8 replies to this topic

[mongoose1983]

I was thinking in renewing my Hornet's body this Winter (or Summer for you guys in the rich side of the world) and come up with a problem. Of course, it is nothing new with whatever Tamiya's been doing as they rerelease these old cars. The new body is identical to the original, except for one thing: the window/hole for the MSC's resistor.
I thought maybe some fellow TCer have sorted out this particular problem in the past, and so I decided to ask you guys what is the best method to correct the new body and make the hole without ruining it? Anybody in the know?
You all have a good Friday!

[lindorf]

I cut out the holes in the body to match the orig body i was replacing .. i used some paper make the templates of where the holes was needed cut em out .. placed on the body.. marked.. and cut.

[mongoose1983]

I cut out the holes in the body to match the orig body i was replacing .. i used some paper make the templates of where the holes was needed cut em out .. placed on the body.. marked.. and cut.

Yes, you can always mark and cut, but the roundy corners you can not cut them with scissors or a knife. That's where my question aimed mainly.

[ralphee]

Use a bodyreamer in each corner, punch your desired hole, then cut out up to the holes with an Exacto?

lee

[taliesin]

Use a bodyreamer in each corner, punch your desired hole, then cut out up to the holes with an Exacto?

lee

Yup, just like that.

[mongoose1983]

Use a bodyreamer in each corner, punch your desired hole, then cut out up to the holes with an Exacto?
lee

Yes, sounds like a good idea. I don't have a bodyreamer here, but was thinking on some dremel thing? Anybody used a dremel to get the corners done?
Thanks raplhee and taliesin.
You have a great week!

[markbt73]

If you don't have a reamer, you can actually ream holes with the tip of an X-Acto knife. I do it all the time. It works great for holes up to 2 or 3 mm; anything bigger than that you should use a drill bit so the hole doesn't get jagged.

[mongoose1983]

If you don't have a reamer, you can actually ream holes with the tip of an X-Acto knife. I do it all the time. It works great for holes up to 2 or 3 mm; anything bigger than that you should use a drill bit so the hole doesn't get jagged.

Thanks, Mark. Seems to me the solution would be making four corner-holes with a regular drill (using some piece of wood as backing) and then just use the cutter, that's it. I only hope I won't destroy the shell

[HunterZero]

Use the reamer hand tool. Don't use the dremel except on a very low speed, the heat from the friction of a fast dremel bit can destroy the polycarbonate, or cause stress that may cause the body to crack later. Drill will be OK, just use a slow speed.

I actually find that the back of an exacto blade works very well for carving/scraping away fine amounts of polycarbonate when tidying up the cut line.

- James