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Making better looking gas and brake pedals

AndyFettes

AndyFettes

Master at Arms
Hi all,

I was mucking about in the model emporium tonight, commonly known during the day time as the dining table, when I started on foot pedals for my Flakvierling 38 part of my Dragon Sdkfz 7/1 when I made a bit of a discovery,.. anyone familiar with the kit will know that the foot pedals are blank meaning without any criss/cross detailing, by accident I was leaning across the table to reach something else when I rolled my scriber across some lead foil and it embossed some great detailing

Now anyone with a knife will have some knurling at the end for grip and some tools are more pronounced than others so I found a tool with the deepest knurls and started testing

Firstly by laying out the lead foil on flat surface and cleaning it off by burnishing with the rubber end of a pencil, I then lined the toolup and with some light pressure rolled it across the foil making a beautiful criss cross mark on the foil as it went !

I then cut out the shape of the foot pedals in the foil and then afixed to my Flak gun and the effect looks great.

I then also did this again for the Brake pedals within the cab ! again success !!

I then got brave and added the strips of lead foil to the centre of the track drive drive wheel as it has a pronouced edge where the crew used it to climb up on board and again this worked out fantastic only this time I used a different knife witha different patterned knurl. ( there is a photetch bit in the box to do this but I found it difficault to bend round the circle but with the foil its a dream :) )

Anyone of a budget like myself who cant really fork out shedloads of money for aftermarket stuff, can do this this really easy

I didnt think at the time and do pictures but will if anyone wants an SBS on how to do this will will certainly do some photos to explain it better ?

Bye for now

Andy :)
 
Excellent Mr Fettes
mr_burns_1_20100918_1536342393.gif


I'll have to try that soon. Maybe mt 234/3
James
 
Who is that man, Smithers ? arrrr thats Homer Simpson Sir !! :D

Yeah I thinks its great and its not often, if not ever, that I actually come up with something myself :)

Oh and another thing it was Verlindens lead foil that worked really well as its softer than other stuff that Ive used and for some strange reason it sticks to plastic using tamiya thin glue, I dont know whether itll hold in the future but I never use superdupa glue on my photo etch anyway, just the same Tamiya glue mixed with squadron green putty ( erm perhapes the other way round, putty mixed with glue sounds a lot betterer :) )

This would work for any small sections of treadplate not just pedals and the like

Glad this could be of some help

A.
 
ANDY,

Throw that SBS up. I'd like to see some pix on it. I'm in the Middle of My build of the Same Flak-vierling ! I'm also adding the Griffon P.E. Royal Edition & Will post a Review here when I'm done !!

Thanx in Advance !

ERIK
 
Sure Erik

I`ll do some tomorrow,..do you want just the flakvierling pedals as they will photograph better than the footpedals in the cab will be difficault to get to,..

Ill do a fresh piece of lead foil to show you what I mean :)
 
Hey Erik what research material are you using during your build of the Flak ?

and are you doing just the flak gun or is it attatched to something like the Sdkfz 7 and if so what research stuff are you using for that ?

So many questions so little time :D
 
Gardening had to be done today after the Postman "funnily" remarked about forgetting his machete !



yeah yeah you aint usually this funny, miserable git, anyway so no model Frenzy tonight but I will crack on tomorrow

He seems to forget that ill be his best mate when the snows come

Muuuuuwwwahahahahahahahaha :evil:
 
andyfettes wrote:
Hey Erik what research material are you using during your build of the Flak ?

and are you doing just the flak gun or is it attatched to something like the Sdkfz 7 and if so what research stuff are you using for that ?

So many questions so little time :D
Click to expand...

ANDY,

I found some Cool reference. I'm using Dragon's Sd.Kfz 7/1 Flak-vierling 38 kit. Here's what I'm using.

Flak at WAR : - Trojca( ISBN#83-60041-15-6 ) - I found it on Amazon used for Cheap :D , but it's really in Awesome shape ! Great Pix not too much in the Close-up area. I have yet to Find walk around Pix that really Zone in on controls etc. & This book has No real Production history. :idonno Still a Great Book with All period War time Pix. It also covers ALL types of Flak Weapons from the single Flak 20cm , the Drilling , The Big 88's , & the double M.G. 34 mount.English Text

Now for Books on the Sd.Kfz 7 :woohoo: (y)

Sd.Kfz 7 in Detail - Wings & Wheels Publications(ISBN#80-86416-60-7),112 pgs Softback. I got it from SprueBrothers ! THIS IS A MUST HAVE (y) Tons of Pix ! Everything is covered & Uncovered in this Book !!It's basically a Walkaround on the Sd.Kfz 7 from the Munster Museum( Prime Mover variant ) being restored from the Ground up !! You get shotz from the Under Carriage ,close-ups of the Engine , Tranny ( Not that kind of Tranny :lol: ) Awesome Interior shots ! Who ever put this book together was a Modeler !!English text :ro: :ro:

History file #004 Sd.Kfz 7 mittler Bugkraftwagen 8t - Auriga Publishing International (ISBN#88-88711-32-4 ) Again from Sprue Brothers. 66pgs softback. Tons of War time Pix of all variants of the vehicle ! Color plates & there's even one from Brazil! It seems the Germans sold the Brazilians 5 of these as Prime Movers( they towed the 88's) They were delivered in '42. Yeah - try finding decals for that one !! Great for Production history , very through & They even give you some Pix & History on the Italian Breda version. Exact same Half track , but with a different front End !! Italian/English text :ro:

There is also a 2 part from the Ampersand series Allied/Axis , I can't get to them right now to give you the #'s :blush: I'll post them tomorrow.

Hope this Helps !!

ERIK
 
Right here we go with a very simplified SBS

Tools of the trade

Your preferred cutting blade, pencil with rubber end to burnish flat the lead foil, lead foil, your preffered tool with pattern that you wish to emboss
img_2999_1_20100923_1858015515.jpg


Burnish the lead foil with the rubber ( giggles from the Americans )or eraser and wipe of the accesss muck with kitchen towel or cloth, turn foil over and repeat
img_3000_2_20100923_1926773982.jpg

Lay out you foil and get your preffered tool and start at the bottom and roll the tool upwards laying even pressure on the foil
img_3001_3_20100923_1947508680.jpg

You should now having something like this
img_3002_4_20100923_1464338972.jpg


Next trim cut and place your now embossed foil where you wish and you should be able to get an effect like this
img_3003_5_20100923_1124800204.jpg

and this
img_3004_6_20100923_1594029231.jpg

and finally this
img_3007_7_20100923_1338382008.jpg


There you go very simple, cheap, yet very effective and of course different patterns can be made according to what ever you wish to emboss
Also a bit more time and care can be taken over this to make a better attempt than I have

There you go I hope you enjoyed the SBS and I await you feedback

PS I also forgot to add that I stuck the foil to the pastic simply by using tamiya thin glue

Andy :)
 
Cool tip. Just a thought though. If you put some thin foam under, like the trays meat comes on there might be more give than the hard mat. I cant tell , but I'm guessing the back is flat. With foam you might get the obverse pattern to choose from also. Just a thought. I'll have to get some lead foil and try this. Thanks Andy.
James
 
This is also a great little technique for things like floor mats etc. too and I often use it to reproduce or copy parts of photoetch. Also good for rubbing over photoetch uniform badges and insignia.
 
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