Making Detail Master DM 2260 Racing Harness with paper

[89AKurt]

I tried to find a tutorial on this forum for doing the Detail Master racing harness (seatbelts), and other places, but no luck.  This was an early set, had thin tissue paper that was supposed to be painted.  I see the current offering has the sewing ribbon, which IMHO would be impossible to use with this.  I also don't like the fuzzy look after it gets crammed through photo-etch.  I also don't like the belt material in Studio 27 seatbelts, the back side is not the same color, and it gets fuzzy.   I now prefer using color paper from the craft section (Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc.)  My first pass was using regular black paper, with no texture it's tricky to keep track of which side is up.  The later sets use textured red paper, not exactly to scale, but other colors have a finer and more consistent linen texture, and it's slightly thicker than plain paper.  I had trouble with the sequence of assembly using the instructions, had to modify to work, and not having pictures but tiny one dimensional images was a challenge.  This is my method of assembly that was good enough for government work.

As with anything, having the right tools is key.  I used superglue because the last stage uses water, and it's faster.  Having tiny scissors is better than trashing the knife blade.  Need to have clamping tweezers.  Whatever glue applicator tip that works for you is fine.  The first set, I cut the belts as shown in the pattern, don't do that!  Each one had a slight variation in width.  Just cut an 8 1/2 inch (width of the paper) strip, you might use it up.  On some steps, you can cut the end after screwing up a couple of times with the photo-etch.  In fact, I cut all belts longer, and trimmed after the photo-etch was done.

This is optional.  You could sand with 1000+ grit first, then polish too.  Scale Motorsport photo-etch is awesome shiny to begin with.  I found that using my finger worked best, wash really good before proceeding.

Instructions say to use tape, I prefer using the tweezers.

Just a suggestion:

Just like cleaning plastic parts when removed from the sprue, I think this step is essential.

I didn't know that I needed this tool until recently.  I don't know what all the notches are for, the two screws work to hold the part in place, that's all I care about.  I position into place with a toothpick, lessens scratches.  It's hard to get the razor blade under a short part sticking out, you need a minimum of this dimension (IMO).

Like this...

Sure beats using pliers.

One of the clips has 3 bends, tool worked great.

For this part, putting the slot under the bender kept it flat.

This is where I modified from the instructions.  Look at the real thing before taking my word for it.

I bent all the photo-etch before adding the belts.  The most confusing step in the instructions was dealing with the adjuster, looked like there are four, but there are only two.  There is no way to push two belts through that slot, so I did only the top belt.  Again, first pass with cutting the belts per instructions, waste of paper.

Take a break, do breathing exercises while doing stretches, use eye drops if necessary. 👀

[89AKurt]

I bend the paper with the flat pliers.  I found that doing it like this, delaminates the paper, which makes it difficult to push through the slot.  So I held the pliers on the end, and dealt with a little hump at the fold.

Up, down, left, right, same difference.  Important to have clean tweezers, I cleaned with thinner, and sandpaper before starting.

Patience.....

I screwed up a few times, easy enough to remove the offending paper, but did scratch the metal.

It was almost impossible to put one belt through this part!  It was important to do all the adjuster parts first, before the ends.  I folded the paper, slipped the part down about 1/8", then wiggled the "rod" in between the belts.  As I'm typing this, am thinking wire could have been used.  The top belt gets the adjuster.

Holding the cut ends, I pulled up with the flat wide tweezers to get the part into the fold.  Then pulled opposite ends to get the belt somewhat flat.

It's a trick to not let the tweezers get stuck on.  Remember to put the end parts on after the adjusters.

Another part that had two belts, I faked it by putting the top belt through, then glued the other one without the tab underneath.

Since I butchered the first red belt so much, this time I shaved the ends, and tapered them, to get through the tight slots.  You might want to do that on all ends, add just a tiny bit of glue and squish down with the flat tweezers.

So here is the first complete set, with the parts laid out near the instructions.  I added the black pad under the buckle.

Now take a break, take a walk, eat dinner, post on this forum, anything to take a break! 😵

[89AKurt]

At the time it's very frustrating, but in the end, it's worth it.  Someone in my model club gave me this set, wanted me to make a set for his stock car.  I said his will be the guinea pig. 😏  Still not sure if the lever is in correctly.  What I learned:

What they look like up close.

Water is used because it softens the paper, and when dried it stays pretty much in place, unlike ribbon.   Brushed on both sides.  I suggest planning ahead, leave the door panels off if you can.

One more thing to drive yourself nuts (pun intended), add photo-etch bolt heads.  Needed a little Tacky glue to get the belts on the bottom cushion.

Most racing belts have the manufacturer name on the shoulder belts.  I'm guessing the thing to do, is sand most of the paper off the back of the patches, and glue on with Tacky glue, to avoid breaking the decal.

Hope this helps someone who has been daunted by doing this.

[peteski]

Excellent tutorial Kurt - thanks!  The belts look great too.

[89AKurt]

Thank you.  Hope it make sense.

[peteski]

4 minutes ago, 89AKurt said:

Thank you.  Hope it make sense.

Yes, it made sense, and the comments in the photos make thing clearer.  Sharp closeups are also very helpful.  But I guess the real test will be when I have to make a set of seat belts for one of my models.

[iBorg]

AMAZINGLY helpful. 

Question. Where did you get the screw heads?

[89AKurt]

1 hour ago, iBorg said:

AMAZINGLY helpful. 

Question. Where did you get the screw heads?

Hobby Design, and Studio 27 have them.

[cobraman]

Great ideas ! Not sure mu old eyes and fat fingers would let me pull that off. 😀

[Belugawrx]

Great tutorial Kurt !!

[Len Woodruff]

Incredible. Thanks for posting this.

[afx]

Mods, this should be pinned. 

Edited March 15, 2021 by afx

[iBorg]

1 hour ago, afx said:

Mods, this should be pinned. 

YEP....

 

[Scott Colmer]

I agree. This should be pinned. Well done, Kurt!

[Straightliner59]

Excellent tutorial! You suggested that wire pins might work better/easier than the PE parts included with the set. I recommend that. The only thing I do differently is to use wine bottle foil, for the belt material. Thanks, for taking the time to put this together, Kurt!

[MeatMan]

Much appreciated!  I've always struggled with those.

Thanks for posting.

[Bainford]

Excellent tutorial, Kurt. Well done. Lots of great, useful tips there. The big take-away for me is the texture paper as belt material. I have searched for suitable belt material in the past, but never knew of this stuff. Thanks!

[89AKurt]

On 3/15/2021 at 8:26 PM, Straightliner59 said:

Excellent tutorial! You suggested that wire pins might work better/easier than the PE parts included with the set. I recommend that. The only thing I do differently is to use wine bottle foil, for the belt material. Thanks, for taking the time to put this together, Kurt!

I love some wine bottle foil!  There is a real lead metal that is ideal.  The plastic coated is not that great, at least for this purpose.  I've seen sheets on eBay, tempted.

 

Thank you everyone for the comments.

[Straightliner59]

10 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

I love some wine bottle foil!  There is a real lead metal that is ideal.  The plastic coated is not that great, at least for this purpose.  I've seen sheets on eBay, tempted.

Yes, that stuff is good for lots of things. Especially belts and straps, but also tonneau covers, or other small, tarped areas. I know that "figure folks" use it, quite a lot, as well. You're right, too, regarding the plastic coated foil. The plastic tends to crack, frequently taking the foil, with it. Virgin sheets would be excellent! I have a couple of pieces left from Verlinden, years ago.

[peteski]

The plastic-covered wine bottle foil is not lead, but aluminum.  If you hold a piece in your hand, it is almost feather light. It also has totally different "sag" properties.  At lest in my experience.  The lead foil on bottles is getting hard to find. Lead=bad, bad stuff. We live in a very protective society.

[89AKurt]

I know that I've seen lead foil sheets, maybe it was on Amazon.  What I found on eBay is very thin.  Some of the lead foil tape prices seem a bit steep, I guess stained glass will be a lost art now.  I thought maybe removing the adhesive would make nice belts.

[Xingu]

Unfortunately, we cannot pin every tutorial (no matter how good they are) that gets posted. People already complain that they have to scroll down too far to get to new posts. As an alternative, if you find a post such as this useful, you can click the follow button at the top of the page. That way you can easily find it again by searching/reviewing your followed content.

[Casey]

21 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

 Some of the lead foil tape prices seem a bit steep, I guess stained glass will be a lost art now.  I thought maybe removing the adhesive would make nice belts.

Copper foil is used for adhering the solder when doing stained glass work. Easily found in craft stores in multiple widths.

[Casey]

40 minutes ago, Xingu said:

Unfortunately, we cannot pin every tutorial (no matter how good they are) that gets posted.

There are already a few existing photoetch bending tutorials, so maybe they all can be merged and pinned with this one:

 

[89AKurt]

42 minutes ago, Casey said:

There are already a few existing photoetch bending tutorials, so maybe they all can be merged and pinned with this one:

[...]

Since you spent so much time linking all these, thank you.  Should be good enough.

I'm okay with this not being pinned.