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Before P.E. Or How did we do that ?

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  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Before P.E. Or How did we do that ?
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Sunday, August 21, 2016 9:50 PM

This mainly concerns ship rails and ladders ;

  Years ago I wanted decent rails and ladders for a ship model . P.E.Didn't exist on the " aftermarket " which pretty much didn't either . Now how to go about this " Crossover modeling " ? That is , find something in another model genre that will work .

     Have you ever seen the roof grating ( walkways ) on H.O.Scale boxcars ? Guess what ? Cut down lengthwise they make perfect rail sections in and on most ships  from 1/400 up .Now for smaller you could use " N " scale .

 Ladders are just as easy .It's called " railroad scenics " . In both scales , the stairs on buildings , especially commercial buildings . That is , Grain elevators , Oil tanks and  Fire Escapes on buildings. Anything that has both treads and siderails .

    Now there is more but , there are many items that will work for armor scales too .Like cargo for a Army Truck for instance . You don't have to look far , but you also don't have to look beyond model-rail-road stuff .

   This way used to be cheaper , but I don't know about now . Oh well , it's still an option , now isn't it ? 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Monday, August 22, 2016 8:51 AM

Tanker - Builder

This mainly concerns ship rails and ladders ;

 ....

   This way used to be cheaper , but I don't know about now . Oh well , it's still an option , now isn't it ? 

 

Yes indeed. I had a friend who used a form of punched metal screen, cut down to a single row or two, for railings, when he started model ships.  He progressed rapidly, started using PE, and is now an ace shipmodeler.  He has won several golds, a people's choice best of show, and an article in Fine Scale.

Also, in older days, tiny white metal castings did what we now use PE for.  The PE is much cheaper, and white metal ship castings now are a tiny fraction of the offerings that used to be available.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Tuesday, August 23, 2016 1:29 PM

Yeah , for sure .

  T.B.

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Wednesday, August 24, 2016 12:01 PM

"That's some clever voyving!" as Professor Frink once said.

I cannibalized the brake wheels from my old Tyco HO boxcars, for the trim wheels or whatever-the-heck they are in the F4B-4 and Me-109 cockpits, in 1/48.  Model railroading is an excellent source of stuff for us to use.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Wednesday, August 24, 2016 6:11 PM

Aha!

 I use many train parts in the building of my tankers . For instance the Rail - Barge or Float , has the hatches and other surface detail that looks very good on the tanker deck .

      Tank car detail sets add to that as well as Cornerstone Oil Refinery or Tank farm sets . Also believe it or not cut down Baseball holders and such make perfect half spheres for a LNG  Tanker . And so on ----- .

I would,ve recommended Legg's Eggs but you can't get those anymore and to get others you have to wait till Easter. There a million different toys and other models you can cannabalize for details .

      Just DO NOT take those detail parts off a good model !  T.B.

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Thursday, August 25, 2016 9:02 AM

I find ship PE hose reel ends make good trim handles for aircraft that need that style.  1:700 for smaller scale aircraft, 1:350.  I often end up with some PE left over, and gratings are very useful for any number of projects.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Monday, August 29, 2016 5:02 PM

When the Tamiya Bismark (1/350) first came out in the late 70s or early 80s I used RR brass ladder strips for the railing. For the radar dish I used an old ss fine strainer material and it actually looked very good. Who would think that years later all sorts of intricate pe sets would super detail models?

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Wednesday, August 31, 2016 4:48 PM

But ,;

  Just think P.J . Look at all the ways we had to exercise grey cells to come up with what we need .  T.B.

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