Brass casting LSP gear

[Out2gtcha]

Is it the Fisher Skyray?

 

 

Sure is. I was thoroughly surprised that Paul did not use hardened steel rod impregnated resin for this. 

[Guest Clunkmeister]

Paul has made changes. That's what's cool about small manufacturers. They upgrade as stuff is needed. I like that.

 

As per the pinned gear. The Helldiver gear is the same way, which is THE reason we pushed for, and received, brass gear from Ernie at G-Factor.

 

The OV-10 is another story. An awesome kit which just simply needs gear that's stronger than what injected plastic can deliver. I said it before, but I know of at least 6, probably more, guys here raring to go with builds if and only if, we get good gear for the model.

 

The OV-10 needs to be our number 1 concern, as it has the potential of reaching the maximum number of modelers. The Tigercat? Smaller market, but I'm on board with any prop driven Grumman Cat.

[Big Texan]

While not applicable to our hobby, a related process is lost foam casting. Saturn (remember those cars?) used to cast their engine blocks this way. Styrofoam pieces were embedded in sand, and molten aluminum poured into the mold. The styrofoam would vaporize, leaving the cavity hollow. If anyone has ever seen one of their engine blocks, it has the characteristic pebbling (like a coffee cup) from the foam.

Hey Bill, we did this when I was in Metal Shop in High School! We made approx. 1/6 th scale cannons. We turned the barrels on the lathe, but made the wheels from casting as you described above. We used meat tray foam!!!! The design of a spoked wheel would be drawn on them using a template. Then they were cut out of the tray. The foam wheel placed in a sand cast, and molten metal poured in! Worked every time! Just a little clean was performe and they were ready to be primed and painted. The cannon trails or carriages, were made of metal stock. The finished barrels would be drilled to fit a piece of round stock in it to make the trunions. It was a neat project. 

[Out2gtcha]

Ideeeers abounding!! 

[Tnarg]

I am also very interested in an OV-10 gear set. A local red white and black CAL FIRE scheme is calling me.

 

Tnarg

[Zero77]

Is there any reply for the LSPers who were looking for brass casters?

 

To say the truth, even if the G-factor sets are quite pricey, i still wonder how he manage to keep prices afordable. Brass or bronze lost wax casting is a complex and it's very time (and material) consuming. I saw how much it cost to cast a small sculpture, and it's several hundreds euros.

So, except if the caster put many examples of the same set on the same sprue (so he cast many in a single run), i just wonder how it would be possible to get a LG set which costs less than the whole kit !

[Zero77]

A nice example of the process, for the same kind of parts than what we need (small and crispy detailed) :

http://www.cccrow.com/how-2/lostwax.html

[wunwinglow]

And another, although a little bit more industrial...

 

https://youtu.be/1DsuCg9cHqo

 

Usual disclaimers.

[Guest Peterpools]

What about if we asked SAC to cast the gear but out of pewter and not soft white metal?

Peter

[Out2gtcha]

 i still wonder how he manage to keep prices afordable. Brass or bronze lost wax casting is a complex and it's very time (and material) consuming. I saw how much it cost to cast a small sculpture, and it's several hundreds euros.

So, except if the caster put many examples of the same set on the same sprue (so he cast many in a single run), i just wonder how it would be possible to get a LG set which costs less than the whole kit !

 

Ernie apparently purchased his own foundry and forge equipment, thus keeping the costs down VS paying someone to do it and use their equipment.  

 

I think Ernie is a VERY passionate gent, with a lot of interests and he seems passionate about all of them, thus not a whole lot of progress on any one thing perhaps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What about if we asked SAC to cast the gear but out of pewter and not soft white metal?

Peter

 

Never thought of that!!   Im not sure if/what techniques are involved for pouring pewter VS the soft white metal they use.  

[Out2gtcha]

Ok gents................

 

Ive been talking to a friend who I met for the first time at the NATs. We sat down in one of the bars and had a good long talk. The conversation morphed into one of LSP brass gear. 

We were just discussing this last night ASMAF..........................Bottom line is I think he may be onto something. Im not going to expand on it at all, as I dont want to spoil things if they dont quite work out like we think, but this could really be something. Will keep in talks, but from all Im hearing, Im definitely not going to attempt my own fix yet, as we will have some OV-10 gear from someone I believe. 

Edited August 16, 2017 by Out2gtcha

[Guest Peterpools]

Brian

Sounds promising for sure

Peter

[Shawn M]

have you thought about 3d printing in brass or sintered metal?

[kalashnikov-47]

Sure is. I was thoroughly surprised that Paul did not use hardened steel rod impregnated resin for this. 

I contacted Paul, and got replacements.  He did reinforce, but.... It was only the main leg part.  The smaller link pieces, as illustrated in my photographs, is still unreinforced resin, so the problem persists.

I'll have to do some surgery, and I plan on assembling the replacement parts at non-authentic angles to absorb the model's weight without collapsing again.

Edited August 17, 2017 by kalashnikov-47

[alaninaustria]

I contacted Paul, and got replacements.  He did reinforce, but.... It was only the main leg part.  The smaller link pieces, as illustrated in my photographs, is still unreinforced resin, so the problem persists.

I'll have to do some surgery, and I plan on assembling the replacement parts at non-authentic angles to absorb the model's weight without collapsing again.

You could always take the entire gear set that you received and set it up with sprue gates using old sprues and send it in to a jeweller to have cast in white bronze. The jeweller will use the lost wax method (as detailed ablove), it will cost something but not break the bank. You would then be able to drill, pin using brass rod and light soldering, and have an extremely strong gear. You of course would need Paul's permission to have his work copied. 

Just an idea

Cheers

Alan

 

Ps. I have used a jeweller here in Austria to have numerous parts cast in white bronze and I was very happy with the results.