Customizing Plastic model bodies advice please

[Mike Amen]

Hi All

I've just built a Tamiya 80 series Landcruiser model. The one with sports options. It turned out great.

I have another model of a standard 80 series and I want to modify it by cutting and stretching the body and chassis to make it a long wheel base dual cab ute.

Can anyone tell me the best way to do this without wrecking it. I will need to fabricate some longer side panels to fill the gap and I don't know how to do this.

Thanks

Mike

[Gildo]

Best advice I can give you is to go to a local hobby shop and see if there is any model clubs around. Most of the time club member will be more than welcome to share there knoleage.
There may even be kits to stretch the 80 series kit.

[Mikey0211]

Mabey after you build it.. cut off what you dont want then mould the rest from clay or similar... after your happy with the look, coat it with silicone and coat with resin....

remove the clay from the inside and then you will have a custom shell..

[BearGQ]

We used to make up a mould with balsa wood and then get some fibreglass sheeting to make parts when we were kids. You have to make the balsa wood mould a fraction smaller to allow for thickness of fibreglass sheets.

God, that goes back 23-25 years...

We used to make modded bonnets and spoiler kits etc. Spent more on fibreglass than the kits cost.

I suppose you could do the same with clay, as mentioned which would allow you more rounded and intricate parts.

Cheers

Rob

[ice_spy]

you can buy plastic card (sheets) or round sections called spure i think off memory, that will be able to be bent or cut to shape. glue in place then use a hobby filler, that can sanded and painted.

[BENOLUX]

yeh try your local hobby shop mate there is a thing called styrene it is white plastic sheets about 3mm thick and all the americans use it to build with they often use it on train layouts too its great u can blue then file and even shape it i think it can be heated and bent too:thumb:

[tuf4runner]

got pics of the 80 u built? i got one to rebuild soon so im goin all out custom on it

[bpw74]

Hey Mike, Good to see that your still going ahead with this one.

There is a couple of ways to build new side panels to extend the body. I'm presuming the body panels have moulded in detail such as lower door trim and a body line as such and not just a straight flat panel.
My first thought would be too get a square block of plasticine to make a negative mould of the area just by pressing it up against the area you want to replicate ( ensure that you cover more than you need as it will be easier to join to the body later ) Then fill with resin that you can buy any where like bunnings etc. Remove the plasticine and whallah a new panel. You could even use play-doh (if you have kids) or blue-tac.
OR...
If it is a stright panel with just some curve and no detail you could use styrene sheet from the hobby shop and heat it up with a hair dryer to get the curve then glue in place and fill any gaps with "tamiya plastic putty" or "quick stop putty"

If you go back to my "mini otis" thread you will see how I extended the chassis on that one, using plastic strips of various sizes and sytrene sheet.
Hope this helps a bit, if you need any more info just drop me a line
cheers:)