How To Make Opening & Functional Doors, Hoods, and Trunks

[Eshaver]

A simple hinge glued to this car will not work. The door needs to open "AWAY " from the fender . That is why the model builders use paper clips and such to do these types of hinges . Look at the hinges on a 1-1 automobile , you will see what I'm referring too . Ed Shaver

[62rebel]

TDR! here's your chance to help out us smaller scale builders.... how about some generic car door hinges that can be drilled for pins, with bases wide enough to superglue or epoxy into the shell? i've been looking at the hinges off my 1:1 Falcon and trying to work up a set of them that work in scale or close to it.

[DWR]

I am new to working with resin bodies so would like to know how people cut open doors on a resin pro mod body. The Flashpoint body I have is a lot thicker then styrene so I don't think the back side of a #10 exacto blade will work in this case but I may be wrong.

Thank you in advance

[kitswapper]

Thats all I use, it makes for the cleanest opening and scale width, just takes longer, but I like the results

[baddgass]

  On 7/3/2012 at 1:24 AM, kitswapper said:

Thats all I use, it makes for the cleanest opening and scale width, just takes longer, but I like the results

2X

[DWR]

Thanks guys I appreciate it. This forum is fantastic for information and great that everyone is wiliing to share their secrets. I am modeling again after many years away racing and building slot cars and RC cars.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I agree with the guys above, but I have two other tricks that might be useful.

1) If you have a Dremel and you're good with it, you can thin the backside of the resin body a good bit to make the actual cutting go a lot quicker. It makes smelly dust, so wear a respirator.

2) I've found that the tip of a razor saw or a photoetched saw works very well. If you're careful and have good hand / eye coordination, you can also saw straight lines (with either tool) that are as clean and thin as what you get with the old backside-of-the-blade routine.

[vintagestang]

I know how to cut open doors but I need help on hinging. after the door is cut out how do I eliminate the gap between rhe body and the interior? It is the Revell '57 Chevy Bel Air.

[Ace-Garageguy]

One of the best things you can do is to go outside and look at what a real car door jamb looks like. Most of them work pretty much the same way....they're just shaped a little differently. Then get some .020" sheet styrene, make a template for the rear door jamb (the filler piece that goes between the quarter panel and the interior), and make what you see here.......a good picture of a real '57 Chevy rear door jamb.

http://www.google.co...,r:11,s:0,i:110

Do some google image searching to see what the front end of the door opening looks like, and make it the same way. It's trickier because the hinges have to fit through it. You'll also have to make inner ends and a bottom for the door itself, that space the interior panel off of the door-skin the correct amount and fit in the jambs. That's why you make the jambs first, and then fit the door to them.

This is an over-simplification of the process, but it's complicated, though not difficult, and involves many steps that would take a long time and many pictures to write up. I'm sure someone here has posted a tutorial on making door jambs, so do a thourough search for it here, and on other forums.

Just think through how to use sheet plastic of various thicknesses to make what's in the pictures. Making door jambs and inner doors that fit is a great way to get into scratch-building.

Edited July 4, 2012 by Ace-Garageguy

[Skip]

Who's sucessfully opened the doors on the '33 Willys Gasser? Since AMT molded the Ohio George '33 Willys kit and all it's following spinoffs without any sort of rocker panel which if you look at the real thing it doesn't have any either. How did you do it to make it look/work right?

I have both doors cut and of course the body springs as soon as the last cut is made. My first thought is to place a strip of plastic sheet down the lower door area which would both reinforce the body and give me somewhere to hide the rare earth magnets on either side of the door panel.

For hinges I'd like to find some sort of metal piano type hinge that can be cut and bent to make the exposed exterior hinges rather than wire hinges. I know Autoworld used to carry this type of hinge eons ago, does anyone make them or something like miniture hinges now?

Part II To this Q & A session would be who has used the resin version of the '33 Willys with stock roof height and stock front end, did you open the doors on the resin version? Any resin specific issues encountered?

Using the AMT version to practice opening it's doors; if it works out good enough I might end up building an OHio George '33.

[Fat Brian]

I think you are on the right track putting a styrene strip on the inside of the body to form a kind of door sill and body brace. I believe you can find piano style hinges from the Model Car Garage.

[Gluhead]

^^Yep.

One thing to watch out for that I found when I cut up my '33 body is that the thickness is not the same from one side of the body to the other. It won't have a huge impact on the overall results, but it'll go more smoothly if you check for that and bear it in mind as you go, so you can anticipate minor compensations.

[rel14]

Was wondering if anyone ever made a 4 door model, with all the doors opening,?? Been

thinking about,,but no sure if i want to.. Opening Normal, like they should.

* like cop cars, taxi, station wagon...

Edited January 20, 2013 by rel14

[MachinistMark]

Why anyone would want to build a 4 door to begin with is beyond me

[sjordan2]

A number of 1/16 classics come that way, such as the Rolls Phantom III saloon with suicide doors, Packard and Cadillac limos, etc. Except for the Rolls, in some of these cases the doors are separate parts and require the builder to come up with his own hinging solutions.

Edited January 20, 2013 by sjordan2

[Craig Irwin]

Years ago in SAE someone had built a 61 Plymouth as a 4 door taxi, and the editor noted that all 4 doors opened and closed, perfectly.

[Rob Hall]

I've seen a number of 1:18th diecasts with all 4drs opening...

[Hollywood Jim]

It would be easy if you did it with an older car with simple outside hinges, like this one.

Or with suicide doors like this one.

.

.

[Joe Handley]

Well, maybe modern minivans, so long as somebody could figure out how to make the sliders work in scale

BTW, love that Lincoln!

[Craig Irwin]

  On 1/20/2013 at 10:46 PM, Joe Handley said:

Well, maybe modern minivans, so long as somebody could figure out how to make the sliders work in scale

BTW, love that Lincoln!

They can't even make the 1:1 sliders work correctly !

[Joe Handley]

  On 1/20/2013 at 10:49 PM, Craig Irwin said:

They can't even make the 1:1 sliders work correctly !

Never seen any in the vans we've had that didn't work properly unless they got jammed up with ice or a power lock failure on one that had the motorized doors.......

[Erik Smith]

  On 1/20/2013 at 10:23 PM, MachinistMark said:

Why anyone would want to build a 4 door to begin with is beyond me

Because not every builder actually thinks Camaros and Mustangs are the only cars in existence.

Here is one of the few all-four-doors-opening models:

It takes quite a bit of work to do on a kit.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Erik Smith

[62rebel]

if i'm not hallucinating, memory-wise, one of our Eastern European members did a Turkish Dolmus taxi (based on a Chevy Impala) that had a buttload of operational stuff.... can't exactly recall if opening doors were in that mix. the main difficulty would be retaining enough (or building enough IN) strength in the B pillar to keep the doors aligned. traditional model car door hinges would be almost out of the question; fabricating them out of brass would be the best way to create the proper motion necessary. the best body to work with would be one that has a full floor-to-roof B pillar. if two doors can be opened and hinged, four can.

[uncle potts]

  On 1/20/2013 at 11:02 PM, Joe Handley said:

Never seen any in the vans we've had that didn't work properly unless they got jammed up with ice or a power lock failure on one that had the motorized doors.......

On my '99 Venture the sliding door on the drivers side fell off on to the ground one day, that was a pain to get closed again.

[Ben]

I chopped up a 99 Silverado extended cab pickup kit with intentions of making the front and third doors open and close. I scratch built door jambs just as they are on the real truck and then I was going to scratch build the door hinges exactly the same way the real ones are made so that the doors would kick in on their leading edge (front doors) and the third door would pivot outwards rather than swing so the rear edge would clear the body. Then something shiny caught my eye, so that project has been sittin the box ever since! LOL