is there an easy way to install doors on car kits. i always have a hard time and wondered if anyone knows an easier way
What type of kits? I’ve assembled several kits and there were some different ways to do the doors.
Have fun,
Richard
the one i’m having issues with is an athearn kit. but i also have a few roundhouse kits to assemble too.
are these the older blue box kits? if so, you must remove the top door guide by pushing against the pins from inside the car. the bottom “claws” might need to have the flash cleaned out of them before sliding them onto the bottom rail. then you snap the top guides back into place. i have not bought an athearn car in years so i don’t know what the later ones are like.
charlie
Charlie has it exactly right for the older BB kits.
Dave
Sometimes there’s some flash around the edges of the “claws” on the door that hook over the door tracks. Take a needle file and gently clean them up some and they slip on more easily/less likely to break in use.
The problem w/ the bottom guides has been addressed, however, it is not always nec to remove the top channel. After “carefully” filing/ cutting away the flash, the door can be placed into the bottom channel. The top of the door is inserted by carefully flexing the door and snapping in. You just need to keep pressure upwards on the 2 bottom guides as too much force can break one.
Looks like you’ve got a couple of answers to your question. Originally, the upper door tracks had to be installed by the modeller, so the installation procedure then was pretty obvious. [swg]
Athearn Blue Box kits were an introduction to the hobby for many of us, although I started when their kits were still metal. Even so, I’ve had lots of BB kits since then, and still enjoy working with them.
Here’s one on which I sacrificed working doors to get rid of the “claws”:
…and the same car re-worked to more closely match a photo of its prototype:
Wayne