Landships II

Thanks for the hints. The card former won't be needed afterwards and I was going to soak it away but wasn't sure if water would dissolve cured PVA. I was more concerned with getting the PVA off the brass without distorting the truss. It will be a fairly fine assembly. I contacted Bostik and they suggested turpentine to remove cured PVA. I'll give it a go and see how it goes. As for making more templates, it won't be a problem. The model is one I downloaded so all I need do is print the page out as often as I need.

My other idea was to set fire to it (seriously) but the cleanup afterwards would be torture.

Tonys wrote:

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Mark,
Have you gone any further with the PVA glue removal process - we could all learn from the success/failure of the process.
Tony

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Haven't tried it as yet Tony. I was on holidays last week but as soon as my daughter is back at school (tomorrow) I'll be giving it a go. It's going to take some time to assemble the structure before I even start soldering so it will take a while. I've attached a scan of the card template to show what I'm attempting to do and yes, it's every single line in the piece that needs replacing with wire. Another way around the problem would be making a pair of photo etched parts and folding them like the original card parts but I've not used, let alone made, photo etched parts.

Centurion wrote:

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You must have a very delicate hand with a soldering iron or are you going to use a mini blow torch and sweat the solder into the joints? I would worry about the joints being brittle and subject to brak under the stress of bending but for the life of me can think of no other solution. I've always thought that etched components look too flat when used for that sort of construction.

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It's got to be a soldering iron or else the card will disappear in a puff of ash. The way I'm going to attempt this is to assemble the card truss as normal and then cut each piece of brass to length, which means lots of small parts (in some cases 3mm or less), and then to glue each part in place at a point sufficiently far away from the joint to be soldered so that the glue doesn't contaminate the joint. After the glue has dried on all the parts, start soldering. I won't pretend that it's going to be easy but I'm hoping that IF I can cut and shape the brass accurately enough and IF the glue holds for long enough under heating and IF I don't melt already soldered joints and IF the glue will dissolve and the card can be removed without damaging the truss, that the airship will look all the better for it. I'll be taking photos at each point to capture success (or failure!!!) so if it works, you'll see the results (probably me gibbering away in the corner undergoing therapy).

BTW, I forgot to mention that I need a port and starboard truss so all of the above x2.

Mark Hansen wrote:

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Rhomboid wrote:

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Mark, have you considered tacking the brass pieces to the template with model airplane glue (the thick variety which comes in tubes), then dissolving it with acetone? Or perhaps building the frame with Plastistruct? In any case, it sounds like the project will be a real challenge to your patience. I hope the psych wards in Sydney have good internet access!

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Actually, I hadn't thought of tube glue. That might be a better option. I had considered a styrene frame but I thought it may look too bulky or be too fragile. If I have too much trouble with the brass, I may reconsider

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