Not sure if any one has shared this idea for making scale radar and satelite dishes for space craft or whatever before. I have found that steering wheels from scale model cars and trucks, die cast or plastic work good. I take the steering wheels and carefully cover them with foil wrap or any material simular. They turn out pretty nice.
hi ! I have found that some plastic seals from medicine and milk brands work well too .If you have a large parts box then if you have some old and scarred moon hubcaps work great too . Another thing to consider , take some very heavy baking foil ,(or the foil ) from FOLGERS coffee cans ,COFFEE MATE CREAMER and a very thin piece of firm foam and a sharpie , slowly burnish the shape then cut to size . this does work. if you want a fine mesh ,use h.o.scale square mesh and burnish the same way .
Funny, I was noticing just the other day how similar the snap lids of shampoo and bodywash containers look oddly like parabolic reflectors. It shouldn’t take much to rework those.
The biggest challenge you will face is that those plastics generally do not take paint well at all. You will likely need to apply some sort of foil in order to create a paintable surface.
When I posted the other day I forgot to mention a very primary source for these unusual parts ,LEGO!!! They have parabolic pieces in a variety of sizes and at least two styles . I would give them a try . their address is www.LEGOshop.com. They have chairs (seats ) and wrought iron and lots of clear parts too . The prices are more than reasonable !!! tankerbuilder P.S. They have a gamut of different types of tires ,wheels and car related stuff as well .
Nah… Just prime 'em with Dullcoat clear laquer…
Find some of those wooden wheels at the craft store of the appropriate dimension. Then cut yourself a square piece of thin aluminum or heavy guage foil. Burnish the aluminum to the wooden buck (wheel) to shape yourself an antenna dish. Be sure to heat anneal the aluminum to soften it up first. Trim and accessorize, paint and install. You can do this with wire mesh/screening too.
I made several satellite dishes for a large scratchbuilt Arleigh Burke model by cutting circular discs out of a ping pong ball. These cut very easily, the parabolic shape stays rigid, the edges can be sanded smooth and bases & other accessories can be glued to them easily and they took paint very well
Aaron Alpert
iv,e took the plastic spoons and cut them in half and joined them together to make some dishes. you can cut them virt. or long. to make any differnt combination of dishes. there are differnt styles form different restaurants. try it it works for me
Ping pong balls make nice dishes. [;)]
Always someone out to bust my balls…ping pong that is…great tip!
Thanks! Make a small hole in the ball. Set a compass at half the diameter, place the point in the hole you made and draw your circle on the ball. Use a hobby knife and cut a larger hole outside of the piece you will be keeping. Take a part of thread snips or other small scissors and carefully cut along the line you have drawn. Clean the edge with sandpaper or sanding stick. The ping pong ball material scribes beautifully. If anyone is interested I’ll explain how I made the center spike.
Woody-- Are you daft??? All the folks away from starfleet can now copy our hard work!! Just, kidding. That is a great way to do these parts.I would think that someone would,ve thunk of it sooner. thanks for the tip.I will use it in the future! Happy Holidays. tankerbuilder