665@213 Posted March 1, 2016 Posted March 1, 2016 I was wondering what is available out there to make a realistic appearing engine harness. Any thoughts or ideas? I'm doing a 69 F100 with a new Coyote 5 liter and want to liven it up a bit.
Dann Tier Posted March 1, 2016 Posted March 1, 2016 Ive seen lots of Different ways. After looking at your picture, maybe wrap the wires in plumbers tape and paint the appropriate color. If you wanna be REALLY detailed, first wrap the wires in SUPER fine wire and then the plumbers tape. Havent tried it yet, but it might work great! Just an idea.
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 1, 2016 Posted March 1, 2016 I've fiddled with this experimentally, and though I rarely do late-model cars that need this type of harness, I've found a trick that works well. Get some REALLY fine wire, twist it into a harness with stubs coming out in logical locations that fit your engine or engine bay, and then dip the whole mess in something like this. Let the excess drip off, and you can produce quite realistic looking results.
dieseldawg142 Posted March 1, 2016 Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) ...... Edited May 10, 2018 by dieseldawg142
Jantrix Posted March 1, 2016 Posted March 1, 2016 I was wondering what is available out there to make a realistic appearing engine harness. Any thoughts or ideas? I'm doing a 69 F100 with a new Coyote 5 liter and want to liven it up a bit.What kit are you sourcing the engine from?
astroracer Posted March 1, 2016 Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) Head to the sports department at Meijers or walmart. Look at the fishing line. Braided fishing line for leaders and fly fishing offer some good looks for replicating a wiring harness. Small pieces of plastic, cut in the right shapes can replicate the connectors.Mark Edited March 1, 2016 by astroracer
MGL Posted March 1, 2016 Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) Steel guitar string (string made out of steel as opposed to plastic, not steel guitar) looks like it would work. The E, D, G, and A strings are usually wound with another wire and when painted should look just like the convoluted plastic wrapped around the harness pictured. If you don't have any guitar player friends or family check any music shop that services guitars, I'm sure they would be willing to let you have it. Do a Google image search for guitar strings and you will see what I mean. Edited March 1, 2016 by MGL
landman Posted March 1, 2016 Posted March 1, 2016 take a bunch of different size wire, strategically wind it up.... now drop on motor & you've wired up a modern engine! always a wise acre in the bunch....
Exotics_Builder Posted March 1, 2016 Posted March 1, 2016 I used guitar string, wire and plastic tube to get the Ferrari harness. Most of it is hidden by the intake system, so I didn't have to do a lot.
665@213 Posted March 2, 2016 Author Posted March 2, 2016 What kit are you sourcing the engine from? Hey Rob. I got the engine from the Revell Boss 302 kit.
665@213 Posted March 2, 2016 Author Posted March 2, 2016 I used guitar string, wire and plastic tube to get the Ferrari harness. Most of it is hidden by the intake system, so I didn't have to do a lot. I never thought about guitar string! It does have that texture like the plastic loom on a harness.
665@213 Posted March 2, 2016 Author Posted March 2, 2016 take a bunch of different size wire, strategically wind it up.... now drop on motor & you've wired up a modern engine! always a wise acre in the bunch.... LOL that's perfect!
EL LOCO Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 mmmmmmm guitar string, never thought of that.Cheers
Exotics_Builder Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 mmmmmmm guitar string, never thought of that.CheersKeep in mind it is not as pliable as wire and needs to be cut with a hardier cutter (I use a Xuron tool). Another option where more exposed would be to get wires bundled, cover with heat shrink tube and then wrap with fine wire. This would allow you to have multiple breaks for wires to come out. I will be trying that on another model later this year.
Dann Tier Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 (edited) I used guitar string, wire and plastic tube to get the Feheat shrink tube sounds like a nice thing to try! Edited March 2, 2016 by Dann Tier
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 Heat-shrink tube is going to be WAY oversize for a 1/25 scale harness, and it's not really all that flexible, either.But do what you want.
Exotics_Builder Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 Heat-shrink tube is going to be WAY oversize for a 1/25 scale harness, and it's not really all that flexible, either.But do what you want.You can get heat shrink tube down to 1mm diameter which would be less than 1 inch in 1:25 scale, before shrinking down with heat. Anyway, it will be interesting to try.
Exotics_Builder Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 I've fiddled with this experimentally, and though I rarely do late-model cars that need this type of harness, I've found a trick that works well. Get some REALLY fine wire, twist it into a harness with stubs coming out in logical locations that fit your engine or engine bay, and then dip the whole mess in something like this. Let the excess drip off, and you can produce quite realistic looking results. This is certainly another option to try. Since I have some in the basement, I may give that a try before the heat shrink tube (which I also have). It will be for an LS3 engine, and the shrouds will be custom, so there is likely to be more visible.
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 You can get heat shrink tube down to 1mm diameter which would be less than 1 inch in 1:25 scale, before shrinking down with heat. Anyway, it will be interesting to try. I was thinking more in terms of the wall-thickness of the material, but at 1mm diameter, it should be pretty thin. I'll be interested to see your results. Heat-shrink works well for a variety of other tasks in modeling, so it may very well be a good option in this application, depending on the desired effect and scale.
Exotics_Builder Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 I was thinking more in terms of the wall-thickness of the material, but at 1mm diameter, it should be pretty thin. I'll be interested to see your results. Heat-shrink works well for a variety of other tasks in modeling, so it may very well be a good option in this application, depending on the desired effect and scale. I am going to try that and the technique you referenced with the plastic coating. I had thought about that earlier, but felt it would be out of scale. It's worth an experiment as I favor a lot of modern cars/engines.
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 I agree the plastic dip-coating material could also be out of scale initially, but as it's a single-component product and dries by evaporation, it should be possible to thin it to get the desired film-thickness remaining after the excess drips off. Probably take some fine-tuning to hit it just right, but once the reduction ratio is dialed in and recorded, it should be repeatable. I can see how both the shrink and the dip methods could possibly produce very realistic harnesses.
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