i,m a newbie to this forum but not to modeling.i have been modeling for over 45 years .i build oob. only after market i use are decals. my question is how do you cut open door,s & hatches on models without messing up the surrounding area?i am planning on making my first diarama,useing a b-17 and various support vehicles and people in 1/48 scale.i really enjoy looking at diarama,s when i go to contest,s they really make a model come to life!!they are really a work of art.any suggestions would be helpfull.
In short, there’s no truly satisfactory way save both the fuselage AND the hatch. But since it’s easier to recreate a hatch from scratch than an entire fuselage, you can drill a large hole in the center of your hatch, then grind outward with a Dremel tool and a small cylindrical shaped grinding bit, right up to the edge of the hatch opening.
what you need is masking tape and a JLC saw or razor saw blades for an exacto knife
JLC saw http://www.hawkeyeshobbies.com/productlist.htm (scroll to bottom of page)
Razor saw blades http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=14346
Use the masking tape to mask around the hatch you want to cut out. Then use the JLC saw(preferably, as it has a thinner blade) to cut along the panel lines. A few minutes of work and you’ll have yourself a perfectly cut out and reusable hatch panel.
-Fred
Marie,
If the door or hatch has a recessed panel line around it, then you can simply use a razor knife (a new sharp one with a pointy end) and scribe along the line to make it deeper and deeper until it cuts through. If you are doing this so that you can display the door/hatch open, then the small amount of removed material should not be noticable.
Below is a photo of a 1/72 Revell Sea King where I used this method to cut out the molded-in door that is behind the pilot. It works for me - It would have been pretty difficult for me to acheive the detail on the window and the interior of the door if I had to scratch build it. Scribing it out was relatively easy.
Good Luck !
Chris
Hey that came out pretty good! Any time I tried this method, it cost me a finger, or I slipped and scratched the plastic. But what do you do when you come to a tiny radius? This is where I end up wrecking either the hatch or the fuselage.
When I’m going to open/replace a molded in hatch, the first thing I do is to dig thru my drill stash and find a drill bit whose diameter as the rounded areas of the hatch. I drill out all the corners and then use a jewelers saw or one of the razor saws shaped like a #11 exacto blade to cut from hole to hole. I try to stay a little distant from the final shape and complete process using jewelers files and sand paper to get to the desired line.
Mark,
With the Sea King, it helped that there were recessed door seams molded in both the interior and exterior surfaces. (This was an nicely detailed kit for a 1/72 scale helo) I chose to go from the inside out so that if I slipped, any mistakes would be in a less noticable place.
I have also slipped and created some non-standard seam lines on other models. The trick in making a through-cut is to just be patient and make alot of light passes. I use a new #11 xacto blade. After the groove gets deep enough to hold the blade more steadily, you can start applying more pressure. It was WAY easier than I thought it would be.
Chris
Welcome to the site, Marie! You’ll find a lot of helpful folks here, and I hope you enjoy your time spent in the forums.
Good lookin’ choppers there Bossman!
Camo
Marie,
Pardon my bad manners - I didn’t realize this was post #1 for you.
Welcome to the forum !
Chris
Marie! Before you do anything, buy a (preferably large) box of Band-aids. Then buy some stock in Johnson & Johnson (maker of said Band-aids).
Onnly then should you proceed with some of these other fine suggestions.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
[#ditto] Scalpel blades or #11 blades make really, really deep cuts, as most anyone who has had an incident knows. (That would include me) As someone said, lightly score at first, then apply pressure. If you immediately start trying to press your way through it, you’ll slip and screw up the model, your finger, or both.
I use a needle in a pin vise that has been sharpened to a fine point and follow the panel lines. Other items I find very helpfull, at Michaels crafts stores I have bought draftmans circel, oval, and curve templates as well as eraser shields also used in drafting. They are very flexable metal devices with shapes on them as well that form well to curves and such.
There are so many ways, the trick is findong one you like!
Cheers
Brent