I recently signed up for the "purple hearts" campaign (the one that includes damaged armor and vehicles) and i've been doing some brainstorming. Well today i was reading a "offroading" magazine and their was an article about trail damaged trucks and jeeps. When i saw the pictures of vehicles that have rolled on their sides or down steep inclines, i had a graet idea . I thought to build a rolled jeep. Now, i know that i want to include rolled in fenders and a busted windshield frame, but i'm not sure exactly how to go about this. I thought that i could heat and bend them to where i want, however when small plastic pieces like this are heated i know that the surrounding areas will quickly melt away.
And then i had another great idea;
Aluminum foil ! If i could use the foil to fashion a fender i could make it look like realistic mangled sheetmetal. Immediatly i experimented but again was stumped when i found that the foil, when bent will crinkle and fold in odd spots. So my question is... Has anyone successfully used aluminum foil for an application such as this? If not can anyone recomend any other methods?
Thanks.

Chris, Just get yourself some foil pie dishes and experiment. The Foil costs next to nothing, just don't use the really thin stuff. Cut it almost to size, and burnish it down over the kit part to be replaced. You might find you have to replace nuts etc., and then use it instead of the kit part, bending it exactly how you want.

Vinnie

Thanks, i didn't even think to use something thicker. Ifeel a little stupid for even staring this post.

No need to feel stupid Chris, it's a good idea. The pie plates that Vinnie mentioned work great too. You can use aluminum foil, but instead of one sheet, fold it over a few times to add some thickness and strength. That will make it a lot easier to work with.

Chris--this is not a stupid thread at all -- the responses so far have given me, (and hopefully a few others) some good information regarding our hobby --- so you've accomplished something here my friend. Good luck on your build by the way.

Steve

Just to give you another suggestion (because that pie tin idea will work very well), I have a roll of lead-foil, which could be used for this purpose as well. Some modelers use it for seat-belts in planes, but it will suit your purpose, too. Model shops sell small bits of it, but I picked up a roll from a mining supply company, if I remember right. Should be a lifetime supply.

Mike

You can also go to a place like Hobby lobby and buy a roll of "tooling foil". They have it available, cheaply, in .36 guage and .40 guage. In aluminum, copper, and brass. The aluminum is the easiest to work, in my limited experience.

SOmeone once suggested using a cut up tube of toothpaste. The edges are not sharp and the material is thick enough to use easily

Another item you can use is the foil from the tops of yogurt cups. In the US the ones that would work the best that I can think of are from Yoplait. Its like a 2 for 1, eat the yogurt, use the lid.


Sean

Dunno what the deal is on that side of the drink, but here we have tins of Milo (or sustagen or similar)
Foil seal under the lid that needs to be punctured and removed to get to the goods can be much more carefully removed with a knife or such, and gives you approx. 4" diameter circle of foil, which is of a good gauge...

Have a look at Ian Sadler's (AKA Sandy) article which should help with your plan
http://www.ww2modelmaker.com/articlepub/ISt34tracks.htm