Removing Body Side Molding from 1970 Ford Custom 500 Police Interceptor.

[k9copcar]

Hello, Gang.

I will being building an AMT  1:25 scale , 1970 Ford Custom 500 Police Interceptor model. I would like to remove the body side moldings. It looks cheesy and actual Ford Police Interceptors I've seen without the BSM look so much better than the vehicles that have them. Any suggestions as to what is the best way to remove the BSM and give the model a CLEAN look all the way from the front to the rear?

Thanks!

[Plowboy]

I trim it as close as possible with an Xacto knife. Then sand it smooth (220, 320, 400). When I spray it with primer, I do a couple of light coats and allow it to dry well (at least a day). Lightly sand and spray additional coats of primer. This usually prevents the trim from "ghosting". Also, use a primer that is styrene friendly. I use Tamiya. 

[gman]

Not my photo, borrowed from this thread: 

^^ if you are talking about the horizontal body side molding running front to back above the wheels, try a pack of sanding sticks. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Flex-I-File-525-Flex-Pad-Into-Set-Finishing-Sanding-Polishing-Hobby-Craft/232923298661?hash=item363b4f7b65:g:Zc0AAOSweW5VAGba

^^ these sanding sticks are really good, and the assortment pack has grits from rough to ultra fine. 

You can lay some masking tape above and below the trim you want to remove, and work on removing the trim starting with the course stick and progressing through finer grits. You may have to re-scribe door lines a little bit after trim is removed. You can use the back of a #11 hobby blade to clean up door lines where the trim was- go easy.

[k9copcar]

Thank You, Plowboy and Gman, for the helpful tips. Much Appreciated!

[Erik Smith]

Yeah, just sand them off. I would run a light coat of liquid glue(like Tamiya Thin) over the spot where the trim was, wait for it to dry, sand off the “ghost” and repeat until it doesn’t “ghost”.  Some primers won’t get a reaction and it will look fine, but hotter top coats will reinvigorate that old trim location and it will show through the paint. 

Edited April 24, 2020 by Erik Smith

[av405]

What Erik said. I learned the glue trick on this board and it has really worked for me. 

[unclescott58]

The Ford police package in 1970 was available on Galaxie 500s. Not just Customs and Custom 500s. Which is what the AMT '70 Ford Police Car tries to depict. An additional problems with side moldings to resolve, if doing this model as a Custom, Custom 500, or Galaxie 500 for that matter, there are other problems that need fixing. AMT's '70 Ford Police Car kit was modified off of their '70 Ford LTD four-door hardtop kit. Window frames were added, but the roofline is still not correct for a '70 full-size Ford four-door sedan. And then AMT did nothing to modify the interior. The interior in the kit represents a non-Brougham, plain LTD interior. No matter what, getting a truly accurate '70 Ford cop car from this kit is going to be a bit of a challenge.

[Plowboy]

I've never done the liquid glue method myself. To me, that's introducing a solvent that will soak into the styrene that could possibly react with primer or paint later. I've had more ghosting issues where I've used liquid glue to join pieces together than I have from removing trim, door handles etc. I just finished a model that I had removed the trim and marker lights from with no ghosting issues at all. I think the major factor in that was using primer and paint formulated for styrene. 

[Erik Smith]

5 hours ago, Plowboy said:

I've never done the liquid glue method myself. To me, that's introducing a solvent that will soak into the styrene that could possibly react with primer or paint later. I've had more ghosting issues where I've used liquid glue to join pieces together than I have from removing trim, door handles etc. I just finished a model that I had removed the trim and marker lights from with no ghosting issues at all. I think the major factor in that was using primer and paint formulated for styrene. 

There are a lot of variables. The exact make up of the plastic, the type of primer and paint, etc. I’ve had plastic ghost after primer with Tamiya paint. I’ve had it not ghost with Dupliocolor paint.  On my most recent finished kit, AMT 1/32 T Bird, I removed the emblems, applied glue, sand, glue, sand then painted. No ghosts. 
I have not had issues using glue to “ghost out”, though, so I tend to do it every time I remove some trim. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Erik Smith

[Rodent]

The 1:1 has a character line under the molding. I am not sure how to remove the molding but keep the line. Possibly taping it off as suggested, and carefully sanding it round? Country Squires typically don't have the molding. Google a picture of one of those and you can see what it looks like without the molding. I wasn't having much luck finding a sedan with plain sides.

[SfanGoch]

Removing the trim and maintaining the character line is time consuming but not difficult. Divide the removal into two parts, upper and lower. Carefully remove the upper or lower first using a good scaping tool/scriber, such as the types available from John Vojtech at umm.usa.com, scraping along the entire length and checking the character line as you proceed. When done, do the same to the other part. Then, block sand the halves carefully, using tape along the center of the character line to aid in keeping things straight.

[keyser]

I sometimes use a mechanical pencil to sharply trace the edge of the trim. Tape hard at times, it rolls. So once you get close to the pencil marks, you can just slow down and finish it more carefully, not put too much wave in panel from oversanding. Agree on primer, as ghosting can be issue (you can see where trim was). 

Mechanical pencil easy to clean up pre paint as well. 

Nice builds btw