I've just begun the Dragon 3in1 kit of the SdKfz 251/7 Ausf.D, and, along with a few other inaccuracies in the interior, I find that the rather prominent knobs on a couple of levers on the dashboard (cooling switch and constant speed on-off switch, I think) are represented as no more than an insignificant nubbin. I haven't been able to come up with a perfect knob yet, and although I know I've seen some posts on how to make them somewhere, for the life of me I can't find them now. Any suggestions?

Lead shot. The size in .22 cal. shot is perfect for most 1/35 applications. Super glue it to the end of the lever.

I have found that dipping a rod in white glue [elmers] can work also cyano glue too.

One other suggestion that I have read in Tamiya International Magazine was to open a finished water filter jug cartridge [In the UK called Brita Filter] and it is full of round balls. Throw the black carbon ones away and use the ceramic ones as control knobs etc.

Here is their site for Id purposes.

http://www.brita.com/

Hope this help.

John

Seriously.......I wouldn't bother. I've made a ton of these, and sometimes gone to great lengths to enhance the Dash detail. It's always the same.....you can't see it when the model's complete.

Vinnie

That's probably the best advice you'll get right there. Half my interior stuff goes unseen as well.

Alrighty then. Thanks for the info, guys.

@Teacher: That was probably going to be the subject of my next post. As I'm sure you know, the steering wheel and column and all sorts of stuff--as well as the proportions of the dashboard itself--seem to be off. I haven't built one of these before--nor anything else in a while, for that matter--and I was wondering if it would be worth the effort. I ALMOST regret obtaining the excellent Rossagraph book on it at the same time I got the kit.

If you still want to do the interior, why not open it up? Shatter part of A1, B1, or B2 (I just score the part and snap it) as if it had taken an artillery round.

That's a really good idea, but not for this time. As I said, this is the first thing I've built in a number of years and, to tell the truth, I'm actually pleased with the advice I received from Vinnie. I've got a new AB and compressor coming in a couple of weeks and I'd really prefer to avoid making what I know is already going to be a long building process even longer. I'm looking forward to trying some of the outrageous weathering techniques that have developed since my days of modeling, and I'm sure that there will be plenty of details to attend to in the more visible areas. So for now, I'll just save the above techniques in my "How to..." folder.

If you still want to go with the knobs, check a craft or fabric shop for small straight pins like they use to hold fabric for sewing. They have nice round heads and come in various sizes. Just cut off the head and glue it, or leave a little of the pin and you can stick it into wood for a doorknob.

Art

One last suggestion and I'll let you get back to your airbrush

You can take bits of styrene rod or stretched sprue. Carefully hold them up close to a candle flame. The heat will round off the end, making almost a mushroom shape.

Don't put the plastic into the flame, the heat will accumulate.

I needed to do dashwork on my Willys MB Jeep -- no hiding knobs on that subject!

Just out of curiosity, I wonder if anyone has tried dropping a molten substance into water. I worked for a number of years as a silversmith, and I would pour molten gold or silver into a tub of water to get a variety of shapes and sizes of balls--some perfect, some not. It will work with lead, as that's how shot used to be made. I haven't tried it with anything for modeling; I suspect that plastic would probably deform upon hitting the water, but there ought to be something out there that would work.

Water's not even necessary. When I get impatient soldering, I can get the solder to ball up perfectly every time. I still like shot as I've got a few different sizes lying about.

You can also use glass beads. They come in a variety of sizes. They can be obtained from industrial supply houses that deal with sand blasting.