Ideas for tank ends?

[Deeja]

I am thinking of making some scale tank wagons. Has anyone got any ideas for making/obtaining the barrelled ends on tank wagons for scale rolling stock? Plastic or metal doesn't matter.

The "classic" way of a wooden former and spinning some sheet in a lathe is not a practical option and too much hard work. I am looking for, if possible, a something already made that is reasonably readily obtainable that could be modified or butchered into use.

Any ideas anyone?

Deeja

[Deleted]

Deeja
I once met Gerry Anderson's chief model maker: he said he used a lot of Fairy Liquid bottles!
JB
Home on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to getting the Brit out from under the bed!

[jackrae]

How about the bases of suitably sized aerosol cans

[Deleted]

Sept 23, 2012 8:11:42 GMT simplyloco said:

Deeja
I once met Gerry Anderson's chief model maker: he said he used a lot of Fairy Liquid bottles!
JB
Home on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to getting the Brit out from under the bed!

I wonder which chief model maker that was JB?... personally I'm not a fan of GA works... they indeed were made with odds and sods and if looked at closely were awful, model making in the film industry has moved on a long way since those days.. thank god...

Regarding the OP's question, try Sapphire spinners in Essex, they should be able to cover your requirements and probably at a reasonable price.

regards

Pete

[flyingfox]

Greetings,
I am not sure what scale you need these in, but if you turned a wooden master plug, undersize by the thickness of the plastic shhet used, then warm some thickish ( 1 mm) plastic modelling sheet (Plasticard in the UK) then this might answer.
Or you could ask a school who have vacumn forming equipment to make them for you over your plug.
Regards
Flying Fox

[peteh]

Continuing from flying fox - It is very easy to make your own vac former and plastic mouldings - used to do it all the time for cockpits for RC aircraft.

[ejparrott]

Would it not be prudent to say what scale we're working in, so that we have some idea of size?

[Deeja]

Fellows, I deliberately didn't state what scale at first as I wanted the widest range of (crazy) ideas first, and hoping someone would think of something 'outside the square'. But I am modelling in 5"g standard gauge prototype (approx 6-7"/150-175mm dia).

On some suggestions from another forum, the ends are too rounded, where tanks are actually fairly flat.

Surely there is a something out there that could be dragged into service. One suggestion was the plastic bubble panel on children's play equipment at the golden arches restaurants and cut one of those panels up. Any crazy suggestions considered, not just the normal bottle or tank shaped items.

Deeja

[ejparrott]

You can buy pressed domes in a hugh variety of sizes...~I can't remember the working name for them but I think there's a company called 'domed ends' or 'dished ends'

[Shawki Shlemon]

Deeja , what is wrong with using 1/16" copper sheet and shaping it over a former , then soft/silver solder in place ?

[ilvaporista]

Edit: Note to self read what is written and not what you think you read. As Flying fox above. If you are a keen visitor to teh scrapyard you can look for lorry air brake resevoirs of tanks form DIY size compressors.

Another simple and low cost idea is to form from plastic sheet.

The internal form required is turned up in wood and made smooth. Around this was a ring (in my case a tube) with clearance to the male form.
The plastic sheet was placed over the ring and heated up evenly with a paint stripping gun. When the plastic began to sag in the middle of the ring the male wooden form was banged in to the centre forming a domed end. I use this for making bulls-eye lamp lenses in perspex. Usually smaller than you require but I did try one about 3" diameter and it worked.
It's a cheap idea that if it does not work you have lost very little.