Basic Brass.pdf

Basic Brass

Continuing our occasional series on techniques we take a

look at working with etched metal detail sets. Love them or

loathe them, these detail sets have revolutionised the

hobby and are guaranteed to drive even the most

proficient user insane.

Tool clasps

These little clasps consist of just 3 parts

but they encapsulate all the frustrations of

working with etched sets and they can

have you pulling your hair out - just when

you think you have them assembled they

explode into their component parts - one

of which will become lost. This step by

step sequence should help eliminate these

problems.

The first rules of working with etchings are

don’t expect to use every part on the fret -

some parts are just impossible to bend to

the required shapes and always check that

the part you are about to make could not

be made more quickly and easily from

plastic - it is easy to begin trying to fold

everything from flat sheet when it isn’t

always necessary.

Tools

Basic requirements for working with

etched sets are standard modelling tools.

A scalpel, tweezers, drill bits and wet and

dry sandpaper and good quality fine nosed

pliers. I was able to find a long nosed pair

which are good for bending longer parts.

For a more advanced approach you may

consider a holding tool to help with folding

parts and a soldering iron for a more

robust assembly.

1 Cut the parts from the fret on a firm

surface, scrap plastic card is good for this

as it prevents the parts from distorting. Cut

the ‘sprues’ as tight as possible and clean

any excess with wet and dry.

2-3 Hold the base plate with the pliers and

bend with your fingers.

Working techniques

4 Fold the handle into a ‘U’ shape and

locate the pins on the strap into the

handle. Once they have located, crimp the

handles together using the pliers so as to

hold the strap firmly.

correct sized hinge pin is inserted and the

roll is crimped around the pin for a snug fit.

We assembled a mudflap from the

awesome Aber 1:16th Tiger 1 set to

demonstrate a variety of techniques.

12-13 to fold longer edges can be difficult

with short pliers so a folding tool is used. A

cocktail stick is rolled under the part to

push the metal to the desired angle.

Alternatively a punch and die set can be

used to hold a part whilst folding.

9 The part is trimmed a cleaned up with

wet and dry.

5 Flip the strap back so it rests on the

handle and hook one of the arms of the

handle onto the pin on the base plate.

10 To roll the hinge along the top edge,

drill bits make a convenient former, coming

in consecutive sizes. The stepped edge of

the folding tool provides a handy support

to push against.

6 Hook the other arm onto the base plate.

14 The basic part after rolling and folding.

7 Crimp the handles together between the

two pins to secure the handle firmly.

15-17 90º bends in long thin parts are

best handled by a folding tool. The

Etchmate used here comes with a folding

blade which locates into a ‘V’ shaped slot

8 Flip over the strap and close the clasp.

11 Once the roll is roughly formed the

as you bend the part up.

22 Assembling hinges is a fiddly process, I

begin by cutting an oversized pin and this

is laid on top of the interleaved hinges.

26 To avoid the risk of solder running into

the hinge a small spot of solder is added

to the underside of the hinge and this is

put in position before being heated by the

Iron. When the solder melts the hinge

drops down to be flush with the surface of

the mudguard and the heat is removed.

18 You can glue parts together with

superglue but soldering provides a much

stronger join. Flux is brushed onto the joint

area

23 Bend up the fingers of the hinge so as

to hold the pin making sure that the two

parts of the hinge don’t move apart.

19 Low melt solder spreads easily along

the joint with the aid of the flux.

24 Bend the fingers flat and check the

alignment.

20 Any excess is cleaned away using a

file, wet and dry or by scraping with a

scalpel.

Rolling

25 Use tweezers to tuck the fingers under

the hinge pin and crimp them tight around

the pin using pliers.

27 This tricky procedure is made much

easier if the part is annealed by heating it

in a gas flame and allowing it to cool

21 The ribs are fitted in the same way

before repeating several times.

28 Once it has cooled, roll the part round a tube and repeat this

with tubes of decreasing size, making sure that you roll the part

smaller than the finished diameter to ensure a good join.

29 Open out the tube so that the edges can be joined - this part

which will be an S mine launcher, has a stepped lip to help the

jointing procedure

30 With the joint soldered together you find that the tube is still

far from circular so Roll the tube around a similar sized former - I

find a paintbrush handle with its gentle taper is ideal for this task,

until a perfect shape is obtained.

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