fmwsteve

Hi Chuck, I know it sounds daft but why not use a 6" steel ruler most of them measure to half a mil so you can easily work out a small percentage this way and it's easy to clean the paint of with a little thinners. regards Steve.

Hi Chuck, The other thing you could do is buy yourself a pair Xurcon Track cutters, these are specially ground so when you cut your wire it leaves a squire face on your wire and they are suitable for any non-ferrous metals up to 1.5mm O/D. You can even use them on thicker sprues. Regards FMW Steve.

Hi folks, Not sure if I should be putting this here or not as I'm new to this forum usage my apologies if I'm in the wrong. As a modeller I've always loved the spraying part of modelling, I think that if you have a good quality airbrush, good paint and the right air pressures you can achieve great finishes on your model's under this you need a good and stable primer and there are some good one's out there but most are solvent based which here in the UK. or wonderful post office won't let us send in the post anymore (a real pain) so I've been working on a primer that has green credentials and come up with Master prime we are doing it in two variations, Master Prime and Master Prime Air. The Master Prime Air comes ready to airbrush straight from the bottle and the Master Prime you thin yourself hold it folks you thin it with distilled water yep it's a water based primer so it dries real quick but if you use it neat from the pot it fill act as a filler the same way Mr Surfacer does and depending on how much you thin it can be a primer filler when it's dry you can happily flat it back to hide joint gaps or unwanted panel lines, and it dries to a lovely fat finish which you can put your top coat paint on to whether it's acrylic, enamels, 2 pack or even cellulose it won't affect it. If any members of the forum are interested if you get in touch and want to try it we will give you a 10% discount as a member, please let me know if you have any questions. Our site is www.finescalemodelworld.co.uk Signing of for now Steve. ( By the way think the forum is great.)

Hi all, hi Dave With reference to your question about soldering brass to brass, I take it were talking brass wire or fine etch sheet. If this is the case that's the easy bit. The secret of any soldering is 'cleanliness is next to godliness' make sure your metal is clean this will ensure your solder joint is nice and strong when it's done. First if you have a temperature controlled soldering iron it makes life easier because you can use it for most types of metal that we use for modelling, if not don't worry an ordinary soldering iron will do I would recommend a 40 or 50 watt iron this should cover you for most eventuality's. Next you need a flux you'll get this from most DIY sheds or a plumbers merchant, then solder, there are various temperatures of solder your better of with the electrical solder the most common is 288 degree, but you can get 245 and 188 degree as well. The 288 is fine if you can get some 245 it makes things a little easier but it's not vital. Right all you need to do now is make sure your iron is up to temperature, put your brass you want to solder together put a little of your flux onto the joint get your soldering iron wipe the tip on a damp sponge and put a little solder on the tip you don't need much then put the tip to the join and you will see the solder flow through the joint, as soon as this happens take the heat away and let the joint cool and set wipe the joint while it's still warm to remove any residue flux and there you are your soldered joint. By the way the reason for a 40 or 50 watt iron is the quicker you get the heat in the join the less heat dissipation you get through your brass and end up with a nice strong joint. Honest it's not rocket science and is easy to do. Hope this helps you. If you need anymore help feel free to come back to me. All the best from Steve in the heart of the UK.

Hi Rick, My name is Steve Naylor just joined the forum and noticed hat you need help with some soldering, this is one field I've had a lot of experience with. The best way of joining brass to white metal with solder is as follows, firstly use a suitable flux and tin the brass with any electrical type solder. Now to join the white metal to it you will need to have a low temperature soldering iron or better still a temperature controlled iron (it's worth getting one if you haven't already as you can use it for brass and whitemetal ) You then need some low melt solder and your iron set at between 175 degrees and 200 degrees put a little flux on both parts put a little lowmelt solder on the tip of your iron and you will see it flow together. This way you end up with a very strong joint the want come apart. If you use ordinary solder on white metal you may find your whitemetal melts in front of your eyes as whitemetal melts at 200 degrees and your normal electrical solder melts at 288 degrees. I know this sounds complex but it's not honest. Have a play with something else before you commit, but it is quite easy really, if you have difficulty getting low melt solder try your local model railway shop they youse lowmelt all the time. If I can help in anyway please come back to me and I'll help as much as I can. Regards Steve.