Any tips for making the belts look realistic on an engine?

[Mike W.]

I've been having a heck of a time making the molded on belts look realistic. I'm working on a Silver 92 from the AMT K100 Aerodyne at the moment.

I was thinking about punching out some new pulleys and using rubber bands as belts but that may be more work than it's worth.

If anyone has some ideas or tips they'd care to share, I'd certainly appreciate it.

Mike

[JamesW]

i've heard of using masking tape and paint it black. However, some of the pulleys will need scratch built brackets.

[TurboKitty]

I've used rubber bands, they come out more realistic and are definitely worth the extra work. You can always get machined aluminum pulleys that will add more detail as well

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

I use small elastic hair bands from Goody (spelling). They come in black, which is a plus.

[chuckyr]

Electrical tape.

[David G.]

I usually file the molded plastic belts down to a more appropriate thickness. I also do this with the column-mounted gear shift and turn signal levers.

[Pete J.]

Rubber bands look good initially but over time they deteriorate and fall apart. I use some small plastic strips(Evergreen has lots of small stuff) and bend them to the pulley then paint them black. They seem to work well.

[Old Albion]

Mike,

The molded pulleys and belts on some kits are not so good. On others they are OK considering the small scale. I have seen some people manufacture pulleys in the lathe and then use a small elastic band or something like that with good effect. For me I tend to make do with what's in the kit and then try and disguise any imperfections. One of the irritations with the molded belts is the position of the pulleys in relation to the items they are supposed to be driving. Some pulleys are no where near any items so why are they there. What I tend to do is to research the engine to find out what should be where and what auxillary devices were available. When I built my 1/16 scale Detroit I carried out a lot of research on the particular engine to be sure I got the right number of belts, pulleys, auxillary equipment and made sure the auxillaries where in the right place.

I use small strips of plastic and fabricate the pulleys and then just glue them together and sand them to suit.

Hope this helps

Dave

[studioman3]

I don't like the looks of the molded belts either, so I turned some pulleys on my lathe and made the belts out of black electrical tape cut to the right width, and they stick on nicely.

[Mike W.]

Thanks for the help guys!

The turned pulleys and electrical tape look nice. I don't have a lathe but I can punch out plastic disks which should come very close to the real deal.

After seeing the pictures, I think I'll give it a shot.

Mike