Side Mirror Attachment

[Wooderson]

New to the hobby and wondered how most attach side mirrors.  I didnt consider this before painting and now I guess Im stuck with scratching the paint off down to the plastic to get good glue adhesion.  I also thought about drilling a hole in the car body and attaching a small metal stud to the underside of the mirror.  Maybe Im over thinking this and I can glue right to the paint?

Thanks for the help!

[Foxer]

Sounds like you've got it. I always attach a pin to the mirror to go through a hole in the body. You can then put a dab of thick super glue or epoxy on the pin inside the body. No glue showing and the mirror is anchored against small bumps. I usually use a piece of wire for the pin.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

The pin idea is always a good one. Even if you had not already painted, many on this forum would have suggested you still plan on using that very same method. Very secure long term plan to hold the mirror. 

[DON-T2]

I use the pin method for both mirrors and door handles.

[High octane]

While I don't  "pin" the door handles, I always pin the side view mirrors and I use guitar string to do this.

[BigTallDad]

Just a word of caution when cutting metal pins (especially if you're using guitar string): WEAR EYE PROTECTION!!!

[StevenGuthmiller]

I usually pin most of mine now as well.

But if you're worried about messing up the paint & the finished model will be kept where it won't get a lot of "abuse", you can just glue it on with a dab of "clear parts cement".

It's water soluble so if you get it where you don't want it, you can wipe it off without harming the paint.

I've used this glue for small parts many times, & while it my not be ideal for mirrors or antennas, if you keep your builds in cases, as I do, you won't have a problem.

 

Steve

[peteski]

Another vote for pinning (not just mirrors). I pin and drill usually before painting the body before painting - that way I have a positive location for the piece to be pinned without having to handle the painted body too much.