Making Door & Hood Hinges

[Darin Bastedo]

This may offer "realistic operation" but how on earth would this look realistic on a model? A thick piece of styrene with a hole and a wire pin passing through it? What about the unsightly gap of the inner door panel and door skin? The gap looks huge?

I'll try to answer you in order...

1. "A thick piece of styrene with a hole and a wire pin passing through it" That is why I'm doing a Gen II version with metal hinges.

2. "What about the unsightly gap of the inner door panel and door skin?" I admit in the case of the model pictured there was more finishing work to be done. that is why that project eventually was abandoned, but it made a good learning tool. I have another Sidewinder kit that will get Gen II hinges.

3. As for the value of this technique, when I'm done and have published the tutorial, I'll let you be the judge. Use the technique or don't it's entirely up to you. This will simply be an alternative.

[Casey]

. now my only question is how do you deal with the interior side of the door and the door jambs?

That is the Catch 22 when making functioning doors. Once you cut the door (or trunk) free from the body, you create a lot more work for yourself. It all depends how accurate and true to the 1:1 vehicle you want it to be, but removing the doors is just the beginning. Are you going to add the body structure, to which the door hinges bolt, and which will be highly visible once the doors open? How about the jamb area, where the latch or striker bolt is bolted? Rocker panels? Don't forget you'll be able to see behind the front fenders now, too...

I don't think I've seen a better attempt at replicating scale functioning doors than Mark Gustavson's Mercari project in SAE years ago. The problem is parts and pieces in 1/25 scale are tiny and while opening the doors is a great idea, all of the work which goes along with doing just that is not all that fun.

Even kits which were designed to have opening doors simply skip over the rest of the details, and end up looking inaccurate when the doors are actually opened, IMHO.

I guess I'm of the opinion that if you're going to have functioning doors on a model, you shouldn't take the easy way out and ignore all the other work required for true scale accuracy.

[sjordan2]

My question is, with all the aftermarket suppliers out there who provide a multitude of parts, and with the frequency with which this issue is addressed among modelers, why are we left to figure this stuff out for ourselves? Why can't someone provide reasonably realistic hinging kits for this purpose? Seems like something that isn't that hard to design.

[MrObsessive]

My question is, with all the aftermarket suppliers out there who provide a multitude of parts, and with the frequency with which this issue is addressed among modelers, why are we left to figure this stuff out for ourselves? Why can't someone provide reasonably realistic hinging kits for this purpose? Seems like something that isn't that hard to design.

One reason is not every car uses the same type/style of hinges. Not to mention the different radii of various and sundry hinges to get them to work properly. A lot of what I do when making hinges is trial and error. I also like to have either a shop manual, or actual pics of the car I'm working on.

Some cars like street rods for instance have the same type of hinges (piano style), so they can be used pretty much universally. IIRC, the aftermarket makes piano hinges in various sizes for such builds. But more modern cars vary so much from door shape to hinge type-----it would be hard for an aftermarket guy to make one size fits all, and look correct in scale.

[MrObsessive]

That is the Catch 22 when making functioning doors. Once you cut the door (or trunk) free from the body, you create a lot more work for yourself. It all depends how accurate and true to the 1:1 vehicle you want it to be, but removing the doors is just the beginning.

You ain't kiddin'! And well said!

Those pics are from my stillborn '64 GTO..............The last pic I had yet to add a door catch. Yes, it can be time consuming to get the correct looking structure for door jambs-------but in the end it's worth it!

[Jon Cole]

I have two models; neither yet finished, that have cut open panels. The gap is dealt with by gluing scrap styrene to one side (vertical) edge, and one horizontal edge of the panel that was cut out. I forget if I used Plas-Struc(sp?) or Evergreen. A 1/16" square strip works. If the plastic needs to be "bent", soften it by coating it with liquid styrene cement... the solvents will do its job in just a few minutes. Once the glue dries, add a skim coat of filler (if needed), then sand down the new plastic to fit.

I'm no expert, so I hope I make sense with the description.

As for the hinges, too late for one model, but the other one... I want to try this "Gen. II" design.

[Chuck Most]

Too bad I didn't catch this one last week! Back to the drawing board, armed with this little tutorial!

[William S.]

This is a great tutorial. I was sitting in my office and looked in my desk, this is what I built. You can get three sizes from one paper clip. Looking forward to cutting one of my models and trying this hinge. Thanks Romell!

[Romell R]

Well there ya go William just use whatever you have at hand

[Darin Bastedo]

Well hopefully it will be worth waiting for, as It will include how to do realistic jams and will cover both types of higes, modern ones that cut in and older style that swing out.

[Mr Dedo]

Currently working with styrene tube and brass wire with mixed results. This looks more realistic than the wire loops. Would really like to see the pin tutor.

[GOTH KUSTOMS]

Guess it still aint ready...

[jdcar32]

http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc489/jdcar32/model%20car%20door%20hinges/th_hinge.jpg' alt='th_hinge.jpg'>These are the basic designs I use for both hidden hinges and exposed hinges. Some of my posts in "Under Glass" show actual examples. The back side or heel of a #11 X-Acto blade with the sharp point removed works for scribing the door out .

[camaroman]

Thanks for posting, I will try out this method!

[Devil1]

Bumpity bump

[blunc]

After seeing the anticipation in another "door hinge" thread, I thought I'd offer up my design ideas for door hinges not made of wire stuck into a tube. This covers a more detailed description of the hinge design I have already posted in "1/32 scale workbench" but I feel will "scale up" well for 1/24 & 1/25 and possibly 1/12 & 1/16.

This tutorial covers door hinges in which the front edge of the door swings inward when the door is opened, thus duplicating the action of the 1:1 car being depicted in 1/32 scale. There are other hinge designs which the entire door swings outward, that type requires the hinge point to be moved forward of the leading edge of the door (and a slightly different hinge design than shown here). I suggest if you want to replicate a real car, research or take photos to get the proper type of hinge to build but most will have same or similar elements just different mounting points and hinge arcs.

Here are the basic supplies that I used for the hinges herein illustrated, I leave to you regarding your favorite cutting, drilling and shaping tools:

note that the brass u-channels pictured are different size and one will fit into the other ( this is for those that wish to make all of their hinges totally out of brass rather than the method I chose for this project )

Evergreen has lots of great shapes and sizes and should be explored by any who need more than basic kit supplied parts.

Here are the design elements; the mounting points (square plastic rod), brass u-channel (cut, shaped and drilled) and the hinge pin(I am using one long pin during the build to maintain hinge alignment, this will be shortened to one pin per hinge during final assembly).

another shot of the hinges showing the orientation of the brass u-channel

A close-up of one hinge piece sitting on top of a mostly finished door.

This is a shot of the leading (forward) edge of a door, note the openings where the u-channel will slip into the door.

An interior shot of the door showing where the u-channel will fit and calling out where the I-beam and square Evergreen shapes were used.

Note that the trailing edge of the door skin has been thinned out to replicate actual dimensionality of 1:1 door.

Here is a shot of the other side door showing how the brass u-channel slips into the I-beam and square Evergreen strips.

A different view of the same door to get better perspective on the Evergreen parts.

Thanks for looking, I will be happy to answer any questions. There are many ways this can be used, u-channel and brass tubes can be used for exposed hinges on vintage rods...

I don't have my "modeling area" set up right now due to moving into a house that needed/needs much work (and building computers is my other hobby) but I am creeping up on getting

some of my model projects off the back burner and "Under Glass"

Edited July 17, 2015 by blunc
fix photo links

[TooOld]

That looks very easy and very sturdy compared to other methods I've seen .

Thanks for posting it .

[george 53]

Actually, it looks ALOT more realistic as compared to the "Wire hinge" method! Thanks for posting this!

[southpier]

i like it and a great alternative to the wire & tube "J" bend hinge.

and ideas on pre war cars? the kind with exposed hinges.

thanks

[Danno]

Nice! Great concept.

[MrObsessive]

Very interesting! I do my doors that swing inward a bit differently, but this is a very good tutorial!

One suggestion I have though for those that want to attempt this--------make sure your hinge supports are perfectly parallel (straight) from the sides as well as the front. I've seen very nice models that have opening doors, only to have the doors either sagging to "hit the curb" or flying up in the air like a butterfly.

Research is paramount when trying this as you mentioned............I've also noticed models that have opening doors, and while done very nicely, the hinges aren't correct for that particular car---------or they don't open "correctly" meaning inward or outward turning doors.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Very nice indeed.

[Dr. Cranky]

Excellent alternative.

[blunc]

Southpier< actually I do have some ideas for pre-war / exposed hinges but I haven't actually made any yet. I have a couple concepts in my brain that I can try to illustrate with photoshop or drawing&scanning but that will be a few days.

MrObsessive< I totally agree about proper alignment/installation of any operating function on models, (for me) it needs to look like it could/would work on a 1:1 size vehicle.

All< I had another suggestion/concept to put out there... how about building & attaching the hinges before the doors/trucks are totally separated from the bodies. I envision making the cut on the side of the door where the hinge will go (so you know the pivot point of your hinge) then "roughing in" the hinge before the car body has lost it's structural integrity due to the doors/trunk being removed... it's just a thought, I will be trying this on my next project...I've got a lot of doors and trunks to perfect this on.

[Mike Kucaba]

Very slick alternative to the wire and tube style.Personally I have never had an issue with those unless the size of the wire and tube were grossly out-of-scale.These are a refreshing change. How are the doors retained when slipped into the square channel? Is this a friction fit or did I miss something.