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I suspect they use steel because it is much cheaper to etch. The usual etching solution is Ferric Chloride, which  has some weird chemical properties, in that as it etches steel it just changes the valency of the iron atoms and keeps on etching!! Because you are adding more and more Iron, of course eventually the solution becomes exhausted, but you can recover it by adding hydrochloric acid. You end up producing more and more ferric chloride! This has some value, it is used in treating sewage for example, so the excess can earn the etcher a little bit of money. If you etch brass, copper, bronze, when the etchant is exhausted it costs a great deal to dispose of properly, because it is now contaminated with copper, tin and other metals.

 

Stainless is not a very nice material for modellers though. It is hard, cracks easily, you can't solder it, if you do bend it it is impossible to straighten again. But it doesn't tarnish, so it looks nice in the packaging for longer....

 

Tim

Exactly, Tim. This is something we do daily in my company. I should add that etching stainless steel does not produce a very "clean" etch, at least at microscopic level, because of the chromium crystals it contains.

 

Not sure if the Flightpath set is stainless though (altough most likely). I did manage to soft-solder my reinforcing strips on the outside.

 

@ Max: thank you for chiming in. I hope this is going to be straightforward, well sort of ;) ...

 

Hubert

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Hi Hubert,

 

Actually I have managed to soften the Flightplan metal to a very good level but that wasn't enough for the exhaust plate to conform inside the narrow plastic part (anyway I scratch built the whole thing eventually).

 

I used a soldering blowpipe to heat the piece until it glows red (and held it in the flame for 10-15 sec.) and then I let it cool in still air (not in water!).

 

Tristan

 

img_9911.jpg

Edited by Warbird
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hi

I don't want to mess up your post , but Tristan is right , If I remember my technology courses , if you plunge hot steel into water , it will become harder ( hardened steel), ,if you heat steel to blue /red , and let it coll at room temperature , it will become softer , annealed steel .........right ????????????????????

Alain 

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Y

 

hi

I don't want to mess up your post , but Tristan is right , If I remember my technology courses , if you plunge hot steel into water , it will become harder ( hardened steel), ,if you heat steel to blue /red , and let it coll at room temperature , it will become softer , annealed steel .........right ????????????????????

Alain 

 

You're right Alain, but I did not think it was steel at that time ... so I applied the annealing process that works for brass :doh: :)

 

Hubert

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Next in line Brad. I wanted to encourage the "Between the wars GB" and started a vac-form Nieuport Sesquiplane :

 

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=62978

 

I confess I am having a blast scratchbuilding details. Definitely more my cup-of- tea than assembling aftermarket ;)

 

Back soon on this one

 

Hubert

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