Hi everyone. I’m building a 1/48 Dragon FW 190 A8, and was wondering for the armor plating on the fueselage by the canopy, what thickness/measurement of sheet styrene to use. I’m new to using sheet styrene, so any help would be appreciated.
Happy Modeling!
Bill
it’s 5mm thick, and that scales down to about .004", but think you have problems with anything less than .005". Let alone getting ahold of it.
gary
It only has to be thick enough to repell little, teeny-tiny, plastic bullets!
Bill,
Yeah, in this scale the armor would be little more than paper thickness. I’ve got the Oscar Boesch special edition of this kit and the armor plate is represented with photoetch. I’d go with the thinnest sheet styrene you can find, or maybe even rip open an aluminum can, hammer it flat, then cut the armor plate from the aluminum sheet. Good luck.
Try steel shim-stock. You can get it at hardware shops, including online stores like McmasterCarr. I use the stuff all the time: 0.010" is great for antenna masts.
At that thickness, you could probably cut it with scissors, but it will be much more rigid than plastic. Plus it’s made of steel, just like the real thing!
Tamiya gives you some vynil tape in their kit.
Regards, Rick
Hobby Lobby sells .005" and .008" thick brass and aluminum flat stock for $2.99 a sheet. There’s enough metal in the sheet to do about fifty planes.
gary
I know I saw a PE set for this exact thing. Just cant remember where. I`ll look around tomorro…Harv
Squeakie, Dirtball, Rick, IL2windhawk, Jeff, Trexx, thanks for your responses.
Think I’ll go tonight and cut open a soda can and check out the thickness. It not, I’ll look for 0.004" or 0.005" thick sheet styrene.
Rick, I actually checked my unbuilt 1/48 Tamiya A-8 Rammjager, and did find the vinyl they include for the armor siding, but its just enough for one plane - not enought for two. D’oh!
Thanks for these and any future responses.
Happy Modeling!
Bill