Body trimming?

[fastang]

As you can see by all the pics of my cars none of them have bodies. Berrickster just lent me a 12l that I want to put my old skool TOJ on so my question is how do you cut out the wheel wells and make them look perfect! Im not even drilling mounting holes in the body, It just means too much to me to do that. I will figure out a different method of mounting without drilling. The wheel wells have me stumped and I surely don't to F it up!

What say the pros!
Thanks Much,
Mike

BTW, the body is already painted if that matters.

[scr8p]

it looks like the wheel wells are already marked where to cut them. unless they don't fit the wheel base of the chassis your gonna put it on.

[fastang]

They are but whats the best way/tool to use to cut them?

[klavy69]

I had picked up a tc3 awhile back that came with 4 or 5 bodies that were all perfectly cut so I had to contact him to find out how. He said he measured out the wheelwell cut lines and used a holesaw after doing some center marking. Don't know if that helps or not but it would get the top perfectly round if the cutlines are perfectly round. Otherwise I use a pair of lexan curved scissors and cut very slowly and precisely...
Todd

[scr8p]

curved lexan scissors.

[bearrickster]

I use a school compass, I bought at Michaels. it has two points I stick one through the body in the center of the wheel. and drag the other one scoring the body and bend and tear it out. the one I bought has removeable tips and on one side points the other a pencil. I would just mount it with velcrow, and some lexan mounts

[RedScampi]

I score mine with a very sharp exacto knife then cut it into pie wedges, then snap off the wedges at the score line. If there are any inconsitencies I use a drum sander on the dremel to clean it up. Any flash from the sanding is trimmed off with the exacto then the edges get sanded a little. This is not nearly as labor intensive as it sounds.

[pancar]

I've never been real happy with the lexan scissors method. Always seems to leave a slightly jagged edge which makes it easier for cracks to develop. I have always used an Xacto knife with A NEW BLADE. The new blade is the key. Lexan is somewhat like glass in that all you have to do is score it and it will break cleanly at that line.

I usually start at one of the front or rear corners and SLOWLY work your way around the body on the molded in cut line. If there is no cut line draw on the outside with a Sharpie where it needs to be cut. Using a moderate amount of pressure guide the knife all the way around without lifting the blade off of the body. Everywhere you have to restart it never seems to break cleanly and leaves a jagged portion that needs to be cleaned up later.

Now comes the fun part. After the body is scored all the way around you can bend a section back on itself and it will snap. Now if you have a clean scribe line the extra piece will basically be able to be torn away from the rest of the body. Kind of like opening the cellophane on a package of gum, you just need to get it started. You might have to bend it carefully when you get to edges or other details in the body for it to break away cleanly.

The result is two pieces of lexan, the body and the excess from the lower portion. If you have to do any cleanup or trimming, use the Xacto knife once again. But put a fresh blade in again, blades are cheap, bodies are not. Do a little practice on some scraps to get the feel for how much pressure it takes.

The results speak for themselves. I've been doing it this way for around 25 years now and I still find it the easiest and quickest method, even for an old shaky handed one like me. The XXT body in the attached pictures was done this afternoon in under 5 minutes and is the first one I have done in over 3 years. Just takes a little practice.

Tom

[RedScampi]

Nice work Tom, I might have to give that a shot!

[Lowgear]

I score mine with a very sharp exacto knife then cut it into pie wedges, then snap off the wedges at the score line. If there are any inconsitencies I use a drum sander on the dremel to clean it up. Any flash from the sanding is trimmed off with the exacto then the edges get sanded a little. This is not nearly as labor intensive as it sounds.

This is basically the method I've always used. I just replace the exacto knife with a pair of lexan scissors. Though to be honest I haven't cut or painted a body in years. When the time comes to do one again I might try pancar's method.

[treehugger]

i bought one of these 5 buck from my lhs cuts a perfect hole

[markt311]

I use a new Xacto blade, but I take a pair of pliers and snap off the tip of the blade. That keeps the blade from wandering, of course I can't draw a straight line, much less cut one so I take my time.

[dldiaz]

I saw this topic in R/C Car Action not that long ago, they recommended [pancar]'s method with the exacto blade, then snapping off the excess, just like he explained. ((I pretty much suck at all manner of bodywork, myself...))

[fastang]

Thanks guys! I might go out and buy a cheap body to practice on first. I would sure hate to f up this body!

[fastang]

Ok guys I went out and bought a big Xacto set with like 5 tools, 30+ blades Etc. New question is what blade is best for the trim. I have everything from needle point to large rounded blades to your typical utility knife blade. Im thinking something smaller and pointed rather than a rounded style?

Thanks!
Mike