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GooneyBird

How To: crack open a window for the poor little dude inside your touring car

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We all know that people like Wild Willy live outside. They breathe fresh air, and occasionally get a face full of pebbles (he seems to like it, somehow). But what about the men and women driving your on-road cars. Don't they deserve a cool breeze once in a while too?

That's what this How To is about. Unfortunately, rolling down the window on a lexan body isn't a matter of pushing a button, or even pushing a crank about, but it takes a little more work. 

Step 0: Clear that mental road block that you're about to hack a substantial hole in a very pretty body shell.
Then go find some pictures online of how the real car rolls its windows down. Not every door and pane of glass is the same! I did this on a '90s Skyline R32, and I've found out that the window curves in a bit at the top. This means that the rear moves away from the B-pillar. This picture helped me visualize the path of the window. 

Step 1: Overlay a large piece of masking tape on the window, and trace out the outlines. Then cut out the window-shape. This will show you roughly where the window lines will end. Here's where your reference pic comes in handy. I found out that on a Skyline the front edge of the window follows the A-pillar post straight down, while the rear clears the b-pillar completely. At this point it helps to remove ancillaries like mirrors and any other object that might get in your way. (In my case, I took out the interior set and the side mirror)

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Step 2: carefully start tracing out the shape of the window, using a sharp blade. Don't worry if it's a bit jagged, you can always use some sanding paper to clean it up later on. Use a sharp blade, and the least amount of pressure you can muster up. Go a little deeper each time.

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Step 3: Once you can feel the cut from the rear, that means you're almost through the lexan. Drill a small hole on each corner, and carefully start pushing. You'll feel a small 'pop' as the lexan tears along the score line you just made.

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Step 4: Keep pushing and tear out the lexan surrounding your masked-off section. Then step back and admire your work.

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Step 5: clean up any rough edges with a bit of sanding paper. I also used a black marker to color the edges of the window sill frames. This means if you're looking straight at the edge you'll see a black line instead of a transparant line leading to a black decal.

Step 6: Clean the body shell of any finger prints and dust, and install anything you took off before you started.

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Step 7: Tell the little guy inside to breath in the fresh, crisp air. :) 

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Blimey.  I hate cutting polycarbonate shells out so much, the idea of inventing extra stress for myself makes me want to lie down.  Well done though.

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Brave boy for doing the rear edge too. good job!

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but having the window open causes drag so it wont go as fast and use more fuel/electric....lol lol

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My drivers have their aircon switched on so opening the window is not required.

Great work though for those 'lesser' cars without A/C ... chortle ;)

Seriously though, great work. 

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24 minutes ago, Jason1145 said:

My drivers have their aircon switched on so opening the window is not required.

Great work though for those 'lesser' cars without A/C ... chortle ;)

Seriously though, great work. 

Hahaha, thanks! I'm actually convinced that a stock Skyline GTR should have AC, but then with these modified track tools (see the red bucket seat and 4-point harness) you just never know what's still present and what isn't.

51 minutes ago, tam-trucks said:

but having the window open causes drag so it wont go as fast and use more fuel/electric....lol lol

If this actually slows the car down I'd be very amused. Knowing my luck it'll start to whistle or something at speed. :D

1 hour ago, Fuijo said:

Brave boy for doing the rear edge too. good job!

Thanks! Not doing the rear edge just wouldn't feel right. You know me, I'm a stickler for useless little details like that. 

4 hours ago, StrokerBoy said:

Blimey.  I hate cutting polycarbonate shells out so much, the idea of inventing extra stress for myself makes me want to lie down.  Well done though.

Thanks! Well, it's not actually all that difficult, just nerve-wrecking and slightly dangerous (I shouldn't really be near sharp and/or pointy objects without proper adult supervision). Plus, it's a cool detail I haven't seen on many cars. Tamiya makes some really scale body shells, and doing little details like this really brings 'em to life.

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1 hour ago, Jason1145 said:

so opening the window is not required.

 

Where do they flick their boogers???

Terry

 

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IMO too much gap at the rear, looks like it is not sitting in the tracks. 

Popular mod in rc drift circles, along with boot (trunk for our US friends) and doors being cut out and spring loaded. 

Always fun to add a bit more realism to our hobby 😊

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must admit good idea,now it needs a rollcage fitting.......sorted then

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