[Question]

Navy Swift Boat.

[What was your first model store like?]

Five and Dimes here. Woolworth and a local one called Bast's, both in Fox Lake, IL. My first actual hobby shop, the one that actually had hobby in the name, was Frank's Barber and Hobbies in Crystal Lake, IL. Venture in Wheeling, IL was the greatest I have ever known.

[Catastrophe: Moments in modeling we hate.]

My greatest heartache to date was a club what-if project - what f the US Army Air Corp had taken the F4U Corsair?. A P-51A would equate to a Birdcage F4U, P-51B to a F4U-1A and a P-51D to a F4U-1D. I chose Duane Beeson's Bee with the Academy F4U. It was almost done, awaiting rigging and a sealing coat on the decals when it got hit by a 5 feet long piece of oak intended as a base for 1/20th Yamato. Smashed it to pieces along with an equally nearly fnished Acurrate Miniatures Yak-1. Here's a bad picture of it before it died.

 

Larry

[Looking for advice]

Thanks, Fellas. I think it must be senility as I enter old age but I knew both of those tactics. I've used them before on many occasions. Brainfart moment. Unfortunately the paint is on there good and several applications have failed to strip it. Might have to go the new model path.

 

Thanks.

[Looking for advice]

I'm building the Moebius 1/25th International Lonestar and ran into this problem

 

 

The paint is Testors Model Master Auto Laquer Pontiac Engine Blue. I originally thinned it with hardware store laquer thinner and this happened. Then I got some Testors Model Master Enamel System Laquer thinner and same thing (pic above). I did see that they have a special thinner. Is this necessary over the other Model Master laquer thinner or am I doing something else wrong? I'm thinning properly, I think, and spraying at 25 psi with a Pasche H airbrush. More importantly, its very pebbly and tough - any advice on removing it? It resists sandpaper pretty well.

 

Thanks!

 

Larry

[help!!! with resin casting]

Without knowing what brand you are using, I've used Smooth-On and Alumilite and you also do not say what broke, the resin copy or the mold. Without that knowledge the best I can suggest is you are not using any mold release. Each casting company makes a mold release that you coat the master with and then the mold when casting. I just use Vaseline - a very thin coat. Also, as Schmitz suggested, cutting the mold slightly to help get the part out is recommended as well. It won't mess up the mold for re-use, save possible a seam on the copy that is easily sanded or adzed away.

 

HTH - Larry