Thickness of model bodies

[Bullitt]

 I am thinking on ordering some styrene sheets & rods for kit bashing & general repairs to my models. I brought the body of my '64 Dodge A330 to work & one of the guys measured the thickness on the micrometers as .125". I'm just wondering if this sounds correct for general use and perhaps what diameter rods would be a good start to get.

Thanks

[astroracer]

The .125 thick body is only that thick because that is what is needed to get the hot liquid plastic to flow in the mold without creating knit lines and cold spots. You don't have to use that thick to build parts from. For most scratch building I use .010 to .015 thick sheet plastic. Much easier to cut and shape then the heavy stuff. Round rod in .010 thru .030 will come in handy also.

Mark

Edited December 11, 2015 by astroracer

[Bullitt]

Thanks

[Tom Geiger]

Evergreen sells a variety pack that has a bunch of different odds and ends in plastic sheet,  rod, strips and other shapes.  If you buy two the variety would be different.  I suspect these are the odd ends from cutting product to the correct size for it's packaging, but absolutely useful.  

I keep a package of Evergreen sheet in all the different thicknesses.  Mark tells you the best sizes for scratch building bodies and such.

I also add to my Evergreen collection whenever I buy stuff at the hobby shop and my order is not expensive.  I'll add 2-5 packs of strips and rod etc to my order, always getting different sizes.

Edited December 11, 2015 by Tom Geiger

[Foxer]

an eight inch is pretty thick for a body ... maybe that one for the reason Mark mentions. Most bodies I've measured run about .04" thick so I use a lot of that and below. Anyway, having a variety on hand is good ... from thinnest up to .06 or .08".

[Longbox55]

I agree with Tom, only difference is that I also use Plastruct in addition to Evergreen. Plastruct also has odds and ends packages.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Your buddy may want to try a remedial micrometer reading class. .125" is one EIGHTH of an inch.  That's 1/8". I've never EVER seen a model car body that thick.

[Longbox55]

You're right, Ace. Just measured the body for that kit, came up with .045" at the thinnest part, and .072" at the thickest, with an average of .052" for the bulk of the body.

[Art Anderson]

The material (plastic) thickness of model car kit bodies has been somewhat "all over the map" over the years folks.  Depending on the era that a particular kit was tooled and produced, thickness does vary.  Also, an ordinary micrometer has a matching pair of flat, round contact surfaces which are meant for measuring flat surfaces, as well as the convex surfaces of round material--but to try and use one on a model kit body means one contact of the mike will be on a convex (outside) curved surface, while the other will touch the inside, or concave surface--no way to get any accurate reading that way.

Early model car kits from say, AMT or JoHan, if models of then-currently new cars, were molded from body tooling originally (created for promotional model/toy cars--hence the material thicknesses of those body shells can, in places, be as much as .070" thick, with the thinnest being perhaps .050".  This was due to the need to mold promotional models in a "shatterproof" plastic for toy safety (early styrene plastics were hard and brittle, could break into shards sharp enough to cut your finger!).  The plastics intended for those molds was first acetate, then ABS, both of which are happiest when molded thicker.

Modern model kit bodies tend to use thicknesses in the .040-.050" (1mm to 1.25mm) range, with perhaps some .030" areas along the way, with a rew areas as thin as .025", due to the softer, more flexible modern polystyrene plastic blends, and tend to be a lot more uniformly done  than was possible before digital technology came along.  So, a bit of a variety of thicknesses of Evergreen or Plastruct styrene plastic really makes a lot of sense to lay in here.

Art

[Longbox55]

When I took the measurements, I used a brake micrometer, which has pointed contact surfaces.