Hatch hardware

[widowson]

I'm designing and building a cheesy space ship for a cheesier movie I'm producing.

Scale 1/6
Sixe 3 feet long by 1'-4" diameter. Picture a cylinder with a nose cone, fins.

About half way back on the fuselage, there is a hatch for in/out. It will be curved with the ship, and it needs to open and stay closed. The hatch will be about a foot tall by three inches wide.

I figure I need to begin with the hinge hardware. I need a hinge that can "swing" out so the hatch moves clear of the curved fuselage. It brings to mind the rear turret hatch on a Panther Tank (for those familiar).

Anybody out there with an idea of where I should begin. I will scratch build the hinge if I have to, but everything would be better and more reliable with some kind of pre-made hinge.

Thanks,

[Mad-Modeler]

For working hinges look into PE aftermarket parts for Military models, those will also include working locks,levers etc. Scale of the AM parts will depend on the size you need.

Ditto there are tons of aftermarkets, rivets, etc to add smaller details and so on.

[Rocketeer]

Seems to me that you want some sort of gooseneck hinge, like a lot of cars use for their trunklids.

I've built about a zillion over the years for my model cars; I bet a Google search on "model car door hinges" would produce a lot of how-to articles.

[widowson]

Thanks, fellas. I never would have thought of that. I'll check it out.

[Joseph C. Brown]

I figure I need to begin with the hinge hardware. I need a hinge that can "swing" out so the hatch moves clear of the curved fuselage. It brings to mind the rear turret hatch on a Panther Tank (for those familiar).

Anybody out there with an idea of where I should begin. I will scratch build the hinge if I have to, but everything would be better and more reliable with some kind of pre-made hinge.

Thanks,

By using stiff wire you can (fairly easily) make a hinge that does what you want it to do, without wasting time trying to find a pre-made hinge that might or might not work. The model car guys do alot of this kind of work:


http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/inde ... opic=28665

[Joseph C. Brown]

And some Youtube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEiImNaNgFY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY-vA_JW ... re=related

[kerick]

There are different styles of hinges at a home center for kitchen cabinet doors. I'm thinking of hinges for the tip out drawer front that goes in front of the kitchen sink. Many different types, if they aren't too big for your project.