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Posted

This Revell Hemi Cuda has extremely un-defined creases where the trim around the windows meets the body. I would like just a little crease to guide my knife later when I try to foil it, (I have seen the tip on using masking tape as a guide) but this trim is almost non existent. I have made this prototype tool to scribe a consistent groove around most of the openings. the rest I will have to freehand. It is a piece of 3/32" tungsten taped to a piece of 1/4" dowel. The test was successful so I will make a better one with a metal dowel. The tungsten (even a piece of coat hanger would work) could be ground to accommodate different trim widths.

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Posted (edited)

I've revised this tool. This version is sturdier and gets a lot farther into the corners than the prototype did. It can be easily spread apart to get a wider scribe. Rotating the tool off 90 degrees also changes the width! This is 3/32" stainless welding rod, but I think any stiff wire would work.

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Edited by NOBLNG
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  • Thanks 1
Posted (edited)

Spreading the tip a bit lets me get all the way into the sharpest corners! I first sharpened this to a needle point, but it dug in a little too aggressively, so I dulled the point a bit with a file.

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Edited by NOBLNG
  • Like 2
Posted

I like the second revision a lot. I've got a couple of projects where that could be quite useful. I've been thinking of a kluge involving a guide and a #11 blade or maybe dividers, but this looks much better. Thanks!

Posted

Wow! NEAT tip!

Just an FYI..........while you're scribing the trim, if it were me building this I'd make the upper corners of the quarter glass just that. Hard sharp corners which this body lacks. That's one of my hangups about this model in that this is what distinguished this from the Challenger among other things which had rounded corners.

2 hours ago, iBorg said:

That is a stealable idea.

Great thinking.

YUP! Another tool for my arsenal! :D

Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Rotating the tool off 90 degrees also changes the width! This is 3/32" stainless welding rod, but I think any stiff wire would work.

Great idea, thanks for sharing. Am I wrong is assuming that basically a nail in the right size would do aswell? Imho this tool is required only to do the initial scribing, after that the panels can be deepened using the usual tools such as scribers, exacto blade etc.?

Edited by Tommy124
Posted

LOL...Nice..!!!  I have been planing on making one from brass rod for some time.   It also would help me make trim around the windows on my station wagon conversions...not to mention trim that is too light or missing on kits.

Posted
11 hours ago, SSNJim said:

I like the second revision a lot. I've got a couple of projects where that could be quite useful. I've been thinking of a kluge involving a guide and a #11 blade or maybe dividers, but this looks much better. Thanks!

Well I learned a new word..."kluge". If I didn't already have a username, I'd pick that. :lol: Seriously, I'm glad I can contribute something to this forum. Everyone on here is so helpful!

  • Like 1
Posted
4 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Well I learned a new word..."kluge".  

Old term in computer programming....sort of a 'hack' or shortcut..usually badly done. 

Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Tommy124 said:

Great idea, thanks for sharing. Am I wrong is assuming that basically a nail in the right size would do aswell? Imho this tool is required only to do the initial scribing, after that the panels can be deepened using the usual tools such as scribers, exacto blade etc.?

Yeah, a nail, coat hanger, brass rod... pretty much anything that is harder than plastic. Just chuck it in a drill and sharpen it before bending. Once you get the line established you can use any tool you like.

Edited by NOBLNG
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

Well I learned a new word..."kluge". [...]

Huh, I've been thinking of a name for my "new" '68 Chevy pickup.

1 hour ago, Rob Hall said:

Old term in computer programming....sort of a 'hack' or shortcut..usually badly done. 

That's how I've been making some repairs on my '68.  If I can scrounge the parts, and do it for free, and it does the job, then heck ya!  To stop the hood from trampolining while driving, I made this hood brace.  Yea I could get a genuine GM part that was used on the later trucks, but this will do.  KLUGE

33262885118_969805a2cd_c.jpgFirst parts by Kurt Womack, on Flickr

Back to the topic, I have an old small compass, with stepped tips, that could work for this trick.

Edited by 89AKurt
Posted

Sweet!  I'm going to use this idea for my the MKii Jaguar that I just started.  The rear window on that kit has a pretty undefined trim (either that or I was too aggressive with the sandpaper when I first started it a couple of years ago).

Posted

Nice tip and nice work on the scribing. I also use a small drafting  compass with two points. One is the guide and the other does the scribing.

Posted

Had a similar issue recently with a resin truck cab, which had no trim line around the windows to show the rubber gasket.  Thought up this tool in the middle of the night and made it the next day.  Works superbly.  Two completely different people with the same need coming up with an almost identical tool.......awesome!

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  • 5 years later...
Posted (edited)

I have sharpened the trim scriber to a chisel point and used it to scrape a relief for window glass and posted it somewhere on here before I’m sure. But this is an easy upgrade. I took a short piece of coat hanger wire and sharpened it on both ends to a chisel point. Then soldered it to another piece of coat hanger. Now it can be chucked in a pin vise and used as an inside scraper or an outside scraper. Being chucked in a pin vise makes it far easier to handle. The width and profile can be filed to suit your needs.?

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Edited by NOBLNG
  • Like 5
Posted

Neat ideas!  If you don't have access to stainless welding rod one could use a piece of metal wire from a clothes hanger.

Another way is to use a small spring bow compass with a metal point inserted where the graphite insert would go.

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