My first time - etched brass

First it is not acid, the most common etchant for cuprous alloys is

29.5% aqueaous ammonia, the second most common is ferric chloride. Secondly the parts are rinsed, neutralized then rinsed again specifically to remove all residual etchant to prevent future problems.

- Take a small bit of modeling clay or UHU-tack to something heavy that won't move, like your working table or cutting mat;

- assemble the parts on the bit of clay, WITHOUT any glue; if possible, place the parts so that the clay holds them in place without touching the glueing areas

- once you're satisfied with the relative position of the parts, use a tiny loop of fine wire to flow some extra-thin superglue in the joints between the etched parts. Capillarity will do the rest.

Don't despair, brass can be bent back into shape and superglue cleans quite easily, even from the tiny parts.

It takes some serious chemical action like the selenium dioxide brass black compounds to be "permanent".

Some really old Verlinden and original Eduard stuff did pit after a few years but I've only seen it happen in "back of the box stock" at warehouse level distributors.

I've never tried soldering etch, but there are some parts I could see where I'd like to do that. The flexability and working time issues are one of the reasons I use watch crystal cement over thick CA - I find it works best on larger flat surfaced joins, and can also be built up into a small amount of structural support while offering a longer working time.

I could see where soldering might be easier, though.

I know a lot of the Verlinden stuff I've seen recently is copper, vice brass...I could see that stuff having a "shelf life". Fortunately I've never gotten hold of one of those old-dogs.

I started soldering on armor kits, some things like complex racks, skirt hangers, muffler shields and the joint for MG cooling jackets.

I tend to solder cranes and such on ships along with the hand turned brass masts & yards. But then I used to solder microcircuits for a living so to me it's second nature.

I've never seen anything but copper from Verlinden.

So far I've only tried to use etch on one armor subject - a DML SA-9 Gaskin, and that was a bit of an afterthought. I get the impression that using etch on armor takes a bit more planning than using it on an aircraft kit. More structure, and detail in general. I'm looking forward to trying something more complex with more parts...like that fine Trumpeter loco...

Got the Eduard set and a 1/72 Revell U-boat in waiting. That'll be my first try with a ship. Already planning to replace the plastic railing with ones constructed from brass rod.

I used to do some silver soldering back in my jewelry making days in high school, but that's pretty coarse compared to your line of work.

I don't use much Verlinden stuff anymore as Eduard augments most of the aircraft kits I have quite nicely, and I don't use much resin of late other than replacement ejection seats. Though I want to grab that new

1/32 P-38F/G/H conversion from Cutting edge...bad...

FWIW The one area where I found annealing to be of help is when rolling machine gun jackets for those World War I Vickers and Maxim machine guns.

Bill Shuey

"William H. Shuey" wrote in news:44D6AAB0.CA8ABCD3 @starpower.net:

Yes that too,

And also (seat)belts, straps, engine hoods, body panels, engine wiring, fenders (especially (battle) damaged), etc., etc.

But as I have said before, it's all up to you.

Cheers,

Dennis

Try my how to CD, "Working With Photo Etched Parts". It has lots of full color photos and answers just about every question you can think of concerning photo etched parts. Check it out at: flagshipmodels.com

Rusty White Flagship Models Inc. flagshipmodels.com

Maciek wrote: