I saw Altoona Model Works mentioned in email advertisement. If I was inclined to buy one, I would choose their laser cut wood over the Walthers kit,
http://altoonamodelworks.us/Cart/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=213
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
forgot to add this to first post https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/tabid/91/c/ho_structure-parts/p/8209/Default.aspx grandt line had some that were different if you can still find them , they were for round rod while tichies are for flat bands.
Thanks for the ideas. I especially like Waynes' use of the left over slice of pie. I have some small PVC pipe lying around and some scribed styrene. I didn't know about the wathers kit, but that will give me an idea about building the base.
Hello all,
Well, that's a very open ended question!
For the slat-sided tanks you pictured cardboard tubes with thin strips of wood attached would replicate the look.
I would suggest wooden coffee stir sticks.
Rather than pocketing all of the ones at your local coffee stop you can pickup a box of 1,000 on Amazon for less than $10.00.
These are 3/16-inch wide, 1/16-inch thick and are available in 5-1/2-inch and 7-inch lengths from birch.
The banding can be any thin wire and the turnbuckles small pieces of styrene rod or tube.
The roofs can be made of cardboard or thin styrene circles with notches cut out to create a funnel shape.
Or...
PVC piping with the lines scribed or cut to replicate the slat-sides.
The banding could also be thick thread and again using small pieces of styrene rod or tube for the turnbuckles.
For a slightly rounded roof metal plastic or metal hole plugs can be used. These are available a most hardware or home improvement stores.
For a dome roof PVC Caps can be used. Again, available at hardware or home improvement stores.
If your are looking at a more modern type of water tank you can use the flared end of PVC pipe and a PVC Cap; with the same outer diameter, to create a dome type tank. Then cut the lower portion to your desired length (height of the tower).
Then...
The supporting structure for the wooden tanks could be as simple as using plastic trestles available on eBay or scratch build your own bents.
The platforms for the tanks can be built from the wooden stir stick mentioned above.
Ladders can be sourced from several manufacturers like Central Valley Model Works.
Then styrene rod or piping can provide the necessary plumbing. Sprues have also been used to replicate piping.
I use the PVC pipe; straight or flared, and hole plugs or PVC caps to scratch build my tanks for anything from tanker cars to storage tanks.
My wife is a veterinary technician and brings home assorted cardboard tubes from everything from vet wrap to surgical tape. These are sturdier than paper towel or toilet tissue rolls.
Let us know how the build progresses.
Hope this helps.
Post Script:Plastic valve covers, like those on automobile tires, can be used a domes or release valves on the top of tanks.
H.T.H.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Kalmbach has or had a book about urban scenery that had some examples of different roof water tanks and how to build them
the link below is not for a small tank but will give you an idea about construction . http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/ks0207/ you would have to compress it for a rooftop one.
The late, great kitbasher Art Curren would use N scale railroad water tanks for his HO rooftop water tanks. The old Revell HO water tank was quite small as prototypes go and suitable for a very large HO rooftop tank. You'd use the tank itself not the "stand" or at least not all of it.
Dave Nelson
Walthers makes a kit that is almost identicle to those you have pictured. Also makes a good starting point for other versions
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
For the kind of board Barrel sides of the water tank. I would aluminum duct tape the back of laser cut lined balsa wood and dampen the front of slightly so it doesn't get through to the tape too much. Then form it around a cylinder that can stay inside permanently.
Then I would band the right gauge of wires around the circumference. At that point one could use some Thin styrene to form the cone on top.......When you get the right cone shape put some kind of ring around the bottom Edge to trace the outline where to cut it.
Where the styrene seems together put one of your spoke uprights there to hide it and evenly spaced around the rest of the cone.
I suppose one could build the supports Below out of styrene or just use some out of a bridge kit.
I guess that's how I would do it ......PS I meant Henry............ I was posting the same time Wayne was I guess he beat me to it, kind of said similar things
This large-ish storage tank...
...and this large railroad water tower in the distance...
...and this roof-top water tower...
...are all built around heavy cardboard tubes which formerly held paper for office printers of various types. Mine are all covered in thin sheet styrene, with rivet detail added using the pointy bits on a set of dividers. For wooden tanks, I'd use Evergreen scribed siding, but you could use stripwood, too.
For the support legs, I'd use Evergreen styrene shapes (angles, H-columns, I-beams, etc.) along with some wire bracing.The roof could be easily made from .010" sheet styrene: use a compass to draw an appropriately-sized circle, and after cutting it out, cut a pie-shaped piece from it...the bigger the piece removed, the steeper the roof will be.Don't throw away the piece, though. Instead, cut some material from the arc on its wide end, then cement the remaining piece on the underside of the remaining "pie", with the pointy end near the pointy opening, and a bit of one edge of the rest protruding into the open space. When you flex the "pie" to create the cone-shape roof, this will provide a gluing surface to create the roof. If you can, when installling the roof, place this seam on a side where it won't be too visible when on the layout.
Wayne
Those look a lot like the atlas water tower kit. You could pick some up for cheap on ebay and then paint them.
I'm beginning to realize that Windows 10 and sound decoders have a lot in common. There are so many things you have to change in order to get them to work the way you want.
Memories of my youth. Any thougths on how to build these?
https://flic.kr/p/dD5iM
https://streeteasy.com/blog/nyc-water-tanks/