Landships II

CharlieC · Legend

Poplavko-Jeffery Armoured Car

dswks · Corporal

The rivets really look great Charlie. I can't believe they are embossed. How did you get such a high crown without tearing the paper?

TinCanTadpole · Legend

Don's right, Charlie - those rivets are impressive, possibly better than many plastic/resin kits have!

CharlieC · Legend

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I bought Micromark's tiny press (http://www.micromark.com/press-it-precision-arborandpunch-press,9309.html) �a while ago when it was on special (about half price) and the $A/$US was very favourable. Also bought the rivet embossing set. This is designed for sheet brass so it took a bit of delicate reshaping of the male part so it would emboss rather than tear the card. I notice Micromark doesn't have the rivet embossing set on sale at the moment. The rivet embossing tools come in 1mm, 0.8mm, 0.6mm and 0.4mm sizes (from memory) - I haven't used the small sizes since I usually model in 1/25.

I sometimes use a small drop of methylated spirits (denatured alcohol in the US?) on the card just before I emboss. You need to spray coat the printed side of the card if you are using alcohol - dissolves the ink otherwise. The card usually will emboss ok - it takes a bit of practice not to use too much pressure which will tear the card. If the card tears a little then a touch up with acrylic paint fixes the tear.

Embossing isn't a magic bullet - it takes a bit of practice to figure out how much pressure to apply but the results seem to be pretty good.

Edit - while I think about it (got a dose of the dreaded lurgy at the moment so the thinking bit isn't working well) - I usually fill the depression of the emboss with a small drop of acrylic varnish. This has the advantage of making the rivet fairly solid so it doesn't get squashed when the model is assembled.

Regards,

Charlie

-- Edited by CharlieC on Thursday 21st of June 2012 04:40:24 AM

-- Edited by CharlieC on Thursday 21st of June 2012 05:54:25 AM

-- Edited by CharlieC on Thursday 21st of June 2012 05:56:19 AM

dswks · Corporal

Thank you for explaining your technique, Charlie. What surface do you emboss on? I would guess it would have to have just the right amount of "give" for optimum results - not too hard, yet not too soft.

CharlieC · Legend

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The Micromark system uses a pair of dies (male and female). The male die is pushed from the back side of the card - it's a bit of a pain to mark off where the rivet positions are - I found the easiest way is to indent the card from the front side and use this as the guide for the embosser.

Way back I used to emboss with a ball ended tool onto a rubber backing - this was only moderately satisfactory. By chance I noticed that an airline boarding card had braille embossed on it which looked just like model rivets. Went looking for a rivet embossing system which used a pair of dies to make the emboss like the Braille printing system - the Micromark one does the job.

There is a value add opportunity for cardmodels - overprinting the parts sheets with embossed rivets.

Regards,

Charlie