Hey all,

When I was in the US Army 1998 - 2006, we used large tarps to cover our vehicles while in the motor pool. I don't know the actual dimensions but they were rectangular, dark green, had eyelets in each corner and in the middle of the long sides, and they had a satin sheen to them.

I want to reproduce one of these in 1/35 scale (folded up) and would like some advice on what material to use, the dimensions, and any ideas on recreating the eyelets (I was thinking PE washers I have on an old fret).

Thanks guys and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dan

I've made mine from "lead" foil, wine bottle foil works well too. Eyelets you would hardly see, so small hole punch and touch with paint. Cheers

Thanks, Damon.

Are there certain types of wine bottles that have the foil or do they all?

go to local grocery/wine store...pick the cheapest cabernet; Hold bottle with one hand and see if the spout/neck covering will spin under tension of the twist...

If it will not ..probably plastic....foil ones have a 'give' to the point you can twist the entire foil 'cap' off. When you find the appropriate bottle/top buy it. Take home fully twist off the foil top... check to see if its the type/thickness foil you require...if not drink the contents; go back and buy a different bottle .... repeat until you achieve you goal....or are too drunk to stand.

Thanks Johnsen,

Sounds like a plan!

Buy some French wine, you'll get a metal collar. We don't pretty much like to use plastic collar

However, a single collar won't give you a large enough piece of metal to cover a vehicle. Another option is to use some bi-component putty that you can roll thin enough to depict a large tarp.
The advantage with this material is it's soft enough to shape around your vehicle under its own weight giving a more realistic look.
The drawback are it can tear away if you don't handle it carefully enough and you need to wait it cures before removing it and punch the eyelets.

Olivier

Here in Oregon..

Oppps...Our Pinot Noir

Hello,

when it comes to really large tarps try to get your hands on some large square tea filters. Apply them by the common "PVA-glue/water"-method. After curing, you can drill some tiny holes easily with a needle or a small drill. If you take the backside of a drill, you can press on the filter to simulate the eyelets around the holes. If you can`t find tea filters without annoying texture, some thin putty and a coat of primer will help.

Experimenting is fun, don`t forget....

Best Regards

Dennis

Edit: if you really need to have some large metall sheets, you can look in your hobby store. At least here in Germany you can find relief foil for very small money. Comes sometimes pretty handy.

https://www.vbs-hobby.com/de/kaufen/praegefolie-3-stueck-67153.html?vcode=03&aff=15288&gclid=CjwKEAiAstCyBRDiqu75hvnX82kSJACgYI_QM_MxKaqupn_bhyxhZpQx0s8dvJEKzXjbpD8U9bLvlRoCPfjw_wcB

I am sure you will find something like this in every hobby shop.

Personally I've never had much luck with using metal foils, I just couldn't get convincing creases in it.

I did come up with a solution though, using the beige low tack tape painters use! Because it has one sticky side its easy to attach it in place on whatever you want to tarp over, attach sections to each other to create as in real life or to fold over the sides to make the double edge a lot of tarps have. Because it is less stiff than metal is can easily be shaped, but it's a bit stiffer (and more resistant!!) than paper napkins. You can also make realistic tears and damage in it!

To shape it (in my case a sd/kfz 251 cover) I cut down several sections like the real thing, stuck them together, put it on the model and then folded down the sides. After that I wetted the surface of the tape with Vallejo's Matt Medium (the big bottle that smells like apples, you can find it in art supply stores). After it soaked into the tape a bit I could easily form/drape it realistically with the brush. When dry it is still very flexible and you can coat it again to make some changes. On the last coat I let it dry a bit first and then went over it crosswise with the brush to get a scale 'woven' texture on it to simulate canvas.

After that I finished the rest of the model and primed it with Vallejo's black PU primer and painted it normally, with wet washes etc and it held up perfectly.

If you want I can make some pictures of the finihed results or a small step by step. Hope this helps!




edit; This is the tape I mean. A huge roll will cost you less then €/$ 1,- The cheaper the better because the cheap stuff soaks better.

I found that simply aluminum foil works well. It folds well and has the correct "sheen". Since they are smooth vinyl, you recall they don't "wrinkle" so you don't really need much texture, just simply the folds.

The tarps are also pretty heavy duty, and when folded, support themselves well so a folded tarp in a stowage basket isn't going to be form fitting so the thicker foil works well.

The tarps used from varied in color from olive drab to blue-green depending on the manufacturer.

Of course the foil on wine bottles is a good excuse to drink a few extra bottle of wine!

Bruce,

Your absolutely right. You seem to remember those damn things pretty well, were you a Tanker?

I agree. Willamette or Columbia Valley Pinot Noirs are still at the top of my list. I still do the "Bite of Oregon" when I can as well. However, a lot of the newer wines (and no less quality) no longer use lead. I get mine from the well endowed dental assistant mentioned in a thread the other day. For eyelets, I use a tiny slivers cut off of aluminum tubing. It cuts with an X-Acto blade.

Oddly enough... I was a Surface Warfare Officer... but I was in the gator navy and as such I was the liaison for the marines we hauled around... as part of that, I had the opportunity to be one of the few Navy squids that got to train regularly with the Marines tracked vehicles.

I also rebuild military vehicles as a hobby, mainly the M151 and continue to have hands one work with a lot of this equipment daily. There's times I've ran out to my barn to reference something in 1:1 scale!

Have a look at the Value Gear range of generic tents, tarps etc in 1/35. Great stuff!

Bruce,

Very nice, dude!

Sounds like a cool hobby.

I mix white pva glue with the required acrylic colour(s),the quantity is a guess.
Lay out a sheet of fine,or more coarse if you require,wet or dry paper available from auto repair stores and paint the glue mix evenly covering the whole sheet. You may have use twin stick to hold the sheet flat. I use two layers and allow to dry for a couple of days. Carefully peel the dried glue from the abrasive sheet and it now has the texture of the abrasive and is fold able can be easily cut. The upper side will need matt paint cost it will be shiny. Heat from a hair dryer can be used to aid draping.

BILL