2zwudz Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 What do you guys use for blower drive belts on your drag engines??? thanks mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHPaul Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 No direct experience, but I have some VERY tiny cog belts from scrapping old printers that might well work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Hi! One item that may do is a cheap latex party balloon, available in black at the Dollar store. You take sharp scissors, and cut a 1/16" wide section of the "neck" of said balloon. Since it is thin, rubbery, black, and stretchable, you can then wrap it around your upper and lower pulleys. Granted there is no cogs on the inner side of this "belt", but the very thin "rubber" is in scale to a 1/24 or 1/25 engine. For what it costs, you may try it... CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1320wayne Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Certain vacum cleaner belts are useable. Some are thin enough and they are cogged so they represent better than flat rubber or electrical tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell C Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 6 hours ago, 1320wayne said: Certain vacum cleaner belts are useable. Some are thin enough and they are cogged so they represent better than flat rubber or electrical tape. Ripped apart a dead battery powered carpet sweeper a month or two ago just to see what was inside it. I'd put the scale for the belt in it at maybe 16th or 12th scale, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 (edited) Quote Rubber band painted black with a sharpie and add a blower belt decal to it. Works great. Edited February 20, 2020 by dwc43 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Black painted masking tape. Yup, it looks fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 8 minutes ago, Daddyfink said: Black painted masking tape. Yup, it looks fine! I've cut black vinyl tape into a strip, and then run it around the pulleys two or three thicknesses until it looked good. The cogs could be added if desired by cutting some Evergreen strips into pieces and sticking them on the inside surface of the tape, but I'm not sure the improved looks would be worth the amount of tedious work that would be involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Hi! Just to add to the vacuum cleanerbelt idea... The smallest cog belts I've seen came from VHS cart machines. But still a tad too big for 1/24, as indicated above. CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Snake45 said: I've cut black vinyl tape into a strip, and then run it around the pulleys two or three thicknesses until it looked good. The cogs could be added if desired by cutting some Evergreen strips into pieces and sticking them on the inside surface of the tape, but I'm not sure the improved looks would be worth the amount of tedious work that would be involved. Adding cogs is just way more than needed. Even on a contest model, the tape by itself looks good. Using the belts out of VCR's or the like are just too much. The scale is way off and they look silly in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamboat Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Black construction paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirt Demon Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 (edited) I have actual cogged blower belts...1/24....1\25 scale. Edited February 20, 2020 by Dirt Demon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impalow Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 (edited) Ive been using printed paper.... 2peices glued together... one side a solid color, the other side gray and black lines.. then darken the edge with a sharpie.... it seems to work pretty good! Same trick for a modern timing belt.... Edited February 20, 2020 by Impalow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2zwudz Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 4 hours ago, Impalow said: Ive been using printed paper.... 2peices glued together... one side a solid color, the other side gray and black lines.. then darken the edge with a sharpie.... it seems to work pretty good! Same trick for a modern timing belt.... Sorry for a stupid question but what is printed paper??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safire6 Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 I wish this thread was around 3 or 4 weeks ago! I just finished building the engine for the Tony Nancy 1:16 front engine dragster. The black rubber "belt" that came with the kit was a little to small to fit over the pulleys I thought. It looked like if I used the belt that came with the kit, it would put too much stress on the plastic part and something would surely break. So I carefully tried stretching the belt out with my fingers, a little at a time. Of course I stretched it too much and it snapped. OK now what do I do? I thought that maybe I could use a bicycle inner tube and cut a thin section out of it, IF I could find the right size. So I calculated the inner tube diameter that I needed and went to the local bike shop. I got lucky and found almost exactly the tube diameter needed to make the belt, with about a 5% stretch. it took me about 4 tries cutting thin sections out of the inner tube to get one that looked acceptable. At about $6 for the inner tube, this was not a cheap blower belt! But if I ever need one that size again I'll be able to make hundreds of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 9 hours ago, Safire6 said: I wish this thread was around 3 or 4 weeks ago! I just finished building the engine for the Tony Nancy 1:16 front engine dragster. The black rubber "belt" that came with the kit was a little to small to fit over the pulleys I thought. It looked like if I used the belt that came with the kit, it would put too much stress on the plastic part and something would surely break. So I carefully tried stretching the belt out with my fingers, a little at a time. Of course I stretched it too much and it snapped. OK now what do I do? I thought that maybe I could use a bicycle inner tube and cut a thin section out of it, IF I could find the right size. So I calculated the inner tube diameter that I needed and went to the local bike shop. I got lucky and found almost exactly the tube diameter needed to make the belt, with about a 5% stretch. it took me about 4 tries cutting thin sections out of the inner tube to get one that looked acceptable. At about $6 for the inner tube, this was not a cheap blower belt! But if I ever need one that size again I'll be able to make hundreds of them! Hi Steve! Well, you nailed it! The thickness is in scale with the engine. Bravo! CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 16 hours ago, Impalow said: Ive been using printed paper.... 2peices glued together... one side a solid color, the other side gray and black lines.. then darken the edge with a sharpie.... it seems to work pretty good! Same trick for a modern timing belt.... Hi Eric! Your method is great, and your twin engined beast is SO nice! Is-there a thread here where we can see the final result on this car? I'm specially impressed by the sheen of your engine parts. Is-this paint? Your chassis looks like the finish we can obtain from Krylon's Premium Classic Crhome spray can, but I might be wrong... Bravo! CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impalow Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 (edited) 12 hours ago, 2zwudz said: Sorry for a stupid question but what is printed paper??? No worries! In hindsight, should have been much more clear... I just print regular old copy paper on my inkjet printer with the image below, spray it with some krylon matte clear to seal it up and create a bit of sheen. Then I print another block of color the same size (black in this case) I also seal this up with some matte clear. I then use regular old spray mount to stick these 2 pieces of paper together printed side out. Then just cut strips to the width I need, wrap it around the pulleys, overlap and join it at a inconspicuous location with a dab of glue... usually at the bottom of the crank pulley. 42 minutes ago, Claude Thibodeau said: Hi Eric! Your method is great, and your twin engined beast is SO nice! Is-there a thread here where we can see the final result on this car? I'm specially impressed by the sheen of your engine parts. Is-this paint? Your chassis looks like the finish we can obtain from Krylon's Premium Classic Crhome spray can, but I might be wrong... Bravo! CT Thanks Claude! That is the Bubbletop Comet showrod I did a few years back... here is a link to the build log. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/127669-moebius-comet-wild-bubbletop-show-rod-done-3-17/ All of the chrome on this is airbrushed molotow chrome, with spazstik's clear... the clear dulled the chrome effect a bunch in places, but made it able to be handled, the sheen is interesting. Edited February 21, 2020 by Impalow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 17 hours ago, Dirt Demon said: I have actual cogged blower belts...1/24....1\25 scale. Those things are huge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Impalow said: No worries! In hindsight, should have been much more clear... I just print regular old copy paper on my inkjet printer with the image below, spray it with some krylon matte clear to seal it up and create a bit of sheen. Then I print another block of color the same size (black in this case) I also seal this up with some matte clear. I then use regular old spray mount to stick these 2 pieces of paper together printed side out. Then just cut strips to the width I need, wrap it around the pulleys, overlap and join it at a inconspicuous location with a dab of glue... usually at the bottom of the crank pulley. Thanks Claude! That is the Bubbletop Comet showrod I did a few years back... here is a link to the build log. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/127669-moebius-comet-wild-bubbletop-show-rod-done-3-17/ All of the chrome on this is airbrushed molotow chrome, with spazstik's clear... the clear dulled the chrome effect a bunch in places, but made it able to be handled, the sheen is interesting. Hi! Thanks for sharing your technique. Much appreciated. I like to learn from the best! This show rod creation is mindblowing, truly. Imaginative, and perfectly executed. Bravo. I've never tried spraying the molotow chrome myself. Used mostly Alclad. However, I've started spraying it over gloss WHITE or LIGHT BLUE instead of the usual black. On the white, it creates a sheen akin to real polished aluminium. See the Duster ProMod engine below. I'll ultimately try your technique, however... CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodbuildNY Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 On 2/19/2020 at 4:14 PM, PHPaul said: No direct experience, but I have some VERY tiny cog belts from scrapping old printers that might well work. This^....... one printer yields quite a bit of belt material and it looks imo very real in 1/25 scale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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