Brass rod?

The Walthers catalog is really a boon to scratch builders or those doing extensive mods on a model.  They have a lot of scratchbuilding supplies.

If you're within driving distance of a decent hobby shop (big if), see what it's model railroad department has to offer. A company called Detail Associates sells a big variety of sizes of brass wire in straight, stiff lengths, packaged in plastic bags. The sizes go down to .005".

Also, check out the huge model railroad supplier William K. Walters, at www.walthers.com . A big, fat Walthers catalog is a good investment for any model builder.

How true Chris!  At about $2.00 a spool, I picked up three different gauges (1mm, .50mm, .25mm).  Hope to be a bit more creative in creating different parts with these soon!

You'll have a lifetime supply of 1/35 grab handles with those spools! 

Sorry all.  Brass or copper wire was more of what I was looking for!  Found a nice site for this and just ordered a few spools.  Here is the link and thanks again for each of your tips above!

www.firemountaingems.com/.../wire-wrapping-wire

When I can't find the correct size I need in brass, I use hypodermic needles bought on Ebay.  They are available in many sizes down as fine as a hair and are easily cut with a dremmel tool and abrasive cut-off wheel.

I also chuck them in my pin vise as a drill or minature scraper since they are incredibly sharp.

There are companies that supply brass rod stock smaller than K & S stuff, but are harder to find. K & S stock starts at 20 mil, goes up from there.  It is hardened to a degree, but the thinner stuff is still easily bendable.  BTW, copper electrical wire can also be used, is soft, and comes in a myriad of small sizes.  Look for it from electronic supply places like Radio Shack and others.

Thanks for the tips folks.  The brass that I was looking for is something that is easily bendable like a paper clip but the diameter needs to be a little smaller.  I saw an article where a modeler said he used brass rod for grab handles on the tank and I thought that would be neat as a first sort of scratch-built item for me.  Problem is, I still do not see this for sale anywhere.  I saw some brass rods for sale at MegaHobby and HobbyLink but they look or appear to look too thick and not pliable at all.  A quick measure of a large paper clip's diameter looks to ba eyeballed at about 1mm.  So I guess I am looking for pliable brass rod (just a couple of strips) that is about .50 in diameter and bendable...anyone?

Adj3530 - i think it might be a bit big.

From my understanding, .50 cal is 1/2 inch which is 12.7cm. Assuming 1/48 scale, you'd want an internal diameter of 0.26mm.

3/64 inch is 1.19mm

However, i can say that the Tamiya Jug in 1/48 has plastic gun barrels about 1mm in diameter and they look quite good.

i bought some tubing close to scale (0.3mm diameter) to substitute for my build, but, i'll be honest, at 0.3mm, it was just too small and looked a bit weak.

I hope this helps - it's up to you though. 0.3mm is probably most accurate internal diameter, but i suspect the external diameter will be too small to make the guns look realistic. Hence, you might want to go for something closer to a 1mm external diameter.  

While we are on this subject, what size rod would you gents suggest for .50 cal barrels? I got some 3/64" because it was the smallest they had, but doing the eyeball test, it still looks just a BIT big.. Opinions?

Hobby Lobby has a good assortment of brass and aluminum rods and tubes, in their model aisle.  At least for now.

There is a brand called Albion Alloys which make a bunch of different sized brass rods, tubes etc for the modeling and hobby industry.

Not sure what size you need, but they'll definitely have something.

They're a UK based company. My LHS sells them, so i'm assuming you can buy online and perhaps your LHS?

Expect to pay far more than if you simply buy wire from your local hardware store though.

http://www.albionalloys.co.uk/

My local Ace hardware has that sort of thing in stock. You will have to eyeball the various guages of the stuff to see what looks right to you.