Hello, Does anyone in the forum know a good way to cut plastic passenger car shells straight. My dad has some S gauge shells he would like to cut so he can modify and make a different lenght , getting a nice clean straight cut. Thanks…
Phil…
I guess I would use the cutting wheel on my Dremel tool.
Don’t have a Dremel tool? Well, check Lowe’s and Home Depot. They aren’t that expensive, and a Dremel will help with a whole host of MR activities. I’ve been replacing my entire fleet of horn-hook couplers with Kadees, and the Dremel lets me machine out the metal pockets to fit Kadee draft gear. I can cut the couplers brackets off the Talgo trucks, and knock off the undersized pockets from old Crown freight cars to make room for the Kadees. Then I can cut the little “ears” off the Kadee boxes where they interfere with the wheels. On the scenery side, I use it to get precise cuts in my plaster castings, or to trim styrene.
No, I don’t work for Dremel, but I know a good product when I see one. What better present for your Dad? NFL Wild Card Weekend is coming up - did you get him a gift for that yet?
Much easier and cheaper to use a razor saw. Get one at your LHS with a 1" deep blade. Put masking tape around the shell where you want to cut it. Start cutting outside the line - keep the blade away from good part. When done, use files and/or sanding paper to smooth the cut on the good part up to the line. Tape a sheet of fine sandpaper to a sheet of glass, and move the model back and forth over it to get a flat cut.
I’ve cut apart diesels and all kinds of models this way, wouldn’t even think of using a high speed motor tool as it can melt the plastic or go off in the wrong dirrection.
Good luck!
Bob Boudreau
Have you ever seen the Xacto miter box? It is too small for your purpose but you could make a jig out of aluminum channel. Make sure it is deep enough to set you car into. 3/8 inch thick should be about right. I would take it to a small tool & die shop or machine shop. They will be able to cut the slot with much more precision than you. It needs to be perfectly vertical and in parallel with the cut on the other side of the channel. Have them make the cut slightly wider than the blade you are planning to use. The tighter the blade is the better, up to the point where it will cause excessive drag. You are trying to prevent lateral movement of the blade, which causes an uneven cut. Try to get the channel somewhat close to the size of your car. Block the car in the jig to prevent movement and go slow and easy. Get some old boxcars first and practice. The more teeth on the saw blade, the smoother the cut will be. The cost should be minimal.
Good luck,
Jim
Geese, has anyone actually cut apart a model car? Talk about overkill on methods! I’m just waiting for someone to suggest a commercial laser cutting machine - “Shouldn’t cost much over 10K” - etc!!!
Use a saw like I did for this one:
A saw, a line, some sandpaper and a file is all I used for cuts on both ends. Nothing overly complicated, no heavy power machinery, no special tools , just a plain old razor saw.
Been there, done that!
Bob Boudreau
I’ve cut up a few passenger cars lately. My latest project is redoing an old HO scale Rivarossi PRR sleeper. For those who don’t know, the PRR had 2 versions of these cars. The stock car is correct for the prewar version, but none of those cars made it to PC. So, I’m doing the postwar version, the PS124. This involved moving the door to the other end, splicing in various windows, and then respacing all the windows on the “corridor” side of the car. It’s quite a bit of work, but with a razor saw, some files, and plastic cement it’s not too bad. I did, however use a miter box. Since I had to actually remove the car sides from the floor, that was an easy way to get square edges.
Yes, it’s amazing what a miter box will do for you. Guys have been using them to make straight cuts for ages, nothing new, overly complicated or special. Just nice straight repeatable cuts. It’s too bad the Xacto version is not bigger. Then one would not have to resort to such overkill as building your own larger version.
Phil, good luck with whatever method you chose.
Jim
I suggest NOT using a Dremel tool – it is very easy to melt the plastic.
In addition to the good old Zona saw and mitre box suggestions, I suggest using the trains.com index to find the several George Drury articles from the '80s on modifying plastic passenger cars. George not only cut them vertically, but would cut out the window sections and put different ones in. Very ambitious.
Dave Nelson
Good Heavens, never use a dremel rotary disk to slice through plastic … EVER! I tried exactly what you’re talking about to cut out windows that didn’t fit. Well, believe you me, if the darned thing didn’t melt before my eyes.
It was a shame. My advice, use a razor saw, jeweler’s saw maybe or be patient with an Xacto knife and go over the same lines until you cut right through.
SMS