Scale Cockpit Hatch — Functional Detail to bring your Scale Model to Life

 When it comes to RC scale Golden Age racers, no one does them better than the world recognized Gee Bee guru Henry Hafkee. When I buil the 1/3-scale version of his Howard DGA-5 “Ike” Golden Age racer I added several of the details that a racer this size needs to look real. One of them is the functional cockpit hatch. This simple working detail cam add life to any golden age airplane so here’s how I did it. Enjoy!

Start with small screws and hinge material from Nelson Hobby Specialties http://www.nelsonhobby.com/. Jerry Nelson specializes in all sorts of giant scale hardware. You’ll also need a small screw driver and instead of a small drill but, use a sharpened piece of music wire to pierce the surface of the model. This is quicker and easier than using a drill bit.

First you have to build the cockpit section and make sure it fits properly in place. I build the hatch in place on the fuselage so I know it will fit and match the model’s outline.

Tape the roughed out hatch cover in place.

Without taking the tape off, position the hinge as shown centered on the hinge line. Stick the sharpened wire into the screw hole and install the screws, working from one end to the other skipping holes as you go. The fill in the rest of the holes with screws.

Here the hatch cover is in place with the hinge screwed in place.

Now remove the cockpit hatch cover and start working on it to smooth its surface and fill in any seams or other defects.

Once it’s sanded smooth, finish it with a layer of fiberglass cloth and Pacer Z-Poxy Finishing resin. Use two coats and sand between each. Sand smooth again and prime with your favorite spray on primer. I like cheap Krylon primer from the hardware store.

Go over the primed hatch cover and fill in any imperfections and pin holes with glazing putty. Let dry and sand smooth with fine sandpaper.

Repeat the process as much as necessary until you have a perfectly smooth surface. Now spray a coat of white primer on, let dry, lightly sand and then spray on your final paint job, in this case Insignia White. I use F&M Enterprise’s Scale Stits Poly Tone paint applied with a Nelson HVLP spray gun.

To keep the hatch in place, I use strong ¼-inch diameter magnest (from Hobby-lobby.com) instead of a complicated latching pin installation. Simply drill a hole in the bottom rail of the hatch cover and the top rail of the fuselage opening and glue the magnets into place. They hold very securely but allow easy access to the cockpit interior.