I wanted to open up the Bonnet or Hood as our American cousins say on a Zil Truck in 1.35 scale. This was to show of the engine bay and details. Unfortunately when I examined the plastic parts. I soon realised that they were way over scale in thickness. I then remembered that I had faced a similar problem before with scratch building replacement handles on the side of T34 fuel tanks.

I scraped away the two locking handles and the grab handle from under the louvers on the kit part; I then smoothed down this area with emery cloth (wet and dry) which left me with just the louvers on the plastic side.   I cut a piece of Aluminium from the bottom of a Chinese take away foil dish. This is very thin and malleable and free. This piece was larger than I needed, so I folded the top and bottom edge under the original part. This served to hold it in place while I carried out the next part. Taking a cocktail stick I smoothed the point with emery paper to a more rounded but blunt shape. I simply burnished the cocktail stick over the surface of the aluminium on the raised detail. It simply fell into the louvers and formed a replica of the original. By repeating the burnishing in the opposite direction I was able to get the louvers to stand proud of the backing plate. After I was satisfied with the result, I slid the new engine cover off the original by loosening the folded area at the back.  Carefully I cut around the imprint of the new engine cover edges and filed to shape.

I then repeated the process for the top half of the engine cover- the bonnet or hood, which has a complex curve. By simply cutting it out and again filing to shape, I then had the two parts to the engine covers. All that was left was to supper glue them at the correct angle and add a seam from a piece of suitable plastic strip along the top half of the hinge. Were the bonnet and side cover folds in two as per the original.
End result engine covers folded in the correct manner and in scale. Lastly I made a new grab handle from the same material and two tie down clips by copying them from the original using the opposite side as a guide, all that was left was to supper glued them on. 

This method can be used for lots of applications, lockers, fenders, and toolbox lids, pressed steel ammo boxes, door skinning on 1/24-scale kits. Since I wrote this article I have tried it out on dimple pattern and chequer plate plastic and it replicates it very well. To stiffen it up I use super glue on the reverse side and this gives strength to the very thin metal. It is up to the model maker to perfect his or her own method and give it a try. 

Cheers Ian Sadler