porsche gt3

[drunken monkey]

ok.
after getting 18 various kits of cars that i like, from i've decided to go ahead and build a tamiya gt3 as it seems nice and simple and a good one to try out some things.

first of all, i have a great urge to try to get working doors.
besides from cutting them out of the body work and attaching the inside panels to them, anyone here got any advice on how i can go about making a hinge for it?

thanks.
i'll let you know how it goes.....

[mel_carramel]

scratchbuild using pla plates? or buy any kit which has the door hinged and take em to use in ur GT3...

[drunken monkey]

for the hinge?
well i'm more inclined to scratch build.
the only kits i have with hinged doors are a couple of lp400s.....


just want to know how you guys have done this in the past.

[mel_carramel]

as u said.. scratchbuilt... just carve some fantastic hinge and make sure it is properly curved.. and duplicate it and u will have even hinged door for ur detached doors

[drunken monkey]

well, that's what i'm asking.
what materials should i be using?
what glues, any hints and tips....

[UKSupraboy]

Hi,

I'll try to explain how I do it and hope it helps a little. I am also working on my supra's body and doors at the moment and can maybe post some pics tomorrow.

The most accurate way is to use sheets and build a proper hinge but this is a lot of work for something that cant really be seen at the end. A simpler way is to just get hold of some VERY thin tube and wire/rod that fits inside nicely.

First cut a length of the tube approx 3 or 4mm long. Find the forward most point of the door, usually half way downish. The tube needs to attached to the door perfectly vertical with the lower end roughly half way down the door and most importantly as close as is humanly possible to the edge of the door without any sticking out.

For anybody thinking that putting the tube on the door is backwards, there is a good reason. On a real car, the doors leading edge usually if not always goes inside the body. If the wire is on the door and the tube on the body, the door comes outwards when opened, with the hinging point (tube) on the door, the leading edge will go in by half a mm or so.

When attaching the tube try to work out if the rod will go in or if the curve of the door will cause problems. I always use 'plastic padding' type auto body or leak repair to attach hinges and can bring the tube away from the surface a tiny bit if needed.

Next, the rod. First of all, securely tape the doors in place (closed possition) from the outside. Now the hard bit, not the doing but the explaining!

At a length on the rod, equal to the lenght of the tube, make a 90deg bend. You then need to play a bit with angles and lengths depending on the car, but as a rough guide, the rod needs to be inserted into the BOTTOM of the tube. The length after the 90deg bend needs to face in towards the interior, not straight in, but, depending on the kit, at somewhere between 20 and 45degs to the door panel, pointing forwards. Along this length, somewhere around 4 or 5mm, make another 90deg bend to take the rod back towards the inner front pannel. You then decide where the nxt bend is depending on the angles, but as a guide, if the rod came away from the door at 45des, then the length before the 90deg bend and after will be the same. When you do it is easier to see than explain.

At the end of this length do a final bend, this can be down, up or forwards along the panel depending on what is convenient, this length is the length that will be bonded to the inner pannel.

Cut to length and fix in place.

If the door comes inside the body to far when open, the distance between the tube and the door leading edge must be reduced.

I hope this helps a little, as I said, I will try to add pics to my Supra thread this week when its doors are done, in the meantime you can look here :-

http://public.fotki.com/xn12iipy/my_..._impreza_comp/

There are no detail pics of the hinges but you can see the end result.

Good Luck

Richie

[mike@af]

Hinges. 1/16" Brass, 3/32" Copper/Brass/Aluminum Tube.

[labandabonnot]

http://public.fotki.com/xn12iipy/my...u_impreza_comp/

Impressive Impreza!

[drunken monkey]

well, i've just painstakingly and painfully removed the doors...
given the very rough edges a little sanding.

my sister's "boyfriend' has the brand new gt3 (actually, the first gt3 in the united kingdom....) that (maybe) i can use as a reference.

maybe i should take some pics of my model and post in the progress threads.
thanks guys.
i'll keep you posted.

[redheat_19]

this link may help pretty much the same thing you guys said but has some pictures. Click on them to enlarge
http://www.themodelcarlist.com/tips/...er/hinges.html

Mike

[drunken monkey]

juat attempted to cut the main windows from the b window.
pretty much screwd them both up.
driver's side has cracks and passenger has a very, very rough edge and some minor scratches.

anyone got any ideas on how to fix them?
or would i need to find new windows?

y'know, just been looking through the parts in this kit.

is it just me or does it look like that this is the old carrera kit with an extra sprue of GT3 parts and different alloys?

[Junhao]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

y'know, just been looking through the parts in this kit.

is it just me or does it look like that this is the old carrera kit with an extra sprue of GT3 parts and different alloys?

Yes it is. I wonder why they don't provide decals for the Carrera so we can choose which car to build.... 2-in-1 kit. Ain't that great?

[willimo]

UKSupraboy - great idea for putting the tube on the door instead of the body! Every other door hinge how-to has done it the opposite way. The reason I've never opened doors or added hinges is I never thought they looked even close to scale, but the way you described is pretty damn close. I feel like an idiot for not seeing the solution, it's so simple and so elegant! Thanks a lot, man, that's great. Get a mod to move your post to the how-to section, I'll want to be able to find it later...

[drunken monkey]

i'll be at home tomorrow so i can post some pics of what's going on.

hey.
just wondering.
can i upload images directly onto the post or do i need to link to them from somewhere else?