jarndice

Steve you really need two things for good PE results, A good magnifier (I use a Tamiya viewer, it is worn like a pair of spectacles and it comes with three different strength lenses) and a lot of shadow free light. The Tamiya viewer is not cheap and there are other cheaper versions around , if you do not have one i recommend it as a priority, You could end up needing a seeing eye dog otherwise!!!! shaun

metalhead1986

ausf - thanks for the words of encouragement. I know that macro photos reveal every flaw. From a non-magnified perspective, it looks pretty good. I also know that once everything is painted, the PE parts will blend in, and small imperfections will not be apparent. After going through the instructions for the Tiger I basic kit from Aber for at least the tenth time, I decided to go ahead and go for it. I needed some wire for the track changing cable and an antenna anyway, so I added it to my order. There may be things I don't want to use or cannot do justice to when building, but I am sure I can be successful with enough of it to make it worth my while.

Shaun - I have an Optivisor (2.75X I believe) and the add-on monocle for those really hard to see bits, so I have that part covered. Once I received the Tiger I early clamps and clasps set, I thought to myself "what have I gotten myself into) and proceeded to get the Optivisor and all the tools I thought I would need. It's always good to have an excuse to buy new tools. In fact, today I ordered some Xuron cutters and pliers, as my regular mini cutters and pliers were not cutting it for this.

Steve

metalhead1986

Speaking of PE, I worked on the clamps and clasps set I have last night and think I may have caused myself some serious grief. After reading about annealing PE to make it easier to work with, I went an annealed the whole fret of clamp and clasp parts. The parts are easy to work with, and I am starting to be able to roll the PE in less than an hour, but here is my problem. I am having a serious issue soldering the parts together. I am no rookie when it comes to soldering, as I worked as an electronics tech and prototyper for more than eleven years, but I am having issues with this. I am thinking the annealing process and discoloration of the parts may be to blame. If so, I am going to go easy with the Tiger I basic set and only anneal what I need to anneal.

Now, I did solder some larger un-annealed brass pieces together in preparation for doing the PE, and that worked as expected.

I know there are many people with much more experience than I have with PE. Does my analysis sound likely, or is there maybe some other reason I am having difficulty soldering these tiny pieces together?

Thanks again for any help you can give,

Steve

jarndice

Steve TEMPERATURE is every thing, when working with PE you need to reduce it. I wish I had known about the Optivisor when I bought the Tamiya I might be able to smile at my Bank manager!. shaun

metalhead1986

Thanks for head's up Shaun. What temperature should I be soldering PE? I don't think that is my problem, but getting the right temperature would be a start.

As for the solder not flowing, I still think the annealing process is the culprit there. At lunch, I finished up the clamp I have been working on and was having a tough time getting the CA to stick the base of the clamp to the styrene piece I have been practicing on, and also gluing the clamp to the base. Thinking the annealing process was at fault, I took my diamond file to the surfaces that I wanted to glue. Within a few moments, the surfaces were shiny, so I tried gluing them again. This time the CA worked as it was supposed to. Within a few seconds, the base was glued to the styrene, and a few seconds later, the clamp was securely glued to the base. the clamp may not look pretty but it works like a champ.

If the black crud was preventing the CA from sticking, I am sure it could be preventing the solder from flowing through my joints. I will try removing the black crud from another piece and see if it will solder properly.

Steve

ausf

I found that the thinnest lead solder you can find and liquid flux gives the best results with PE.

Set the parts up the way you want it, dab a brush with flux in the joint (hence the liquid as opposed to paste), put a small bit of solder cut from the roll in the gap (tweezers usually the best) and apply heat from the outside.

Resistance soldering is the best for it, but not cost effective unless you really plan on doing a ton of PE, but a small iron with a sharp tip works too, you just have to be careful not to disturb the piece.

I use a bunch of small alligator clips, holding or jigging everything as needed.

The lowset setting on my iron is 100 C.

Green Amphibian

One key to good solder joints is cleanliness. If it isn't clean, the solder will not flow. Remove ALL of the black crud!

Herman

metalhead1986

I'm back.

It's been a while since I posted. I have been busy with the photo etch work on the rear of the Tiger. I have taken many pictures and will post hem once I find the time to edit them and start the build thread I have been threatening to start for a while now.

I have finished the rear hull, and for my first attempt at photo etch, things could certainly look worse. I am now waiting for some brass wire to come in, as I want to start pinning the track changing cable holders to make them more secure. I may regret not doing this with some of the assemblies on the rear of the hull. I guess I will deal with that as time goes by.

My next task will be the side fenders, and as with most parts of the tank, I want to do things beyond the manual. I want to bolt the fenders to the hull, as well as glue them. My dilemma is what bolts to use. The Tamiya design looks to use round head bolts in their mold of the fenders, and the kit ETO sells also looks to use round head bolts. I cannot find much information, but I would think the actual tank would use hex head bolts.

Scalehardware sells miniature hex bolts that would work perfectly. From what I read in another thread, the correct sizes is 1.4mm. Scalehardware carries this size. They are a little more than the ETO kit, but if hex is more scale, I am willing to shell out the extra cash.

After all this, I have two questions.

1. Which style of bolts would be more scale, the round head or the hex head? I would look at my reference sources, but. I am away with the family for the weekend, and all my books are at home.

2. Which size bolts would be the correct size for the 1/16th Tiger (of the commonly available sizes)?

As always, thanks for the help and guidance.

Steve

MAUS45

Use Hex Head.