JohnU

And since when has the Weather Chanel found it necessary to name winer storms! As if they were hurricanes! Really!!?

This is why I always open older sealed kit when I buy them! Some collectors will cringe at the idea claiming it kills the value. But I would rather know that the contents are usable, undamaged and complete than sit on a sealed box of garbage!

Checked the calendar today, noticed it was still winter! Guess snow is inevitable here in Cleveland until spring! Wow who knew!

I tape a straight pin to a tooth pick, heat the point with a candle flame and stick it in an inconspicuous place on the part. Usually where it will be glued. The tooth pick is now a handle and will stick in a block of styrofoam for air brushing or to hold by hand for detail brush painting.

I built a plywood box a little bigger than 2 1/2 feet square, lined it with foil and mounted a ceramic light fixture with a 60 watt standard bulb, hinged a lid and put a cheapo outdoor thermometer in it. Temperature gets to about 96 degrees and dries enamel paint in about two days. Oh yea, drilled a couple of small holes in the back near the top to vent fumes.

Neil, would this technique apply to solid body guitars a s well?

I've done some woodworking in my time and am comfortable with finishing. If you are planning on using urethane, building up several clear coats and sanding between should do plenty at filling the pores of the wood without using a filler. The first few coats will raise the wood grain and sanding will flatten and smooth the surface. The filler can sometimes hide the subtle features and beauty of the wood. Be sure the finish is completely dry before sanding. Then use the color and seal with more coats of clear. It's always a good idea to test your technique on a sample of your project wood. Hope this helps and good luck!

That's why I don't use a dehydrator! A 60 watt light bulb in a wooden box with a thermometer I built just for drying. Get up to 96 degrees and that's it.

"Another option you might consider if you have an air compressor is a mini die grinder" Love my mini die grinder! I'm a tool a d die maker by trade and mine travels in my lunch box back and forth to work with me every day! Made an adaptor for mine to use 1/16 dia. Dental drills and burrs I got used from my dentist. It sounds gross but they were sterilize before he gave them to me. They are practically brand new and would have been thrown out since they can't use them on another patient.

Harbor Freight has a selection of ceramic magnets and magnetic squares for welding jigs in assorted sizes.

I use decal setting solusion. Melts right in and stays put after it dries.

I have a Neo double action gravity feed brush and have used Donn Yosts' technique using enamels with excellent results. Never airbrushed before and got great results with minimal practice. The cheap lacquer thinner from Home Depot that I use to clean it doesn't seem to affect it and I've had it for over a year now.

Thanks for the quick reply! Love this forum!

Ordered some Testors metalizer paint in the small jars. My question, do these need to be thinned before airbrushing and can I use generic lacquer thinner if yes?

Yeah and this should probably go in the "what irked you today" thread, I almost bid on one of those empty rare boxes thinking I was bidding on an actual kit until I read the discription and put on the brakes! I hate it when I see a kit that I've not seen before only to find its an empty box!

Or you could try selling them on eBay like some yeahoos do for $5.00 to $20 a pop plus shipping! Good luck with that!

Looks like something the "Little Rascals" would have built! LOL!

You need to talk to the manager! Never heard of any limit to what the coupon could be used for! Even if the item is marked down, they can charge you the regular price and then use the coupon to mark it down if it is a better bargain! They did it for me at the store I frequent!

Got a Travers Tool Co. catalogue the other day. They are selling a 3D printer by Afinia that is accurate to 0.15mm (.006 in.). Not sure if this is close enough for 1/25 scale but larger scale might do the trick with a little finishing work. The price seems within reason at $1599.00. You could probably spend more outfitting a mini machine shop!

Man, if I had one if those I'd be inspired to build more cars to fill it! Nice find!

Man, great idea! I've got two of those stashed in the basement! Haven't used them in years since I retired my vinyl records! Look like they can be repurposed.

Thanks for the heads up. I've stopped selling my surpluse kits from my collection because of the odd fees and outrageous shipping pricing for a box of plastic that weighs less than 2 lbs.! eBay use to be a great place and a lot easier for the average person to sell off their extra stuff and maybe make a little money. But now it's hard to break even with them picking away at the final value. PayPal even dings your account for their piece of the action! Mind you, I'm not trying to get rich, all I want to do is reduce the clutter and share some kits that I'll never get arround to building. I know that the issues of eBay have been discussed before so I'm sorry for my little rant. It's just that it has changed into something that no longer caters to the average person and unless you have a "store" it's just not worth listing with them!

X2!!!