Tonight the work was a bit tideous and time consuming, and it seemed at the end I didn't have much to show for it, especially since most of my pics today came out blurry (screwed something in the depth of field with my macro setting).

Anyhoo, tonight I decided it was time to see if I could successfully thin all of the stock plastic kit brush guards for the headlights, taillights and horn. Schumo does make a set, but as I've mentioned before I'm cheap and if I can save $70, plus avoid having to wait two-four weeks to get it, I'm at least willing to try. I know my plastic bits will be fragile when they're done, but until I break them beyond repair, who knows maybe then $70 bucks would become a bargain.

Using my calipers I scribed a line at .030 in from the inside edge of each of the guards, effectively marking the center of the .060 thick part. Then using a small burr bit in my dremel I slowly ground away material from the inside perimeter of the part. Then I finished everyhting off with files and several grits of sandpaper.

They're a definite improvement over the thicker stock parts, and should look more scale once everything is painted up and weathered.

Like I mentioned earlier sorry for the blurry images, but I'm hoping you can still see the results of thinning them down compared to the locator holes in the hull. The first picture shows the stock part on the right and the thinned kit part on the left. My plan is to use solvent to attach them, then reinforce the joint with CA, and finally add a weld bead made of putty.

Squid