Rough Rider body restoration - 'plastic' surgery?
Yesterday, I decided to work on a long term project, my Rough Rider. I glued the cracks and filled the holes with Olba Products industrial glue (CA), and their filler. I works quite well, it dries very hard in a split second and can almost immediately be sanded down. For the cracks, I needed a more advance solution. When a body cracks, it always cracks in the weakest area. Because the glue will not flex, the chances are very big it will split open again in the very same spot - unless you reinforce.
I decided to use the Dremel to cut a small slot perpendicular to the crack. Then cut a needle to length, put this in the slot. With a soldering iron, gently push the needle in, so the plastic melts a little. This is done to position the needle better. (I found when I would use glue directly, the needle sometimes doesn't go as deep in the slot as it could, or move out of place). Then afterwards, use the glue and filler to fill the gap, and then grab the Dremel again to sand it down (Gently!). Use some fine sandpaper for the fine finish.
This way, I repair the crack on the rear in the pictures, but also the roof area. For the rear panel, I glued in some Trespa plate cut to size. The body has now been primed, but it need a lot of sanding to be smooth again - the area's glued aren't less smooth than the rest though...