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Looking for louvers


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Starting on the new kits, huh? Short of fabricating your own out of sheet brass, you are Sierra Oscar Lima. Measure the louvers on the kit, draw the louvers on a sheet of brass, carefully scribe the lines (where the openings will be) until you cut through the brass, use a pick, or some other instrument to open up and shape the opening. You could also splurge and get a photo etch making set and make your own that way. Good thing you got that mojo working, man. :D 

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Starting on the new kits, huh? Short of fabricating your own out of sheet brass, you are Sierra Oscar Lima. Measure the louvers on the kit, draw the louvers on a sheet of brass, carefully scribe the lines (where the openings will be) until you cut through the brass, use a pick, or some other instrument to open up and shape the opening. You could also splurge and get a photo etch making set and make your own that way. Good thing you got that mojo working, man. :D 

That's exactly the honest and correct answer I was hoping to avoid! :P

I'm looking for the easy way out, man! :D

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I hate to be a stick in the mud, Harry, but I expect that the louvers (stair treads), will be much too thick to represent sheet metal.

Maybe. I might just go with the louvers as is, and use a black wash to "open" them visually. Don't know yet what the ultimate solution will be. But I have to do something to make them look more real. And there's no way I'm going to use a Dremel to actually open them all up. I don't have that much time left on this earth! :lol:

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Sanding the backs thin enough so that you could open them up, was my first thought, but that would take some serious effort. Making them out of brass shim stock is another option, but also a ton of work. I may just be lazy, but I generally avoid even thinking about such things.

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I don't know if this applies, but I once made louvers by grinding two corners and the bevel of a cold chisel into rounded shapes. Making the tool took some time, but after that I could stamp the tool onto sheet aluminum, and each stamp made a consistent open louver. If that sounds worth your time, I will try to provide some pics.

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I would not try a dremel either.  I don't like fast moving tools.  The tiniest little slip even in that scale will be a disaster to the detail.  Ask Joseph before you drive yourself crazy with this part of your build.  Your builds deserve good parts.

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A Coke bottle, or similar, will shrink like heatshrink when hit with a heatgun - if I was trying to do this I'd try and make a little wooden buck with some louvres on, shrink the bottle over it and cut the panel out.  The plastic wouldnt be a million miles from scale thickness and an Exacto blade would open them up real easy.

I used to make front and rear wings for 1/10th scale model R/C buggies that way - worked a charm!

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A Coke bottle, or similar, will shrink like heatshrink when hit with a heatgun - if I was trying to do this I'd try and make a little wooden buck with some louvres on, shrink the bottle over it and cut the panel out.  The plastic wouldnt be a million miles from scale thickness and an Exacto blade would open them up real easy.

I used to make front and rear wings for 1/10th scale model R/C buggies that way - worked a charm!

This is something I was going to suggest using a thin clear styrene sheet such as Squadron used to make as heat-treated Thermaform to duplicate model airplane canopies (out of production). But looking at both the Mefistofele and 806, the slits are so narrow you can only see the openings from a very acute angle.  I'd just score the inside edges, add wash or ink, and call it a day.

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But looking at both the Mefistofele and 806, the slits are so narrow you can only see the openings from a very acute angle.  I'd just score the inside edges, add wash or ink, and call it a day.

That's pretty much what I've decided to do.

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Hey! That might just work! Thanks, man... I have to check out the vertical dimension of the louvers on the kit hood, but I think this may just do the trick.

I bought some a few years back for that very same reason, however I have not got around to using them as yet.

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I wonder if someone can make a die so you can stamp sheets of scale louvers with thin metal sheets. That would be rad. I would do it, but I have zero experience with metal fab and a horrible imagination, but I would buy a bunch. 

There used to be a guy in town with a Ford Lightning. Silver, nothing too special, lowered, nice wheels and tires, but he had a fully louvered hood and it really set it off. It was hands down the best looking lightning I have ever seen. I would love to be able to replicate it one day, but I have no interest if they aren't thin, open louvers

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