Schmitz

I've seen a few members in my local club hang-up the hobby over the years. A few of them were really top-notch modelers. In every case I think there were either outside interests or pressures that kept them from putting time into the hobby the way they wanted to. One got into racing (including doing track time in his own car), another became interested in civil war re-enacting. One of them had "gone commercial" doing resin-casting and commission work, and was putting lots of time into modeling trying to earn a living. In every case I think they were happier after quitting, and some of them have drifted back but are not nearly as active as when they quit. The modelers I know that have been at it the longest - and most successfully - have a number of interests besides modeling: an interest in history, or old cars, or movies, etc. Often those other interests relate to their modeling interests, but they're a change of pace. Most of them only finish a few (1-3) models a year. The other thing I've noticed is that if its too much work to model - because you have to move stuff around to get to your workbench, or you don't have the right tools, etc. then its easy to find something else to do. If thats the case maybe take a break and spend some time fixing up your workspace. In the end its a hobby, and when it stops being fun you'll find all sorts of reasons to spend time on something else. Don

Sometimes I'm able to pull a damaged decal off with masking tape. Just use a small, fresh piece of tape, rub it over the decal to be removed then pull it off. Usually a few applications will take the decal off. If it leaves tiny bits of decal behind they can be scrubbed off with a Q-tip dipped in Solvaset. This doesn't always work, but its hard to screw things up any more by trying it. Don

My daughter goes to school in Philly, so I get to drive across the state several times a year to move her in, move her out, etc. A friend who knew I was going this weekend gave me a pointer to this place: Simeone Museum If you're into vintage racing cars, this place has some great stuff: GT40 MkII and MkIV, a Cunningham, a "hippy" 917, a Daytona Cobra, '58 Ferrari Testa Rosa (just like the new Hasegawa kit), a Maserati, assorted Jags, Bugattis, gull-wing Mercedes - lots more. The only down side is that cars are displayed against the wall of the building so you can't walk around and shoot photos from all angles and the fact that their website is so good you can see most everything they have online. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. Its located a few miles from the Philadelphia airport - you can get to it without having to drive through downtown Philly (one of my least favorite things to do!) They weren't very busy when I was there - the lady at the desk said they opened less than a year ago and hinted that there weren't a lot of visitors. Intersting thought: the building is basically a warehouse - it has a big space in the middle that they use for special displays (they have a vintage motorcycle collection there now - at least 30 bikes) - it would be an awesome place for a model car contest - and the museum might actually appreciate the exposure! Don

Thanks for all the info (keep it coming!). I'm used to wet-sanding paint with micro-mesh cloths/pads to get a high-gloss finish, and one of the advantages of that technique is being able to remove dust, runs, etc. Mirco-mesh is intended for polishing scratches out of plexiglass, and its supposed to work - without gumming up - on (well cured) water-based acrylics. There was a fellow named Bill Cunningham (from Florida I think) who made the cover of Scale Auto a few times back in the 90s who claimed to polish Future over acrylic paint. Some of the big name car modelers pooh-poohed using floor wax - according to them only real automotive paint could achieve a show-winning finish - but that didn't seem to stop Bill from winning at a lot of big shows. But even on hard-drying paints like lacquer the micro-mesh takes a light touch - if you sand through to bare plastic often the only way to recover is strip the whole body and start over. Having a smooth paint surface to start with helps. Gloss rattle-can paint always orange peels, at least a little - with the micro-mesh pads you end up having to take off about half of the paint thickness just to get to smooth. I'm hoping the airbrush will give me an edge by putting down a smoother finish to start with - then you can start with finer grits of micro-mesh. Sounds like a bit of a learning curve to get high-gloss with acrylics, but even if I stick with lacquer for just the body and use acrylics for everything else it would make life easier (assuming I can spray the acrylic in my work-room, and only go off to the garage to spray the smelly stuff). I'm going to stock up on some Tamiya acrylics at the Nats and see what I can do with it. Don

I haven't seen the spit trick, but have seen 5 min epoxy used as a filler on wing-roots and similar big gaps: goop the epoxy on and wait for it to just start to stiffen, then smooth it out and clean up the excess with q-tips dipped in isopropal alcohol. Plan on using a few q-tips - throw them away once they get covered with epoxy. I usually get a big sticky mess when trying to use 5min epoxy for anything, but the alcohol does magic. Don

I mostly build cars - and admit to being a very slow modeler. Until now most of my painting has been with Krylon spray cans. For car models the Krylon was great; the paint was incredibly easy to use, cheap, readily available in some of the more commonly used colors (flat and semi-gloss black, aluminum, white, various grays), and the gloss colors worked well with a polishing kit. Only if I was stuck for a color match would I pull my airbrush setup out of the box. For ventilation, I do all my spraying (Krylon and air-brush) in my garage with the door open (and the car parked outside). As you may have discovered or read about in another thread, Krylon has been reformulated to be "greener". One result is the paint goes on heavy, another is the colors have changed (the new "matte aluminum" looks nothing like the old "dull aluminum" - its a grainy bright-silver disaster). I'm thinking its time to take the plunge: switch to water based acrylics, make a more permanent airbrush setup - ideally in my modeling room (a spare bedroom on the 2nd floor of my house) and figure out how to really use this stuff. I'm also hoping if its more convenient to paint, I'll also get more modeling done. So I'm wondering : Is there a consensus as to who's acrylics work the best (I'd like to stick with a single brand if possible)? Especially if I want high-gloss finishes on a car model? Will one of the small spraybooths (I'm thinking a "peace keeper") control the overspray and odor of acrylics enough to use it in a finished room (don't want to repaint the walls and carpet) in the main living area of my house? Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciated! Don

I've got a pair of very thin needle nose pliers from Sears (bought many years back) - the jaws are about 1/16 wide and 2 inches long and smooth-faced. They do most of the jobs a tweezers will do and seem to give a little more control over the part you're holding. Don

For those who have built this kit, I'm trying to decide between: - Gluing the interior bucket and firewall to the chassis, installing the engine, doing all the engine detailing and then try to slide the whole assembly into the body. - Following the directions (glue the interior bucket into the body, then glue the chassis to the bottom of the interior, then do the final underhood detailing with the model totally assembled). The first approach seems more likely to get everything lined up, but I'm worried about actually getting the chassis+interior to fit into the body without a lot of prying that might damaging the paint. Any tips? Don

David, Not exactly what you're looking for, but my daughter got me a small but nicely detailed Serenity Christmas tree ornament. It comes with a little desk stand too. You could probably do some super detailing and repaint it if you want that "I made it" feeling of accomplishment I found it for sale at amazon (a little pricey - I'm guessing my daughter paid less somewhere as she is a starving-art-student): http://www.amazon.com/Firefly-Serenity-Veh...3505&sr=8-4 I'd also love to find a kit; I might even try doing figures if any of the characters are available in resin (Jayne carrying Vera would be wayyy cool...) Don Don

This was one of the last of the "real" Accurate Miniatures kits (as in a new mold, done by AM). Unlike their aircraft kits which were basically aimed at matching Tamiya/Hasegawa quality, their 2 auto kits were pretty ambitious, and the engineering and fit suffered. If the company wasn't squeezed for time another round of tweaks to the molds might have helped. But I'm curious - as far as I know AM never did a GT40. Are you thinking of Fujimi? They have some nice 1/24 GT40 MkI and MkII kits - they are sadly curbside, but there are assorted detail sets available if you want to add an engine. There are also rumors of a 1/12 GT40 from Trumpeter, but the expected price may actually be high enough to stop me from buying one if it ever sees the light of day Don Schmitz

ScaleMotosport lists this set - they have a good rep: http://store.scalemotorsport.com/merchant2...Category_Code=6 I also found this on ebay, but know nothing about the seller: http://cgi.ebay.com.my/1-20-F1-seatbelt-RE...emZ310131308434 Good luck! Don

Duke, I could give you a book report but I don't want to write pages of opinion and trivia no one really cares about. If you can find the book (check used bookstores) I recommend it - its fairly short and if you like Clarke it is (IMO) some of his best writing. In any case, I've probably dragged this thread far enough off topic - if anyone wants to discuss 2001 - the book or movie - start another thread and I'll happily chime in. Don

The interesting thing about 2001 is that Clarke wrote the book and the screenplay at (roughly) the same time. The book had to go to the publisher before the movie finished shooting so they diverged - mostly where Kubrick decided the changes made the movie better. The big one I remember is that Kubrick added the scene where HAL traps Bowman outside in the pod with no space suit - the one place I thought the movie was actually better. Tying this back to modeling - in the book the Discovery goes to Saturn; in the move its Jupiter - because they couldn't get the rings of the Saturn model to look right on film... What bothered me the most about the movie is that it failed to convey any of the main themes of the book: what the monoliths were, the whole "sufficient technology is equivalent to being God" and your standard anti-war, anti-nuke messages (it was the 60s). It wasn't that Kubrick left them out - bits and pieces are scattered through the movie - but there is no attempt to explain any of it - its just lost amongst all the cool imagery. I thought "Marooned" - made at the same time with a much smaller budget and a straightforward storyline actually worked much better as entertainment. Don

Not looking to start a fight or take this thread too far adrift, but of everyone that voted for Kubrick's SF master-werk - how many of you have actually watched it lately? I got the DVD a year ago and was really disappointed on re-watching it for the first time in probably 20 years. The effects are still stunning, but Kubrick's minimalist style and artsy symbolism made it painfully dull and impossible to follow the storyline. I've read and re-read Clarke's book many times since 1969, and while its a little uneven in spots there are parts I really like and I still find it entertaining. The movie on the other hand I doubt I'll want to watch again for another 20 years... Don

Wow - just noticed this thread... 1. Aliens 2. The Matrix 3. Road Warrior Close contenders: Terminator, The Abyss, Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Forever Young, Ghost Busters Now that lots of these show up on cable and DVD I've found very few are as good as my rose-colored memories and even fewer hold up to frequent viewing; I was really surprised to find myself dozing off during the Star Wars movies. Guilty pleasures: Critters, Men In Black, Moon Zero Two Don

Thanks Bob! BTW, I think Gil's issue is how to recover from writing a big message, hitting the "Add Reply" button, and then have the browser fail trying to upload the message to the server (either because the network is down or the server is having problems). Some browsers let you hit the "back" button so you can go back to the screen where you wrote your message and try again, or copy-n-paste the text and dump it into a Word doc until the network/server recovers from whatever problem its having, but its possible some browsers just lose everything you've typed. Firefox seems to do the right thing, but at least some of the earlier versions of MS Explorer would do the "lose everything you typed" thing... I'm not sure there is a good solution besides always composing your messages in Word/Wordpad/etc (inconvenient), or remembering to copy it to the clipboard before you hit send, or maybe switching browsers... Don Don

Has something changed with respect to how long I stay "logged in"? I often take hours to write a message (in few-minute gaps between doing actual work) and I've noticed that when I get around to hitting "send" my session has timed out. I hate to admit it, but I also check messages from my Blackberry (checking email/messasges 20 times a day becomes strangely addictive once you have the thing) and having to login every time with those tiny little keys is a bit annoying. If the change was to address security issues I understand - I just wondered if it was intentional. Don

Thanks Keith - I'd seen all of these except this one (above) - it had exactly what I was looking for! Don

Can anyone point me to detailed pix - either online or in a book - of the '67 Sunray DX Corvette? I've found plenty of beauty shots on the web from the front and side, but no details of the engine or interior. From some of the pix of other cars and the history, I'm guessing the engine was chevy orange everywhere except the intake, which was bare aluminum. But its also possible the heads were bare aluminum too and the valve covers chrome. Inside I'm guessing a rollbar and single racing seat with stock dash. Also - close ups of the mesh-vents(?) on the lower front fenders would be nice. I think this car - restored to original condition - has been at lots of corvette shows - so I'm hoping someone has photos... Thanks! Don

I think it was at KSC for a while, but its now at the Kansas Comsosphere They have some really cool stuff there, including the Apollo 13 command module. BTW, the Revell kit (Mercury + Gemini kit in one box) was reissued sometime in the last 10 years, so there should be some floating around out there. I have magical memories of building those two kits when they were new and I was 9 years old and Apollo missions were live on TV... (needless to say, I've got 2 of the reissues stashed away in the closet). Don