Sov's Tiger Build

[SovereignZuul]

T.I.L. I am bad at soldering.


Got a new toy after reading guides and advice online today at work about soldering photoetched brass. Most people recommended it over the glue! I was sold. People said the small butane ones work great so I nabbed one pretty cheap after work.




Here's my first go at it!






I haven't soldered since building circuit boards in high school, twelve ago years now. I need some practice, but I have to admit the bond is MUCH stronger than the glue! Perhaps part of my fault is that I was soldering over the previous super glue on the joints as well...

[PainlessWolf]

Sov,
You have made a cool purchase. That is the same model I use. Before that, it was an old electric model with no way to adjust the heat which all too frequently turned into 'ARRRGHH!!!" FOOOM! as the board or tank went up in flames. You will get the hang of it. ;o)
regards,
Painless

[blimp]

Hello Sov , Butane torches can easily overkill thin etch brass ( great for pre softening - 'annealing' though ) I find disposable lighters are ample . The other big problem is that solder , electrical stuff is hopeless . I use Carr's 188 solder 'paint' -

- Here you can see . on the right , I brushed some onto the whole etched sheet , then the parts only needed to be held together afterwards and reheated

a little more was applied - enough to make a small fillet where needed . wash clean with water . done ! ( I've painted the whole surfaces here just to make the whole thing look more like steel ) You only need three hands to do it Blimp .

[tanks_for_the_memory]

Blimp, that's genius.

So you just paint it on where required and then heat the pieces over a flame whilst holding them together (obviously not with bare hands)?

I notice Carr's also make something called Hot Tape which you can use to stick things together whilst soldering.

Tanks

[blimp]

Yup , I coated and heated the sheet first , then assembled , the joints were reheated to fix the pieces together . Easy . Self gripping tweezers (from good 'ol P*undland ) held in plasticene help to hold the bits in place

[SovereignZuul]

That does look great. I'm having a hard time finding Carr's 188 online. Apparently it is illegal to ship via royal mail?

http://modelshop.co.uk/Shop/Tools/Solde ... ml/ITM6277


I'm in the U.S. I gotta find some of this stuff...

[tanks_for_the_memory]

I just found and ordered mine here:

http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?r ... ct_id=3712

Also went for some Hot Tape as well.

They mentioned that Royal Mail wouldn't ship flux/ solder but when I went for shipping it came up as standard.

[SovereignZuul]

I'm getting better.




Top two are the ones from the previous day. Bottom two are from today.

I learned about tinning the pieces before trying to glob on solder.

First I used the solder tip and flux to spread the solder on the two pieces to be joined. Then I used my needlenose tweezers to hold the pieces in place and the torch held a good distance away to soften the "tinned" solder joints and merge the two. I was very careful with the torch to not get too close and heat up the brass too much but it still seems like overkill. Controlling a hand held lighter seemed too difficult and not precise. Using the torch was fast, and much cleaner a final result than before and just as strong a joint. Still not perfect but it's a good one day improvement. I'm going to have to scrub these with a brush, the flux makes a big mess of the brass!

I'm going to order some of the solder paint if I can't find some local. It seems like the best way to handle this.

I also got my new Dremel in today. I was previously borrowing my fathers for an extended period of time but returned it before the move.

[Richy]

Amazing build thread well done so far

[SovereignZuul]

I searched every hobby shop within 50 miles. Not a soul has heard of solder paint! I've gone ahead and tried to order it from that site. Hoping the shipping goes through and it isn't denied. Solder paint must not be a thing in the U.S.!


While I wait for solder I'm holding off the brass and doing other things. Some small updates, more frequent feels better given the time this project spent sitting in a box!

I started converting my metal turret from early to mid/late style.

The only thing I'm not certain of is the pistol port (or flare launcher port?) on the commander's side rear. I don't think the mid or late turret had it there so I may remove it for the loader side roof version.

First the turret cupola ring is way too high. This turret was designed to use the early cupola which was much higher. I started cutting away the metal to lower it and the previous vent as well for relocation to the middle.

You can see here how high the mid/late cuploa is on the early mount!


Choppy, choppy! Go Dremel! This will be cleaned up significantly later.


I also decided to use the engine hatch as access to the smoker, battery recharge, etc. Good ole button thread, exacto and pin drill made a fairly neat cut. I will make a hinge later. If I recall correctly, Derek (red devils) was the inspiration for this idea. I'm going to see if I can't find some nicer hatch hooks and grind the old ones off the hull. I never liked them and felt like I could deal with them but nah, details important.