How would you make a 1/35 scale, or close to that, 55 gallon drum or other similar fuel barrel. Im thinking of cutting apart steel rod and using wire for the ribs, and something small for a cap, and buying is not an option for me, I want to make them. So any ideas?
I’d spend the $5 bucks and buy a set of Tamiya’s or Italeri’s. They also come with fuel cans and some buckets too.
Good luck making ones that look convincing.
Hey, why waste money on matches when you can rub two sticks together?
You can also buy one piece resin ones by Bayardi. These have open tops and alos come intact or damaged. 
They are available from http://www.michtoy.coml
Tamiya’s Allied Vehicle Accessory set (no 229) has some really nice 55 gallon drums.
He doesn’t want to drop the bucks for a kit, he wants to scratch them. Low budget.
Ian, first of all, you need dimensions, not something most folks have off hand. Second, you need good photos or line drawings, again…ditto. You’re not going to find much information available when there are so many kits around that suit this need. Save your money and your time.
I think his idea isn’t too bad… sure there are tons(?) of aftermarket items you could buy but it seems he wants to make his own…
first thing comes to my mind if make one using epoxy/polly putty or just burrow one and make the resin casting…
sure this will cost way more than simply buying the aftermarket items but then you can have any shape and size of drums you want - also depends on the moulding he should be able to pop out reasonable number of casting.
How about cutting a soda can or other thin aluminum piece. About 1" x 2". Flatten it out by rolling something hard and round over both sides. Measure where the 2 ribs would be and draw lines lengthwise. Run a ballpoint over the lines to emboss the rib line. Flip the piece over, glue end to end with CA. Measure and cut lids with more aluminum. Make dozens and keep the best ones. This method costs the price of a soda. SteveM
I actually found a 3/4 inch or so 4 foot metal rod in my basement. My idea is to cut these into 1 inch (or whatever is scale, ill look that up first) I will use either some tiny O-rings or wire to make the ribs and the cap could be made of almost anything. Even if its not scale to a 55 gallon drum, kit will probably be close to something or elses, and if it isnt, it will be close enough that, i mean who will know but me? If they turn out poorly, I might just buy a set. Thanks for the advice, Ill post my progress over the next couple days.
I loved your advice too Steve, very cost effective, which is exaclty what Im going for, Ill definately give that a try.
The soda can method is easy and cheap–railroaders have used this for years
Take piece of tile or wood and carve the ridges into it. lay your precut sodacan pieces on top and emboss with a ballpoint pen. the jig insures that they are all the same size.
I’ve figured out the sizing for 1/48th scale and seem to work well. But what color where the avgas drum in WW2. Anyone know?
I made 50 gallon drums in HO scale, but it would be fairly simple to make them the same way in any other scale.
I put sort of a ‘how to’ on my Fotki page.
http://public.fotki.com/DaveInTheHat/how-i-make-stuff/50-gallon-drum/
Feel free to leave comments and sign my guest book.
Thanks!
Very cool dave, but I couldn find what sort of material you made the drum out of? When I tried soda cans, they tended to “crease” instead of bend when I wrapped them around into a cylinder. In the end I just used the single barrel I did have for this prject, but ideas are still welcome since barrels fit in almost anyy model or diorama I will build in he future.
Copper foil works nice for this. You can get it at good art stores. But thats buying stuff again. I thought that popcans would be a little too hard. You might try pie plate aluminum or one of those turkey pans. They’re a little softer. I’ve used this for HO barrels and it works good in copper at least. With one of those turkey pans you could model a whole fuel dump.
I use disposable aluminum cookie sheets. The’re cheap, easy to cut with scissors. Turkey pans are a little heavier. I use that for other stuff.