Modeling potpourri

A few months back, there was a collective gnashing of teeth over the discontinuation of Future/Pledge floor polish. I have a little less than half a bottle of Future and thought I had a reserve bottle of the Pledge product (the same thing as Future but rebranded by S C Johnson.) Alas, I did not. I have been using Future for over 20 years as a gloss coat and also to make clear parts (windows, canopies, etc.) appear clearer and in the process look thinner (yes, it has that effect!) I set about finding a replacement. The internet of military modelers had determined that Quick Shine was a good alternative. It was in stock at my local hardware store. I have tried it and can report that not only is it as good, it may even be better for two reasons: it seems thinner out of the bottle and does not have that subtle yellow cast that Future did. It brushes nicely and airbrushes perfectly with no additional thinning. Recommended!

For years, I have been using 240-grit aluminum oxide as the medium for blasting my models prior to painting. Honestly, I had never given it a second thought. However, some discussions online got me to revisit the subject. I ordered some 600-grit aluminum oxide and I can report that it delivers the same "tooth" to metal, engineering plastic, etc., surfaces with a little more finesse (more gentle) and it seems to be more efficient, too, meaning I used less of it for the same jobs. I will continue to stay with the 600-grit on future projects.

Lastly, I tried AMMO Mig acrylic paints for the first time. Like Vallejo, they come in the 17ml dropper bottles. They also have a wide range of colors, including many flavors of oxides/reds/browns that are useful for freight cars. They airbrushed flawlessly. I did thin with their thinner (which is my general habit as these things seemed to be engineered to work together and I don't like risking ill effects because I skimped on thinner.) The finish was something close to satin so I did apply gloss prior to decaling (using the Quick Shine mentioned above.) They are available in numerous military modeling shops.

I hope these things are useful to your efforts. Happy modeling!