working with brass

[xken]

First sand the surface of the brass with scotch brite pad and clean throughly with laquer thinner , make sure all flux is gone if you are soldering. From an automotive store look for a spray can of Primer that has "etching primer ' in the description. Etching primers are intended for bare metal. If you can't find that then as a backup, look for zinc chromate primer which is really intended for aluminum but will also work great on brass. I have used used both of these with great success.

Option 2 is make the parts out of aluminum and polish.

Actually a Third option would be to have the brass parts Bright Cadmium plated and polished.

Ken

[NES]

thanks ken, how and ware would have them cadmium plated ?.....norman

[xken]

Industrial plater or find a local chrome plater they can either do it or know someone that can. Nice process but make sure you are asking for the Bright CAD finish kind that is on car parts. When I lived in Tenn. in Marysville there was a plater that did a five gallon bucket of miscellaneous parts, latches, springs nuts and bolts etc. for $15. Any part that did not fit in the bucket cost $5 each. With a bit of polish you can get a real decent finish on a part, at least as good as the part is not quite chrome but very metal looking.

Ken

[NES]

hi ken thanks, i just called a place in Ohio, they will do any plating on my three wings for $75.00 so im thinking about having them nickle plated , i think they would look awesome, what ya think?.......norman

[Don Garrett]

Guys, here's a link to what I use for full size stuff. Sometimes it's just too pricey to farm stuff out especially when they are small parts. I can honestly say that these folks are great to deal with and their products are top notch.


Eastwood Company: Search Results for Cadmium coatings

[xken]

Would look real great, just keep in mind nickel is softer than chrome and not quite as shiney, but would still look great.

How big are these pieces? Can you post a closeup of them?

Ken

[NES]

they aren't that big, top wing 8x13 rear and front 10"x2" i may still just paint them a polished aluminum alclad paint.......stormin norman

[Rick]

Hey Norm, whatever you do, post pictures and tutorial on site. As you've seen in this thread, this site is all about shareing information with each other.

[kcfisher]

Here is a link to a site with cheep kits to plate small parts. I haven’t tried it yet but I thought it sounded fantastic. If someone tries it let me know how it works.
Caswell Inc. - Plug N' Plate® Brush Plating Systems

[Don Garrett]

Interesting........this is not a new concept but I've never seen it this attractively priced.
If it does as they claim, this could be a real boon for us modelers. Please guys, if someone tries this stuff let the rest of us know what you think of it.

[xken]

I think this may be the same system that people use to plate emblems on cars without removing them from the car. I watched a guy do this about ten years ago at a car show to the emblems on a Cadillac from chrome to gold. It looks like the same kind of setup.

How about a gold Model T engine????? It would never tarnish.

Ken

[Don Garrett]

I remember those too Ken. They were pretty hot for awhile with guys buying the equipment thinking they would go into biz doing it. I think it's the same basic process...just scaled down a bit.