
Builder Last Online: Jun 2019


Model Scale: 1/8
Rating:
Thanks: 1

Started: 01-30-11
Build Revisions: Never

I've been asked by Management to show you the ancient art of
styrene
sculpting, so here goes. Today we're building an exhaust system with lots of curves, clamps and of course a muffler. These same techniques can be used to make any part, and in fact were used to make the engine.

First, figure out where you want the pipe to go. In this case, it needs to make a 90 degree bend out of the turbo. Start by cutting a flat sheet to the shape you need. I used .060 styrene
sheet here.

Then cut a bunch of squares that fit the piece you just made. Glue one to the back...


... and trim around it. Don't worry about precision cuts, just get it in the ballpark.

Repeat until the part is as thick as it needs to be.

Rough cut with a Dremel
sanding
drum and X-Acto

Final finish with an emery board or sanding
stick.

Test fit often during sanding
.

An exhaust that falls off the car is no good, so you need clamps. Two layers of .040 makes the back of the clamp...

... and a wrap of 1/32 half-round makes the band. Clothespins are real good for holding parts while the glue sets up.

Now for the nuts & bolts. Roll some 1/8 hex rod under your knife to make a shallow cut all the way around.

I hope you can see the cut. Next, make some cuts from the end to reduce the diameter down to the line you just cut. Once you've gone all the way around, you'll have:

A nut with some "threads" sticking out. I suppose you could run a 00-90
die down there and really thread them if you wanted to, but since these parts are going to get rusted anyway, a rough cut is good enough.

Assembled clamp.

Now do it again. The elbow fits a 7/32 styrene
tube that goes down along the firewall, but we need to transition again to the rocker panel.

Same as before, build up enough layers to rough out the part, and fire up the Dremel
.

And now you've got this. I decided to make it one of those cheeseball flex pipes, but the camera battery died while I was documenting it. You can see in the final pic how it looks with some .005 strip wrapped around to simulate the flex pipe construction.

You don't want to get a ticket, so we need a muffler. End panels are .060 and the wrap is .010, just go around until it's together. You could sculpt the muffler using layers, too, but making it hollow makes for a lighter part that uses a lot less material.

Add more clamps, a cut-out pipe and a hanger, and now we've got a street-legal exhaust.



First, figure out where you want the pipe to go. In this case, it needs to make a 90 degree bend out of the turbo. Start by cutting a flat sheet to the shape you need. I used .060 styrene


Then cut a bunch of squares that fit the piece you just made. Glue one to the back...


... and trim around it. Don't worry about precision cuts, just get it in the ballpark.

Repeat until the part is as thick as it needs to be.

Rough cut with a Dremel



Final finish with an emery board or sanding


Test fit often during sanding


An exhaust that falls off the car is no good, so you need clamps. Two layers of .040 makes the back of the clamp...

... and a wrap of 1/32 half-round makes the band. Clothespins are real good for holding parts while the glue sets up.

Now for the nuts & bolts. Roll some 1/8 hex rod under your knife to make a shallow cut all the way around.

I hope you can see the cut. Next, make some cuts from the end to reduce the diameter down to the line you just cut. Once you've gone all the way around, you'll have:

A nut with some "threads" sticking out. I suppose you could run a 00-90


Assembled clamp.

Now do it again. The elbow fits a 7/32 styrene


Same as before, build up enough layers to rough out the part, and fire up the Dremel


And now you've got this. I decided to make it one of those cheeseball flex pipes, but the camera battery died while I was documenting it. You can see in the final pic how it looks with some .005 strip wrapped around to simulate the flex pipe construction.

You don't want to get a ticket, so we need a muffler. End panels are .060 and the wrap is .010, just go around until it's together. You could sculpt the muffler using layers, too, but making it hollow makes for a lighter part that uses a lot less material.

Add more clamps, a cut-out pipe and a hanger, and now we've got a street-legal exhaust.

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