Completed: Storage Tank

[Silverback]

Here's the beginnings of a storage tank I'm working on.

The ever popular CD/DVD case is the basis for the model.

The 'roof' was made by cutting out the central section using a hole saw. The grating is made from plastic embroidery 'net' which was clipped to size and then a video cassette spool was glued on top to act as a platform.

The discharge/take-off point was made by drilling through the side of the case using a hole saw (once again). The outer 'casing' of the valve was made from a medicine 'thimble', the collar is the inside from a roll of sellotape, and the blue connection is a pop-up bottle top that's had it's screw collar clipped away.

It was all glued in place using copious amounts of glue from a gun!

I'll be adding a walkway about half-way up the 'tank' using plastic mesh and plasticard reinforcement (as the mesh is too flimsy on its own). I'd puzzled about how to firmly mount this walkway onto the CD case and, after digging through my bits box, came up with using plastic shelf brackets from flat-pack furniture.

Using these brackets may allow me to take off the gangway when the model is being stored and/or transported.

If I've missed anything, or have any suggestions, let me know!

 

[ned-kogar]

Looking very nice!

I made a couple out of children's drums, which I shall post when I dig them out.

I would maybe recommend scoring some vertical or horizontal panel lines around the outside, to give a bit of detail to come up in dry brushing.

Ooh, and a ladder.

Ned

 

[Silverback]

There's going to be a number of additions to this piece before it's finished:

A circular gangway
Pipes & valves
Railings (possibly)
Ladders/stairs
Rivets and/or 'plates'

 

[Rob_A]

looks sexy.

 

[Silverback]

looks sexy.

You don't get out much do you!? :lol:

 

[Silverback]

Now with circular gangway!

The grating was mounted on 2mm plastic card and glued into position using superglue.

The inner circle of the plastic card was scored using a compass cutter, a hole drilled in the middle and cutters used to snip the centre into four segements which were then snapped off. I used a scalpel to clean up any 'debris' and then glued the granny grating into place.

Using a compass point I then traced around the outside of the grating until their was a score mark of about 0.5mm to 1mm deep. Again I made four snips before breaking off the plastic card to produce the outer circle. Scalpel came into play again to tidy up the edges.

I drilled holes into the side of the CD case and glued shelf brackets into position using a gluegun. The plasticard was mounted on top of these using two part epoxy.

The gangway edge pieces are made from the caps of Pringles tubes which had the edges cut off and glued into place using two part epoxy. I initially tried superglue gel but the bond was far too brittle.

I'll be trimming off the bottom of another CD container to act as a retaining 'girder' for the top of the gangway. This will also reinforce the mounting of the plasticard to make it more durable in use.

 

[Silverback]

Here we are again . . . a little more progress. I've fixed a retaining collar in place which should look quite effective once painted. Also added a small access ladder and pipework to the model. Probably not noticeable from this angle but I've also tidied up the acessway for the gangway to make it look as if a metallic plate surrounds the opening.

At this stage I'm starting to get stuck for further ideas - apart from needing an access ladder from ground level to the gangway. I'll probably buy a Plastruct kit for that bit.

Any other details that I should consider including (before painting that is) or do you think there's sufficient detail on the model already?

 

[ned-kogar]

It's great!

Perhaps a little control panel, or pressure guage, near the lower ladder?

Barrule have some nice Control pads in packs of six.

What's the upper ladder from?

Ned

 

[Silverback]

What's the upper ladder from?

It's from a 99p lorry from Waremart, and so's the pipeline. I'll also be making a free standing tank from the same lorry too.

 

[Silverback]

Here we are, primed and, ready for painting and mounting. Made some mistakes during construction but it can't be all bad to say it's only my second ever piece of terrain.

 

[BuShips]

It's coming along nicely. Is the guardrail cut from metal "tomato guard" fencing that you use for tomato plants and the like?

 

[Silverback]

Metal mesh, hutch wire, chicken wire. Whatever you wish to call it! :lol:

 

[BuShips]

Metal mesh, hutch wire, chicken wire. Whatever you wish to call it! :lol:

Yep, that's what I thought. Good use of it. I've got a bunch of the plastic "granny mesh" in circle patterns for eventual use such as what you did. Last year I picked up a whole pile of those thin plastic "paint pail liners" and electrical boxes that I'll be using as buildings for sci-fi colony structures. I'm entirely backlogged, it seems. I'm working on something right now that I bought over a year back as well. Definately a case of too many ideas and too little time, heh. Again, good work there!



Oh, here is something that I did using CD "cake boxes" as well (over on the right)-

 

[Silverback]

Are those the ones from Signs & Portents or was that used as an inspiration?

 

[BuShips]

Are those the ones from Signs & Portents or was that used as an inspiration?

Yeah, from an old S&P. Good memory! I got the PVC gutter pieces from a building supply store that is 1/2 block away from my store. On top of the cakebox is an ABS drainpipe endcap, with an added door. The attachment clips on it work well when painted up as recessed windows. I also really enjoyed putting together the ramped Platformer access. The Tehnolog and Pegasus Hobbies kits are really great to work with.

 

[Silverback]

I see a couple of Old Crow resin vehicles in there waiting to be painted!? I've got one (or more) sets of Hexagon, Platformer, Power Plant, Bio-Toxin Plant, and Technobridge waiting to be integrated into some terrain. It looks great for Starship Trooper style fortifications but I'm trying to figure out how best to use it for urban sci-fi terrain.

 

[BuShips]

Yep, that pic is a couple of years old now. A little while later I made up the "APC" as a com rig, but never created stats for it. The Old Crow line has some great designs in it.

 

[Silverback]

Here's two pics of the current stage of painting. Over the grey primer I sprayed an auto colour called Steel Grey. I was to learn to my cost that I should have only sprayed over those areas that I wanted to have the bare metal peeking through as the Steel Grey wasn't porous so my overpainting ended up being more of a rescue operation!

The Steel Grey was washed with a mixture of Lamp Black, Titanium White, Burnt Umber, and Burnt Sienna. While it was still wet I then dabbed in a mix of Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna to give a slightly 'rusty' patchy feel to the tank.

Most of the 'safety' features were picked out using Lemon Yellow or Crimson Red. The close-up on the ladder shows how I brushed carefully around the central rungs to allow the Steel Grey to show through to simulate wear and tear.

Further weathering was achieved my using an undiluted mix of Lamp Black, Burnt Umber, and Burt Sienna which was scrubbed onto the model using an old toothbrush.

The next (and final) process will be to tidy up any overpainting and picking out the details before adding on warning signs, etc. Oh and, obviously, I have the base to complete too!

 

[Rob_A]

Dirty!

Cool looking!

 

[scotherns]

Looks great, I particularly like the worn effect on the rungs of the ladder.

Cheers,

Steve