Hi all, I'm kind of new around these forums of armorama, I used to share ideas in other forums anyway and wanted to try this as well. I'm on a diorama project right now that involves an Afrika Korps soldiers kit from dragon in 1:35... and I wanted to apply all the possible realism to it... so I was wondering de best way to make credible and good looking slings for 1:35 rifles, I have some ideas but I want to read yours as well cause maybe are better than mine at this time and probably tested in the field thanks for your help!

For the best slings or most realistic, Id have to say etched buckles and lead foil for the sling.
Aber has a cool set of buckles with loads of attachment pieces for slings to guns. I made a sling tonight this way and was very happy with it. Sorry, no pictures yet!

Frank, thanks for that advise, I'm going to try it as soon as I get those lead foils... about the etched buckles I'll have to skip that one for now until I find that kit you mentioned. Thanks for the help!

i tried using masking tape... cut a length of the tape, fold it in half so that it sticks onto itself. then cut it into thin strips and paint them... voila!

it's easier to paint and the texture on tape makes it look a bit realistic.

cheers.

As I can see some people give you some ideas about it- lead foil, mask tape, and perhaps I used some times paper cut in strips and after with and an old brush "painting" with withe glue before joined it to te weapon. In this way it´s easier to give the suitable position.
Como te ahn comentado algunos puedes usar lamina de estaño, cinta de enmascarar, y algunas veces yo le he usado papel "pintado" con cola blanca después de haber sido pegado y asi es más fácil darle forma .

Historex have the Aber buckles set, saw it on their website yesterday.

Thin lead foil is the material of choice because it has no 'memory', and will hold whatever shape you want it to assume - sagging, twisted, motion, etc. Unfortunately, most wine companies use plastic over the corks now, and toothpaste companies don't make lead tubes anymore. I've tried thin brass, but it tends to be either too springy, or too stiff, and you have to conform it to the exact shape before attaching it to the weapon. Mojimbo's method of using masking tape, while not quite as good as lead foil, is certainly a lot cheaper, easier to obtain, and is a reasonable substitute. And don't forget the PE buckle - there's no cheap or easy substitute for that!

I have to agree foil is one of the best materials. Some of the pricier ($13-$20) bottles of wine do have foil still.
:[]--
A cool, fun and social way of finding these is to have a wine tasting party and have people bring thier favorites (don't forget a designated driver)

Scott,

I am afraid if I had a tasting party all of the wine my friends would bring would either be in a cardboard box with a plastic spout on the front or be in a bottle with a screw off cap...


I have used lead foil, masking tape and typing paper. Lead foil is by far the best looking. Masking tape is the easiest and looks reasonable but appears a bit on the thick side. Typing paper has a good scale thickness but gets pretty fiddly when you get it wet to take the memory out of it. It tends to fall apart.

Shaun

i use maskin tape...soak in water to get rid of the sticky side...once done, cut to appropiate size and using white glue, paste it to the rifle...

There are other places to get the foil you need. In north america lots of things come with a protective foil cover under the lid, yogurt, peanut butter, chip dip, sour cream etc. They usually hold shape well, but are hard to cut and sometimes don't take paint easily.
And your local dentist might have real lead foil left over from doing x-rays. I got a plastic sandwich bag of 3 by 5cm squares of lead foil from my dentist last time I got a check up that should do me forever!!