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Model Detailing Tips From The L.I.A.R.S. Club
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Many modeldelers like to add extra, realistic detailing to thier models, either for thier own satisfaction or to gain an extra edge when entering their models in various contests.
Here are some tips that have worked for the members of the L.I.A.R.S. Club.
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Engine Compartment:
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Fuel Line & Filter: An easy way to replicate an inline fuel filter on most cars is to use a Radio Shack diode. These come in packages of about a dozen for only a few dollars. Simply bend the wire attached to the diode to neatly route it from the fuel pump on the engine, to the fuel bowl on the carburetor, and cut off any excess length of wire. Drill small mounting holes in the fuel pump and the carburetor and attach using small amounts of either super glue or epoxy. You can leave the orange and black glass part of the diode as is, for an older look, or you can paint it an aluminum color for a newer look. Look under the hood of your own car in the driveway for easy reference for routing and/or attaching the line.
Windshield Washer Fluid Line: If the kit you are building has a windshield washer fluid reservoir, you can add a fluid line from the reservoir container to the windshield wiper motor which is usually located on the firewall. Simply drill small mounting holes at the bottom of the fluid container and into the wiper motor. Cut a length of detail wire in whatever color you desire and attach using small drops of either super glue or epoxy, neatly routing the line along the inner fender well and the firewall. Again, look under the hood of your own car to see how and where the lines are routed and attached.
Radiator Overflow Line: Most cars from the ‘60’s & earlier had a simple “puke” line that ran from the radiator cap, down the side of the radiator to spill off the expanding fluid when the cooling system got hot. To replicate this simply drill a small mounting hole at the side or under the radiator cap, and attach a length of detail wire in your color of choice. Route it along the top and down the side of the radiator to the bottom. Check your 1:1 car to see how and where the line is run and attached.
Billet Radiator Overflow Container: A neat item that will add a little flash to your model is a shiny aftermarket radiator overflow can. To make one, cut a short length of aluminum tubing that matches the diameter of a model car aftermarket aluminum radiator cap. Polish the tubing to a chrome-like shine and attach the aluminum radiator cap to what will be the top end. Drill a small mounting hole at the top, near the cap. Glue the tubing can to the passenger side of the radiator and run a short length of detail wire from the cap on the radiator into the hole that you drilled into the tubing.
Interior:
Turn Signal Stalk: A lot of older kits don’t have one of these molded to the steering column opposite the gear shift stalk. To add one, simply drill a small mounting hole on the left side of the column and insert a short length of a round headed shirt or dress pin. Paint the round head your color of choice to match the interior decor or just paint it silver.
Door Lock Buttons: Most cars from the ‘80’s & earlier had flat headed straight door lock buttons at the top rear edge of the inner door panels. To make these, drill a small mounting hole in the appropriate location on the top of the door panel and insert a short length of a flat headed shirt, dress or craft pin.
Chassis:
Bolt Heads: A neat way to replicate shiny bolt heads on your chassis is to drill small mounting holes wherever there is a molded on bolt head. Then sand off the molded bolt head and, after painting the chassis, cut the head off a flat headed shirt, dress or craft pin (leaving a short length of the pin) and glue into the holes you drilled. If you’ve got the patience you can also file the flat pin head into a hex shape for added realism.
Coil Springs: Realistic coil springs can be made by either winding your own using fine diameter wire, or, using the spring from an old ballpoint pen.
Just cut the spring to the size needed, paint it your color of choice and install it in place of the kit spring.
Miscellaneous:
Dented, bent license plates: If you’re doing a “beater” or well-used street vehicle, try this. Apply a license plate decal to a small piece of aluminum foil. When the decal is dry, cut out the license plate and gently bend or dent the foil to whatever degree you desire. Then weather or rust it using your favorite technique and glue it in place on your model. For an added touch, glue it in place “crooked” so it looks like the mounting bolts are missing on one side.
Twin-mast Antenna: These look great, and in-scale, if you can find all the materials. You’ll need either extremely fine stainless steel tubing, or the needle tip from a fine medical or surgical syringe. Cut the tubing or syringe tip to about a 3/4 inch length without collapsing the cut end. Next, get either a printer pin from an old dot-matrix printer head, or, a short length of old guitar string (the high E, or sixth string which is the finest string). Insert the length of guitar string, or the printer pin, into the tubing. Glue this into the appropriate size hole that you have drilled into your car body for mounting the antenna. Viola... a realistic, in-scale twin mast antenna...!!!
Quick Glass: Did you ever try, or want to make your own glass for a model?
Try using either the clear top from a box of greeting cards, or clear sheet protectors for three-ring binders or name tags. Cut the clear material to the size and shape needed (use either the kit piece or a piece of paper or index card that has been cut to size as a template).
Glue the new clear piece in place on the finished body (from the inside) using either Krystal Kleer white glue, or clear epoxy in sparing amounts applied with a toothpick. You can make realistic looking, partially open side windows using this material.
Real Wood Panels for Woodies
Nothing looks more like wood than real wood right? Here’s an inexpensive way to make real wood Panels for a Woody. Do you have any friends that smoke good cigars? Ask them to save you their leftover packaging. Some cigars come packaged in a small aluminum tube with a screw-on cap. Rolled up inside the tube with the cigar is a paper thin sheet of wood veneer. You have to treat this wood/paper very gently, as it is very dry and brittle. First moisten the wood and gently unroll it to lay it either under or between the pages of a heavy book. (A thick phone book is perfect to use.) Leave the wood in or under the book until it dries out, at which point it will be uncurled and will lay flat. Now take the decal sheet that came with your Woody model, and cut out the flat wood panel decals. Make sure you cut them to perfect size for the panel which they will fit in to. Lay the cut out decal over the now flattened out wood paper as a pattern, and using a sharp #11 X-Acto blade, cut around the decal and through the wood paper. If you’ve cut the decal to the correct size, the wood should sit in the recessed Woody panel perfectly. Cut pieces to fit all the recessed panels that you want to fill. You can now stain or seal the wood with your favorite wood stain color, which will enrich the grain of the wood. Once you have the Woody body all painted, glue in each wood panel using a fairly thin layer of white glue, being sure that the wood lays flat. When the white glue dries completely you can either spray on a clear coat over the entire body, or just brush on some clear enamel over the wood to look like a varnish. This clear coat will also enrich the wood grain and color of the panels.
Now you not only have a woody with real wood panels, but you can use this wood/paper for dashboards, door panels, floors or whatever else you can think of. In addition, you can also use the aluminum tube to store files or short pieces of aluminum or plastic tubing. You can even same dimes in these tubes as they’re the perfect size..!!
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