filling in lights

[coleman9219]

i was going to do my own custom lights on the back of my model truck and i want to know how to do it and what to use........plz help me!!!

[BigGary]

i was going to do my own custom lights on the back of my model truck and i want to know how to do it and what to use........plz help me!!!

In the 1:1 world when tail lights are replaced, the old tail light opening is filled and a new opening created. If you've seen pickups with tall, skinny, mid 90s Caddy tail lights, they filled in the old opening and cut a new one for the new tail light. A model would be done the same way.

Cut a piece of sheet plastic styrene to fill in the opening, glue in place, and fill any gaps with putty. Let it dry and sand smooth. Cut the new opening for the new tail light. Done.

Gary

[coleman9219]

In the 1:1 world when tail lights are replaced, the old tail light opening is filled and a new opening created. If you've seen pickups with tall, skinny, mid 90s Caddy tail lights, they filled in the old opening and cut a new one for the new tail light. A model would be done the same way.

Cut a piece of sheet plastic styrene to fill in the opening, glue in place, and fill any gaps with putty. Let it dry and sand smooth. Cut the new opening for the new tail light. Done.

Gary

what kind of putty do i need,im kind of new to the model car building in all

[Jon Cole]

First, welcome to our zoo!

For filler (many refer to it as putty), you could start out with Squadron green, or white putty. This is sold at any good hobby shop. I believe it is lacquer base. There is nothing to mix, but you do need to work quick, as it will "skin" in 5 to 10 seconds. It cannot be any thicker than maybe 1/32" thick, some may say even thinner. It cures by air-drying.

If you think you may need to do filling time and again, go with a two-part catalyzed putty. This would be found in an automotive parts store in the auto-body section. It's far more expensive too. The big benefit of two-part putty is, unlike the lacquer based stuff, the two-part dries by chemical reaction. In ten minutes after application, it's cured and ready for sanding.

The filler is mixed in equal parts with the hardener. That DOESN'T mean if you scoop out a one-inch lump of filler, go and squeeze a one-inch lump of hardener! No! You use equal parts, relative to the container size!

So if you were to mix, say, 1/20th of the container of filler, you squeeze out 1/20th of the tube of hardener. And you should have about a 4-minute working time.

[crazyjim]

Strip the chrome off the stock housing and glue in place. When dry, file/sand the housing. Apply Squadron Shop putty as needed. Sand, prime, paint.

[Steven Zimmerman]

I use sheet styrene and superglue; I very seldom use putty anymore......