Gunn got me thinking about this when we were chatting back and forth in another post. Anybody have an idea where I can get 1:18 (or close scale) garage doors? I want these to be authentic looking, the kind that each panel folds individually as the door raises/lowers. Any help that anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. Or if there's any talented custom model makers out there looking for a project I'd be more than happy to discuss getting these made custom. Thanx again

Jay

jay .. look at roll up desk. thay have cloth running behind the wood which helps each single board raise and lower. cut out sheets of stryene to the length you need and set them flat and even. allow small gaps or over round each top and bottom of stryene to let them move with out jamming. to keep spaces even use tape to lay the cut door peices on and check gaps. add contact glue to white thin cloth and to back of stryene doors let it get tacky. then place popcycle sticks on door. this will help keep the cloth from touching the contact cement untill your ready. when this is done apply the cloth over the popcycle sticks. now smooth out the top of the cloth to the top of the door. only to the next stick. remove next stick and repeat step #1 and so on till all is smooth. now you have roll up doors. another way is to use clear contact paper. :wave:
if i can help let me know. :thumbsup:
ps.. yes we would like to see picks of how your making things. it helps us srink things down to diffrent scales.
pss,, this idea was shown to me by my brother who did model cars when i was around 7. im 51 now so it's no secreat it has been out for along while lmao :p

also jay thay make spray on contact cement. and parctice this on other meterial so as not to waste the stryene. such as card board wooden popcycle sticks. if we have to we can go to the chat room and i can walk you threw it.

This scale calculator might help you...

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/calculatorfc_1.htm


Jeff Fleetwood

Gunn,

Sigh.... I wish it was that easy my friend. I looked into that idea awhile back but it's not gonna work. This door has to appear realistic form BOTH sides and function. LOL, I know - fussy but hear me out. The way the main building is setup is so that you can walk into the center of it from one side so the insides of both doors will be visible when you crouch down to look around. I want to figure out a roller system so it appears realistic, I'd even motorize the damn thing if I could figure it out.

Jay

theres always doll house minature door hinges. i have built doll houses before and you can buy very small hinges. or make the hinges your self.
as far as the back of the doors you install thin balsa wood to the back so the cloth wont be seen or another thin sheet of styrene

Hey Jay,
What Gunn was telling ya will work... I've done it... I used colored maskingtape to hold the panels together from behind... It has a cool texture to it, and kind of realistic looking... Like an insulated garage door... I used the wind up motors from some old McDonalds toys for auto opening garage doors, the only thing was you had to pull them down by hand... I used small sewing snaps from the sewing department at a fabric store for rollers and they worked great...
Good luck buddy!!!

Hey Jay,
What Gunn was telling ya will work... I've done it... I used colored maskingtape to hold the panels together from behind... It has a cool texture to it, and kind of realistic looking... Like an insulated garage door... I used the wind up motors from some old McDonalds toys for auto opening garage doors, the only thing was you had to pull them down by hand... I used small sewing snaps from the sewing department at a fabric store for rollers and they worked great...
Good luck buddy!!!

I'm actually in the garage door business. Would ya like a job? :lol: