Need HELP! How to put DENTs in body?

[raymanz]

Anyone of you weathering guys know how I can go about. Putting dents in a 41 revellogram truck body.Mainly just on the cab. I thought about heating the plastic then trying to press it up. But I feel this is not the avenue I want to travel. And using a dremel to bubble up the plastic will make it to brittle. Anyone with knowledge of how too do this please HELP me!!I'm at a quandary

Edited April 4, 2010 by raymanz

[Harry P.]

A couple of ways to do it.

1. Hold the area you want to dent over a candle flame until soft, then use a tool (a spoon, a screwdriver, whatever) to form the "dents." The downside to this technique is that you have to be very careful to get the body just soft enough to be able to "dent" it but not so soft that it starts to deform, or worse yet, melt or catch fire. It's kind of tricky, styrene has a very short "window of opportunity" between "soft" and "total meltdown."

2. A safer way is to heat up a spoon over a candle flame until it's hot, then use the hot spoon to form the dents. Obviously you'll need an oven mitt or something to hold the spoon as you heat it.

3. Another way, and a way that gives you total control but is more labor-intensive, is to cut away the part of the body you want to dent, make a replacement body panel out of thick aluminum sheet (like an aluminum pie tin or roasting pan) or brass sheet and "dent" that piece. It's not easy, it takes a lot of skill to cut away the plastic panel and replace it with an aluminum or brass replacement.

[KHamilton]

Ray:

I got your note over at my Fotki site.....

Harry's got the bases covered on this one. You might not want to heat the plastic but it's really one of the best ways to go. For small "outward" dents, like you said you wanted in the top. hold the body upside down, carefully heat the roof and poke your dents from the inside.

Good luck.

Ken

[MikeMc]

Then again just get drunk and run it into a ditch......

[Navy48]

yes, heating up the plastic is tricky, both by flame on the body or by heating up a spoon or other item.

my advice would be to experiment on some old, junk piece of plastic or body first. get a feel for it and then go to your project.

have fun!!!

[Jason Vandergriff]

Ive done a few here is one of the ones that was a nightmare to build so it was only fitting.

[randx0]

Harry is right on the replacing the panel with a metal foil . I tried this with craft foil thicker than reynolds wrap but thinner than pie tins. first make a few "pressings" over the area to be dented so if you don't like the results you can just replace it and once you cut the area out you will be hard pressed to replicate the same panel.after you have your copies cut out the area but leave a little aroud the edges so you have something to stick it to . place the foil copy over the hole and add dents with your choice of tool.when you have achieved the desired effect you can put a little epoxy on the back(underneath)side to help hold the shape then slap it on the body .hope this helps

on this one I cut out the door beneath the window frame made copies and attached my dented panel then painted .

[diymirage]

let the wife drive it

that how i get dents in my cars

just the other day she managed to back my car into her car

[raymanz]

Ray:

I got your note over at my Fotki site.....

Harry's got the bases covered on this one. You might not want to heat the plastic but it's really one of the best ways to go. For small "outward" dents, like you said you wanted in the top. hold the body upside down, carefully heat the roof and poke your dents from the inside.

Good luck.

Ken

Ken,THANKS so much for getting back to me! Between what Harry,yourself and the other post,I think I've figured out how to do it. And lots of patience,I'd forgot about your destressed metal artical. Thanks Again EveryOne!!,Ray

Edited April 4, 2010 by raymanz

[sjordan2]

Jason– LOVE the tire marks on the side.

[raymanz]

Anyone of you weathering guys know how I can go about. Putting dents in a 41 revellogram truck body.Mainly just on the cab. I thought about heating the plastic then trying to press it up. But I feel this is not the avenue I want to travel. And using a dremel to bubble up the plastic will make it to brittle. Anyone with knowledge of how too do this please HELP me!!I'm at a quandary

HEY EVERYONE! I got the effect I was looking for another way. Thought I would pass the along,I put some GEL SUPER Glue on the top and around the top of the door. Let dry totally and because it was a gel I was able to manipulate it to appear like dimple's.Ken,Harry& Everyone else Thanks for the HELP&Keep this superglue thing in mind. You can see my progress at HUB Garage.com in Ray'sRadicalMind Garage.IF you drop by Leave me a Note!!!

Edited April 5, 2010 by raymanz

[Railfreak78]

On my old dirt track stocker I just used a bic lighter and then used the other end to push in the larger areas. I also used a bic and a hobby knife to do this truck. Forgive the dirt. This desert off roader I made when I was I think 16/17 and now I'm 32. It's been a long time.

[Hornistfuller]

i just dribble a small puddle of testors liquid cement on the bare plastic. leaves a small soft depression. hardens up after a few days too.

Edited April 23, 2010 by bobman331

[GrandpaMcGurk]

A hi-watt soldering iron is a great tool to make dents with.....I have some homemade tips that have a large surface area I use to form plastic or heat it from behind. It's much easier to control than an open flame. I put the hot iron in a stand and then simply hold the body over the tool. When the plastic begins to sag slightly You can go back with any sort of tool to add add a crease or scrape while the plastic is still soft. Not much chance of your model going up in flames either...LOL. Depending on the tip size or distance from the tool will control the size of the area you heating.