I have plastic cylinders that are the correct diameter for chemical storage tanks in a chemical plant I am scratch building. My question is how best to show the individual plates and seams used to build the tanks. I was thinking of scoring lines on heave paper, such as shopping bags or construction paper, and glueing this to the plastic cylinders, but I don’t know if this is the “best” or “most realistic” way to simulate storage tanks. As storage tanks and model railroading have been around a long time, I would like to know how other people have done it.
If the tubes are styrene based your best bet will be to get sheets of very thin styren from an LHS (or wherever), emboss the details from what will be the inside and then use a solvent to gently weld the sheet round the tube.
This will take some practice at all stages.
It is much easier to work with the tube longer than the sheet and finished tank at both ends. This gives you something to hold onto while working.
To weld the sheet on
lightly scribe an accurate line along the tube to give you a clear referance.
Locate the tube very firmly… preferably at both ends.
You want the scribed line comfortably in sight from the top.
Prep the tube with a thin wash of solvent for about 1/8" along one side of the scribed line (don’t destroy the line and avoid the solvent running everywhere… so use very little. Then immediately wash the inside face of the starting edge of the sheet with enough solvent from a brush to be able to see the solvent working to the same width as the prepped area.
As quickly as possible put the two solvented areas together accurately with as little adjustment required as possible.
Wrap the sheet round the tube until it doesn’t quite meet itself and keep it wrapped until the weld has hardened. This is proably best done just by hand. If you have a third hand available a soft peice of wood to gently press the welding elements in place is good. This is one of the things that girfriends and wives can be useful for… [:-,]
This last is important… don’t just tack/weld the start point accurately and not roll the sheet round… if you do you are likely to get the sheet welded at the start of a tangent going/heading anywhere but around the tube.
Once the initial weld has suceeded unroll the sheet and wash both tube and sheet with just enough solvent to weld the next 1/4" to 1/2" together and wrap the sheet back round th
Simply outline the Weld joints with a light pencil line,then go back over with a light bead of plastic cement applied from the bottle. Get the Testors in the black diamond shaped container with the fine wire appliccator. Just let the bead dry thoroughly and voila weld seams. For riveted seams. Mark the seams with a pencil, scribe along the pencil lines then put dots of cement for the rivets. Other wise do as Dave says and rejacket the cylinders with embossed rivets.
I know that 1/35 scale tank modelers replicate weld lines by stretching sprue into a thin string and then gluing it in position on the model with liquid glue. If you have never stretched sprue over the flame of a candle, you can most likely fine instructions by a google search. Also, I believe that the latest issue of Fine Scale Modeling has information on this technique.
I remember reading an article in which Jack Burgress (of Yosemite Valley fame) actually used custom printed decals to replicate seems and rivets on one of his YV’s water tanks. I forget what magazine and issue, but I will look it up when I get home if no one else comes up with it first.