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Modeling in General: Advice on...
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Styrene strips
PanzerKarl
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England - North West, United Kingdom
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Posted: Monday, May 22, 2017 - 01:22 PM UTC
Looking to buy some Styrene strips for making a stowage rack for my Panzer 38t but not sure on what thickness to purchase.

This 38t has 2 stowage racks,one large one on the turret rear and a smaller one on the turret side looks like a jerry can holder.


Cheers
Karl
GazzaS
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Posted: Monday, May 22, 2017 - 01:29 PM UTC
I would buy the absolute thinnest you can get. Steel gets it's strength from shape, not thickness.

Storage racks and stuff would be no thicker than a millimeter or two in 1/1 scale.

Even modern day racking that holds tons 9 meters in the air is not quite 2mm thick.

Gaz
barkingdigger
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ARMORAMA
#013
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Posted: Monday, May 22, 2017 - 05:23 PM UTC
For the rear rack I'd use Evergreen 0.60 angle stock for the edges, and maybe 0.010x0.040 strip for the intermediate bars. The X-brace on the bottom might be done with 0.010x0.030 strips.

The jerrycan rack is another issue - it looks like 0.010x0.040 for the horizontals and 0.020x0.060 for the vertical. But plastic strip hates being bent, so you may struggle. You could build it around a can, so it can be glued in place, or you can try to "set" the bends by wrapping strips around a block and dipping them in boiling water, but I'd probably reach for some brass strip instead. Good luck!
RLlockie
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Posted: Monday, May 22, 2017 - 11:00 PM UTC
Or you could cut strips from an aluminium drink can, which is easier to bend than brass and holds its shape better than styrene.
PanzerKarl
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Posted: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - 09:50 PM UTC
Cheers
barkingdigger
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ARMORAMA
#013
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Posted: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - 09:56 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Or you could cut strips from an aluminium drink can, which is easier to bend than brass and holds its shape better than styrene.



Wow bob - that's hardcore "Old Skool"!
165thspc
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Posted: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - 10:02 PM UTC
But thanks for mentioning the aluminum. It may be old school but old school can still sometimes be the best idea!
AFVFan
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Posted: Friday, May 26, 2017 - 09:52 AM UTC
Projects like this are why I never throw old used PE sprues away.
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