LOWBOY Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Ive seen some models that have some scratch built coil shock combos. Can anyone lead me in the right direction on how to build those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I can't speak for those who have actually built the coil over shocks, but one way I think you could build them would be some styrene tubing and a spring from an old ball point pen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielG Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Check out 'Adventures in Soldering...' in the workbench forum for all sorts of scratch building tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randx0 Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 alot of stuff is based on what looks right so leaving sizes of tubing and wire out of the discussion basically for the coil portion you simply wrap wire around something round (a pen, tubing,sprue ,etc) until you get the length you are looking for. for shocks a piece of wire or rod slipped into a slightly larger piece of tubing. well I know this is very basic but hopefully it is helpful and gets you pointed in the right direction. I know there is an awesome tutorial out there on building resevoir type shocks but I cant recall where I saw it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragline Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Here's one I did for constructing struts. Frankly, the techniques for doing struts, coliovers and standard shocks are basically all the same. Hope this helps. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=37867&st=0&p=390035&hl=struts&fromsearch=1&#entry390035 Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 This is a very good one from Alex Kustov. His other tutorials are also valuable. http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/Shocks/coils.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOWBOY Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 thanks for the links and the advice!!! just what i was looking for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Brown Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I've made a few coilovers using aluminum tubing and craft store beading wire. I highly recommend the beading wire over trying to use a spring from some other application - it makes a very realistic coil spring and is soft and easy to work with. The chunk of plastic sprue is a tool to hold the small section of aluminum tubing for sanding to shape. These are pretty simple to make - they just require some patience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torinobradley Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I've made a few coilovers using aluminum tubing and craft store beading wire. I highly recommend the beading wire over trying to use a spring from some other application - it makes a very realistic coil spring and is soft and easy to work with. The chunk of plastic sprue is a tool to hold the small section of aluminum tubing for sanding to shape. These are pretty simple to make - they just require some patience. How do you make or what do you use for the main shaft and upper mounting boss? Looks a lot stronger than another piece of tubing glued to the top... I assume that shaft goes all the way through the unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 How do you make or what do you use for the main shaft and upper mounting boss? Looks a lot stronger than another piece of tubing glued to the top... I assume that shaft goes all the way through the unit? I also would like to know about the upper mounting boss. I need to make the gas lifts for Mercedes Gullwing doors, which are like shocks without the coils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Brown Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I made a similar post on the "other magazine" message board, so I'll just copy/paste my comment from that post. The "mounting boss" is an RB Motion rod end - those little gems are useful for so many things. "The longer pieces are right at 7/16" in length, but that will be determined by the application. The smallest pieces (collars) are 7/64" diameter tubing, I believe, with 5/64" and 1/16" pieces that go inside. The thinnest piece is stainless steel hypo tubing. I don't think hobby shops generally carry the 5/64" tubing - I had to order it directly from K&S but that was quite a few years ago (minimum order was 100 feet so it's lasted me a long time!). I use it more than all other sizes of K&S aluminum tubing combined. The easiest way to source your stainless hypo tubing is simply go to the local pharmacy and buy a dozen or so of the biggest gauge syringes they carry. They're cheap so you might want to get a few smaller sizes, too. I find them very useful for all sorts of detailing tasks - just clip off the point after you've removed the needle part so you don't get stuck. The rod end is from RB Motion and the chunk of sprue is just something I used to hold the collar while I rounded it off." I hope this answers your questions - if not, please let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielG Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 You can also get little gems like these at bead shops: A little filing here and trimming there and they are useful for all sorts rod-ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cole Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 "The easiest way to source your stainless hypo tubing is simply go to the local pharmacy and buy a dozen or so of the biggest gauge syringes they carry." I tried that... they said they won't sell them without a prescrip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Brown Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 "The easiest way to source your stainless hypo tubing is simply go to the local pharmacy and buy a dozen or so of the biggest gauge syringes they carry." I tried that... they said they won't sell them without a prescrip. Hmmm. I wondered about that - it must be a state-by-state thing. Oh well, no biggie. Buying hypos is not the cheap way to do it anyway. Just Google "stainless hypodermic tubing" and you'll find places where you can buy it online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAone Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 (edited) i have used the styrene hollow rod and solids to make shocks. only thing i dont like is that they are not always perfectly round. so used k&s alum tubing, but had trouble getting the ends to hold together with CA glue.. but they do look good. for springs, i used some .030 aluminum welding wire to make the rear springs for my celica build. for 1/24 scale they look about right. if i could get .023 wire, it would be way better. it wraps around nicely on any round object you use to make them. finally photobucket loaded up..lols Edited April 21, 2011 by LAone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Whoa Daniel. Those bead parts look really good. I've never seen them at Michaels or HL. Would you happen to have a manufacturer and part number? I need to get my hands on some of them. I think I'm going to suspend the building of my '40 Ford 4 link suspension until I hear back from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 finally photobucket loaded up..lols So I'm not the only one that has been having problems from their "hardware issue"! Of course, I'm STILL waiting for mine to come back online! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cole Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I made these last week. Each unit is 12 pieces; the largest diameter part(s) is 2 diff diameters glued together to get the thickness in the material I needed. And yet in spite of making sure the center rod in each one were equal in length, they... do not match. So tonite, I started over. Besides, I don't like the 'barrels' at each end. Here is a pic of what I think I need. At least at the axle end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Brown Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 So tonite, I started over. To me, that's the key - be willing to keep at it till you're happy with the results, without giving up or settling for something you really don't like. Along the way, you're learning new techniques, even if they don't necessarily work for this task. I think you can always salvage some victory from each defeat at the model desk, even if it's just a few spare parts for the next job. That's what keeps scratchbuilding fun for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roush16 Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Ive seen some models that have some scratch built coil shock combos. Can anyone lead me in the right direction on how to build those? I make my own coil springs by wrapping floral wire around a round piece of sprue tree that model parts come on. You can use paint brush handles etc as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I went out to Michaels & Hobby Lobby this morning looking for those pieces that DavidG posted a pic of. Couldn't find them. Ebay isn't much help either. I shall continue the search Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icedragon Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 (edited) Try here for hypo tubing and such. I haven't ordered yet but will soon. http://www.smallparts.com/ or here for rod ends http://www.harbormodels.com/site08/stanchions.html Edited April 27, 2011 by icedragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBorg Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 You can also use handrail stanchons from the HO section of your favorite LHS. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Brown Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 (edited) I'm the last guy in the world to try to dissuade anyone from finding alternative methods and materials, and I've used RR stanchions (and IMO, RR lift rings are even better) to make rod ends in the past, but if you compare the prices, the RB Motion rod ends are just about the same price or not much more expensive, and look so much better with no additional work, that it just makes sense to use them. Not only that, but Robert at RB is a modeler and caters to the car model hobby, so I like to support him back by using his stuff. There are very few things that I prefer to buy when I can make them from scratch, but the rod ends are one of them. Edited April 27, 2011 by Mark Brown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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