Building at least one Belly Tank

[OldNYJim]

This has been on my to-do list for a while, and it became a lot easier now that 3d printing is a thing…

Picked up a print file by Nahuel on Cults3d and started mocking up a simple curbside build based on a 150 gallon drop tank:

A little parts-box digging got it close to being paint-ready pretty quickly - AMT tires, some Monogram showrod tires for the rear, a bomber seat I printed too small that fits this application perfectly:

Toughest thing with making a simple curbside droptank build was making some linkages (which I could’ve sourced from my partsbox if I hadn’t felt like practicing making some rod-ends;

I had a really simplistic build planned for this body - something I have in my head and want to see in real life - and it’s almost ready for paint…but I wanted to build a full-detail version also.  Found this kit online and spent a couple of evenings printing it:

Nice detail, almost snaps together - this one will be fun to just clean up and get into paint too - not a tonne of stuff to add to over complicate this project (but I have some ideas 🤪)

I’ve got an idea in my head for an all-styrene build also, which I’m collecting parts for this week…but I’ll consider this thread a success if I get one project finished at least - ha!  I’ll keep them all in one place rather than litter the site with multiple similar builds that may or may not reach the finish line 

Just getting started on this one but thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[sidcharles]

before the flood, i had a kit from Star Models. vacuum formed body and resin parts.

kit of scratchbuilt, the 3d printed version is the most detailed rendition of a 'tanker i have ever seen.

with detail painting & some bits of wire here & there, i certainly think that box could be checked.

[stitchdup]

is the second version by digital surface?

[eran_k]

Very nice, i also designed, printed and built one some time ago...

[OldNYJim]

On 10/3/2025 at 4:34 AM, sidcharles said:

before the flood, i had a kit from Star Models. vacuum formed body and resin parts.

kit of scratchbuilt, the 3d printed version is the most detailed rendition of a 'tanker i have ever seen.

with detail painting & some bits of wire here & there, i certainly think that box could be checked.

I had not heard of the Star Models kit before - thanks for making me aware of that one!  

On 10/3/2025 at 5:54 AM, stitchdup said:

is the second version by digital surface?

I think so, yes!  
 

On 10/3/2025 at 1:04 PM, eran_k said:

Very nice, i also designed, printed and built one some time ago...

Nice work!  Have you got files for that one for sale anywhere?  Looks awesome!

Tiny bit of progress this past few days - I’ve been mostly cleaning up print lines from all the parts so I can get them into primer.  I’ve been wetsanding larger printed parts lately - keeps the nasty dust down to a minimum:

And if you’re feeling lazy, or have areas that can’t easily be sanded, Vallejo plastic putty mixed with 99% alcohol makes an awesome brushable filler that gets in the recesses and fixes them really easily…and can be cleaned up with water afterwards if you get any in the wrong spot:

Got the body of the first car shown above mostly smoothed out and ready for paint:

And on the full-detail build I think the frame is almost ready for color too:

Just a small update, but sanding and priming isn’t very exciting…more interesting stuff soon!  Thanks for looking!

Edited October 5 by OldNYJim

[OldNYJim]

Coupla little updates to keep this train rolling, especially during priming-parts-hell-week…

Got the frame of the full-detail car into color - I’d been waiting for a project where this nice vintage-looking burgundy would be a good fit, and I think this is a good use for it…

Painted the tires - my favorite combination for printed or cast tires lately is black primer then Tamiya rubber on the sidewalls and Vallejo tire black on the treads:

I’ll follow up with some washes and further detailing, but getting base colors on everything is my main project this week.  If I don’t sand or fix any layer lines for a while after this all-printed kit I’ll be ok with that…

The curbside car I’m building is mainly an exercise so I can see a belly tank in a particular color…first up silver…

…then the particular color I was thinking - pretty unusual choice for a belly tank, but I’m thinking late 60s Hot Wheels Spectraflame kinda look…just something I wanted to see on my shelf…

And as if two weren’t enough…found this 1/72 scale drop tank in my stash…used some prototyping block to make a canopy…would be a fun challenge to make a REALLY tiny one…need to figure out what to do for wheels and axles…

This weekend will be painting a bunch of metal finishes - thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!