| A rod from 1 mm brass was bent and mounted on the U-bracket. This is the trailing member of the guides. |
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| A close-up of the rod. Note the specially bent profile. This prevents the link from rotating more than 90 degrees and keeps the door at a safe distance from the body while the door is being drawn back. |
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| The tip is bent to go in the side slot on the body and retain the link there. |
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| The 1mm wide side slot was cut at the side of the body. It had to be U-shaped at the inner side to keep the bent tip of the link. I used steel putty to make the channel. I put a styrene strip at the back of the slot, covered it with wax paper so that the putty would not stick to it. then I applied the putty as shown, taking care that it does not rise above the upper level of the body slot. I let it cure. |
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| After the styrene strip was removed, this was the channel. |
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| And now, the operation pictures of the
door. At the right, it is closed. Bottom, it is starting to open. Note
that first the rear part of the door has risen a safe distance from the
body so that it will clear the fender while travelling. At the bottom right,
the door is now fully open. WOW !
I had started this project as a concept, where only the body would be enough to make. But I challenged myself to a 1/24 scale mechanics. If it were not for the doors, the model would be about to be finished by now. Anyhow, I'm happy.. |
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| And this is the side view with the door open. I still have to manufacture the right side!!! |
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Three layers of styrene strips were glued
on the rear edges of both sides. These will supply "the required meat"
while sanding the rear edge radius.
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| The back door was cut out from 1 mm thick brass sheet. Since it had a spherical profile, it was easier to shape it out of metal. Metal also has its internal rigidity and stays stable in the given shape. I transferred the contour of the VW rear lamps on the brass sheet and made the recesses with a round file as shown. |
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| Next step was to give the shape to the rear door. This was done by hand and by hammering. |
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| A test-fit was the following step. Meanwhile, note that the rear edges of the body were sanded to a smooth radius. |
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| The mounting brackets of the rear door were manufactured from 0.2 mm brass sheet and soldered on the rear door. |
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| The hinge was made from 1 mm dia. brass wire and the edges shown here inserted in the mounting brackets. |
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| The hinge was then fitted on the body, together with the rear door for alignment guarantee. The hinge was sandwiched between styrene sheets. |
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