Wayne

Fantastic and very believable background story there Basosz, and I love the way your Cat has turned out. She really looks the part in those outside shots you posted above. Great work! Wayne

Looking awesome mate, very nicely done! Wayne

... and one of the things you have to deal with in an open community is people who scorn what you do, even if it is one of your methods of not subscribing to the philosophy of consumerism where if it gives you any problems at all you don't try and fix it or rectify it, you just throw it away and buy another one.

Thanks for that Chris, I will give your method a go then. Nothing wrong with having another way to open those damned things when they are stuck like superglue!

That's looking very interesting Don, great work. Wayne

Does the use of boiling water have any effect on the paint afterwards? By that what I mean is does it behave, cure and apply as before the treatment? I'm just concerned that the boiling water may have an effect on the properties of the paint itself being plastic particles as pigment and all.

I find that what works for me to loosen the lids is a series of sharps taps on the plastic top with something like a screwdriver handle. After a minute or two it seems to crack up all the dried paint in the threads and the lid opens more easily. This has worked quite nicely for me on some of my nearly 20-year old bottles. Never had a problem with the lid shattering or anything like it either.

Good grief Smiffy! What do you do for fun then!?! Wayne

I do agree with you on that one. Personal experience taught me that inhaling the IPA fumes is not a good idea. I was cleaning my airbrush a few years back before I had one of those sealed containers that you spray into when cleaning, and I was using a 2 liter plastic cooldrink bottle to collect the IPA. I sprayed into the bottle and of course fumes escaped at the mouth and I inhaled a bit. I had a headache for an hour afterwards and felt a bit unsteady for a few minutes. Didn't do that again! Wayne

Tony, while I agree with you 101% on being very careful using harmful/carcinogenic liquids whilst modelling, and I do stand to correction on this, but I really doubt that isopropyl alcohol is carconigenic as it is used as a rubbing fluid for medicinal purposes. I can't see them readily using it in the medical industry if it was carcinogenic. Wayne

I have used Tamiya acrylics for about 20 years now and I am completely sold on them. They airbrush like a dream when thinned with isopropyl alcohol, and when brushing with them a little acrylic retarder and thinners they make for a more than acceptable finish. There are a few tricks to learning to brush with them like always starting one side and brushing to the other without ever going over what you have already brushed before it has dried otherwise you can lift the paint and cause a rough finish. One thing about using Tamiya acrylics that is a pain is having to mix a fair bit to get colours I need but I take the good with the bad. I've tried enamels a few times over the years and I can't stand them to be honest, mostly because of the drying times, fumes and cleaning of brushes and airbrush. Just my 2c. Wayne

Ok, I have an absolutely shocking record with group builds, but if you will have me I would like to enter this one with either a 1/48 Academy F-15 MSIP II or 1/48 Academy F-15E Strike Eagle. Wayne

My vote goes for the Israeli F-15. Gotta love that camouflage scheme. Wayne

A 1:1 project! Love it! What colour scheme and decals are you going to be applying? Wayne

Lol! Sorry, when I first read this quickly my mind went straight to farting from putting too much pressure into trying to open the damned thing Wayne