Rusted 55 gal drums?

I would like to scatter a couple really rusted 55 gal drums in a weedy corner of my industrial area, perhaps spilling the last of the Awfulstuffium that was inside into toxic puddles. Rather than just paint rust on a cast drum, I'd like to do something like score the ribs in some metal foil and roll the foil around a drill bit to form an empty drum, then corrode it in vinegar or something. I'm working in O scale, and typical kitchen aluminum foil is too thin to use. Anyone ever tried this, or seen an article on doing it? Gary Q

There was an article in the British scale mag Model Railway Journal a few years back about exactly this. IIRC the material used was the foil used for food containers by Chinese takeaways and the like. The results obtained were excellent.
Awfulstuffium? ROFL!
John

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Thanks to you and Roger T. for the responses. I tried the http://www.index.mrmag.com/ index and see a couple promising articles, but none in the magazines I receive and save. One of the guys at the local hobby shop said he had very good results corroding the Campbell corrugated roofing with Radio Shack circuit board etchant. This seems to be a subject of a few of the magazine articles that turn up on a search for "rust". Can anyone tell me what raw material Campbell used to make their corrugated roofing or where I might find it in un-corrugated form? Gary Q

I'm working in O scale, and typical kitchen aluminum
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While I can't offer any practical suggestions on how to do it, have you tried using metal duct tape? It's a lot thicker than kitchen foil, and seems to be much more rigid. You'd probably have to double it up - sticky side to sticky side, because the sticky side is extraordinarily sticky.
It's not usually found at Home Depot, Loew's, or Rona, but any supplier or wholesaler to the heating and air-conditioning trades should have it.
Just a thought. Good luck.
Garth Ottawa, ON

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have to double it up - sticky side to sticky side, because the sticky side is extraordinarily sticky.< MEK will take that glue right off!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MRPics http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vintageHO

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Article in RMC several years ago describing exactly what you want to do and in O scale to boot. Sorry, can't recall which issue though.
Cheers Roger T.
Home of the Great Eastern Railway http://www.highspeedplus.com/~rogertra /

Grantline has the drums in both 55 gallon and something smaller, maybe HO 55 gallong drums. I've gotten several back years ago and they are very nice looking and have removable tops. If you want rusty ones, use some aluminum foil to wrap around the plastic ones and then remove the plastic carefully and you'll have a nice metal one.
-- Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

Drums leaking whatever..... Somewhere in the background a small glow-in-the-dark "Toxic Avenger" figure??
Ed
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Ed wrote: Drums leaking whatever.....   Somewhere in the background a small glow-in-the-dark "Toxic Avenger" figure?? ------------------------------------------------------
Great idea, Ed! I like it. One cound even use glow in the dark paint for the leaking liquid. I made a radioactive box car with a flickering light inside to denote radioactivity. I like things like that --not in the real world, though.
Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad: http://www.billsrailroad.net Brief History of N Scale: http://www.billsrailroad.net/history/n-scale Model Railroad Bookstore: http://www.billsrailroad.net/bookstore Resources--Links to 1,100 sites: http://www.billsrailroad.net/bills-favorite-links

I recall reading/hearing somewhere along the several years ago about wrapping HD alumin(i)um foil around the metal eraser holder on a pencil. This was for HO scale, but I'm ASSuming you might be able to do the same thing for O-scale using one of those fatter pencils I've seen.
Hope this helps . . .
Paul - "The CB&Q Guy" (Modeling 1969 In HO.)

A craft store should have aluminum foil in different thicknesses. It is used for embossing.
dlm
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Kitchen Al foil is about .0005" thick. Heavy duty foil is about .002". TV dinner pans are about .005". Maybe one of the thicker foils would work.
Why not just turn them from steel rod and throw them in water for a few days? Get that lathe from your neighbor.

Geezer wrote:
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The aluminium used in disposable pie plates etc (here in NZ at least) is much thicker than foil. It should be about right for your purposes.
Regards, Greg.P.

Search Model Railroader's periodical index. There was an article some years back on how to do exactly what you intend and in O-scale too! If I recall correctly, the article was authored by Mike Tylick. Copies of the article or backissues of the magazine would be available from Kalmbach if you don't already have a copy of the issue.
CNJ999

I Like this question. After reading some of the replies, here is an additional idea for all scales. You can buy heavy weight aluminum foil for say HO and larger scales. Form this around a drum in your scale, trim off excess and then remove the foil. If some of the bottom doesn't meet, let it represent a rusted out bottom.
-- Phil Anderson Up hill slow, down hill fast, tonnage first, safety last.
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Awfulstuffium
aluminum

Geezer wrote:
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Some of the coffee cans in the States now come with a heavy foil inner seal. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like it might do for tin roofs, 55 gallon drums, or what have you. It's between heavy duty kitchen foil and aluminum pie pan in thickness.
David

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I did something similar for a tin shed. What I did was to scrunch the foil (I used pie dish foil) then spread it flat and sand it. The sanding cut through the raised creases and left real cool looking rust holes. I then formed it to the shape I wanted. HTH