Pen springs for suspension?

[brodie_83]

I was at the dollar store today looking for cheap things to use as modeling parts and thought of the springs inside ink pens. Has anyone used them for realistic suspension springs? If so, post up your work please. I bought 2 packs with 8 pens in them, so I have 16 "coil springs" waiting to be used.

[Howard Cohen]

Pen springs was a tip in Car Model Magazine back in the 1960s. Different pens have different size springs, so you have a choice. 

[Dave G.]

I made working suspension a passion in the 60's, used pen springs for coils in my 49 Ford builds and cut up pieces of tape measure for leaf springs, cut peaces of flat styrene for shackles. But that was then and this is now, sorry no photos exist.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Dave G.

[peteski]

I wouldn't  use them. The springs use unrealistically thin wire.  If you look at the 1:1 springs the spring are wound using "meatier" wire/rod.  If the are not supposed to be functional (just for show) I would wind them by tightly wrapping some scale thickness copper wire around appropriately-sized brass tube mandrel. Then just slip the "spring" off the mandrel, stretch it until the coils look like the 1:1 spring, and trim it to size.  It will look much better than a skinny-wire pen spring.

[vintageford]

I do the same as peteski....

[Ace-Garageguy]

Pen springs can be given a much more realistic appearance by simply dipping them in one of the commercially-available products like this:  https://plastidip.com/our-products/liquid-tape/

[SfanGoch]

I used pen springs for the scratched rear shocks on an "H" Series Revell '55 Belair, the one with opening doors, hood and trunk. I fabricated functional leaf springs and shocks (each one composed of six parts), in addition to accurizing and detailing the chassis. I slipped the springs over the shock shaft and the shock is mounted to the spring plate  while the spring is held in place when the shaft end is placed in a hole drilled into the sheet brass upper mounts on the chassis.

The front springs were made from a heavy-duty spring I scavenged from a junk RC vehicle. You can barely see it; but, it is the proper scale thickness and diameter. I used the same kind of spring to detail the scratchbuilt front suspension I made for a Johan '64 Caddy DeVille.

There are some cheap, Chinese-made hand tools that sell for a buck or so apiece at your local 99 cent store which have similar springs.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

^^^ Nice. Very nice.

[peteski]

That looks good Joe!  And the thinner pen springs look good as helper springs in the rear. But in the front you correctly installed thicker springs.