Drill and pin 1/25 scale truck kit detail parts - easier and cleaner assembly, a "win/win"!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- Small detail parts, such as the Mack emblems and bulldog hood ornament in this example, can be tedious items to install.
0:06 Kit instructions simply say to "cement" these parts in place which is technically possible but can be difficult, and involves applying adhesive to a finished, painted surface and relying on that glued joint as the only means of attachment. Drilling and pinning parts like these in place provides a more solid way of holding them on, and the pin also serves as a handle when painting the emblems.
0:23 It also provides an opportunity to make some parts more accurate. As an example, "MACK" letters for front of hood are molded as one piece with letters connected in the AMT kit...
0:36...however these letters are separate in photos of real Macks I have found.
0:46 Begin by drilling one hole in each letter using a #76 drill. Parts tree is an excellent holder for this operation - these little items are fiddly enough as it is, no point making the job even harder! Placement of the holes is not critical, as long as it is somewhere on the face of each letter.
1:03 Remove the emblem and separate each letter, then de-chrome them and do final clean up. Lay out guidelines on the hood to locate bottom of letters and centre of hood, and glue each letter in place temporarily. I like to use yellow carpenters glue for this job because it is easy to clean off the plastic later.
1:21 Drill through existing hole in each letter and into hood. Glue only has to hold long enough to get the hole in hood started, each letter will likely break free while drilling as the M has done here.
1:37 Clean off any glue residue and insert .020" styrene rod into hole in each letter leaving some excess projecting out the front. Medium thickness gap filling CA glue is ideal for attaching the styrene rod.
1:54 Drilled hole may not be a perfect fit for the styrene rod, to fine tune the diameter of drilled holes a small reamer set is a worthwhile investment. I got this one in a hobby store a few years ago, it covers .010" up to 1/16" diameter.
2:08 Trim styrene rod flush with face of letter and sand smooth. Leave about 3/8" - 1/2" out the back as a holder for painting.
2:21 Alclad glass black base followed by chrome lacquer was used for the chrome finish on these letters.
2:32 Small script emblems on hood sides were not large enough to drill .020" hole in the face of any letter, so a slightly modified approach was used. Hole was drilled in the centre of "a", reamed to size...
2:44...and styrene rod as glued in leaving face of rod set back approx. 015" from front of emblem, effectively hiding pin in plain sight. Once painted the added pin is not noticeable from front.
3:01 Drilled holes in hood will ensure proper alignment of letters when they are installed after final painting. Two holes per letter could be used although that would require a stronger glue bond when temporarily attaching letters. I find the single hole works fine, just make sure letters are aligned properly before final gluing.
3:11 Letters set in place to show how their appearance is improved over stock kit part (this and following photos are out of sequence with regard to finish painting of letters and emblems).
3:29 Pins provide gluing point on side of hood and excess length will be trimmed off as the last step when assembling.
3:40 Bulldog hood ornament was not drilled, on this part base is large enough to make gluing a piece of .040" styrene rod in place feasible.
3:54 This fits into matching hole drilled in hood. A small drop of glue on the pin when installing will result in a clean, secure attachment.
4:22 Closing image is hood just out of the painting area, reamers will be useful to open up holes before installing letters as paint and clear finish will reduce the hole sizes slightly.
Drilling and pinning parts may seem like extra work up front but it pays off at the end when assembling the finished model - and you aren't relying on tiny glue joints alone to hold parts on!
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Awesome! I’m about to start an Australian R series and will use your techniques.
I learn so much from watching your videos and I'm still astounded by how much detail you create!
Those small details are one of the most fun parts of a model truck project for me, not sure why although I do find paint and decals to be challenging so maybe the small details are more "forgiving" in that regard.
A great small detail for sure Robert.
I like how they turned out, nice thing was the kit parts themselves were well detailed already so the hard part was done, it was just a matter of how to attach them. In the past I have glued them on the surface and using an adhesive made for clear parts helps (Micro Scale's Krystal Kleer or Testors clear parts cement) helps but it it still tedious and there is always the risk of a glue smear on painted surface.
Excellent tip and tutorial. I have been pinning parts for a long time both with brass and plastic rod. I have a set of reamers like that as well that have proved very useful over the years. Jewellers supply like Gesswein in Etobicoke is my goto choice - be careful, lots of interesting and good quality tools ( files, drills, burrs, etc, etc ).
I am glad I found your youtube channel. I have only a minor interest in building truck models but the techniques and ideas are transferrable to other subjects.
cheers, Graham
Thank you for the information regarding jewellers supply, I just took a look at Gesswein's site and you're right about lots of choices. With it becoming difficult to find hobby shops who stock miniature twist drills, they look like a good source for these and 10 in a package makes sense especially with the #80 to about #76 sizes.
I find all of the hobby magazines interesting because, as you mention, ideas, techniques and even some materials one might not associate with trucks or cars are all very transferrable.
Have done this with wire/brass rod. Never thought to use plastic rod, however that makes perfect sense. Will give it a try. thanks for posting this!
I usually go with wire as well, for strength, was having a bit of a head scratching moment regarding the trim pieces then realized that strength of the mounting point wasn't as critical with these items - that was when the light bulb went on and styrene rod got used!
Sure a lot of detail on the inside of the hood, are you going to do a video of that as well?
Yes, grille and headlight trim parts were reworked a fair bit, will do a separate video for the hood details once it has been assembled. Currently hood is painted white, decals and bare metal foil trim to go on next then final assembly - of hood anyway. Still work to do on cab and interior.