fredk

I no longer make belts. I make other things and a half-round punch or die suits my needs. I have many but the items I'm making right now needs a size that I don't have. So I might buy another . . . .

Le Prevo has some Kanga hides in stock. You could cut your own lace or, just a thot; maybe they would do it for you?

Like to see photos of it, if you can

I used regular contact adhesive when I did some re-upholstery work on a few cars. The c/a worked fine, almost too well at times

On masking; go to a shop that deals with plastic modelers. There are several masking fluids available. One is Maskol by Humbrol. But you can also buy liquid latex and paint it on to the area to be masked. The latex works out cheaper and is the basis of all the other masking fluids. I've even used PVA glue as a mask

If I'm having a session airbrushing acrylics I just rinse the a/b out with some alcohol then water, put in the new colour, spray a bit off target, on to some handy card, then continue on target. At the end of the session I clean out the a/b as above then strip it down and give it a good cleaning, especially the needle. You/I don't want dried paint in the a/b I recommend you get a couple of sets of these a/b cleaning brushes. If you shop around you can get them for about $2 a set. There are dearer sets but they are the same as the cheap ones

If using Angelus paints I'd suggest using their recommended sealer. The Angelus paint may have an adverse reaction to Resolene or any other sealer

A bargain! But I don't need one right now

and they are cheaper. They work great on leather. They're the only paints I use Sometimes I spray a coat or three of resolene because I've found that brushing or sponging it on will lift the carefully made dyeing

to this I'd add; put a description of what is on the front cover

Years ago it was common to get special folders for magazines. I think you can only order them thru office stationary suppliers. Its a heavy weight card folder, like an A4 folder without the spring loops, with wires running top-to-bottom at the spine edge. They usually took 12 issues. You put the wire in the center of the magazine and spring it back into the holder. Then you could put the magazines on your book shelf

Not absolutely necessary but it helps Don't use anything very aggressive. The a/b has tiny rubber seals inside it which can be destroyed by strong cleaner*. As you will be using acrylics an alcohol can be used to clean it out. A rinse will do, with a complete strip down only occasionally. On a strip down; do it on a tray with a big magnet handy on the tray. Let the small steel parts go to the magnet, that lessens the chance of loosing them * there are special dedicated a/b cleaners available

Not exactly the same but similar on Aliexpress, https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32704647915.html

We have now done 16 months of testing. (October '23 to end of January '25) All the pieces are much the same as on June 6th 2024, with only some slight changes on a few pieces Set #1, the Car set 1. Baby Oil; Both sides are dark, slightly lighter on the reverse side, More flexible than Control 1 (C1), No smell, No sign of rot or fungus 2. Cooking Oil (rape seed); Both sides very dark, Slightly more flexible than C1, Stronger cooking oil smell, No sign of rot or fungus 3. Lard (pork fats); Light but darker than C2, Flex is about the same as C1, No smell, No sign of rot or fungus 4. NFO Compound; Both sides very dark, Flex is better than C1, No smell, No sign of rot or fungus 5. Olive Oil ( Pure Extra Virgin); Both sides very dark, Flex is only slightly better than C1, Smell of cooking oil is stronger, No sign of rot or fungus 6. '3 in 1' oil (benzine); Both sides very dark, slightly lighter on reverse side, Flex is much stiffer than C1, Slight noticeable smell of '3 in 1' oil, No sign of rot or fungus 7. Vaseline; Colour is almost back to the same as C1, Flex is stiffer, No smell, No sign of rot or fungus Set #2 were hung outside on a wood frame. They got light and heavy rain with periods of sunshine, warm overcast and wind, both light breezes and strong winds The same oils were used in the same sequence . Control C1A was hung with the other pieces All have been lost except; 4. NFO Compound; Both sides are medium dark, Flex is better than C1A, No smell, No sign of rot or fungus In conclusion; So far there has been no rot, no fungus and most importantly NONE of the oils or fats, especially the cooking oils/fats, have gone rancid When I have time, maybe next week, I'll start a new batch for hanging outside

Wood stain works well if you take into consideration; use only oil dye, your leather needs prepared correctly for the dye to spread evenly. the wood dye removes natural oils from the leather so it will need a feeding of NFO afterwards