# More questions about grills/louvres



## thqt07 (Aug 31, 2008)

I'm building a BR Warship Class 42 diesel in 10mm/1:30 scale with the body mostly of styrene. These locomotives has several slatted grills or louvres on their sides which had vertical bracing - see this pictures of one being broken up. I've done a search and found some advice on making grills using small section styrene strips or a technique I can't quite visualize described as 'embossing tin foil'. I'd really like to get the 'see through' effect and incorporate the vertical braces which were pretty obvious in the real thing. Any one got anything to add to the above techniques or a round-up on what works and what doesn't?

Any advice appreciated...

Mike W


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

described as 'embossing tin foil'.
Mike, 

I think that trick is to make a tool (like a die) shaped like the inside of one louvre to stamp the tin foil into shape. Then move the foil, and stamp another. Like embossing rivets in a long row. 

In 10mm scale you might be able to use thin brass or aluminium, which would be much more rigid than tin foil (maybe that's a smaller scale material!)


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike

Don't know what your tool situation is or what machining skills you have, but the following topic by Howard Maculsay on scratch building a live steam 1925 Model T rail car out of brass. Shows how he built a forming tool and the process he used to form the real to life louvers in the engine cowling. The reply where he describes the above is dated 24 Aug 2008 01:29 AM and about the sixth from the last in the topic.

The following link should get you pretty close, however, you may need to scroll down a bit after all the pictures finish loading.

Live Steam Forum/Topic: Model-T Railtruck Builder's Log[/b]


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## thqt07 (Aug 31, 2008)

Thanks for the ideas. That last one definitely exceeds my level of skill - I'm in awe of people who can do that stuff. I think I will end up using pre-cut strips of styrene but I'm going to need some kind of jig or supports to hold the pieces in place while they set. Maybe I'll put something 'glue-resistant' behind the opening and build the grill up from there and then remove the backing.... 

I'm not ready to work on it just yet so I have some time to come up with a plan.


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## NZRDa63 (Sep 1, 2012)

Hi, How about razor blades for the louvres ? Not sure if they'd be wide enough - have a look at the ones that have 4 or 5 blades per disposable piece.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I used a chisel that was the right size and cut through some thin metal with it, worked out okay.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Guys,
That's another 6-year-old thread. The OP is still around, so maybe he can enlighten us how he solved the problem!


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

If it didn't have to be see-through, I'd say 3d print it... but then again, I'm getting lazy.

Razor blades are an interesting thought, but will the finished product be safe to handle? I would definitely take apart a few to see how they're put together. Maybe you could reverse engineer it into something that wouldn't cut you.


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## John Gaarde (Oct 11, 2008)

You might try contacting Allen Pollock at Fun & Games ( scalefigures.com ). Our club had some large scale manufacturing remnants that we sold to him and there were some louvred grills included. Whether they would work for you or not, I'm not sure. 
For larger ones on a building I have had passable results cutting down one edge of a styrene angle iron strip, but this would difficult for the size you need. John


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Hey always fun n new things...
Slats just appear flat strip... figure sizes needed .. cut .010" - .015" stryrene sheet.. cut strips to width.. length..
Lay upside down on jig.. add vertical braces to secure. .. glue unit in car body opening...

Not terribly painful.. esp if just one loco yur building..
A few steps.. nothing complicated.

Have fun


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Hello Mike,
Your project looks very interesting so I hope you continue to share your progress and end results.
I think many of us would like a quick and easy solution to installing louvers, but I'm not sure one exists at the moment.
Gavin Smart recently did a two part article in Garden Railways, Dec 2014 and Feb. 2015 on Detailing a diesel in 1:29 scale and show some louvers he's added.
I'm also going through this process with a few GP9's I'm rebuilding and detailing. The sample I've added is some of the progress so far. These are individual 1/4 round styrene strips of 0,040" (1mm) glued to the side panel and I have to confess that after about two hours with no visible progress they start to drive me nuts, so I have to take a break.
Hopefully when they're finished, cleaned up and painted they'll look presentable.
Have fun.


Cheers.


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Harvey

You louvers look pretty respectable to my eye...

I have a couple of GP7's that were destined to be GP9's myself. I cast my louvers with epoxy resin from molds I made of the existing hood louvers with silicone. Worked pretty good IMO. Not pouring to much resin into the mold was the biggest obstacle, making the louvers to thick.

Michael


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