I have heard of this in backissues of MR. I have some friends in my area that have used this technique, and it looks great (sorry, i don't have any pics). Usually, depending on the company, he will stack 2-3 high.
Here is a "real" tank car as a storage tank.
The Naval Air Station fuel dump has tanks made from various scrap cylinders. The WWII vintage concrete water tower has a 35mm film canistrer as its elevated tank.
I can't see this pix until it is uploaded, but I think this bulk oil dealer has one tank made from the dissicant air drayer than came in a prescription bottle of pills.
I just got the new Walthers flyer last night. They have them on sale, at least they call them "Industrial Storage Tanks." Is this what you're interested in?
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3514
If you're scratchbuilding the tanks, consider using plastic sprue from other kits as piping. Another option is plastic coffee stirrers, but the sprue usually has branches and 90 degree bends you can make use of.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
16' would be 2.2" in HO, Mr B's 2" PVC would be very close. I've heard of folks putting a rounded form (panty hose egg or something similar) over the end and using resin to form the end, could probably use plaster or something similar to form the rounded ends.
Have fun,
Hi: This is an old AHM tank car, cut in half. It measures 9ft dia. x 16ft. high.
Thick Wall Cardboard Tube......wrapped & painted.
Sorry I didn't specify. I meant the stainless steel, 16 ft., upright tanks. Not the gass storage tanks. I guess that's an important detail.
Peace
The shipping tubes you get at the post office for mailing documents. They're thick enough to handle abuse, thin enough to be cut, heavy enough to be dropped and unharmed, and light enough to be handled with ease. Some paint or if you wanna get real fancy I imagine you could wrap it in tinfoil. Good luck not creasing it, but this is just an idea. I guess it would be more for a shinny new metal roof on the tanks though than the tanks themselves.
From my experience of over forty years in heavy industry industrial tanks can have any width and any height based on the footprint available. They are also kept minimally sized today due to the environmental considerations. All need a 24 hour containment dam or wall so a clean up can be made before spreading of the spill occurs. I have seen tanks 30" in diameter and forty feet high through hundreds of feet in diameter. Any tank new since about 1955 will be welded and have a roof that comes to a point in the center to allow water to run off. The slope isn't much. Only about 1/4" per four feet is adequate. Any cyilnder can make a tank. If the end has too big a rolled flange I would cut it off and form an end from plaster.
I personally have the Walthers Interstate Fuel Company kit, which comes with a bunch of tanks, plus some platforms and piping. If I were going to make my own, though, I would use sections of PVC pipe.
This is the white plastic piping used for plumbing under your sink at home. It's available in a variety of diameters, and it's easy to cut and work with. You can turn a thin piece on its side for a horizontal tank, or use a thick piece on end for a big storage tank. It's white and takes paint well.
Hi,
The tape spools would probably work, but I would recommend you go to the grocery and walk the aisles looking for suitable cans (juice & condiments esp.). With some sprue "piping", you could end up with something pretty nice - and something to eat as well.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Is there anyone out there with a way to build cheap storage tanks? I heard that stacking two empty tape spools on top of eachother works good, but has anybody had success with it? Sound off