A method of detailing headlight relectors

By Ian Sadler

While holding a demonstration workshop at a local 3 day Town and Country show at Stoneleigh, Staffordshire , England .  

A very good friend and fellow modeller John Turner; of Womborne Model Club, staffs, showed me a new development for  using aluminium foil i.e. from a food dish used to hold a meat pie or cake or in  my case from a  Chinese take away container.

Take the aluminium and flatten it out with the back of your thumb nail, this is to remove the creases.  Measure the internal diameter of the headlight on the kit. Then select a suitable diameter wad punch or in my case multi turreted leather punch tool. Punch out a several discs of the aluminium and by trial and error dome the disc with a suitable tool, for me it is the domed end of a pencil. John uses a steel rod which has a domed end.

Carefully place the domed disc into the opening of the head light and by trial and error push it to the very back. I use a rounded dowel, it may end up creasing the disc but by running a blunted cocktail stick round it you should remove all the creases. You can then pop in a scale light bulb or just glue in the kit lenses; hey presto a fully reflective headlight and no painting.

Many thanks to John for sharing this tip with us.  

The headlights below were detailed using the technique described above.

Ian Sadler