The Ship Model Forum

In 1/48 and 1/96 scale scratchbuilds a typical bulkhead firehose and rack can be detailed more than just a molded or PE part. Has anyone made a 1/96 firehose? I have tried drafting tape 0f 10 inches (100ft hose) by .04 wide and folding it back and forth and draping it over the bracket, it looks good but wow it's difficult. I have to make at least 10 sets. Any hints out there, I'm thinking about trying .005 brass strip and even tried paper.

You could try plastic. Bend it and then heat it to lay flat and tight. Be careful you don't melt it though.

Try fine solder.

When I was building my USS Zellars, I made my fire hoses from .04 -.06 round styrene. I have some photos showing my development. My hoses were coiled up not placed over a rack. As I coilded them I used super glue to keep them together. I placed them on the superstructure. Hopefully this may give you some ideas.

HI ; There is a crafting material that folks weave into things.It has a very small oval cross-section.It is plastic covered.I don,t remember what it is called , but, you can use that OR you can use the tiny cotton shoelaces for babyshoes. I have used the first stuff more than the shoelaces because it doesn,t soak up so much of the paint and it doesn,t get fuzzy!Also you can take an X-ACTO knife and hollow the end out to insert the nozzle! commodore4

That hobby stuff is called gymp or gimp.
It comes in all sorts of colors

This "gymp or gimp" as it is called is very usefull. I have seen it in very small sizes.As a matter of fact when I started a correction and superdetail on LINDBERG,S yes,LINDBERG,S ! "BLUE DEVIL" I used a very small version of it for the firehoses.I have used this stuff since on ships of many larger scales. Now , what can I use to replace the ones I shaved off the REVELL BUCKLEY ??? she is 1/240 scale! commodore4