got a tip for fuel/brake lines, mesh, wiring, and more.

[abedooley]

I was digging through an old junk drawer a min. ago and ran across some old coaxil cable that the connector was missing from and it hit me, FUEL LINES!!! It looks like its the correct scale. Its copper, but I'm sure I can find some thats a differant material. The trick is to just simply get the insulation off to reveal the clear tube that surrounds the cable itself. Once you've done that just take some wire strippers and take a few inches of the tube off the wire at a time. I'm sure someone else has thought of this, but if not, here ya go ya'll.

ABE DOOLEY

Edited June 18, 2008 by abedooley

[abedooley]

Has anyone ever used this idea before??

[m408]

Great idea Abe. I've got some old co-ax in a drawer and will give it a try.

[abedooley]

I've got plenty of this stuff just layin around. I'm gonna look and see if I've got any that looks like stainless. If not I'll just paint it.

[abedooley]

I've also noticed that paper clips are about the same size and come in many different colors and sizes as well. Another cheap fix I found was to save the left over metal from the photo-etch frames and use them for the hose clamps.

[m408]

Hey Abe,

Striped some co-ax and it looks great. I'm going to use it on my current build. Hopefully it will show well when I get it finished and posted.

[abedooley]

Hey Abe,

Striped some co-ax and it looks great. I'm going to use it on my current build. Hopefully it will show well when I get it finished and posted.

I've also noticed that the FINE grill mesh that Model Car Garage sells is just the same as the screen you put in your faucet.

I think I'm just gonna rename this post and put all my ideas on it. what do ya think?

ABE DOOLEY

[abedooley]

Heres some pics of the hose clamps I made from the left over photo-etch frame.

All I did was cut a piece that was like an "L" and wrapped it around it and bent the piece stickin out over the peice that overlapped and bent the extra back on its self. Pretty nifty, eh?? Now I just need to go and get a big piece of the screen that goes in your faucet and I'll have me some cheap grill screen inserts. I'd imagine that if your just covering something like a fog light sized hole you could just use the ones cut for your sink. I think I might have to take the faucet apart!

Hope this helps someone. If not, it helped me.

THANKS,

AB DOOLEY

Edited June 25, 2008 by abedooley

[george 53]

Abe, don't take your faucet apart for the screen! Just go to ACO or ACE hardware and ask someone(the helpful hardware man) for faucet airator screens. they come in different sizes from dime to up to a quarter size. they only cost about 35 cents each!(if that).

[bobss396]

They were tossing out some shielded wire at work and I grabbed a couple of rolls. Once the outer jacket is stripped, it still has the wire inside (which helps hold the shape) and a tinned braid on top of that. I have it in .035, .050 and .060 diameters. Definitely good for radiator hoses, bigger fuel line, etc. It works well with Detail Master fittings.

We also had some semi-flex cable that has an armored outer jacket. It looks just like flex exhaust pipe and measures .086 in diameter.

Bob

[abedooley]

Abe, don't take your faucet apart for the screen! Just go to ACO or ACE hardware and ask someone(the helpful hardware man) for faucet airator screens. they come in different sizes from dime to up to a quarter size. they only cost about 35 cents each!(if that).

HAHA!! I can't do that. I can just see the woman coming in the bathroom while I've got my channel locks out and takin the faucet apart and askin me what the hell is wrong with the sink. Then I'd have to explain that I need the screen for grill mesh. I believe I'd be puttin the faucet right back together.

As far as the shielded wire goes: Can you get a bunch of this stuff?? Would you be willin to part with some if you had enough to share? Thats probably the only thing I miss about not workin right now is lookin for stuff they're throwin out that fits perfectly into our hobby!! Luckily there was a few things I did grab that looked useful for something else and it turns out that it works good for modeling. Theres just so much stuff that they threw out that I didn't grab and now that I look back and realize how MUCH of it could have been used in modeling it kinda makes me mad at myself. We were an injection mold plant so there was all kinds of stuff that applied to modeling. They even used the same plastic in some molds. All kinds of wires, tubes, lil' itty' bitty nuts and bolts and who knows what else I passed up cause I wasnt thinkin about modelin like I am now.

[Olle F]

I found out about the coax cable many years ago when I was gutting an old radio for model building supplies (yes, I do recycle... ). Once you have stripped the insulation, the inner wire will come out easily if you just push the braided shield together slightly from both ends. There are different sizes of this cable, but one size can be used for many different diameters of "hoses". You simply put a wire inside it, stretch the braid and it will shrink to the size of the wire as you pull on it.

Radio Shack carries this in different sizes, and it's much cheaper than the aftermarket stuff. As you have already noticed, the braid can come in different colors (copper, tin etc) so you might want to strip a little bit off the insulation in the store before you buy. On the same topic, many of these cables come with very thin copper wires inside, which can be used for various purposes. This is the kind of wire I used for my home-made cable harness in this thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10305

[abedooley]

I've also noticed that Tongue rings are about the same size as a shifter and they come in a MILLION different sizes and colors and shapes.

[RyanSilva]

Use push pins (the long ones) they have colored plastic balls molded on top. I have mini ones that are 1/25 scale, you get about 100 in a box for a few bucks at art stores.

Whats funny is a aftermarket model company who will remain nameless sells these very same " shifters" with the pointed ends cut off to "disguise" them..and they are priced at about 2 dollars+ each! so buy a box and save hundreds.

[abedooley]

I thought about that after I saw some that were small enough at hobby lobby a couple of days ago. And then that night I was going through some of the aftermarket sites and saw someone was selling them as "SHIFTERS" for like $4 or something!!!!! How RUDE!! The only reason I said the tongue ring idea is because there is a HUGE selection of designs and colors. I know there are some that can be of scale. They cost a lil' more, but you have a very wide selection of designs..

I also ran into something else that would work as fuel/brake lines. Have you ever seen the wire bracelets and necklaces girls made? That wire is PERFECT and CHEAP! I bought 10 foot today for less than $2 at wal-mart. I'm tryin already to bend the lines that come off of the brake booster. It's not as flexible as the co-ax cable, but its the right material. I'm thinkin about just using the copper anyway just because I love the copper fittings and lines on ol' school BOBBERS. Which I will build one one of these years!!

[abedooley]

BTW- I love that ol' beat up pickup truck you built! Is that real wood in the bed?

[Olle F]

Whats funny is a aftermarket model company who will remain nameless sells these very same " shifters" with the pointed ends cut off to "disguise" them..and they are priced at about 2 dollars+ each! so buy a box and save hundreds.

Many aftermarket items are just everyday items that they bag and sell as this and that. Some good examples are wires (=hoses), diodes (=fuel lines w/ filters), pins (=shifters) etc. There are also some tools, like sanding sticks, small scissors, files etc. that can be found much cheaper at, for example, Walmart. And if you look in the Micro-Mark catalog, you'll find that many of their model building tools are not really made for model building, it's just tools they found elsewhere and found useful for model building as well. Just keep your eyes open, and you can save a lot of money. Just as a tip, ask your dentist if he has got any tools he wants to get rid of. A couple of years ago, I got a bunch of those stainless picks they use to scrape teeth with, and they make great scribes/scrapers. Also got some kind of stainless, abrasive strips that they use to file between teeth, and they really come in handy sometimes. Not to mention the syringes you can get from your doctor, they can be used for a lot of different things too. Just sweet talk your doctor or dentist and see what kind of goodies they have got.

[mageckman]

We were an injection mold plant so there was all kinds of stuff that applied to modeling. They even used the same plastic in some molds.

Abe, did you work at the Plano plant? I had a friend who left Ohio to go over and work there. I helped him and his family move to Columbus IN.

I'm gonna have to try the coax cable some time. I have some layin around here somewhere. Mageck

[abedooley]

Just as a tip, ask your dentist if he has got any tools he wants to get rid of. A couple of years ago, I got a bunch of those stainless picks they use to scrape teeth with, and they make great scribes/scrapers. Also got some kind of stainless, abrasive strips that they use to file between teeth, and they really come in handy sometimes. Not to mention the syringes you can get from your doctor, they can be used for a lot of different things too. Just sweet talk your doctor or dentist and see what kind of goodies they have got.

WELL.... Luckily my woman is an LPN and she has brought me ALL kinds of goodies. She brought me the long Q-tips (which are very useful as paint stirrers after you're done with the and cut the tip off), she's brought me syringes (only use I found so far is to suck the paint thinner out and put it in smaller jars. I could use it for a glue applicator too) that have needles and some that dont, plastic tweezers, some of the medial gauze work really well, alcohol wipes, De-Bonding wipes which work REALLY GOOD for stripping paint (I've never seen anything strip paint like this stuff, just wipe on, wipe off), rubber gloves, and some other little odds and ends stuff. I really need some of those tweezers that stay clamped instead of open, but the nursing home she works in doesn't carry those. Thank God for my personal nurse!

[abedooley]

Abe, did you work at the Plano plant? I had a friend who left Ohio to go over and work there. I helped him and his family move to Columbus IN.

I'm gonna have to try the coax cable some time. I have some layin around here somewhere. Mageck

[Olle F]

WELL.... Luckily my woman is an LPN and she has brought me ALL kinds of goodies. She brought me the long Q-tips (which are very useful as paint stirrers after you're done with the and cut the tip off), she's brought me syringes (only use I found so far is to suck the paint thinner out and put it in smaller jars. I could use it for a glue applicator too) that have needles and some that dont, plastic tweezers, some of the medial gauze work really well, alcohol wipes, De-Bonding wipes which work REALLY GOOD for stripping paint (I've never seen anything strip paint like this stuff, just wipe on, wipe off), rubber gloves, and some other little odds and ends stuff. I really need some of those tweezers that stay clamped instead of open, but the nursing home she works in doesn't carry those. Thank God for my personal nurse!

I have tweezers that lock with a sliding pin, but they are from Hobby Lobby. And my woman is a nurse practitioner, so I have made it a habit to search through her lab coats before she sends them to the dry cleaners. I guess it's a bit undignified to dig around in the laundry hamper, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and it can sure be worth it... :D She sure uses a lot of neat stuff, and some of it can actually be bought at flea markets and other outlet places. I have got several different surgical hemostats (bought for $1/ea at the Oshkosh air show, of all places), that are very useful when you need to hold something firmly, like when you trim photoetched parts, pull wires etc. I have also got several different scissors (straight and curved) from the same place, and they are perfect for trimming decals, cutting styrene sheets etc. There's a lot of things at my wife's clinic that I have been eyeballing, I just wish that they could have a yard sale...

[abedooley]

I have tweezers that lock with a sliding pin, but they are from Hobby Lobby. And my woman is a nurse practitioner, so I have made it a habit to search through her lab coats before she sends them to the dry cleaners. I guess it's a bit undignified to dig around in the laundry hamper, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and it can sure be worth it... :lol: She sure uses a lot of neat stuff, and some of it can actually be bought at flea markets and other outlet places. I have got several different surgical hemostats (bought for $1/ea at the Oshkosh air show, of all places), that are very useful when you need to hold something firmly, like when you trim photoetched parts, pull wires etc. I have also got several different scissors (straight and curved) from the same place, and they are perfect for trimming decals, cutting styrene sheets etc. There's a lot of things at my wife's clinic that I have been eyeballing, I just wish that they could have a yard sale...

Have her grab some "Non-Adherent Sterile Pads" if she can. These pads are "FUR-FREE" and are perfect for cleaning the body and other parts before painting because they will not leave tiny lil' hairs all over it. And they also have a mesh like material that could work as a mesh grill (I just got them today). They dont have the "Good" tweezers unfortunately and I would love to have the pair that slide and lock. Luckily my woman works in a nursing home and alot of the time they have extra stuff that doesnt get used, but they'll throw it out. I need to get out and hit the flea markets, but its just too HOT right now. Another thing I use alot are the clay sculpting spoons at hobby lobby. I use them to scrape paint and push the tape into the crevices of parts. I'd say thats the things I use the most.

[abedooley]

I also ran into something else that would work as fuel/brake lines. Have you ever seen the wire bracelets and necklaces girls made? That wire is PERFECT and CHEAP! I bought 10 foot today for less than $2 at wal-mart. I'm tryin already to bend the lines that come off of the brake booster. It's not as flexible as the co-ax cable, but its the right material. I'm thinkin about just using the copper anyway just because I love the copper fittings and lines on ol' school BOBBERS. Which I will build one one of these years!!

I just thought that maybe doing a "WASH" with THE DETAILOR's colors could make these lines ANY color you could want!! Then you would have battery cables, electrical lines, heater hoses, etc. Does anyone know if this stuff will stick to hard lines??

[Guest zebm1]

The spark plug wires are made from copper wire, hand painted....the throttle rods came from a paper clip....

tha oil lines to tha radiators on tha roll cage are insulated copper wires.....

tha brake lines are waxed black thread.......

and tha hose clamps came from air conditioning metal duct tape......

I'm a scratchbuildin' fool.....

Edited June 15, 2008 by zebm1

[Modelmaker86]

well i also found out by just being destructive that taking apart old radios and cutting little silinoids off the mother boards are very good fuel and oil filters as well. i tend to save the screws for my die cast as well. you can never have enough.

Abe, did you work at the Plano plant? I had a friend who left Ohio to go over and work there. I helped him and his family move to Columbus IN.

I'm gonna have to try the coax cable some time. I have some layin around here somewhere. Mageck

You're talkin about the Flambeu plant. They make all kinds of COOL stuff. No I worked at IAC in Edinburgh about 1 mile out of Columbus. We made all of the interior parts for GM and Ford. My plant made the interior door panels and a, b, c, and d pillars for the new Yukon and Denali and some A and B-pillars for Ford. We made some other odds-and-ends stuff for Ford, Gm, Saturn, and Dodge Viper. We had one press that used the same plastic as model cars, but I dont know what part or for who because it was a teeny tiny piece and I had never worked that machine before. I have a few friends that work for Flambeu (I dont think thats how its spelled though).