Hey Jim, I am pretty sure that you were the one that mentioned the “Enamel Stain” line of products by Model Master a few months ago. Did you ever try it out? I got a bottle of the “Natural” color and tried it tonight on the cockpit. I like it! It works pretty good. Here are the pictures:
Since it was enamel, it will need to dry for 3 days before I can put the flat clear on top of it. So I will probably work on ejection seat and A-1 gunsight tomorrow night. Also need to put a coat of flat black on the instrument panel, so I will probably do that first thing over at my Mom’s house again.
Speaking of that, the air compressor parts showed up today! That was a pleasant surprise! But it is way too cold to work out in the garage right now. But it is supposed to warm up this weekend, so I will wait until then.
Tonight I didn’t get much done. I painted the seatbelts dark green per Don James. But I think I must have thinned the enamel too much. It is going to take another coat, plus I had a few places where it “bled” onto the surrounding area so I will have to touch that up as well. Here is how it turned out:
Ken, looks good! Sorry, i’m on vacation and only have a cell phone for internet access.
Btw: I’m the opposite - I only use acrylic and hate spraying enamels. I use windshield washer fluid for thinning acrylic paint. It’s just water with a little alcohol added to keep it from freezing.
So where are you on vacation this time? Some place warm I hope!
Windshield washer fluid, that is interesting. Most of what I have seen has blue coloring added to it. Is the stuff you use blue? If it is, I am assuming it does not affect the color of the paint?
So what brand of acrylic paint do you use? And how much do you thin it typically? Differently for gloss than for flat?
Ken: Myrtle Beach, SC - it’s been warm but was freezing today, the temperature is supposed to be back up this weekend though.
The blue dye is weak enough I’ve never had it affect the paint, haven’t tried the pink though. I use mostly Tamiya and Model Master. I thin both maybe 20-30% - no hard and fast rule - I play it by ear. That’s flat, can’t spray gloss without massive orange peel. I’ve tried everything and always get it.
Enamels or acrylics, I guess what ever works best for you is all that matters. I remember hearing about using washer fluid for thinning. I think the blue tint is such a minute amount, it doesn’t affect the overall color. I know you can use window cleaner with ammonia clean and remove acrylics. Just be careful using it on anything aluminum as the ammonia is corrosive to it. I learned this the hard way as I tried to clean a screen for a drain in straight ammonia and it dissolved it!
In the meantime, I haven’t done much either. Seems like that by the time I get home, all I can do is fall asleep. I’m supposed to get together with the boss, and look at the rest of my vacation time so I don’t loose it at the end of the year, and I could probably use it.
It’s been so bad that this arrived 2 days ago, and I haven’t even opened the package:
I blocked my info as it’s never a good idea to post that sort of stuff on the internet.
Also, I have been destructing my old computers. I wanted the HDD’s out of them before disposing of them, plus I bought this gizmo that supposed to allow me to hook them up to my current system and i can see what’s on them, and save anything I want. I haven’t quite got it to work yet, Plus one of my old systems has a nice CD burner/DVD reader that I want to install in my current system as a secondary. Ken, you’re a computer dude, I assume newer computers still use the old IDE connectors for their optical drives? I have never cracked the case on this one, so I wasn’t sure.
Plus, one of my old computers I want to reload the OS (XP) in it and see if some of my old games will play as some of them don’t work with my Windows 7. It was Mom’s and I think her grandson managed to find a nice virus for it.
Glad to catch up with the group. I’m in the hospital for the next day or two as I’ve developed a bone infection in my ankle wound. Can’t build on my spitfire now but at least I can catch up on my reading. I’m getting anti biotic IV treatment and have to see an ortho Dr good news is they found this early so hopefully won’t be too bad. Will keep you posted .
Very nice Cliff, Myrtle Beach! Yes, this stupid cold wave hit a lot of the country and went way south! I hope it warms up before your vacation is over.
Wow, 20-30%. That’s a lot considering that Testors claims it doesn’t need thinned at all! No wonder it clogs my airbrush! That is the same amount I thin the enamel.
For sure use your vacation before you lose it!! I guarantee your company will not give you any reward for losing them!
I need to get rid of some of my old computers too. It is so sad that I spent so much money on them and there is nothing at all wrong with them except that they are just outdated! But they are just taking up space and collecting dust.
You will have to either crack the case open or look in the specifications for your particular model to find out if it has an IDE connector on the mother board. The new DVD player/writers are now using the newer style SATA connectors.
Mike: Ack, that sounds painful, hopefully it will clear up before too long.
Jim: At least open the dang box!!! Oddly I haven’t had many compatibility problems between XP & Win7. There are some old games from Win95/98 I’ve never gotten to work though. Putting off updating to 8 as long as I can though.
Ken: Thanks, supposed to be nice this weekend. And even cold I can enjoy seafood fresh out of the Atlantic- that’s reason enough to hit the beach right there.
I rarely ever try to spray any paint without thinning. Some Testor’s paint will be kinda thin and watery andyou can do this but normally no. I wonder if they have some quality control issues at times. I just add a little thinner till it seems right. I have the washer fluid in an old contact lens bottle with a squirt top. If too thick I squirt a little more thinner in, if runny I add a little more paint. If spraying small detail I’ll keep a cotton swab soaked in alcohol near and rub the airbrush tip if it clogs.
A bit of research showed my current computer does indeed use the newer SATA connections. Like you, I have several optical readers, both CD and DVD, a couple of CD burners, keyboards, a drawer full of mice, 3 large almost impossible to get rid of 19" CRT monitors, plus a box full of outdated RAM, a couple of modems, network adapters, and other bits a and pieces. Nothing wrong with most of it, just outdated.
What makes it worse is, it is now illegal to dump these items in this state. This includes televisions, VCR’s and other electronic gear. It costs now to recycle these things unless you are lucky to catch one of those free events that take place too infrequently. Not easy for those of us who live paycheck to paycheck. The result of course is illegal dumping. It’s so nice to see someones old television sitting in a field, along with the broken couches and mattresses you usually see.
Some of the old games I have used to run on that ugly red-headed b*stard step child of Win 98, Windows ME, so I’m not sure if they will run on XP or not. Worth a shot. I even tried the compatibility function in 7 and still couldn’t get some to run, or if they did graphics were whacked out, or the game would simply freeze.
As far as Testors, yes there are quality control issues with paints. I have had bottles so thin that they needed no thinning and even had problems with coverage. Then the next bottle is so thick, I thought I picked up some paste by mistake. Colors can be an issue as well, so always start with a fresh bottle when starting a new project.
Thanks Jim for the well wishes Doc was just in and said I’d be here at least till Mon[:(] nothing I can do but accept it. Included a pic of my “home” for the next few days, also my choice reading material. Making the best of a bad situation. We’ll at least I get good pain killers in my IV! Enjoy your weekend
Microsoft intentionally made Windows 7 (and Vista) where the older games would not be compatible. It wasn’t so much to make the games not play, it was more to do with the graphics and the underlying code embedded in Windows. They couldn’t make the improved graphics abilities and keep the backwards capabilities too.
Wow Mike, glad to hear that you may be able to get out on Monday! I know that will still feel like eternity until then, but glad they are giving you the pain killers to help out.
I hope you have some nice looking nurses that are taking care of you. That would be at least some compensation! [:D] Get well soon man!
