Model Car Building Tools For Beginners
July 31, 2008
You open the box on the counter, lay out the parts and open the instructions to see where you need to start. The first thing you should notice is a list of recommended tools and items. The tools that the kits may tell you to have on hand are some that can make assembling your model car and any that might follow much easier to build. It can be very handy to pick up each of these tools and then store them in a shoe box or an old model box for the next time you get ready to use them.
While the list of tools here is by no means comprehensive it will get you started on your way to building your modelers toolbox. As such the first thing you need to know is which cement to use. Model cement can sometimes contain toluene or styrene and as such can be hazardous if you breath the fumes for extended periods. The way the cement functions is to react chemically with your plastic model to bond the parts together. As such it is similar to a welding process. Make sure that the cement you choose is rated for craft and hobby use.
A piece of safety equipment that is well worth the slight expense is a NIOSH approved face mask. An N95 should do just fine. This will also help you to limit exposure to the fumes of the cement. To protect your hands a pair of latex gloves will do just fine. You will know if you get an excessive amount of cement on them however because it will sometimes cause them to rip. Now that you have your cement and safety equipment you are ready for real tools.
The first suggested tool is a decent hobby knife. Best bought in a set with multiple blade shapes and sizes a hobby knife is your best friend in model building. It will allow you to remove parts from the sprue the plastic frame that holds the parts and will also help you to do any trimming that may be necessary. Sometimes the plastic will come with a bit of extra plastic sticking off of it. This is called flashing and is just a by-product of the manufacturing process.
The next tools you should consider having is a couple of hobby clamps. These will allow you to hold your parts together as the cement is drying so you dont have to do so by hand. They can also hold your car still while you are trying to paint it once you get to the point where you feel comfortable doing so.
With just these few tools and safety equipment you will be all set to start your new hobby of model building. Remember building model cars is rewarding and can help you to build skill and creativity. Enjoy
About the Author
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model cars, model trains, and model trucks. You will find excellent hobbying and trading resources here for model car building, model trains, and model trucks.
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Model Car Decal Placement Tips
July 31, 2008
There are different sources for decals that you can choose from. Whether you use the ones that came with your model car, make your own, or have a professional decal manufacturer do it decals can be gotten from many places. If you are new modeler then you may want to get used to applying the ones that came in your model building kit. Once you have built a bit of experience then you can experiment with creating your own water slide decals.
Creating your own decals can be fun and interesting. Before you begin however you must make sure that you have the correct paper. You need to start with ready made sheets of clear decal film. This will give you the best turnout for your money. Many suppliers are available online that carry it and even say that their paper is ink jet ready. If you have a design in mind and can put it on computer it can be transferred direct to this film. If this doesnt work for you then read on
Once you are ready to start you can either create different masks for each of the colors you wish to use or you can silkscreen it. To create individual masks all you have to do is to mask the film for each of the color separations that you will be making. Always make sure that you apply the lightest colors first and work out to the darkest. This can be a very cheap method and is really pretty easy. It can take up a lot of time though if you have to make several of them. Always make sure that you take the time to think out each mask before you set it up.
If you are going to silkscreen it can be just a bit more involved. Basically you will create a different screen that allows the paint to go down on the model according to which screen you are using. Each color has its own separation and the screen catches the excess paint. It can produce a high quality decal and it is not too hard if you need to produce more than one but if it is misaligned it can mess up the decal and cause you to have to start all over. The set up can be just a bit difficult as well.
If making your own decals seems like too much of a chore then you can always print it off of a computer or draw it out by hand and take it to a local print shop. Most of these can copy the picture on a color copier and then transfer it to a decal sheet for you. While the quality may drop because of their printer or ink not being up to standard this does tend to be the most cost and time efficient way for modelers to get the decals that they want.
Producing your own decals can allow you to add a bit of flair to your model car. It is like adding your artistic signature and tells people "I was here."
About the Author
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model cars, model trains, and model trucks. You will find excellent hobbying and trading resources here for model car decal info, model trains, and model trucks.
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Model Car Diorama Building Ideas
July 31, 2008
A diorama is basically a model of a natural setting created to scale. It can be of a cityscape, a natural scene, or any other sort of setting. It can be enclosed in clear plastic such as plexiglass or even in glass. They can also just be mounted to a board such as plywood for general display purposes. Now that you know what a diorama is it can also be helpful to know why you might choose this method for displaying your model car.
Dioramas have been around for many, many years. They were created as a method of reproducing life size scenes but quickly adapted to depict scaled down scenes as well. Museums used them to recreate historical and prehistorical scenes of everyday life. Soon people, especially children, were creating their own dioramas at home. Typically using shoe boxes they would make miniature recreations of their own rooms complete with tiny dolls and all. Modelers, however, had completely different plans for the diorama.
Modelers would build dioramas to suit their favorite models. For example, a nineteen forties model sedan might be placed in a diorama modeled after a filling station complete with pumps, hoses, and all. A nineteen fifties model might be placed in one that is modeled after a drive-in dinner. The setting was totally up to the imagination of the model builder. As the years have moved on so have modelers. Some have gotten out of building models totally and others have just given up the skill of building a dioramas.
By choosing to build a diorama to suit your model you will be helping to continue an old tradition that could otherwise pass away. You might wonder how you would get started in your endeavor to build one. It is very easy however. The first thing you must do is to figure out what time period in which you wish to set your car. This will help you to know what sort of scenes will be available. You would no more see a Model T at a drive-in movie scene than you would see a futuristic model car parked outside a nineteen fifties malt shop.
Once you decide the time period for your diorama the next thing you must do is to research what sort of scene you wish. Be it outside a gas pump, a restaurant, or wherever you will want to know what they looked like in that time period. Luckily there are many pictures available to get ideas from. While you may not be able to get the exact scale from the picture if you can find one with a car sitting near it you can get a pretty decent idea. For the gaps of the picture you cannot see just use your imagination.
Whether you get your information on the Internet, from books, or from personal photos it does not matter. What matters is that you are now on your way to keeping the art of diorama building alive.
About the Author
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model cars, model trains, and model trucks. You will find excellent hobbying and trading resources here for model car displays, model trains, and model trucks.
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Preparing To Build Your Model Car
July 26, 2008
If you are going to be doing a good deal of customizing on your model cars then you definitely want to buy a decent hobby knife with a couple different shape blades. A thin one that comes to a rather sharp point is excellent for getting into areas that have a good deal of small spaces. A chisel shaped blade is handy for making long straight cuts when cutting out hoods, doors, and trunks. A normal hobby blade is great for cutting your parts from the parts tree. If you have small children in the house you might consider purchasing a lockable kit so that small hands cannot get to the knife. These are extremely sharp no matter if cutting through plastic or skin.
The next thing you must think about is whether you will be hand painting your model cars or if you will be airbrushing them. If you are going to paint them by hand you should pick your supplies accordingly. A number of brushes and some acrylic cleaner will get you started. Next you need to pick up the paints you would like to use. Acrylic paints stay good for sometime so you might consider picking up a couple small jars and a couple larger ones of your basic colors. The last things you should need are some primer for those models that require it and some rubbing alcohol for the little mistakes that can happen from time to time. If you are airbrushing then you will need a decent airbrush kit that should come with all the parts you need to get started including a small compressor.
Some other supplies that you will find useful in building and detailing your model car are toothpicks for painting extremely small details such as knobs and buttons on the interior, a soft bristle toothbrush for cleaning your parts before you paint or glue them, and wet and dry sandpaper of a very fine grit in case there is a painting error or glue error you need to correct. You should also think about safety equipment. While you may not realize it there is a bit a caution required in dealing with model cars. It is easy when cutting plastic for stray pieces to fly up and catch you in the eye. You should always wear eye protection when cutting and painting your model. Another bit of safety equipment to use is latex gloves. They will protect your hands from paint and from little nicks that may come from handling sharp bits of plastic.
Gather your supplies in a small storage container or even a shoe box so that you will have them all together next time you get ready to build a model car. By spending just a bit of time preparing you will save yourself a good deal of time when it comes to building your next masterpiece.
About the Author
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model cars, model trains, and model trucks. You will find excellent hobbying and trading resources here for replica model cars, model trains, and model trucks.
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How To Finish Your Wooden Model Car
July 25, 2008
Some things that you will need together before you begin are your water-based polyurethane varnish in the shade that you want your model car to be, some sandpaper that is either 220 grit or finer if you are unsure how to tell what the grit is just ask a sales associate to help you, a tack cloth to prevent spills, a synthetic bristle paintbrush that is easy to handle and not too large or too small for the work you will be doing, and a small disposable container.
When you go to buy the varnish just keep in mind that it, like paint, is available in a variety of finishes. Whether you choose flat, matte, satin, semi-gloss, or high-gloss will just depend on what your want your model to look like when it is finished. Flat has no shine to it at all and does not fair extremely well over time, high-gloss, however, is very bright and and is a good deal tougher. You should make sure that you are going to be painting your wooden model in an area that dust free and well ventilated. Dust will adhere to your model and show up quite clearly after the model has been varnished.
You will likewise want to make sure the model itself is clean and dust free. If you need to clean it before hand a tack cloth is the recommended method. It will remove any debris without leaving behind lint. Now that you are ready make sure to stir your varnish well. Once you do so then pour some of it into your disposable container. Recap your varnish and set it aside. By using your other container you will make it easier to prevent spills it will also help you to prevent contaminating your original can of varnish with dust or debris.
When you begin to paint the water-based polyurethane varnish onto your model make sure that you are using very smooth and even strokes. You will also want to follow the grain. By holding the brush as vertical as possible you will be able to prevent some uneven strokes. Another thing to keep in mind is that you should allow each coat of varnish to dry thoroughly. You will know it is dry when it feels dry to the touch. Much of the drying time depends on the temperature and the relative humidity.
After you have left the first coat to dry you should then sand the surface with your sandpaper and then clean the model with a tack cloth once more to remove any additional sawdust that has built up after sanding. Keep repeating this process until you reach the look you are wanting. Once you do then let the piece set for one week for the varnish to cure. If you will then rub your model car with "0000" steel wool and clean it with a tack cloth you will be able to apply a paste wax. This can give you the best looking wooden model car possible.
About the Author
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model cars, model trains, and model trucks. You will find excellent hobbying and trading resources here for wooden model cars, model trains, and model trucks.
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Dropping The Blade With A Guillotine Paper Cutter
July 24, 2008
A guillotine paper cutter is designed to be an inexpensive office tool that can handle a multitude of jobs. The cutters are manufactured in a variety of sizes so you can choose the one which will accommodate most of your cutting needs. The design is simple. The cutter is basically a flat board with an attached blade that is raised and lowered. The blade is sharp and can cut through 10 to 1,000 sheets depending on the size of cutter you purchase.
Of course, we live in an age of choices and there are many different features you can select among when deciding which cutter to buy. For example you can buy a paper cutter with a metal or maple wood base. Other features include scale bars, safety bars, paper clamps and cut length. The cutters with locking t-squares make your paper self-aligning so you get precision cuts time after time.
Rubber feet on the cutters stabilize the equipment while in use. You do not have to worry about your guillotine paper cutter slipping across the surface just at the point you are ready to cut your paper. You can purchase cutters that do a lot more than just cut paper too. The larger blade cutters cut laminated paper, foam board and mat board. You can even buy a cutter built into a workshop which provides convenient storage shelving.
The guillotine paper cutter can cut through a thick stack of paper in no time. Because the cutters are designed to handle a variety of paper thicknesses, they are ideal for use in a number of areas: schools, copy shops, print shops, offices, hobby stores, art stores, frame shops and even homes.
These are just a few of the places where the cutting edge precision of the guillotine paper cutter can make quick work of tedious jobs. At home the paper cutter is great for doing school projects, scrapbooking, cutting pictures printed on your home computer and doing many other cutting tasks. Hobbyists find the accuracy of the guillotine paper cutter to be perfect for cutting foam and mat board for project materials. Community centers and churches use paper cutters to make decorations, invitations, announcements, bulletins and newsletters.
In almost every office in America you will find a paper cutter in a prominent work location. Thats because the paper cutter is simple in design but is a powerhouse worker needed for many different kinds of jobs. In the art world a paper cutter is standard equipment used to align edges, create unusual paper sizes and produce artwork.
In other words, the guillotine paper cutter can be used at work, for hobbies, in the home and in almost every other area of your life. The precision cutter can make quick work of a job that would take hours with scissors and produce much more accurate straight-edged results.
If you need a paper cutter, it is important to assess your long term needs to make sure you buy the right size. The cutter will give years of service so you want it to handle anticipated jobs as well as the tasks at hand.
About the Author
Andy West is a writer for iShoppapercutters which offers an extensive line of paper cutters including the guillotine paper cutter.
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Tips for Buying Antiques and Collectibles on Ebay
July 24, 2008
But first he wanted do is make sure you can find your Category. If you are not familiar with eBays site, there are many ways you can find the things you are looking for. What I like to do is use the search feature. In the same way you use search on the Internet, type in a few keywords of the thing youre looking for. Youll probably find that all the items youre after are listed in a single category. One of the things you can do is use the advanced search feature as it allows you to refine what youre looking for. Once you find your category, add this category to your browsers Favorites, and keep coming back.
Keep an eye out for Mistakes. If you collect something, the chances are you know a lot about it. The kind of mistake youre looking for is one where a seller may not realize the value of the item they are offering. They might not know that they have a rare version of an item, or they might have left off the key information that makes it valuable. When you find these kinds of items, e-mail the seller to clarify and make sure your assumptions are correct. If everything looks good, proceed with the auction and you may have gotten yourself a great deal. You can then resell them at a big profit, if thats what you want to do.
Take all of the descriptions with a grain of salt. If you find something you havent heard of, and the description calls it rare, dont assume that it actually is. Remember, the seller is trying to market a product and is going to try to use words that sound good to a buyer. Far too many sellers just put rare into all of their descriptions - the chances are that the item is common and has just been described wrongly. Again, do your homework. Take the information and cross check in with other reputable sites on the Internet. The seller may be telling the truth, or they may be in embellishing the truth. Remember, buyer beware.
Stalk Other Users. What this means is to keep track of the different people that create a lot of activity in the category you are interested in. When you collect something, youll probably notice that there are four or five sellers who seem to come up with consistently good items - and the same buyers buying them. Add their user pages to your Favorites, and check back often to see what theyve got - or what theyre bidding on - that you might be interested in.
Dont become emotionally involved to an Auction. There are millions of items being listed every day on eBay - whatever you want, itll come around again, and if you dont get it there are plenty more things to buy. This is similar to the golden rule of negotiating: always be prepared to walk away. Once your emotions get in the way, expect to pay over the market price. There are few things so rare that another seller wont have one to sell. Go and bid in a lower-priced auction, instead of getting into a bidding war in one that is already expensive. Always be comfortable walking away.
Remember that postage can kill the deal. If you collect lots of small things with a relatively low value, you might end up paying as much for postage as you do for each item. Always factor in postage to your maximum bid price. If you buy a lot of things, you may be able to negotiate a special rate with the seller too.
The last piece of advice is not to bid too early. You want to wait till the auction is almost over because you unnecessarily drive up the price of the product. If youre interested in a product, selectable watch it feature and you can keep upraised out where the bid prices are. When the bidding is to end in a half hour, thats when you want to start keeping close eye on bid prices to wait to the last five minutes or so to get into the bidding.
About the Author
Matt loves hunting for antique store antiques. Visit the http://antiquestoredealer.com for items like antique wall mirrors.
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Save Time With An Electric Paper Cutter
July 24, 2008
Before there were computers, businesses were forced to use paper and pencils to conduct business. Companies set up filing systems that contained all important documents and the only way to search these documents was by hand. Those times were gone, however, once the computer was introduced. Not only can you type up a document to hand out to individuals, but you can organize an electronic filing system in order to alleviate the use of paper. Using a computer as opposed to a typewriter or handwriting is more efficient because it takes less time to type something up and it is more legible than having to decipher someones handwriting.
Not long after the computer was introduced, the Internet made its way into mainstream businesses. This made it even easier to conduct business, especially if you were trying to conduct business from a remote location. Before the Internet it would take days to deliver a document through the mail or even hand deliver depending on the location. The process would consist of mailing out a document which could take anywhere from two to five days, waiting for someone to review the document for two to three days and then waiting for the delivery of the document for another two to five days. Now, a document can be reviewed in minutes with the Internet and email. Individuals no longer have to wait days for review, which keeps businesses rolling at a faster pace.
In addition to these inventions there are numerous office products that help make office administration easier as well. The electric paper cutter, shredder, copier and fax machine all have their benefits to office workers. While many office workers might complain about having to use such machines, if they were not available, the job would be a lot harder. For instance, if your boss is in a meeting and runs out needing 50 copies of a document, today it would be no problem. However, before the copier was invented, that task would be nearly impossible. By the time you completed handwriting or typewriting 50 documents, the meeting would be finished. Now, you can make 50 copies within minutes and be done before the meeting is over.
Many of these inventions offer numerous features and accessories that were not available when they first came out. These inventions and products are fine tuned every year to run more efficiently. For instance, an electric paper cutter offers many features to ensure that the machine runes efficiently and effectively. Many cutters offer a self sharpening blade so that you can be assured a nice crisp cut every time you use the machine. They also offer safety features to ensure that the workplace is a safe environment to conduct work in and that the machine will not injure users. This is something that should be very important to both employees and employers.
About the Author
Andy West is a writer for iShoppapercutters which offers an extensive line of paper cutters including the electric paper cutter.
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Building Model Cars From Foreign Countries
July 23, 2008
Many model manufacturers today sell models that include multilingual instructions. Some however do not. It is these that we will concentrate on. The Internet is todays great equalizer. If you do buy a model that comes with instructions written in a foreign language then the first thing to do is to identify what language it is written in. If you know what country the model came from then this part is very easy.
The next step is to find a way to translate the text. If it is written in an alphabetic based text such as German, French, or Spanish then all you have to do is to type the instructions into an online translation tools such as Altavistas free tool babelfish. Once you choose the languages you are translating from and to then you can easily get a rough translation of the instructions you are trying to translate. One tip is to only do a block at a time as most of the different translation tools only allow you to do so much text at a time and you do not want to stop in the middle of an important step.
The next thing you must do is to look at the pictures and match all your parts up with their respective pictures. This will ensure that you received all the parts that you were meant to. If you did not, then you have one of two options. Either you can run an Internet search for the model manufacturer and see if they have a website in your own native language, or you can just attempt to modify a part from another cheap model to take its place. With the cost of shipping what it is today this may actually be your best option.
If it is just a tiny part and you feel pretty comfortable doing so then you might consider trimming the part out of the leftover parts trees that you might still have on hand. It does take a little skill to self craft a part like this but it can be very rewarding as well.
The last step is in assembly. Since you may not have been able to read or translate the directions this will take a leap of faith. Match up the parts for each step by the picture on the instructions and begin to assemble them in the order listed. If there are no pictures on the instructions then you should actually assemble the parts from the inside of the model out. In other words, start by assembling the interior and the engine assemblies. Next mount these to the chassis and add the wheel assemblies. Finally add the body. By assembling in this order you should be able to get everything in the right place with little trouble.
Always make sure to test fit everything before you apply the glue so that you know that they are going into the right place. This should help you out if you find yourself in a position where you are not able to read the directions on the foreign model car that you just bought. Have fun
About the Author
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model cars, model trains, and model trucks. You will find excellent hobbying and trading resources here for model car sales, model trains, and model trucks.
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Squidoo: Showcase Your Flickr Photos
July 14, 2008
This article focuses on using Squidoo to create your own photographic art exhibition. When you visit Flickr you notice that photographers have their photos ungrouped or included in photosets according to predetermined themes.
With Squidoo, you can create modules to display your photos according to themes that you choose. You can even reclassify the same photo in multiple ways.
Below are the six basic steps involved to build your own photographic directory on Squidoo.
1. Decide a theme for your Squidoo lens
You may have photos from various areas that show different flora or fauna flowers or animals, for example. You may have visited different countries and taken multiple photos of various scenes, e.g. seaside views, mountains, rivers and lakes. You can create a Squidoo website lens dedicated to any one of these themes to showcase your photography. With Squidoo, you are not limited to the number of lenses websites you create. In fact, you are strongly encouraged to make as many as possible as long as they inform and help others. So you could focus a Squidoo lens around your flower pictures, holiday snaps in a particular location or your favorite photos of cars/trains.
2. Locate your Flickr photos around the chosen theme
You can use the search facility in Flickr to locate your photos that have been tagged with the relevant keyword. Alternatively, you could just draw on a photoset if it is relevant to your lens theme.
3. Record the description and URL of the photos you want to use
You can use Notepad, Microsoft Word or other program to collect these descriptions and links as you will need to access them to build your Squidoo lens.
4. Register your Squidoo lens
It is important to have your major keyword in the lens URL if possible. You should also make sure that your main keyword is in your lens title, primary tag and introduction.
5. Build your Squidoo lens
Your photos can be included in the Flickr module provided and will form a montage of "thumbnail" size photos. You can also use a text/write module to showcase landscape photos or your best photos. You can add various other modules to add interest. These could include the RSS feed from your travel diary, your blogs RSS feed, descriptions/reviews of relevant affiliate products, Google blog posts or any other relevant module.
6. Update the Squidoo lens regularly
You can achieve this by adding new photos, comments, stories or resource links. You can use the text/write module to discuss an incident, event or funny experience related to the themes of your Squidoo lens.
Squidoo is highly adaptable to multiple applications. This article explains how you can showcase your photos by building Squidoo lenses around themes of your choice that draw on your Flickr photos. Of course, you are not restricted to Flickr as the source of your photos. You can use any source or repository.
However, Squidoo provides a special Flickr module that enables you to enter the Flickr URLs of your photos and displays them as a group thumbnail size, thus forming a montage of images. Squidoo makes it easy for you to showcase your own Flickr photos around themes of your choice.
About the Author
This article is written by Ron Passfield, top 100 Squidoo lensmaster and Giant Squid. For more information on how to use Squidoo, visit Rons lens:
Squidoo Marketing
For an example of how Ron has showcased the Flickr photographs of Barbara J H, visit:
Barbara J H - Maroochydore




















