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PE Success


JayMesawitz

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I am beside myself with a feeling of achievement. After about 3 weeks of research, purchasing supplies, failed attempts, partial successes and re-researching I have produced my very own designed PE in brass. Even though I classify this as a success it has a few flaws that with a bit more experience I should be able to avoid. Specifically there are several pitted areas on the surface in this picture. The other side does not have any. This is actually the inside of the piece so I'm good with it. But if you could see the smile on my face :smiley4::smiley4::smiley4:

 

IMG_7225-vi.jpg

If you are curious and can't envision for yourself the design folds into a jack stand with a piece of square styrene to complete the assembly.

Edited by Beer30
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Thanks Mark. Concidering you are one of the few members in this forum that actually build and post models and model related topics, I'll take your comments with high reguard.

 

Having read some of the new BS being posted here in other threads my smile is gone and I wonder why I bother coming here. When I say new BS I really mean old BS in a new package or new BS caused by some reaction to old BS or just the same OLD BS.

 

Thanks again Mark, Sorry I don't comment on your work more often. You get more done than I can keep up with. Keep it up.

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Nice job Jay!

 

I'd like to learn a little more about the process also.

Your results look good!

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Thanks for the comments guys. I worked form several online sources (not a kit) taking what I felt to be the best of each method. Here is the final assembly. I produced another fret of the same image this one without pitting on either side (one more step in the right direction). I am likely going to frame my first one, pitted and all.

 

IMG_7235-vi.jpg

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How about a short description of what you did and what you went thru and what you learned. I've been tempted to try photoetching, but never gave it a try. I'd love to hear more about what you did.

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EXCELLENT! Congrats Jay! You were obviously a LOT closer to success than you thought when you told us about this at the planning committee meeting. It's nice to know we in IPMSFC have a local source for all our own little projects..... :smiley2: I'm smiling WITH you bud! :smiley17:

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Thanks Mark. Concidering you are one of the few members in this forum that actually build and post models and model related topics, I'll take your comments with high reguard.

 

Having read some of the new BS being posted here in other threads my smile is gone and I wonder why I bother coming here. When I say new BS I really mean old BS in a new package or new BS caused by some reaction to old BS or just the same OLD BS.

 

Thanks again Mark, Sorry I don't comment on your work more often. You get more done than I can keep up with. Keep it up.

 

Thank you Jay. I really appreciate that very much. I will keep going, in fact I just started about 6 new projects already. As for the rest, feel free to skip over all that other mess. Come on back to the Modeling Forums and I'll try to keep more new additions on here for you to look at. Maybe then you'll get that smile back about the Hobby.

 

I also have to say, the first jackstand you made looks outstanding! Beautiful job; it looks just like a full sized one. I almost mistook it for one. I seriously would love a set of these in 1/72 scale. Keep it up and keep photo-etching!

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As requested here are the highlights of the process that I used.

 

Image design:

I used CAD to draw my image only because I am better with it than I am with other drawing programs out there. I can work in exact scale in CAD, so reduction guess work is not a concern, but any drawing program will do.

 

Here is my art work printed on Pres-n-peel-wet image transfer paper. This stuff is great found at Electronix Express. Basically decal film without the film. You print from a laser printer and the plastic like toner transfers to your sheet metal with a couple passes through a laminator. This is a two sided design. One is solid and the other shows areas of relief for fold lines. My efforts to do a one side image were not successful. I struggled to find a suitable material to back the brass that would not lift off during etching. In the end, I could probably find the right tape or film but I am much more satisfied with the two sided results.

IMG_7228-vi.jpg

 

Notice the alignment markers in addition to the basic image. These are for folding the paper and aligning the two images. Take some time here to ensure the mirror images align properly or you will have a double exposure result. Since the press-n-peel paper is white you can actually hold it up to the light and see the images overlay each other. Not 100% clear but not bad either.

IMG_7228-vi.jpg

IMG_7229-vi.jpg

 

Transfer image to brass:

(Ill have to get some pics of these steps)

Next clean your brass sheet with 0000 steel wool on either side, sandwich it between the images and pass the whole thing through your laminator a couple times (preferably heated up for 20 minutes). Then, just like a water slide decal immerse in a water bath. DO NOT help it along, let the paper release on its own. When complete you will have a black image on both sides of you brass sheet. Pat dry, heat gun or hair drier but do not rub. The image can be damaged.

 

This may not be a needed step however the sources that I read suggest that toner is porous and an additional resist barrier is required. This is dead easy to achieve with a product from Pulsar. TRF (Toner Reactive Foil). There is a special Green one just for printed circuit board etching. It is a thin mylar material coated on one side. To apply it, fold a strip over the brass to cover the image on both sides and pass it through the laminator one more time. Peel away the mylar carrier and your image is now green. The Pulsar site is well worth a look if you never been and where I purchased my laminator.

 

Etch the Image:

Ferric Chloride is recommended by many and even the chemical supplied in the micro mark kit if you go that route but it is slow and messy. So slow that the chemical leaches under the resist before any significant amount a material is removed. Heat and agitation can be applied to the chemical bath to improve the etching time but the heat required is a bit high and the bubbles from the agitation cause little splashes of brown staining crap all over the place. The plus side is it will etch stainless steel.

As a cleaner and cheaper solution I found a simple chemical combination designed to etch copper. Since brass is a copper alloy it works really well. It is called cupric chloride and made by combining 2 parts hydrogen peroxide (like you put on cuts) with one part muriatic acid (pool supplies) Here is the complete chemistry info on the etching solution. As you can see in this picture I have my piece suspended in the etch solution. There is a fish tank aerator agitating the bath and it is sitting on a candle heater that takes the solution up to about 100F. This chemical will work without heat. Takes about an hour were as with heat the same size piece about 20 minutes where the other produced results in three hours without heat and one hour with.

 

IMG_7223-vi.jpg

 

When the etching is done neutralize the chemical in plain water and remove the resist with lacquer thinner or acetone.

 

IMG_7224-vi.jpg

Yea I know it's a different design but this engine vent is actually the reason I began my research. After screwing up the plasic area trying to relieve it from the back I needed a fix. this is where it took me.

IMG_7206-vi.jpg

IMG_7243-vi.jpg

Edited by Beer30
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In my best Dr. Fankenstein..."It's Alive!". Actually, I'd be more like Igor ("what hump?"). :smiley17:

 

Great looking work Jay! Looks like you've solved a couple of knotty problems that a LOT of scratchbuilding guys will be interested in. There always seems to be a need to do a few little pieces for a pet project and farming it out to a specialist is expensive unless you have enough run off to sell off the extras. Thanks for the tips of the year!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Amen! I've screwed around with the Micro-mark type approach with mixed results (more my errors than theirs, i'm sure).

 

Even so, I did find a way to seal off the back side of a 1-sided etch: Spray paint that side, and then remove the paint with the appropriate thinner after the etching is done. I used Testors enamel from the rattle can.

 

Rage On!

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