Adding or fixing drip rail (AMT GM Van)

[Rusty92]

Help! I’m working on AMT’s Chevy rescue van and the drip rails are pretty much gone on most of this kit. How would I go about fixing this? Just getting rid of all of it and adding some small diameter styrene rod?

 

This is how it looks now. The passenger side is non existent, the front above the windshield is barely visible, the drivers side starts off strong but ends somewhere 2/3 of the way down. 

 

This photo shows what I would add to it.. not sure if it would look great or not! I would first remove what is there and then put this in its place all the way around in one piece.  Any advice in fixing this would be appreciated!

Edited March 31, 2019 by Rusty92

[gman]

You are on the right track.

Instead of rod, you could use Evergreen quarter round of the right general size, and mount it flat-side facing up using something like Tenax 7r glue. Once everything has had a chance to set up good and solid, gently run a panel scriber along it from the top (to make the rain gutter's trough), and it should look pretty convincing under some primer and paint...better than out of the box.

[Mark]

Don't use round or half-round rod, use square stock.  I believe I used .020" square on the Dirty Donny van that I built a few years ago.  Leave the existing gutter on and attach the square stock to its edge.  You can sand or scrape the added strip thinner in areas where it sticks out too much. 

I started in the area of the side door, at the rear of it.  Start at the rear door line near the wheel opening, and work your way around.  Don't cut the strip of square stock.  Using liquid cement, first stick down the straight section just above the door mechanism.  Tape it down, let it dry.  Then wrap the strip around the right rear corner and attach the strip across the rear, above the rear doors.  Let that dry, then wrap the left rear corner and do the left side.  At some point you'll run out of strip, as the 12" long piece won't get you all the way around.  Don't try to join the second strip at a corner.  Use a sharp knife to make the last cut, where you complete the strip all the way around.  

[jas1957]

  On 3/31/2019 at 12:07 PM, Mark said:

Don't use round or half-round rod, use square stock.  I believe I used .020" square on the Dirty Donny van that I built a few years ago.  Leave the existing gutter on and attach the square stock to its edge.  You can sand or scrape the added strip thinner in areas where it sticks out too much. 

I started in the area of the side door, at the rear of it.  Start at the rear door line near the wheel opening, and work your way around.  Don't cut the strip of square stock.  Using liquid cement, first stick down the straight section just above the door mechanism.  Tape it down, let it dry.  Then wrap the strip around the right rear corner and attach the strip across the rear, above the rear doors.  Let that dry, then wrap the left rear corner and do the left side.  At some point you'll run out of strip, as the 12" long piece won't get you all the way around.  Don't try to join the second strip at a corner.  Use a sharp knife to make the last cut, where you complete the strip all the way around.  

Expand  

Exactly what Mark says except I use CA glue.

[Mark]

I used liquid cement because it softens the strip stock a little, which helps it make the tight turns at the corners without splitting.  One other thing I forgot to mention; the cut at the end I started at was a diagonal one, so the other end would tuck under it.

[Kool Kat]

And when using liquid cement, DO NOT PRESS DOWN WITH YOUR FINGER!!

[Rusty92]

Thanks all for the replies! I have some square stock so I’ll do this later! I appreciate the replies and advice! This AMT van is quite the learning curve.