To make a fuel drum, start with, well, a fuel drum. Here is a Tamiya 1/35 scale fuel drum that I’ll use as a pattern. For the metal sides, I find GreenStuff World tin/pewter metal foil works well. Begin by cutting a strip of the metal foil to the height of the drum.

Wrap the foil strip around the drum and, with both hands, press the foil firmly onto the drum’s sides to imprint the ridge pattern into the foil.

To make the drum’s top and bottom, use discs cut or punched from styrene sheet that you can detail yourself or parts you may have in your spares box, as seen here.

Wrap the foil around one of the drum ends and mark the overlap with hobby knife. Then cut the foil to length using a metal ruler. If the details have gone a little soft, wrap the foil around your original form to sharpen them.

With the shapes reestablished the foil, wrap the foil around the barrel ends and superglue them in place. A Glue Looper can be useful to help flow superglue cleanly into the seam.

With the ends in place, flow superglue along the seam of the wall and carefully press it together. The foil bends easily, so even light pressure will close the seam.

Trim any excess metal around the top and bottom with a hobby knife and sand them smooth with a fine-grit sanding stick. And voila! You have a barrel. But why?

The foil walls are thinner than the walls of a plastic or resin barrel (which might be solid). The barrel made from metal foil allows you to create realistic damage.

You can improve details with a bit more modeling and metal foil. For example, add bands for a World War II German fuel drum. The bands are thin strips of foil attached with thick superglue to fill the seams along the edges.

Using a fine sanding stick, sand the seams where the bands meet and smooth out the raised areas from cutting the foil. Any scratches caused by sanding just add to the beat-up effect. Prime and paint!

Fuel drums are a staple diorama accessory. There are many plastic and resin offerings for fuel drums, but there comes a time when making them yourself works best. By making your own, you can more easily model damaged and crushed fuel drums, or even convert them to other purposes, like a makeshift stove.