this type of question. "Moderated for a while" is not very informative.