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Scribing Panel Lines & Opening Doors


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yea i can wait to do it, but i think ima go with that other guy(peter?) idea, i have those little things.lol

quick question though, how did you get the doors to stay up?

Great questions :D

I hinge quite a few opening features on my projects, and have found that nearly each build presents it's own unique challanges, so I just keep designing and building until I get it right - HARDLY EVER THE FIRST TIME :lol: , so just be patient and don't give up. It's way too fun when you get it right.

Positioning the hood or trunk lid, for me is about the kind of tension I put on the bends of the brass, and not making it too tight. Practice is what it's all about, at least for me :lol:

Good Luck - Dave

Here's a couple I did. A couple of regular hinge's, and one with a double acting hinge, and the hoods are poseable in different positions.

2008_1115Photobucket10075.jpg

2008_1127Photobucket10041.jpg

2008_0409Photobucket10039.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
He is a link to how I made Lambo doors, and the hinges for a Chrysler 300 Touring wagon I built last year. Follow the pictures and the text and you should get an idea of how to make it happen. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.p...c+touring+wagon

Good luck.

Check out this post, he did it to the rear door. And Peter, do you any in depth photos of how you did it?

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I like to use epoxy to glue my hinges in. That way it gives me some time to align things and whatnot. It's a good idea to make sure the door is fully (and stays) closed while your glue/epoxy is setting up.

That'll ensure the door opens and closes without scraping or binding.

If this is your first time doing this, don't get discouraged if it takes several tries to get it right. Opening and hinging doors can be more about trial and error than anything-----it might take a few models to get through before you feel you've got it down pat! :)

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  • 8 months later...

I've been looking through some old MCM's and have seen a few references to cutting out doors and trunks using thread .. even one by the Big Kahuna. I've used a jeweler's saw in my early days and now just the x-acto knife, but I've never heard of using a thread. I'd like to hear some input on this technique from those that use it. Like, what kind of thread, how long does it take, how to hold the thread (assume taunt thread is the best as a knife), does it leave a finer cut than the back of a knife blade, does it handle rounded corners better. etc. ,etc.?

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I heard the same thing, so I tried it once and never again. I was cutting the front clip from a 55 chevy to do a flip nose. It looked like ###### and took forever to do. AS the thread heats up, it will break over and over again. And it needs to be held tight. It does not corner as well as I thought it would either. I got me another kit recently. I took a micro chisel and used it to cut the front clip and trunk lid off. It did great and the panels match back up. Way better than the thread. I just used it's sharp corner dragging it along the original body lines.

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Well I tried using thread years ago to cut out doors when I was a much bigger me.........needless to say the model didn't survive trying to hold it in between my knees. :o

I'm not crazy about that method just the same.

I'd much rather use the back of an Exacto blade, and grind out the back side of the doors around the door line to speed things up.

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Here's how I would go about cutting panels with thread:

1. Forget about it.

2. Get my knife and score the cut with the back side of the blade.

I know it's possible to cut plastic with thread, but why use such an awkward method when the old back side of the X-acto works so much better and easier? Like Bill said... when you're holding the ends of the thread with each hand, what's holding the model???

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I open the doors of just about every model I build so I do it rather frequently. My favorite method is to first use a panel scriber tool from Squadron products. I find that it holds the line, in the early stages of the operation better than the knife blade.

If you are not careful, the knife blade, regardless of front or back of the blade, can easily slip out of the pre-scribed door panel line and gouge the adjacent fender. I find that if I lightly scribe the door panel gap with this tool, and then follow with the knife blade my success rate of not gouging the fender is higher. Once the first few cuts are in, I than revert to the knife and sometimes in certain situations where there is a long straight stretch of door gap switch to an exacto saw blade held in a number 11 holder to speed things up.

The only way to get really good at the process is to practice it all the time. Before long you will become proficient at the technique and try to work it in to most builds. I think it is a great little feature to include, especially on a coupe where viewing the interior is difficult without opening door access.

Don’t be afraid of the process, it gets real easy over time and practice. Also, don't overly concern yourself with the size of the gap. If it is too big you can very easily glue a space extender ( a strip of styrene ) to the door, sand it smooth and no one will every know that it was installed.

P.S. I have never tried the thread method to open the doors because I only have two hands and that technique requires at least three hands or very nimble knees which I do not posses….apparently neither does Bill Geary.

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Well, I have never tried the thread. The thought intimidates me too much! Like Everyone else has stated, you would really need three or four hands to do this process efficiently. Though, I can imaging doing it with two hands. First, you would need mint flavored thread. second, you would need a small model body like a model T, third you would need a large moutn! Place the body into the mouth and start to cut out the doros while flossing? HEHEHEHE. Jody

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I'm with Peter on this method.

I did tried the thread method once with dental floss (herd it on another forum), didn't work out. I bet it would work if the body was secured.

I think it might work if ran the thread across a panel saw, ya know the mini hacksaw. Here's how I think it would have to work.

1 drill a hole in the exsisting panel line

2 thread the hole and attach to the saw

3 cut way

Humm, I'm going to try that tonight.

I have had great resaults with a .010 drill bit, on corners just drill a succession of holes and file it when you get the panel opened up.

Edited by Plastic Freak
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It's not hard at all to use the thread, it just does not give good results. When I did it I wrapped the thread and secured it in a set of medical style clamps. Anchor one clamp and hold the other one tight. Then move the model up and down the thread. The longer the thread the better cause you slide the model the full length of the thread and it spreads the heat over a longer distance so you have less thread breakage. In the end though, the results are not as good as using the very sharp edge of a micro chisel like I used.

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I swear by the thread method, not at it, like some of my friends here.

the trick is trial and error

Find the right thread

I think the articles "the big kahuna" did referenced some of the different thread types out there.

All of my cuts have been flawless, perfect, and everything fit just right.

I know what the problem was with Bill, he needs smaller knees!!!!

love yah!!

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I'm willing to give it a try, I'm going to use marine thread. It's covered/coated/soaked I'm not sure which with some sort of waxy type material and the thread is extremely tough. I used to use it for making Moto Cross and Mountian bike body armour.

I'm going to try the hacksaw method, I'll put up my findings. Stay tuned.

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Ok I just tried it out.

I used a Chevell 454 body from Revell.

I attached the body to the bench on it's side using a spring clamp.

Then I attached a few elastic bands to the skirt on the table with a c-clamp.

Next I attached the thread to the elastic.

This worked out pretty will and gave me a fee hand to steady the body, and the elastic worked as the "return" mechanisim for the thread.

In that short time I was able to complete one side of the door, pretty good for time. On the down side it does heat the plastic up to the point it gets "pulled" through on the panel and the door leaving a surface that needs to be sanded and finished. I also found it to be a worry not to burn outside the panel line.

All in all I think it would worked pretty good, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 ofr a rating, but who the H E double hockey sticks am I anyway.

I also tried a small piece of wire, I think you could make that work as well, it's would have to be stainless anything else will just "burn" through and break.

I'm interested in here what anyone else finds out.

Curt

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DYMO-TAPE AND A # 11 BLADE WORKS BEST FOR ME.

I BUY THE BLACK IN ROLLS OF THREE AT OFFICE MAX.

Either for pre-scribed lines to open doors. or to just scribe a new line for doors trunks, etc

You can even do rounded corners as the TRIMMED DYMO-TAPE acts as a guide.

I use it two layers thick, to ensure no "SLIPPAGE" :D .

HAS A GREAT STICKY BACKING.

SIMPLE, AND ALWAYS WORKS.

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Ok I just tried it out.

I used a Chevell 454 body from Revell.

I attached the body to the bench on it's side using a spring clamp.

Then I attached a few elastic bands to the skirt on the table with a c-clamp.

Next I attached the thread to the elastic.

This worked out pretty will and gave me a fee hand to steady the body, and the elastic worked as the "return" mechanisim for the thread.

In that short time I was able to complete one side of the door, pretty good for time. On the down side it does heat the plastic up to the point it gets "pulled" through on the panel and the door leaving a surface that needs to be sanded and finished. I also found it to be a worry not to burn outside the panel line.

All in all I think it would worked pretty good, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 ofr a rating, but who the H E double hockey sticks am I anyway.

I also tried a small piece of wire, I think you could make that work as well, it's would have to be stainless anything else will just "burn" through and break.

I'm interested in here what anyone else finds out.

Curt

Cool Curt .. I'm surprised you can actually get the thread going enough to heat the plastic that much.

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Cool Curt .. I'm surprised you can actually get the thread going enough to heat the plastic that much.

Yeah I was surprised too, this marine thread it pretty tough. At this point in time I can say I won't be using this method. I've used Treehuger Dave method to scribe panel lines on the blank/virgin body of my Honda RA272 build. For opening doors and panels another alternative which I also used on the Honda; was to use the scriber you can get for cutting sheet plastic. You can get them at Home Depot for a couple $. I like those the best, they're hardened and the actual scriber piece is flat, I guess like really steed chisel.

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