[Guest]

I want to start making parts for customs. I' like to know what materials are available, what are the easiest to work with.

How could I for example duplicate a plastic part from a model, something like a spoiler...

I'd also like to be able to make wider wheel arches and air intakes.

Hope to get to know how I can make my own parts in an easy and not too expensive way!

Thanks :cheers

 

[Guest]

I think you got it right with the sheere mention of resin. have never worked with it, so I couldn't give you any tips on it.

There is also some clay like material that can be use. I am not familiar with the name of it, but it looks like a red-brown clay.

 

[Guest]

For wider wheel arches and air intakes (works well for roof scoops) I recommend using press-on nails from the cosmetics dept. They are fake womens nails that can be glued on. You can find them in many legnths and widths and are great for these purposes and can be trimmed to the shape desired. Also in conjunction with press-on nails for more complex projects may I recommend using sheet styrene and super glue filler. Keep in mind that super glue filler can be sanded but may shrink so another application might be necessary in some cases. I hope that helped. :cheers

 

[Guest]

Thanks Darrick, I would really like to know how resin works... My local hobby shop can't tell me anything about creating parts, he doesn't have resin, styrene or clay. ullhair

Thank you too CX, interesting method with press on nails. They might be useful for once with the air intakes. But I'm mainly looking for stuff that I can create larger parts with. Like spoilers, bumpers etc. (And I can't really see myself walking into a cosmetics store and buying some press-on nails :giggle )

I'm asking all this because I'm planning to make more customized, repainted, detailed models on Bburago Ferrari 348tb base. This is a model that I could built into a Spider and try to sell them. (I need another source of money next to my crappy 1 day magazine delivery job :lol ) But in order to do so I need to make the roof covers out of something.

 

[cobalt1959]

Rico, My local hobby shop had a kit to cast your own parts. I don't know how much something like this would help as you'd need a master to cast off of. I don't remember much about it or who made it, but I'll try and swing by next week and see if it's still there. Another possibility you might look into is vacu-forming. I don't know anything about it, and I've never tried it, but I know there are people out there who do it. You might try and do a Google search on it, find out if it's something you want to try. Once again, you will need a master, and the vacu-forming material.

 

[roadstermatt]

i tender to use car body filler to make flared wheel arches spoilers etc

 

[Scott_S]

I've used resin to make some parts. It can become very expensive if you start to screw up too many parts/molds. I use www.alumilite.com products. There are some very good tutorials on their site and they offer starter kits.

I've ordered from http://www.hobbyengineering.com/SectionBM.html with no problems and they accept Paypal. They also ship internationally. They are actually cheaper (including shipping) then the local Hobbytown USA. You can also make your parts in various colors by adding dyes to them.

 

[Guest]

Thanks all! :cheers
Scott, that stuff definately looks expensive. I found one shop in the UK selling those products. I'll have to look into it and see if it's useful.

Thanks again! :cheers :cheers

 

[Guest]

I've sculpted some stuff like valve covers and intake cones from JB Weld (comes in a puddy form). I make a box with paper and fill it up with JB Weld, then let it set up over night and get hard. To carve it I use a dremel tool with various tips, as well as some small wood carving tools.

JB weld is cheap, durable, and fairly easy to sculpt if you have the right tools. It can be sanded, painted, drilled, and anything else you can think of. I think the package even says it can be stripped, but I've never tried.