peteski

Alex, there is nothing inherently wrong with siphon-feed airbrushes. You had a bad experience and destroyed it before even trying to figure out what caused the issue, then you started to badmouth them. Many modelers (and as shown, even 1:1 body shops) successfully use siphon-feed airbrushes and spray guns. Looking at the posts in this thread you seem to have gone from describing the problem, to "taking a bat" to your misbehaving airbrush in about 2 hours. Why bother asking for assistance in troubleshooting since you can solve your problem so quickly in a very drastic way? Let me ask you again: is this the first time you tried to use an airbrush, and if you used them in the past, how much experience you had and what brand/model airbrushes have you used? The bottom line is: buy and use whatever type of airbrush you prefer. There is no need to put down some a well established design just because you had a bad experience with a single example of some off-brand airbrush.

Lets think this through logically. First of all, anybody (non-members) can access Fotki (not login, but they can view photos) and the other way is that registered users login into their account and they can view and upload photos into their account and also view other photos like non-users. If I understood him correctly Brad mentioned earlier that he cannot even access any other user's public photos on Fotki, while accessing the site as a non-Fotki-member. If that's really the case then the problem likely is not on Fotki site and contacting them will likely not help much. For example, can you see photos on https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/academy-instructions/academy-ac-289-cobra/ If not, what is the error you are seeing? Brad, any chance you can try accessing Fotki from a real computer (not a smart phone)?

The term is "break up the wall". You were close Luc. I agree that tires with even generic sidewall details breaking up the smooth surface would be large visual improvement over the "bald" sidewalls. They could still leave enough blank sidewall for possible future branding. Not sure why manufacturers opt for smooth sidewalls. And the 1:1 automotive manufacturers requiring model companies to get a license to use their logos is also silly. Using the logos on models is like free advertising for them (and advertising is normally very expensive).

I've been using my Badger 200 siphon-feed internal-mix single-action airbrush for over 20 years and painted lots of models with it. Never had a problem like you described. I never heard of Vevor. Might in fact be a crappy airbrush. Have you used it in the past, or was it the first time you tried it?

Well, while cellulose is a compound in wood, I don't think that the reason you mentioned is for use of cellulose nitrate (nitorcellulose) based lacquers being used to paint wooden musical instruments. As I mentioned earlier, that name is often used in Europe for lacquers used to paint any type of surface, not just wood. It is more about the fact that nitrocellulose lacquer produces a high-gloss finish. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose lacquer manufactured by (among others) DuPont, was the primary material for painting automobiles for many years. Durability of finish, complexities of "multiple stage" modern finishes, and other factors including environmental regulation led manufacturers to choose newer technologies. It remained the favorite of hobbyists for both historical reasons and for the ease with which a professional finish can be obtained. Most automobile "touch up" paints are still made from lacquer because of its fast drying, easy application, and superior adhesion properties – regardless of the material used for the original finish. Guitars sometimes shared color codes with current automobiles. It fell out of favor for mass production use for a number of reasons including environmental regulation and the cost of application vs. polyurethane finishes. However, Gibson still use nitrocellulose lacquers on all of their guitars, as well as Fender when reproducing historically accurate guitars. The nitrocellulose lacquer yellows and cracks over time, and custom shops will reproduce this aging to make instruments appear vintage. Guitars made by smaller shops (luthiers) also often use "nitro" as it has an almost mythical status among guitarists.

I suspect some of the European members will chime in at some point to mention that "nitro" or "nitrocellulose" lacquer is a common term they use to describe lacquers using "hot" solvents. It will likely attack bare polystyrene. You shoudl be able to use it following methods you use for painting your models using automotive lacquers. You need primer or sealer to protect the plastic from the effects of the "hot" solvent. And of course, like with any new paint product or a technique you're using for the first time, a test spraying (on a plastic spoon or similar) is a good idea. And a reminder about plastic spoons: You need to find ones made of polystyrene (they have recycling symbol 6, 06, or PS). That will be most similar to the plastic models are made of. Some plastic utensils use different plastic which is more flexible and resistant to the solvents in paints.

Yes, looks good!

Has anybody used the Spotlight Hobbies plating service yet? What did you think?

Did you read

I suspect like with posting standard messages and getting that error, your PM's text contains some word that the forum software deems as dangerous (hack). See

As usual, Jason comes up with another winner!

Ah, the new thing is to buy mattresses online without in-person visit to a mattress store to actually lay down on them to try them out first. Also, you couldn't vacuum pack a conventional mattress with steel springs in it. I do like the concept of sideways-installed (landscape mode ) outlets in your bedroom. You don't see this often.

That orange Z looks pretty good! Badger 200 might be an older airbrush, but it is a pretty good single-action internal-mix airbrush. I've been using it myself for about 30 years. Single-action airbrush is all that's needed for most automotive model painting needs. It is like a precision miniature spray gun. Fancy dual-action airbrushes are useful for things like weathering or fancy shading, but for basic paint jobs, the dual action is not needed.

When growing up I used to see lots of this car's Polish versions (Warszawa M20). Basically the same car with different grille. Many of them were taxi cabs. Their Polish nickname was "garbata" (hunchback), same nickname used for VW beetles at that time. Polish version was in production for much longer than Pobeda, and other versions like sedan with a conventional trunk, wagon, and few cargo versions were developed. The chassis and drive train was also used in other Polish made cars, vans and small trucks.

Sure, there are lots of uses for Lego blocks besides playing with them. Another non-standard use is for moldmaking. https://davidneat.wordpress.com/tag/using-lego-in-mouldmaking/

Maybe strange but it is a scam.

I thought that for some time now new member's posts are moderated. How did a 4-hour-old member manage to post directly to the forums?

That is correct. He frequents the https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/forum/16-car-aftermarket-resin-3d-printed/ bb forum.

Why don't you ask (PM) the person who makes and sells these? He frequents MCM forum.

Just imagine all the model kits and hobby supplies you're literally burning down with the smoke ending up in your lungs. Yes, cigarette addiction is a very hard habit to break. It is not just the nicotine but also the physical actions you perform while smoking.

Yes, silly gadgets-creep is prevalent in most new vehicles, except maybe some bare-bones fleet-vehicles. As for those rear headrests, contemporary cars have full 360 degree view on the entertainment center screen when in reverse. Who actually twists their neck to look through rear window, or looks at the rear view mirror when backing up? Well I do, but I own small inexpensive car with a crappy rear-view camera with a tiny screen.

I'm really glad that none of the cars featured here so far have those fugly large angular grilles found on many contemporary beamers. Classic kidney-shaped grilles are the only way to go.

William did not specifically ask about painting the car body, but it looks like many replies are assuming he was asking what paints to use for the model's body. I wouldn't dismiss enamels so quickly for painting any part of the model. Of course I suspect that in the modeling circles "enamel" is a word used to describe Testors PLA enamels or Model-Master paints, just as "acrylics" is generally used to describe waterborne acrylic enamels. Neither of those colloquial descriptions is really accurate. For example Bob stated "I like Tamiya sprays, but have to be careful with polishing them. They go on thin and are softer than lacquers." Well Tamiya TS sprays *ARE* lacquers. Many of the hardware store spray paints modelers use are actually enamels (even though they often use "hot" solvents which can attack bare polystyrene). There is nothing wrong with using enamels of any type (including the old Testors paints). If that works for you - keep using them. There is also nothing wrong with using multiple paint types and chemistries while painting the model. I do that after making sure they are compatible, or used on different areas of the model where compatibility won't be a problem.

Great news Tony, but you didn't include any details like the name of the printer, etc. New? This technology (UV-cures ink jet printers) have been been around for at least couple of decades, but have been (and still are) very expensive to buy and operate. Usually out of reach for an average hobbyist. For example, https://www.tichytraingroup.com but the inks they use are rather thick. Archer rivet decals were also printed using that technology. Majority of models made by https://www.micro-trains.com/ are decorated (including the weathering) using this technology. There are many more examples. As I understand, the original application for waterproof, durable UV-cured ink printing was in the advertising industry. Anything that needed a small run of a company logo imprinted (like a golf ball for example) was done using this type of printing.

And as mentioned, a valid passport will also get you into all those places, but not many of us carry a passport with us at all times.