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Posted (edited)

Esteemed colleagues,

How does one remove pre installed glass like whats found in Snap Loc kits etc...?

I bought a used kit which lacks the window masking and would much rather remove the glass than futz around with masking.

Thanks in advance.

 

Edited by aurfalien
Posted (edited)

Thats why I never bought any of Tamiya's Tamtech based kits. The windows are cast with the colored styrene. I would love to know the process to do that.

Edited by 935k3
Posted (edited)
On 3/10/2018 at 5:45 PM, aurfalien said:

Esteemed colleagues

Are you sure you've got the right place? :D

Which kit/model in particular are you trying to remove the glass from?

Edited by Casey
Posted
40 minutes ago, Casey said:

Are you sure you've got the right place? :D

That was a good one Casey.

40 minutes ago, Casey said:

Which kit/model in particular are you trying to remove the glass from?

The wonderful Porsche 961.

Posted

Can you post a picture of the inside of the body, hopefully showing how Tamiya joins the clear "glass" and the body shell?

Posted
3 hours ago, Casey said:

Can you post a picture of the inside of the body, hopefully showing how Tamiya joins the clear "glass" and the body shell?

Hi and thanks for that.

Well, I went ahead and taped it off as best I could and am in process of painting.

I'll snap some pics of the inside when done.  However it does look perfectly installed and the manufacturing process looks pretty amazing as such.

Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, aurfalien said:

I'll snap some pics of the inside when done.  However it does look perfectly installed and the manufacturing process looks pretty amazing as such.

I'm curious to see how the two are bonded(?), but no rush. Hopefully the masking works out well.

Edited by Casey
Posted
Just now, Casey said:

I would be curious to see how it's done, but no rush. 

It's very very clean and no hint of adhesive.  Very interesting.  Pics to follow soon.

Posted

Here is a kit review and it shows the interior body and windows rather well.  The body portion starts at about 1:25 minutes in.

 

Posted

Still not sure how they are joined, but as expected from Tamiya, that's impressive. :)

I guess they figure most people will just apply the decals and not paint the body, being a snap-together style kit?

Posted
15 minutes ago, Casey said:

Still not sure how they are joined, but as expected from Tamiya, that's impressive. :)

I guess they figure most people will just apply the decals and not paint the body, being a snap-together style kit?

Well, grey primer showed several casting seams etc...  Albeit small but still unacceptable to standards as set forth here @MCM. 

Posted
6 hours ago, Casey said:

Still not sure how they are joined, but as expected from Tamiya, that's impressive. :)

I guess they figure most people will just apply the decals and not paint the body, being a snap-together style kit?

Originally this car in particular was a Tamtech car. Tamtech was a line of 1/24 scale hobby-grade radio control car kits using pretty detailed bodies issued by Tamiya in the 90s. You'd assemble the chassis, charge the battery, apply the decals (no paint), and go racing. I had this one as a Tamtech but it disappeared over the years. They were fun, but designed to take a fair amount of abuse and absorb some crash damage.

There's a bunch of weird things about this kit due to its heritage - the fixed windows, molded in headlights, and odd way it attaches to the chassis. IIRC, even the rear spoiler was molded to the body. The windows are smooth and flush to the body - the window trim/frames are decals applied to the outside. Without them, the car would be a hardtop.

I too recently picked up a built copy of this kit, and was also looking for tips to get the window unit out. It is pretty solidly mounted.

Posted

Tamiya molded the Tamtech bodies in a two-shot mold process (Google it), the glass is molded w/separate runners, the body molded "around" it, so the glass is integral with the body and cannot be removed. The glass isn't separate nor glued in. The 961 kit includes window detail decals to be applied to the inside of the glass, and exterior masks so you can paint the exterior of the body. The windshield frame is molded to the body and should be painted flat black after the body is painted. The center of the rear spoiler is separate.

Posted

Thanks for that explanation Bob, I suspected it was a two step process.. I did have this kit once. I did manage to cut the windows out with some tedious and time consuming work with the back side of an Exacto #11. The project stalled because of the boring paint scheme and I could not figure out how to make the headlight buckets.

Posted (edited)

Hi and many thanks for the informative replies Bob and Jim.

I hope my masking works.  Got the primer down, this weekend will be paint.

Edited by aurfalien

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