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  • Photo etching and scratchbuilding a radiator

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      1. Kit: , by
        BrassBuilder
        (Yearly Subscriber) BrassBuilder is offline
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        Started: 07-03-07 Build Revisions: Never  
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        Hey all,
        Anyone here ever done photo etching? Any tips? I am leaning on using the iron on type of resist since I can run that through my printer. Here is what I am trying to do. I'm scratchbuilding a radiator for a 1/8 scale semi truck that I am building (pics coming one of these days). I got the tanks and the side rails done. I am working on the tubes and fins that fill the rest of the radiator with detail. I was going to use .015 x 1/4" flat brass for the "tubes" and then photo etch .005 brass for the fins. I need small slots for each of the "tubes" (actually flat brass) to go through. This is really hard to explain. I tried punching Photo etching and scratchbuilding a radiator the slots, but that really distorts the thin brass.

        Here is a very rough drawing of what I want to do:
        _________________________
        | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
        _________________________

        The actual size would be around 3/8" x 4-1/2" and is .005 thick brass. Each of the "|" is a slot for a piece of .015 brass to pass through and would be centered in the 3/8" wide material. This would give 1/16" of overhang for the fin detail. I would end up with probably a hundred or more of these to make. So...keep in mind that I need more than one or two. This would give me a realistic looking radiator.

        Any ideas?

        Mike
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    1. Old Busted Hotness
      Old Busted Hotness is offline United States
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      An idea (one that may or may not work): Run a strip of very thin brass between a pair of 64-pitch gears (available at your LHS Photo etching and scratchbuilding a radiator in the RC section) to create a zig-zag strip, and solder the zig-zags between your "tubes".

      Might look like crap, though. But it's all I can think of.
      This don't look like no expressway to me! - Jake Blues
      07-03-07, 05:54 PM QUOTE QUOTE #2
    2. Don Garrett
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      Mike, if I had to make that many parts..all the same, I think I'd consider making or having a die made.
      Grandpa McGurk.....Steppin' Large and Livin' easy.
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      07-03-07, 08:29 PM QUOTE QUOTE #3
    3. BrassBuilder
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      Quote Originally Posted by Old Busted Hotness View Post
      An idea (one that may or may not work): Run a strip of very thin brass between a pair of 64-pitch gears (available at your LHS Photo etching and scratchbuilding a radiator in the RC section) to create a zig-zag strip, and solder the zig-zags between your "tubes".

      Might look like crap, though. But it's all I can think of.
      Thought of that already, but the real radiator doesn't have the normal zig-zag like I am familiar with too. These fins are straight and I would like to capture that detail. I know...it seems petty, but that is the kind of attention to detail that I like to do. :)
      Thanks
      Mike


      Photo etching and scratchbuilding a radiator
      My website:
      http://www.firesteelhobbies.com/index.html

      Feel free to look around. I have all of my projects on the website.
      07-03-07, 08:59 PM QUOTE QUOTE #4
    4. BrassBuilder
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      Quote Originally Posted by Don Garrett View Post
      Mike, if I had to make that many parts..all the same, I think I'd consider making or having a die made.
      Thought of this too and this is the answer that I really want to do. I tried to sharpen a lathe bit down to the size I needed. It went through the .005 brass really easy, but as I went down the strip, it really distorted. Maybe I need to "sandwich" the brass between two plates or something?

      I'll have to think about this some more. I like the die idea the best, but not sure how to pull it off. The photo etching, I think, might be really time consuming.

      Thanks
      Mike


      Photo etching and scratchbuilding a radiator
      My website:
      http://www.firesteelhobbies.com/index.html

      Feel free to look around. I have all of my projects on the website.
      07-03-07, 09:02 PM QUOTE QUOTE #5
    5. BrassBuilder
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      I'm liking this die idea better all the time. I wonder if something like this arbor press would be a good start?

      Amazon.com: Grizzly G4018 Arbor Press - 1 Ton: Home Improvement@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41%2BPeHJUEVL.@@AMEPARAM@@41%2BPeHJUEVL

      In fact, I'm thinking I have one of these out at the shop that we rarely use. And we have a guy out there that is really good at fabricating stuff. I'll bounce some ideas off of him.

      Mike


      Photo etching and scratchbuilding a radiator
      My website:
      http://www.firesteelhobbies.com/index.html

      Feel free to look around. I have all of my projects on the website.
      07-03-07, 09:47 PM QUOTE QUOTE #6
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