Moulded Flame Tank

Got cracking on a moulded tank yesterday, thought I would share it with you. The deal is to use a new wassell style tank and have moulded flames on it. Normally it would use car body filler, but my intention is to either chrome or nickel plate, so I'll be using lead to fill it.

First step was the flames. I must have drawn them on over 20 times, then cleaned the sharpie off (with the wifeys nail polish remover). This is the design I stuck with...



Next up I roughly engraved the design into the tank and cleaned off all the pen.

I bought 4mm steel rod and tacked it on the tank. Tacking and bending as I went...







Once it was all laid out I cleaned back some if the welds that would show (most welds were done on the filling side). Then I filled inside with lead ..



I only had enough lead for one side, and it looked a right mess. Sometimes you need things to look a mess before they look good.

With some filing and sanding it was starting to look like I wanted. Still some low spots, and extra filling to do, but for the first try, I'm more than happy.







I'll update when I crack on and get it done...