begining in etched Brass

Read books. I think Iain Rice has written one on the subject. No doubt many others.

Basic tips:

1) Brass sheet comes in lots of grades. Some is hard, some is soft. The hard stuff bends easily but holds its shape, the soft has a habit of distorting. Unfortunately, soft is easier to etch, so some makers use brass which is a bit too soft. 2) Nickel silver is easier to work than brass. If you have a choice, work in nickel. 3) Cleanliness. Always clean the metal before soldering. Every time. Seconds before soldering. Best cleaner is a fine abrasive, eg. Garryflex block or a nail polishing stick (from Boots or Supermarket, model suppliers charge silly prices for them). Fibre glass pencils are the last-resort abrasive because of the horrid splinters they leave around, though you will probably end up at the last resort. 4) Flux. Get the right flux for the job. You'll probably have to experiment to find which make works best for you. 5) Solder. Experiment until you find the type which works for you. Note that some solders tend to be very thin - ideal for sheet joining. Whereas others are thicker, and can be used to bridge gaps. 6) Keep the iron clean. 7) Get a big enough iron for the job - the trick is to be able to keep putting heat into the job effectively. Too small an iron runs out of puff and goes cold if the job is large. Probably worth going for temperature control if you can afford it. For basic cheap irons, I use an 18W Antex for most 2mm scale work, and would probably pick a 25W for most 4mm scale. 8) Sort out work-holding to keep things in place. See articles on the 2mm website (sig below) for clamping system made from kebab skewers and clothes pegs which works much better than expensive commercial clamping systems. 9) Think before you bend anything. Then think again.

- Nigel

I don't know about web resources, but Iain Rice's book "Etched Loco Construction" published by Wild Swan is a MUST HAVE, especially for the beginner. His style of writing makes the whole thing seem easy.

PS - not THAT Craig Douglas????

Where might one find Wild Swan books on the yankee side of the pond?

-dave

"Dave Curtis"

It's the "Canuck side of the pond", after all, we're the largest, and best part of North America. :-)

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

Dave Curtis offered me a plate of cheese and whispered:

Couldn't say. However, if you are willing to pay for postage from the right hand side of the pond, Mainly Trains stock the full range of Wild Swan publications.

In message , Dave Curtis writes

You could always order them by post from the UK.

I don't know of any stockists over there, but Mainly Trains at

do international mail order - their service is excellent. Wild Swan are still struggling with the invention of the telephone, so your best bet is someone like Mainly Trains. You won't pay any more for the book than direct from Wild Swan.

Regards

In the US, I have had good luck in getting Wild Swan Books from Dick Gilman of International Hobbies in northern California. I can't remember if he has a website, but here is his snail mail and phone contact:

International Hobbies

10566 Combie Rd. Suite 6327 Auburn, CA 95602

Phone: 530-268-8715 Fax: 530-268-3847

Hope this helps.

V/R,

Mike

Dave Curtis wrote:

Ha! OK, I'm a generous person. I'll admit that the pond is big enough that the two of us can share it. In fact, I get a lot of my British outline by mail order from a Canadian dealer -- whenever you need someone to translate between American English and British English, find a Canadian, I always say.

I lived in Minneapolis for over a dozen years -- from that perspective, Canadians are "those guys that also like to play hockey, even though they mostly live South of us." I live in Cal now, but happily still within a 10 minute drive of year-round indoor ice.

Back on topic: Thanks for the mail order pointer to Mainly Trains. Postage ads a fair bit to the price, though :-(

-dave

Thanks all,

I'm amazed you've all recommeded the same book! - surely s first! I'll get a copy.........

I think I'm going to have to get a few white metal kits under my belt first.

I didn't think it was going to be easy, but it now seems more difficult than I first thought!

Craig

PS Afraid not! though neither of us can sing.......

Excellent! Just what I needed.

-dave

Amazon stock (at least some of) them in the UK so maybe the US amazon site has them too.

MBQ

"Craig Douglas" wrote

Ah - in that case you'll want Iain Rice's "Whitemetal Locos" from the same publisher!

The hardest part is getting the confidence to start. Just do it! Perhaps now is a good time to mention that a lot of people have been put off etched-brass kits because they've bought a poorly designed kit and blamed themselves, rather than the kit designer, when they can't build it. Your first kit should be from a good designer so that you can get experience before tackling the poorer kits. High Level Kits, Brassmasters, Malcolm Mitchell, Martin Finney, Alan Gibson are good names that come to mind, although I'm sure there are others. Personally, I find etched-brass much easier to build than whitemetal....

Craig Douglas offered me a plate of cheese and whispered:

Have you considered building some etched brass wagon kits before trying an engine kit? The 5522 Models LMS/LNER goods van is expressly designed for beginners to etched construction.

You could also build one of the Comet tender kits, rather than a complete engine kit. If you have a Hornby 8F, you could build a Fowler tender from a Comet kit. This would be a relatively cheap introduction. Once you start building the actual engines, consider building a chassis only for your first attempt. Bodies for the Hornby 4F are quite readily available and once you've finished the engine, you can pair it up with the Fowler tender that you've already built! :-)

A little planning like this will ensure that you only take small steps into etched brass construction, rather than choosing a big, complex, expensive kit that demands a very steep learning curve. Such a kit is unlikely to get finished and will probably put you off kit building for life. When you *do* start on complete kits, try a couple with inside valve gear first. Producing a full set of Walschaert's gear from an etched kit isn't actually difficult (providing it is a decent kit) but it can be very daunting. Best to get some experience under your belt first.

Good luck! With a bit of luck, you'll be scratchbuilding in brass inside of six months! :-)

Err.. no. Etched construction is not an "upgrade" from whitemetal. There isn't much similarity in the assembly skills for each material.

The problem with etched being thought to be "hard" is two fold. Firstly people fear soldering (and are often not shown the way to make it easy) and secondly there are a lot of really dreadful kits around which don't go together properly.

Well designed kits are a delight to put together. Things locate first time positively. Complex assemblies just fold together then lock with one touch of the iron. There are integral parts to ensure everything is square. There are jigs designed to hold parts whilst assembled, which are then removed when its all soldered up.

I'd rather build from etches than any other kit material I've tried.

I can't recommend any 4mm kits because I assemble so few items in that scale (though I know by reputation where I'd start looking), but I could say where to find easy to assemble models in 2mm scale.

I doubt its that hard really. Just be patient. Take advice on what's a good kit and what is poor design. Avoid the poor designs, they are a real trial to turn into decent models. Start with something simple to build skills with soldering - typically wagons or bogies, maybe a tender. Then tackle more complex models.

- Nigel