LFMForum

Chris Craddock
This is just a catch up on where I got to with the hinges. Caveat: these are made, but not installed. I have every reason to believe they will work though.

I decided to customize the RC car hinges to make them more compact. Basically I ganged together two hinges on each side, but eliminated the mounting base that came with them and made a base that butts the two hinges arms together. Oh and I used brass rod for the actual hinge.







Because they are so much more compact, it looks like they will work. They fit comfortably in the space on the kick panel space between the cowl skin and the (angled) inner door skin.

One other thing I meant to mention for Ed, … you also have to make sure the hinge arm doesn’t have to pass through 90 degrees. Ideally the arms start at right angles from the pivot point, or just slightly forward of the pivot point. Then it just follows a smooth arc.

It not sure if I’m making sense, but if you watch a hinge working you’ll see why.

Cheers!

Chris

Gilles
hello Chris,

which glue do you use to assemble the plasticard with the plastic of the model?...

I tried the green Tamiya and a also a two-component epoxy glue but in both cases they do not hold up very well when it comes to small surfaces. I sanded the front surfaces slightly to make them rough..



Chris Craddock
Hi Gilles, for kit bashing, I use various size/thickness polystyrene sheets, rods, tubes etc. with brand name Evergreen here in the US. I have seen them called plasticard and other names elsewhere and I assume, but can't be sure, they're also just polystyrene.

Polystyrene needs to be chemically welded to form a strong bond. My preference is liquid "cement" products like these.



a bunch of hobby cements

Liquid cement can be brushed on, or just dabbed onto a joint between parts. The "thin" ones will enter the joint via capillary action and "melt" them just enough to form a bond. This is ideal for small parts, or for long seams where you can go along and dab glue on the seam every few cm.

For larger parts, e.g. the panels I cut to connect the kit floor to the roadster tail, it takes a lot more glue and more working time to get the parts to fit, so I use the thicker brushed on cement like the "Mr Cement" above.

For smaller detail pieces either of the thin cements are fine. I prefer the quick drying cement when "tacking" parts. Other than setting time, there doesn't seem to be much difference. They all work well for my purposes, but unfortunately I have not had good luck with the "SameStuff" product.

When I need to join different materials, CA glue is my preference. I have a selection, as well as the accelerator to force it to set immediately if needed AND the debonder to use when I screw up.



CA glues, accelerators and debonders

More or less any brand of CA glue will do, but beware that CA glues will "fog" nearby surfaces which can ruin clear plastic and require additional finishing for other plastic.

I have also used a variety of epoxy glues but only rarely because they are a bit of a pain to deal with. I have not seen "Araldite" in many years, but I think it's also a 2-part epoxy. It should be strong enough for anything.

I plan to experiment with epoxy to glue in the nylon hinge faces. If that works well, then "job done". Otherwise I will try to capture them as Colin suggested.

In any case, for what you're doing you might need to use MORE polystyrene glue.

Chris.

Gilles
Thank you Chris to have written this long, well-documented response, almost a tutorial

I also use profiles from the brand Evergreen (plasticard is, I think, a generic name)

Maybe I’m not generous enough on the glue layer as you advise...

I will try the CA glue, the BSI brand is not sold in France but there are others, no problem

Wait and see...


Gilles
Nice progress Chris!

Using a brass rod is a good idea.

I think this time it will work.