Replace molded-on door handles with separate parts on an AMT Mack R in 1/25 scale

Molded-on door handles are found on some AMT truck kits such as the Mack R and the Fords (C series and Louisville). The door handle's overall shape is quite accurate but they are shallower than on a real truck, and after paint and primer are applied the detail becomes even shallower.
0:15 Molded on door handles can be touched up with silver paint (shown here) or Bare Metal Foil but the overall appearance isn't as convincing as a separate part.
0:41 .060" x .250" styrene strip and .032" brass wire are the raw materials. Start by marking a line .060" in from one edge of strip. Easy way to do this is with depth gauge on vernier caliper and sharp pencil.
0:50 Mark a second line .060" from end of strip and draw this one all the way across. These layout lines are a guide for the rough shaping of door handle.
1:02 Sand end of strip to a taper, leaving .060" at one end which is where the push button will go.
1:18 A little hard to see in this edge-on view, but top and bottom corners of strip are next sanded along the tapered portion to bring end of handle to a point.
1:30 Next, mark and drill a 1/16" diameter hole at centre of strip. Up to this point it is much easier to do the filing/sanding and drilling with handle attached to strip, using the piece of strip as a holding fixture.
1:47 Now it is necessary to cut the handle off, this is best done with fine tooth razor saw. Cut along the line drawn across width of strip, and through the centre of drilled hole. At this point the door handle is starting to look more like a door handle and less like a styrene strip with sanding and drilling being done.
2:05 It becomes a bit trickier now but not impossible, hold handle with tweezers and file the .060" square end down to about .020" thick. This is where push button will go.
2:13 Careful scraping with hobby knife blade and some use of fine sandpaper will blend out the square corners.
2:25 Using a small round (aka rattail) file, enlarge drilled hole toward front and back of door handle. This creates the open area between handle and cab door that is missing on the molded-on handle and greatly improves appearance. Round off corners on end of flat portion and drill an .032" diameter hole.
2:49 Glue .032" diameter brass wire, with end filed flat, into place. This represents door handle push button and also serves as a mounting pin. Leave wire extra long for now for ease of handling during finish sanding and painting.
3:04 Molded-on door handle will be removed, but first it can serve as a guide to drilling the mounting hole. Shave off push button and drill .032" diameter hole.
3:15 Now remove rest of door handle and sand smooth. Door lock cylinder is also molded in place and is very shallow. Under primer and paint it will almost disappear, and is hard to touch up paint or apply Bare Metal Foil to.
3:30 Micro-Mark's punch set is a very useful modelling tool and makes it easy to punch disks from .016" sheet aluminum (available from K&S Metals at many hobby shops) to be the lock cylinders. The second smallest punch in set is 1.5 mm and is a good match for molded-on lock cylinder's size.
3:49 The punching process makes one side of disk slightly dished, the other convex. Install with convex side out.
4:07 Molded-on cylinder is shallow enough the disk can be glued right over it. I used a Molotow Blackliner paint pen (0.3 mm size) to add line representing slot where the key goes.
4:27 The DM series Macks (DM800 and DM600) originally kitted by MPC w-a-y back in the early 1970's feature well done separate door handles but no door lock cylinder.
4:40 Aluminum disks work just as well to add this detail on the MPC Macks!
4:55 Alclad gloss black base and chrome were used for chrome on this model. Molotow chrome pen is another option, especially for small parts like these door handles.
1/25 scale is large enough for details like free standing door handles to be visible, and practical to make. An easy upgrade for your next Mack R (or Ford C, Ford L etc.)
#modeltrucks
#scalemodelling
#scalemodeltrucks

[@grahamc7283]

Excellent tip. The key is leaving the workpiece on a longer piece of plastic to give you a handle to hold it. In lieu of a flat strip of styrene, I have done similar starting with a piece of 1/16" or 3/32" brass or aluminum rod held in a pin vise, drilling, filling, cutting to shape and being metal they polish up nicely.
cheers, Graham

[@benbowles1014]

Great tip, mate. All the best from the Prickle Farm! 🇦🇺🇦🇺

[@unclesweetiesmodelworks]

I always appreciate your detailing ideas. It really does look much more realistic.

[@brsnorthernhorsejourney3579]

It is interesting to compare AMT's and MPC's Mack kits, the MPC ones were actually tooled before AMT's Mack R685ST kit. More freestanding parts on the MPC kit, AMT's seem to reflect their promotional model origins back in the 1950's with most details molded as part of the body, presumably for both strength and ease of assembly.

[@67oilmann]

Excellent videos 👍, your tips and tricks have made me a better scratch builder in the last year. Thinking more out of the box.

[@brsnorthernhorsejourney3579]

Thank you, great to hear you've found them of use. Over the years others have shared tips, tricks and information with me so it is nice to be able to pay it back in a way.

[@dennisbisconti4583]

​@@brsnorthernhorsejourney3579+ great tips I've downloaded your videos to ues as future reference I have this kit and the offset cab version with the short hood also have the new transtar kits 4070A plan on getting the photo etch parts for them from cezk truck modeler

[@chris-SDI]

thank you for sharing!

[@josephesposito7818]

Excellent stuff….its all about the details.

[@brsnorthernhorsejourney3579]

"Into the weeds" on the small details gets to be a lot of fun!

[@TJRohyans]

I've also learned that the head of some dressmakers pins almost perfectly simulate the lock cylinder, in lieu of a punch set. Peace and love.

[@brsnorthernhorsejourney3579]

That's a good tip to remember, thank you for sharing that.
David Parsley (he has a comment on this video) has a great eye for items that may not seem like scale model detail parts but can be used for many purposes - check out his channel for some great ideas and inspiration.

[@ruanecrummett9261]

Thanks for the great tip

[@jeffmurphree2937]

Looks much better! Now, to make the key to fit the hole! :)

[@brsnorthernhorsejourney3579]

I think I will "tap out" at this point! (Although Detail Master does have a wide assortment of photoetched detail items, there is likely one of their sets that has keys).

[@davidparsleyscustomscaleemerge]

Love it!

[@raydunne5562]

Awesome👍