3D printed, 1/35 corrugator

[Frank3k]

I wanted to make some 1/35 scale corrugated roof panels (8 feet/2.4m long) so I found the cross section of a standard panel, traced and scaled it so the period of the "waves" were correct for 1/35 then made it 2.74"/69.67mm long. I printed the results today in PLA and it worked well enough for my purposes.

The two panels. The top half aligns the bottom half. It's in bright orange PLA, because that was the free filament that came with the printer and I still haven't used it up:



Two halves together. I had to mark the correct edge, otherwise the corrugations could be 90 degrees out of phase :



Here's an end view. The curves do line up - the two parts are slightly separated here:



And the results:



The top one was made with with thicker aluminum crafting foil. I don't have a vise, so I had to step on it to get the two halves to meet. The lower one is with kitchen aluminum foil, which was easy to corrugate. I also experimented with running a mechanical pencil over the craft aluminum foil to push it into the corrugations, then squeezed the top half. That worked as well.


I used PLA instead of ABS because I felt PLA would stand up to pressure without deforming.

The panels can be trimmed to size and painted. Not bad for 90 minutes worth of work (about 20 minutes looking up corrugated panels and designing it and an hour to print, plus a few minutes to test.) The kitchen aluminum foil version looks a little deformed because my cat Felix decided to play with it.

[Old Wombat]

Cool!

Any idea how it would go with coffee tin foil?

[ChernayaAkula]

Neat! 

[Frank3k]

Guy, the regular kitchen aluminum foil I used is 0.02mm - 0.03mm thick and the craft aluminum foil is about 0.12mm thick. I think coffee tin foil is between those two.

[apophenia]

Oh, that is very cool!

...The kitchen aluminum foil version looks a little deformed because my cat Felix decided to play with it.

And, thus, a new weathering technique is born 

[Old Wombat]

Guy, the regular kitchen aluminum foil I used is 0.02mm - 0.03mm thick and the craft aluminum foil is about 0.12mm thick. I think coffee tin foil is between those two.

Thanks, Frank!

I may have to order one of those from you at some stage.

[Frank3k]

If you (or anyone else) wants the .stl file, let me know. It's cheaper having it printed locally than mailing it from the US.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Genius!  Definitely something that is long overdue for the modeling community. 

[Story]

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh.

What happens if you do it in 1/72nd?

[Frank3k]

It should work in 1/72. I'll try it and if not good enough, I'll print it in resin.

[Frank3k]

New batch of corrugators, with denser infill, so they're heavier and tougher. 1/35 and 1/72:



The 1/72 is OK. Using a pencil (and fingernail) on the craft aluminum and on only the lower L shaped corrugator section, I got a pretty good approximation. I used the top corrugator to refine the shape and got this:




Jeff asked me to make some in 1/48 scale. I'll try that this week.

[kitnut617]

I have just twigged at what you have made, it's a tool to make scaled corrugated sheet out of foil ------ 

Have you tried 'Q-Decking', used in most building construction either as a stand alone roof, or as a permanent form for concrete floors. Could also be used to make Sea-Cans

[Frank3k]

Q-Decking is next; it was my original plan since I wanted to replicate the pattern on the side of 40' containers, since it's similar (if not identical) and got sidetracked.

[kitnut617]

The channels are wider than the corrugations you've done   

With a few tiny holes drilled into the bottom of a corrugation, your tool could become a vacuform form ---- 

[Frank3k]

I went down the rabbit hole looking for the right dimensions, said screw it and went for the corrugated material which was harder to print but easier to find dimensions for.

[kitnut617]

I have a 20' Sea-Can in my yard, I've been playing with the idea of making a scale replica of it ---- I could measure it up   

Mind you, you can get Sea-Cans off Shapeways ---- called shipping containers if you go looking. They're a bit expensive though ---

[Frank3k]

Trumpeter makes very expensive (for what they are) 1/35 shipping containers. I thought I could make a former for the sidewalls.

The vacuform idea may work, too.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Trumpeter makes very expensive (for what they are) 1/35 shipping containers. I thought I could make a former for the sidewalls.

The vacuform idea may work, too.

Same issue with the Italeri container kits in 1/35th and 1/25th scale

[Frank3k]

I added a 1/48 scale corrugator as well as a 1/35 "pusher" - a small section of corrugation - that helps  thicker aluminum into the grooves.

1/35 Pusher, corrugator, 1/48 corrugator, 1/72 corrugator:

[apophenia]

This is turning into a complete product line 

[Frank3k]

This is turning into a complete product line 

I know. I only needed a few sheets of 1/35 corrugated metal when I started. this project...