Attaching Side Mirrors to bodies...

Hey guys

just wondering what some of u do, with cars that have side mirrors that attach to the door itself and not at the corner of the window and door..

cars like a Supra or S2000....

whats the way u do it?

Superglue, or masking tape to hold it there while the normal glue dries.

Here's a method that works well for me. May take some time to read and understand for some without the aid of pictures, but read carefully as I try to simplify this as much as possible.

I drill a small hole with a pin vise and a micro sized drill bit ( available at shops that sell model trains) into the mirror at about 1 mm deep. Be careful not to drill all the way through! Then I cut small diameter styrene rod that fits into the drilled hole and glue in place. You should leave about 2mm excess for use as guide pins. When drilling make note of the angle you want the mirror at, otherwise you'll get lopsided results.

With the rod now in place. Line up to where you want it permanently affixed to the body and place a mark where you want to drill. Again, make note of the angle you're drilling at. You don't need to be perfect about the angle as you can bend the styrene rod a bit to conform.

The last step is insert the side mirror and glue with white glue from the inside. I say use white glue because if your model is painted, you don't run the chance of ruining the paint job if you get excess on the painted areas. Trim off stubs if necessary.

DJMR2-hope this helps good luck! How's your Gundam stuff coming along?

-Walter

Use clear glue, because it doesn't attack paint. These parts are prone to getting knocked off, and when that happens, cement will leave an ugly mark.

Kristal Klear is what you need...if you stuff up it just wipes of with water and wont harm your paint job.

I drill a small locating hole before I prime the body, this way I know where the mirror is suppose to go, because the little etch mark usually gets covered by paint etc. I don't make a pin, I just glue it on with Krystal Klear so if it gets knocked off, it doesn't take paint with it.;)

I do mine similar to how Walter describes, but with this way you wo'nt need to worry too mush about making not of the angles.

All this is prior to any primer or paint being applied, i did this a while back so i dont have pics to accompany the whole procedure.

First of all drill a small hole bang in the centre of the area for the mirrors. Then glue the mirror onto the body with a small amout of poly cement to tack it in place - make sure you position it right. When the glue is set and the mirrors secure, drill back through the hole from the underside into the mirror being careful about how far u drill. When u have drilled to a sufficient depth, snap off the mirror - it wont get damaged as long as u didn't slap on loads of glue!
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/3836171.jpg

Next, construct a peg out of whatever you like - strectched sprue or plastic rod. I like to use 15amp fuse wire as it obviously stronger and the previously drilled holes were to the same diameter for it.
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/5328512.jpg

As with Walter's method you can apply CA to the underside to secure them. Doing it like this or similar means that they are unlikely to break off easily as with Kristal Klear or PVA glue. Plus it eliminates any positioning issues as the raised lines Tamiya use to indicate their position are likely to be removed when sanding during body prep.
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/3655623.jpg

Fly: would you stop showing off that S2000, Its making me jealous ;)

But seriously, thanks for the tips, I'll be using this method as much as possible now.

Thanks Fly and Walter!

i've been thinking of using this technique as well, but always worried about the angles and stuff and where to find a small rod etc....

going to start a S2000 soon, so don't want to mess up.

the kristal klear method sounds alright too :)

WALTER, haven't started on the gundam stuff, waiting for my order from HLJ and HobbySearch, and trying to find time to do modelling with school :( and it looks like modelling is on hold till christmas!!!

dam school!!!!!