Large Scale Central

ARTICLE: Making a Dent

Making a Dent!

By Tiny Pearce

Making a dent in a plastic car is easy to do and adds some nice detail to the car. Of course a dent will not work well on a car with wood siding. hehe

I used a tank car to add this detail too.

I’m sure someone out there can refine the operation explained below and make even better looking dents. This was my first try at doing this.

I used a candle for my heat source, and held the section of the tank car over the flame where I wanted to add a dent. I wanted to make sure I did not burn the plastic and make a hole. As the plastice got soft, I then used a pair of wire cutters to press into the plastic and form the dent. Also taking care not to push through the tank and make a hole.

Making a dent on a steel gondola might be fun. I think a hole or gash in the dent would make the gon look like a well used car. Any metal object will work for making the dent.

Once I got a dent made, I set the tank aside and let it cool and harden again. I then airbrushed some rust into the dent and let some rust run down the side of the car.

Thats about all it takes!