Cutting Panels

I am cutting the whole upper fuselage out of a 1:144 747 to create a 747 Dreamlifter model.  I got tired of scoring with a knife, so chucked a dremel circular saw blade in my Dremel.  The kerf is pretty narrow, though I don't care about that, as I will not be using the upper, discarded section.  Sure goes a lot faster than any of the other methods I tried.  The cut line on each side is about a foot long, so that is a lot of cutting.

I'm not a Yinzer. I was born in Ohio. I'm a transplant because my wife is from here. Anyway, I would not mind joining your group but I think Bethlehem is still a bit far away.

David from PA

I live near a small town called Jeannette, about 20 miles SE of Pittsburgh.

 

I live near a small town called Jeannette, about 20 miles SE of Pittsburgh.

Hi, Dave, sorry if I asked this before, but where are you from in PA?  I'm in Bethlehem.

Hi Baron ;

 I have done this also . Especially on boat hull cut-aways and the same with planes .  T.B.

Rooster

Yes it's very delicate but as long as it's not touched it will maintain it's shape. It's very easy to tool and looks scale.

plasticjunkie

I use the back side of a new #11 blade to carefully make very light passes on the plastic. It will take a lot of light passes to cut thru. Depending on the panel, I will duplicate it with wine bottle foil so it looks like sheet metal in thickness. The foil is easy to tool and will easily copy any details by simply pressing it over the original part inprinting rivets or framing details. The surrounding area of the opening will be thinned down to scale.

As an example, I used wine bottle foil and pressed it on the gun hood cover of this 1/48 Dora then trimmed it to size. It produced a scale like thickness that looked better than the kit's thick part. Double click on the image for an extreme closeup.

 

That's a cool idea PJ. Do you have to coat it with anything so it keeps it shape or does it hold up pretty good as long as you don't do anything to deform it? Seems like it would be very delicate.

plasticjunkie

I use the back side of a new #11 blade to carefully make very light passes on the plastic. It will take a lot of light passes to cut thru. Depending on the panel, I will duplicate it with wine bottle foil so it looks like sheet metal in thickness. The foil is easy to tool and will easily copy any details by simply pressing it over the original part inprinting rivets or framing details. The surrounding area of the opening will be thinned down to scale.

As an example, I used wine bottle foil and pressed it on the gun hood cover of this 1/48 Dora then trimmed it to size. It produced a scale like thickness that looked better than the kit's thick part. Double click on the image for an extreme closeup.

 

I use soda or beer can aluminum for making some loose panels, PJ.

I use the back side of a new #11 blade to carefully make very light passes on the plastic. It will take a lot of light passes to cut thru. Depending on the panel, I will duplicate it with wine bottle foil so it looks like sheet metal in thickness. The foil is easy to tool and will easily copy any details by simply pressing it over the original part inprinting rivets or framing details. The surrounding area of the opening will be thinned down to scale.

As an example, I used wine bottle foil and pressed it on the gun hood cover of this 1/48 Dora then trimmed it to size. It produced a scale like thickness that looked better than the kit's thick part. Double click on the image for an extreme closeup.

Hi Dave :

    I probably do it the hard way to some . I thin the areas around an opening panel like looking through the surface of a light box . I shine a bright light on the outside of the plane or part . Then I thin the area from behind .

    Then I cut it out with a very fine flattened sewing needle sharpened  on an arkansas stone . It then takes very little work to come up with a panel needing no repairs or extra framing , unless it's there of course !    T.B.

KnightTemplar5150

My process has always been to use Dymo label tape to outline the panel I  want to remove and then use a scriber to cut it free. If the job is delicate, a sewing needle chucked in my pin vice is used to scribe it. If any height or width is lost on the panel, a little strip styrene gets glued to the edge. The whole panel gets sanded down for scale thickness anyhow, so blending repairs isn't a major issue. The new opening where the panel was located is dressed with a file and sanded smooth. If needed, strips of stock can be glued in place to represent the frame the panel rests upon. 

 

David from PA

Let me get this right.... I cut the panel out then thin it down by sanding and also thin the area where I took the panel out and use stip styrene to replicate a frame?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David from PA

Let me get this right.... I cut the panel out then thin it down by sanding and also thin the area where I took the panel out and use stip styrene to replicate a frame?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 No, thin the whole area ,from the inside,first then cut.....much easier.

 

 

 

 

Those new saws with photo etched blades make very thin kerfs so negligible panel dimension is lost- saves a lot of scribing/cutting.

Let me get this right.... I cut the panel out then thin it down by sanding and also thin the area where I took the panel out and use stip styrene to replicate a frame?

My process has always been to use Dymo label tape to outline the panel I  want to remove and then use a scriber to cut it free. If the job is delicate, a sewing needle chucked in my pin vice is used to scribe it. If any height or width is lost on the panel, a little strip styrene gets glued to the edge. The whole panel gets sanded down for scale thickness anyhow, so blending repairs isn't a major issue. The new opening where the panel was located is dressed with a file and sanded smooth. If needed, strips of stock can be glued in place to represent the frame the panel rests upon.