HMAS Vampire by Banyan - Bogey Bits - 1:350 - 3D Print in FXD

[wefalck]

Somehow, I didn't see this before ... not my scale and period, I guess.

 

The printing material is acrylic, if I am not mistaken. So either dichloromethane, a special cement for acrylic glass, or ordinary 'plastic glue' (which typically contains dicholoromethane as solvent) should do the job. With the pure solvent, dichlormethane, acrylic parts can be welded together seamlessly and without traces.

[BANYAN]

Many thanks Eberhard, i'll have a poke around for some.  I have now finished gluing and filling the hull components (x 4) together and primed/undercoated the hull.  I have been holding off doing more as I have been waiting for some additional parts but I think these may have 'fallen through' so need to readdress the approach for those.  i tried making from wire and soldering but I keep blowing it apart even at the lowest temps.  i am experimenting making these (propeller guards) from styrene at the moment, but my first efforts don't look too flash.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[cog]

Have you tried soldering paste Pat? I had some good result with 0.3 wire. You could also try to form them from the sprue of a kit (ask Greg, he'll be swamped in those pieces) You heat them and can pull threads from it in any shape, which you in turn can combine to your needs ...

[wefalck]

Some years ago I got myself a hot-air soldering station as used in electronics. Together with soldering paste, it allows the 'touch-less' soldering of delicate set-ups. As the air temperature can be pre-set between 100°C and 470°C it is useful for other applications too. It cost around 50€ incl. shipping.

[BANYAN]

Thanks for the feedback Carl and Eberhard.  

 

Carl:  I haven't tried it on this build as I have not had good results with it (may have been a bad batch?).  That said, it may be worth relooking at - thanks.

 

Eberhard:  I have a hot air gun with variable settings (range similar to yours) with several nozzles.  As above, I think I may have to relook at this.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[wefalck]

If you can source it 'down-under', there are also pre-tinned copper wires that make the soldering easier. I got mine from the UK, from www.wires.co.uk.

Edited April 2, 2019 by wefalck

[cog]

You can't use the sprues from your 3D printed parts (just to be on the safe side) I found the sprues from Trumper and Eduard kits behaviour satisfactorily, Revel  so so

[wefalck]

3D printing does not involves 'sprues' in the same way as injection moulding. There will be supporting structures printed with same material or sometimes a different material. However, Pat's parts are acrylic resin and this cannot be drawn into wires. Acrylic resins are highly cross-linked polymers with no plasticisers in it. It can be thermo-formed, e.g. bent or vacuum-formed, to some extent, but parts need to be tempered afterwards, as otherwise stress-corrosion will occur.

 

There are people, who have developped the drawing of styrene sprues into wires to an art-form, but I have serious reservations against their use. The plasticisers in styrene evaporate slowly with time, making the material brittle, as does UV irradiation. While this does not have too serious consequences on relatively massive and painted parts, thin wires are likely to become very brittle within our life-time. Such wires may also not be sufficiently well covered in paint to keep UV-light out. Considering this, I would go for metal wires.

[BANYAN]

Thanks again Carl and Eberhard.

 

Carl, Eberhard has answered re the sprues much better than I could have.  The part I am trying to assemble is 5mm long, with 5 x diminishing 'U' shaped supports.  The long spine is the prop guard and the supports are equally spaced.  By diminishing I mean the central support is 3mm apart at the base where they join the hull, the outr only 1.25mm - so you can see how small these parts (2) are and my frustration in trying to make them.

 

Thanks for the detailed explanation Eberhard; appreciate the better understanding.

 

cheers

 

Pat