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scratchbuilt radiators

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  • Member since
    January 2021
scratchbuilt radiators
Posted by ollddmann on Monday, February 1, 2021 9:51 PM

I'm back with"are there any tutorials out there on building radiators from scratch"...thanks

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 7:56 AM

Sadly; I don't know of any.

       What I did try once and it came out okay was this. What is the radiator for? That is first and foremost the thing. Then it's thickness in the model. Then the material. Three come to mind and they all work after a fashion. 

        Remember if you look closely at a radiator, Straight into it, You can see all the way through it. Hard to replicate in miniature? Nah! First try was with good old window screen. Although out of scale I got four layers into that little space after I flattened the bejaysus out of it!

       Second try was different. I had some Tichy Train Group ,Yup, you guessed it. Boxcar Roof Walkways! Did the sanding as per my article for using them for Box Scale Shipmodel Rails. Then stacked them in alternate layers after painting each layer BEFORE assembly. They looked okay.

      Lastly and the winner.I had some Etched Brass screen of three different sizes from a 1/96 scale ship. I painted them, overlaid them and Viola"! One beautiful Radiator! There aftermarket parts such as this available .But, I find it more fun to scratch-Build them. Now if you are talking the radiators for say a 1/25 formula Car-use the aftermarket!

  • Member since
    May 2009
  • From: Poland
Posted by Pawel on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 5:14 PM

Hello!

Here's how I built a radiator for my Mack Superliner many years ago:

On the left the kit radiator, on the right the radiator I made with two layers of sheet styrene. The front styrene piece is sandwiched between two pieces of fine copper wire mesh:

1:24 Mack RW Superliner by Pawel Mroczkowski

 

On the backside there's a fan shroud, and the rear layer of copper mesh is showing through:

 

1:24 Mack RW Superliner by Pawel Mroczkowski

 

I also had to build the top tank for it out of sheet styrene, and the bottom manifold:

1:24 Mack RW Superliner by Pawel Mroczkowski

One more shot before painting - with a bonus - a fan with the viscosity clutch:

I painted the radiator Humbrol 85 (black, satin) and dry brushed it with Humbrol 32 (dark grey). After installation it looks like this:

I hope you like it, thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!

www.vietnam.net.pl

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by ollddmann on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 5:59 PM

thanks for the info I appreciate the help...

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: On my kitchen counter top somewhere in North Carolina.
Posted by disastermaster on Thursday, February 4, 2021 9:16 AM

Extreeemely awesome PaweÅ‚.....  great information.

Sherman-Jumbo-1945

"I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now"

 

 
  • Member since
    November 2021
Posted by Steven vdB on Monday, November 29, 2021 3:33 AM

Amazing work. Bow Down

 

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