Working with Aluminum sheet

[Blown03SVT]

OKay, another question for the scratch build guru's... I am looking to replicate aluminum panels found in engines bays of Pro Stock cars and am seeking a few pointers before I head down a path of uncharted territory. I have heard aluminum soda cans can be used as the building material, which I imagine is probably around .010" which would scale out a little thick but would practically be just right to the minds eye and probably as thin I can go and still have it workable.

How would I get the curvature out of it?

If not soda can I have heard using roof flashing, how thick is that approximately?

I have read post about annealing and being able to cut with a xacto blade, I imagine getting it to properly fold would take bending it over the edge of a machinist rule, or should I lightly score like P.E. parts?

Is this all worth the hassle, should I just build with sheet styrene and use metalizer?

[Cato]

Forget cans-the best is baking pans found in the supermarket. The kind that are like a cross between foil and a pan. They are .005" thick and cut with a small sharp scissors-a dream to work with and there are plenty of flat areas to use. Make paper or styrene templates first. Easy to bend / curl or crease.

On my 1 / 12 GT-40 I made the oval air pan and straight firewall heat shield. They can be super glued and can finish with 0000 steel wool or go full polish.

And it's definitely worth the no-hassle. It's a 'real thing' look.

[AzTom]

I'll have to check out those pans.

I have used step flashing from the building center. They are flat sheets that are about 5in x 8in? I'm not sure on the thickness but on most firewalls you don't see the edge anyway. Way cheaper than the hobby sheets.

[Kennyboy]

I'm with Cato on this one. Aluminum cans don't really work as well as the pans. I did the pedals on my F40 with that material.

[Harry P.]

Cato has it. Go get an aluminum turkey roasting pan from the dollar store. There's plenty of flat aluminum sheet there for several models, at a dirt cheap price. I've also used aluminum pie pans... same thing, just smaller, so less material available.

[Blown03SVT]

I never thought of the disposable baking pans... have to give those a shot, and seems pretty low buck too

[Blown03SVT]

As a follow up the cheap pans from the dollar store worked like a charm. Now to redo my trmplates and try again as the foil takes a little bit more accuracy than what my templates provided.