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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

What is on your bench right now ? Share a picture :)


Martinnfb

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Yesterday, I tried to earn some experiences, working with white metal. I took the exhaust parts, which will be finished in a chrome look from my Model Factory Hiro kit of the 1/9 scale Crocker and first got rid off the the parting lines with sanding sticks and drilled out the connecting holes..

The parts looked like this, then;

P1011384.thumb.JPG.0ed834d7a94b2a73cb25df3d1e7d19a0.JPG

Then I used a rotary tumbler to refine the surfaces and clean the parts. In the hexagonal plexiglass cylinder are steel balls of 1 mm diameter, some drops of detergent and water.

P1011387.thumb.JPG.12bad1e5b1331dcd946ba9eb888ffe48.JPG

After about half an hour the parts looked like this.
The good, the parts are clean, shiny and evenly refined The treatment ´hardens´ the surface a bit.
The bad, you can see spots, where the balls couldn´t reach the surface in crevices or narrow angles and around details. Very fine details like heads of screws got rounded a bit.
I guess that´s the reason, many cast metal builder use magnetic polishing tumblers, where tiny steel pins rotate in the water bath cleaning the parts. I hope, I can lay my hand on one of these soon.

P1011389.thumb.JPG.9e24f2a99cd38310bedda997db574ab6.JPG

Finally, I wanted to try some polish on the parts, using the famous (at least in Germany) Autosol polish on the exhausts. I didn´t want to go all the way to a mirror sheen finish, as this will need some better preparation, I just wanted to get a feeling.

P1011393.thumb.JPG.5f6b14dba1094b3947fa9f2b161afae2.JPG

P1011397.thumb.JPG.e1e0ead061c7bdd8da612978ae6c93a7.JPG

Verdict, it seems possible to polish white metal parts to look like chrome. The rotating tumbler should only be used with not too detailed parts. My guess is, a magnetic tumbler polisher is best to prepare the white metal parts for painting or polishing.

Cheers Rob

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1 hour ago, DocRob said:

Yesterday, I tried to earn some experiences, working with white metal. I took the exhaust parts, which will be finished in a chrome look from my Model Factory Hiro kit of the 1/9 scale Crocker and first got rid off the the parting lines with sanding sticks and drilled out the connecting holes..

The parts looked like this, then;

P1011384.thumb.JPG.0ed834d7a94b2a73cb25df3d1e7d19a0.JPG

Then I used a rotary tumbler to refine the surfaces and clean the parts. In the hexagonal plexiglass cylinder are steel balls of 1 mm diameter, some drops of detergent and water.

P1011387.thumb.JPG.12bad1e5b1331dcd946ba9eb888ffe48.JPG

After about half an hour the parts looked like this.
The good, the parts are clean, shiny and evenly refined The treatment ´hardens´ the surface a bit.
The bad, you can see spots, where the balls couldn´t reach the surface in crevices or narrow angles and around details. Very fine details like heads of screws got rounded a bit.
I guess that´s the reason, many cast metal builder use magnetic polishing tumblers, where tiny steel pins rotate in the water bath cleaning the parts. I hope, I can lay my hand on one of these soon.

P1011389.thumb.JPG.9e24f2a99cd38310bedda997db574ab6.JPG

Finally, I wanted to try some polish on the parts, using the famous (at least in Germany) Autosol polish on the exhausts. I didn´t want to go all the way to a mirror sheen finish, as this will need some better preparation, I just wanted to get a feeling.

P1011393.thumb.JPG.5f6b14dba1094b3947fa9f2b161afae2.JPG

P1011397.thumb.JPG.e1e0ead061c7bdd8da612978ae6c93a7.JPG

Verdict, it seems possible to polish white metal parts to look like chrome. The rotating tumbler should only be used with not too detailed parts. My guess is, a magnetic tumbler polisher is best to prepare the white metal parts for painting or polishing.

Cheers Rob

Looking good Rob, I use AutoSol all the time especially when cleaning airbrush needles. It cleans and polishes very well indeed…..

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2 hours ago, DocRob said:

Yesterday, I tried to earn some experiences, working with white metal. I took the exhaust parts, which will be finished in a chrome look from my Model Factory Hiro kit of the 1/9 scale Crocker and first got rid off the the parting lines with sanding sticks and drilled out the connecting holes..

The parts looked like this, then;

P1011384.thumb.JPG.0ed834d7a94b2a73cb25df3d1e7d19a0.JPG

Then I used a rotary tumbler to refine the surfaces and clean the parts. In the hexagonal plexiglass cylinder are steel balls of 1 mm diameter, some drops of detergent and water.

P1011387.thumb.JPG.12bad1e5b1331dcd946ba9eb888ffe48.JPG

After about half an hour the parts looked like this.
The good, the parts are clean, shiny and evenly refined The treatment ´hardens´ the surface a bit.
The bad, you can see spots, where the balls couldn´t reach the surface in crevices or narrow angles and around details. Very fine details like heads of screws got rounded a bit.
I guess that´s the reason, many cast metal builder use magnetic polishing tumblers, where tiny steel pins rotate in the water bath cleaning the parts. I hope, I can lay my hand on one of these soon.

P1011389.thumb.JPG.9e24f2a99cd38310bedda997db574ab6.JPG

Finally, I wanted to try some polish on the parts, using the famous (at least in Germany) Autosol polish on the exhausts. I didn´t want to go all the way to a mirror sheen finish, as this will need some better preparation, I just wanted to get a feeling.

P1011393.thumb.JPG.5f6b14dba1094b3947fa9f2b161afae2.JPG

P1011397.thumb.JPG.e1e0ead061c7bdd8da612978ae6c93a7.JPG

Verdict, it seems possible to polish white metal parts to look like chrome. The rotating tumbler should only be used with not too detailed parts. My guess is, a magnetic tumbler polisher is best to prepare the white metal parts for painting or polishing.

Cheers Rob

Rob

Quite the experiment and learning experience. The exhaust headers do look really good. Surely seems that when getting into kits with a lot of white metal and cast parts the magnetic tumbler polisher is the way to go. Just out of curiosity with shipping, it is an expensive piece of equipment.? 

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13 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

Mark , that looks like a million dollars. 
 

I picked this 1/35 V-1 yesterday, super fast build for fun. 
 

IMG_3406.jpeg

Martin

Looking mighty good and nothing like a quick build to keep the juices going.

:construction:

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4 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Just out of curiosity with shipping, it is an expensive piece of equipment.? 

You can get them for about 150 Euro with free shipping, but it depends where you live. I found a vendor, who ships it for 30 Euros to my place. Others claimed they do, but then refused. Fingers crossed with the actual one, it´s not on it´s way now.

Cheers Rob

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yVFtpH2.jpg

F-111A Cockpit from Reskit in the works. Just dry fitting. This is sitting at the bench in Winnipeg whilst I'm enjoying a damp afternoon in Lafayette, LA... Short notice sim training, but headed back home tomorrow.

 

CHeers!

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Nothing.  Absolutely nothing on the bench.  
 

IMG_1757.thumb.jpeg.626e28a1e7c583c7e4cf7d8f6aa07787.jpeg

 

Just finished cleaning up after the He 111.  Now it’s decision time.  
Stuka?

Cutlass?

Me 262?

A surprise from the stash??  Been itching to do that A-7D Corsair with the Zacto correction. Or the Crusader….hmmmmm…

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9 hours ago, ScottsGT said:

Nothing.  Absolutely nothing on the bench.  
 

IMG_1757.thumb.jpeg.626e28a1e7c583c7e4cf7d8f6aa07787.jpeg

 

Just finished cleaning up after the He 111.  Now it’s decision time.  
Stuka?

Cutlass?

Me 262?

A surprise from the stash??  Been itching to do that A-7D Corsair with the Zacto correction. Or the Crusader….hmmmmm…

My vote is for Vought !

Hubert

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11 hours ago, CANicoll said:

Scott, WWAYYYY too clean!!!

I'm embarrassed to say this is MY current mess.

PXL_20240501_004710563_PANO.thumb.jpg.cd551991bec0c5a127942d8f4db28c0a.jpg

Chris

Yikes, close to a record for sure.:hsmack:

Seems to be two types of builders on the forum:

Those with neat clean benches throughout a build

Those with just the opposite.

We should have a forum pole as to who falls into which group.

:rofl:

 

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