Art Anderson Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 (edited) It's been awhile since I did anything on the workbench worth posting, so here goes: After going to the Model T Ford Centennial T Party in July, I got the urge to try making a vintage gasoline tank truck body for the '20 Oldsmobile truck project. How to scratchbuild? This is the cardboard tube from industrial paper towels--chosen because it's much thicker and stiffer than say, the tube from a roll of Bounty. Of course, a small mailing tube would be even better, but I had this one handy. Here's the tube, cut to length. Easy to do, this step--I simply marked off where the cut was to be, by wrapping a thin strip of Evergreen styrene (.015X.250), making sure it was straight by aligning the edges in the overlap. Then I simply drew a pencil line by this guide. Cutting was simple: Use a single-edge razor blade, and rotate the tube against the cutting edge, and continue doing so until the razor blade cuts through the cardboard, then just pull apart. At this stage, I've cut pieces of .080" Evergreen sheet styrene, to make the end plugs, just a hair larger than the diameter of the cardboard tubing. Here, the end plugs are installed, using gap-filling CA. Use this glue generously, as too little will simply soak into the cardboard. To hasten this process, I used Bob Smith CA Accelerator liberally, to set up the CA instantly. Then, it was a simple matter to cut the corners of the square plugs away with a razor saw, finish rounding to match the curve of the cardboard tube with a flat mill bastard file. Next is to make the hard surface of the tank itself. I used .020" Evergreen sheet styrene, the width cut to half the length of the tank itself. To make the sheet styrene easy to bend around the cardboard, I used the old "curl Xmas ribbon trick", in this case, I bent the sheet stock over the edge of the workbench, and drew it back and forth across that edge, to give it a curl. First section covered in sheet styrene. Of course, you will ask, what about the seams? Well, tanks like this, before electric arc welding became acceptable, were riveted together, much like a steam boiler. This was done by using overlapping strips and bands of steel, over the top of the tank surface itself. So, any misalignment of the seams, gaps, etc, will be covered with wide flat strip stock. New tank! After studying the first tank I built, I discovered that one end was slightly out-of-round, so I made a new one, in fact, 3 new ones, using the same technique of laying styrene sheet over cardboard tubing. Here, the installation of rivet detail is about half completed. The .010" band in the foreground has the rivets finished. The middle band has raw rod stock installed, you can see both steps here: First, insert the rod stock (.025" on these tanks) into .028" diameter holes drilled into the bands, then clip them off with a styrene "nipper" to about 3/64". Finally, the third step is to dress them all down to about 1/64" high with a sanding stick, the final step being to polish them to a rounded head by using one of the coarser Micro-Mesh polishing cloths (I used the 2400-grit cloth, with water, and the "pad" of my index finger to do this). When painted, these will be very convincing rivets! Art Edited September 25, 2008 by Art Anderson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 Here's the first, defective tank, posed on the chassis of the Oldsmobile Truck, just to show what this is going to look like Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Very clever method of creating river heads, but mucho labor-intensive! Nobody should be working that hard on Labor Day! How about using common pins (the kind with the semi-circular head that looks exactly like a rivet?!!!) Drill your hole, put a small drop of CA on the shaft of the pin, and insert. Presto! Instant rivet head! All in one step! They even come in different sizes, to replicate various rivet sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 (edited) Very clever method of creating river heads, but mucho labor-intensive! Nobody should be working that hard on Labor Day! How about using common pins (the kind with the semi-circular head that looks exactly like a rivet?!!!) Drill your hole, put a small drop of CA on the shaft of the pin, and insert. Presto! Instant rivet head! All in one step! They even come in different sizes, to replicate various rivet sizes. Except that pins all have heads that are tapered on their bottom side, meaning that either EACH hole has to be countersunk, or live with the gap underneath each rivet head. Actually though, by far the greatest time was spent in marking the bands, then drilling the holes. It took no longer to install the styrene rod bits than it would to install straight pins, and the trimming, dressing and rounding off the rivet heads takes perhaps 10 minutes per band. Art Edited September 1, 2008 by Art Anderson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Any gap between the surface and the bottom of the "rivet head" would me mighty small... primer and paint would pretty much fill it. Hey... I'm just trying to make your Labor Day less labor-intensive! I'm always looking for the easy way!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 Any gap between the surface and the bottom of the "rivet head" would me mighty small... primer and paint would pretty much fill it. Hey... I'm just trying to make your Labor Day less labor-intensive! I'm always looking for the easy way!!! I understand, except that I tend to not use so much paint as to ensure its filling in even a tiny gap such as might occur around the heads of straight pins. Also, small size is critical--.025" scales out to a 3/4" rivet head, which is probably a bit larger than correct, but that was a choice made on the basis of practicality in assembly--a .020" drill is much more delicate than a .028"--I would hate to stick a busted drill bit in a project and not be able to extract it. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 But back in those days, weren't vehicles.... especially work-type vehicles... actually painted crudely, with a lot of paint slapped on fairly thickly? I've seen cement mixers from the 20s... chain-driven Macks... with the paint looking very thick and filling the gaps between the rivet heads and the surface... actually forming a small "fillet" around the edge of the rivet head. But enough of my "labor-saving" ideas. You don't need me telling you what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAFFA Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 (edited) Great looking truck! Very clever method of creating river heads, but mucho labor-intensive! Nobody should be working that hard on Labor Day! How about using common pins (the kind with the semi-circular head that looks exactly like a rivet?!!!) Drill your hole, put a small drop of CA on the shaft of the pin, and insert. Presto! Instant rivet head! All in one step! They even come in different sizes, to replicate various rivet sizes. Or just marking out each spot, and put a drop of glue of suitable kind on there? Edited September 1, 2008 by JAFFA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 Great looking truck! Or just marking out each spot, and put a drop of glue of suitable kind on there? I've never had much luck with that--though I know others like it, particularly the armor modelers. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semi Trailer Mechanic Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 What's goin' on... Looking good! Thanks for going into details on how to do the rivets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Great looking truck! Or just marking out each spot, and put a drop of glue of suitable kind on there? Wouldn't keeping the size of each drop consistent be almost impossible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george 53 Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Just kinda makes me laugh Art, You can even make a cardboard tube an plastic look real! Sure do miss your resin models! They were some of THE BEST! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfa Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Looking good Art . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Louis Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I like how this one is going! I used those tubes you have for an HO scale grain elevator for my old model railroad, once! I'm watching this rivet thing closely! How big, exactly are the strips for the bands? Here's an idea for an old race track water truck with an eliptical tank, I got on the back burner: http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/sli...0Water%20Truck/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted September 3, 2008 Author Share Posted September 3, 2008 I like how this one is going! I used those tubes you have for an HO scale grain elevator for my old model railroad, once! I'm watching this rivet thing closely! How big, exactly are the strips for the bands? Here's an idea for an old race track water truck with an eliptical tank, I got on the back burner: http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/sli...0Water%20Truck/ The bands are made from Evergreen .010" X .188" styrene strips. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Louis Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Thanks Art! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Some more progress! I think my method of making rivet detail speaks for itself. Here's the wooden frame which cradles the tank body on the chassis. Some carving here, in order to relieve the crossbearers to accept the tank. Also, the wooden catwalks on either side of the tank have been added: Here's the tank itself, set on the framing. This pic shows the rivet details pretty well. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfa Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Thanks Art! Don't stop on this one Art I want to see it done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismaelg Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Beautiful tank on top of a beautiful frame on a beautiful truck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDO Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 You mean you wouldn't just use a sensitive drilling attachment on the Mill to get evenly-spaced rivet holes for Grandt Line rivets? But seriously- that is one cool old vehicle. How did you make the leaf springs? I'm laminating .010" x .060" strips around a can of Bondo for my 1/35 Rolls-Royce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollinoldskoo Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 looks great... and i miss your resins too.... i was too young to buy them but had a long wishlist.... once i was old enough and had the money.... u were done.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eshaver Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Art, Tighttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt !!!!!!!!! Ed Shaver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darquewanderer Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Art, Tighttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt !!!!!!!!! Ed Shaver Ditto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeym Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 Simply AWESOME!!! Nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTMust Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 What happened to this?Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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