Interior detailing techniques for your model

Need a realistic looking shifter boot? Make your own by cutting the end off a rubber fishing lure. Drill a hole through it, paint it black, and slip it over the shifter.

Having trouble detailing an instrument panel? Take a photo of the real car’s instrument panel, enlarge or reduce it with your Photoshop software, print it out and glue the sized piece to the dash.

Need chrome bezels and trim on your dash? Paint the entire dash silver. When that’s dry, paint the whole dash semigloss black. When the black is tacky, scrape it off the areas to be chrome. Be careful not to remove any chrome paint underneath by scraping too hard.

Add clear covers to an instrument panel by placing a drop of clear two-part ‘5-minute’ epoxy directly over the gauges. Use a round toothpick to deposit a blob into the gauge cavity.

To add more texture and depth to your model’s interior, dry brush the scrapings from a pastel pencil (that is slightly darker than the interior’s colour) into the recessed areas.

Seam binding tape can be used for scale seat belts. The buckles can be cut from thin sheet plastic, painted silver and glued on the ends of the belts.

Heat-shrink tubing, found at hardware stores, can be used for roll cage padding. Using a piece slightly larger than the cage’s diameter, slice it lengthwise and slip it over the roll cage. It will then return to its original shape. Use fine black thread soaked in super glue for the zip ties.

Make your own door lock buttons by drilling a hole in the proper location on the door panel. Cut a straight pin or insect mounting pin slightly longer than needed, dip the end in glue and mount it in the hole.

Modelling lights on chromed parts

Replicating taillight and headlight lenses on parts that are already chromed can be frustrating. The most accurate way of solving the problem is by drilling out the lens area and replacing them with translucent units from the parts box or with scratchbuilt lenses made from translucent sprue.  An easier way to depict taillight lenses is to paint the lens area of the chrome part with several coats of clear red paint.

Tips for model windows

Polishing kits can remove slight blemishes or scratches in a kit supplied windshield. An alternative is gentle polishing with toothpaste followed by a thin application of Crisco.

Artist’s acetate, found in most art supply stores, makes great scale windows. It has the correct scale thickness and can be bent to most window shapes.

Exposed and processed black and white film is useful for making tinted windows for slammers with no interiors. Use the existing windows as a pattern for cutting out the proper shapes.

Use white glue or clear enamel to install clear-plastic windows. Unlike super glue or styrene model cement, enamel or white glue will not fog the clear plastic.

Scale sunvisors can be drawn on, and cut from, thin sheet plastic.

Tinting windshields
To give your scale windshield a top tint, use Clear Blue acrylic, slightly thinned. Carefully fog the paint over the top quarter of the windshield. Apply light coats to avoid runs and consequent dark spots. Several thin coats work better than one or two heavier coats.

Once you are comfortable with the shade of blue, let the paint dry overnight. Acrylic dries as hard as lacquer if left alone for a bit, so give the paint time to dry completely.

When dry, use some metal polish to smooth the surface and eliminate overspray. Follow up with plastic polish and a soft cloth to shine up the windshield surface.

Easy wiring detail for your model car

A metal-nibbed, extra-fine, disposable artist’s pen (available from most art supply stores) makes drawing the wires on your model’s firewall easy.

Sourcing props for your model dioramas

While a lot can be done with the parts that come with most figure kits these days, if you apply a little imagination and take the time to collect a selection of in-scale props, the scope of your displays will broaden significantly.

Always view any potential supplies with an eye to what will be in scale. Obviously, any other kits in the correct scale can present parts that can be adapted for use in your vignette. But you can expand your resources by looking carefully at things like farm, domestic and wild animals from toy shops, dollhouse and scrapbooking supplies, and even unusual packaging materials.

Even if you don’t have an immediate use for such items, keep them with your other spares and when the time comes, you will have what you need.