Panel Gap

[Miatatom]

You've got everything on the body prepped and ready to paint. Everything fits nicely together as far as gaps between hoods and bodies or any panel and the body. Then you paint it and it looks great. You've been trying your darndest not to build up too much paint but when it's all done, nothing fits like it should because of the build up of paint on all of the adjoining areas. How do builders figure out how much extra to remove to ensure that the painted and finished part fits during assembly without taking too much off and leaving noticeable gaps?

[High octane]

While other builders have their own methods, I use "eyeball engineering" and it works almost all of the time.

[Miatatom]

1 hour ago, High octane said:

While other builders have their own methods, I use "eyeball engineering" and it works almost all of the time.

I wonder if Harbor Freight has calibrated eyeballs? Mine are 74 years old and out of calibration. I get your drift, Nick. Experience.

[935k3]

Tamiya kits can be very tight fitting and cause problems. Especially tail lights and headlights. I usually sand them down a bit. It really is experience that helps.

[Miatatom]

1 hour ago, 935k3 said:

Tamiya kits can be very tight fitting and cause problems. Especially tail lights and headlights. I usually sand them down a bit. It really is experience that helps.

It just gives me fits sometimes. I guess I'm asking an impossible question to answer and at the same time, looking for an easy explanation. After I've done all my calculations, I'll come up with a fool proof, works in all applications, easy formula.

[Fat Brian]

The gap around the hood should be around enough to slide a playing card or two on each side of it. When your working through the primer coats take a few seconds to knock down the build up around the edge of the hood to help eliminate this issue.

[Miatatom]

11 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

The gap around the hood should be around enough to slide a playing card or two on each side of it. When your working through the primer coats take a few seconds to knock down the build up around the edge of the hood to help eliminate this issue.

That's a good idea. I'll have to try that on the next build. At the present, using Createx products, I don't use primer.

[Art Anderson]

FWIW, so much depends on what method one is using to paint a body shell:  As I have airbrushed model cars since the 1960's, I've been doing paint jobs with as minimum paint thickness as I can get away with--an airbrush gives as close to scale paint "thickness" as is possible in 1/25 scale.  However, if one is using spray cans, bear in mind that paint comes out of those at almost a scale "fire-hose" intensity, so allowance for the paint thickness simply has to reflect this, when considering the clearance of say, a hood against the front quarter panels.  Consider that with the real, 1:1 subject, a hood (especially after 1949, when virtually every American-made car went to a full "envelope" body,  the hood and trunk lids could be as much as 3/4" narrower than the opening provided (done so that adjusting these panels could be a bit imprecise on an assembly line, particularly with cars such as Fords and Chevrolet's, which could (and were) made by the hundreds of thousands over their roughly 11-months of annual year mass production.  In 1/25 scale, that translates to .075mm  across the entire hood panel--divided by 2, that is within a gnat's pubic hair of .37mm.  

But, the real difference needed will depend on the method of painting:  As my general rule, if the gap between hood and front fender panels is the same as the thickness of my Xacto razor saw,  given that I never rattle-can paint a model, that always works.  Were I painting with a spray can, it would have to be wider, at least the width of the more coarse Xacto razor saws.

Your results may vary from mine,  even if you use an airbrush, but that's the standard I use.

Art

PS:  I've not painted a model car body with a spray can since early December 1961, when I was a Sr in High School:  That year was my last year delivering the Indianapolis Star on a large route in my hometown of West Lafayette, with about 250 additional Sunday papers in 3 large residence halls at Purdue University.  About December 27 that year, I walked boldly into my local hobby shop, and to the shock and dismay of Mr Leo Weber (for whom I went to work a couple of years later, to help fund my college education, and ordered my first airbrush, a Binks Wren, with compressor and water trap (the latter which I still use every time), all for the princely sum (in 1961 dollars!) of $95 and some change.  I picked that up a few days later, and since then, I've never looked back!

 

[BigTallDad]

On 3/13/2018 at 9:32 PM, Miatatom said:

I wonder if Harbor Freight has calibrated eyeballs? Mine are 74 years old and out of calibration. I get your drift, Nick. Experience.

No, but cataract surgery might help. I had that done when I was 74 (a year ago, both eyes) and I no longer have the "Prescription Lenses Required" constraint on my Driver's License.

[Miatatom]

24 minutes ago, BigTallDad said:

No, but cataract surgery might help. I had that done when I was 74 (a year ago, both eyes) and I no longer have the "Prescription Lenses Required" constraint on my Driver's License.

Did that, summer 2016.

[BigTallDad]

9 minutes ago, Miatatom said:

Did that, summer 2016.

I had an edge....a member of my modeling club was a well-known eye surgeon. He got me into an FDA program that provided top-of-the-line lenses, as well as medications, for free.

 

[Miatatom]

You lucked out!