HIGHWHEEL KICKER Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Hi Everyone,Thinking again about the rust issue is there a better way of plugging holes in tinplate other than using plastic padding, epoxy or a resin? I admit to hating plastic padding. It reminds me too much of my student days when I used to drive around in rust buckets full of filler!We all know that welding a metal piece in is the way the car restorers go. I don't know if this is possible on thin tinplate. Certainly heat generated can't be scaled down!I was however very interested in the topic in Tips and Tricks on gilding. When I used to make up plastic plane kits I remember something on the market called "metal skin" or some similar name. I think that this was probably very thin aluminium sheet but alot stiffer than cooking foil.After applying your plastic model suddenly looked like metal. I wonder if a composite of this, perhaps a very fine mesh skinned on both sides could plug a hole? I do remember that its edges could be feathered in. Is there an equivalent like this in the market similar to the sheets of gold leaf? Not all holes in tinplate occur under painted areas and this might just work.The other example which comes to mind is metal powder applied in a casting resin. I have seen chess sets made like this that can be polished up like metal.I hope other Alphadromers have views on this. HW-K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe K. Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 welding a metal piece in is the way the car restorers go. I don't know if this is possible on thin tinplate. Certainly heat generated can't be scaled down! What if, instead of welding a piece in, the piece was soldered in place from behind and the hole filled with a drop of solder and then sanded smooth? Aren't broken tabs mended or replaced using thin pieces of "tin" soldered in place as a backup or replacement tab? The amount of heat applied can be controlled so as to prevent additional damage to the area.Any other ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 :) Joe, I think that is an excellent idea. I have at the moment, a robot that is requiring extensive changes to the shape and also some holes filled in and smoothed over. I may try that on the small holes first, I'll report back if it is successful. -Larry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIGHWHEEL KICKER Posted October 15, 2004 Author Share Posted October 15, 2004 Hi Joe,A good idea, there is always more than one way of skinning a cat! Look forward to your report L7.HW-K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIGHWHEEL KICKER Posted October 15, 2004 Author Share Posted October 15, 2004 Just been reading a fascinating discussion on the Blue Chief Robot and in particular the last post by H I Gosses.Here he mentions something called silver-silver simple ground up aluminium as opposed to silver metallic paint.Can somebody enlighten me on the difference. I think this can fit in nicely with our holes in Robots topic.HW-K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 :) I'm happy to report that soldering up holes in tin is very easy if the same techniques are used as one would use to weld. I used a soldering gun, a soldering iron probably would be the same. As Joe suggested above, cut out the rust or corrosion, cut a new piece of tin out of an organ and tissue donor robot, (Space Walk Man or Schylling Space Dog!)cut it bigger than the hole and shape it to fit behind the hole. Next, clean all mating surfaces with a small stainless wire brush on a rotary tool, or use sandpaper,(the solder didn't seem to want anything to do with rust or paint!) Apply flux to all mating surfaces, and go for it. Start soldering on the back side, heating both parts equally, when you have them hot enough, the solder should melt onto both surfaces, bonding them together. Then, do the outer body part, as Joe suggests, fill in the slight low spot where the hole was, and then smooth over the area. A tip is to use a magnet to hold the patch in position as you begin. Also, once you have been around the patch with solder, you can move just your soldering tip around the seam once more to make the seam flow out more flat and smooth, this makes for less sanding. Good luck, -Larry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIGHWHEEL KICKER Posted October 16, 2004 Author Share Posted October 16, 2004 Thats brilliant. Thanks Larry 7HW-K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartzenegger Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 very very nice! i will try this myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 :) Yeah, you know guys, when robots in rough shape are bringing bids of hundreds of dollars these days, I keep an open mind when bidding on a robot that still has all of it's fragile parts in good condition( battery box, eyes, plastic arms, switches, etc.) You can possibly save a badly played with robot from the salvage category and make for yourself an addition to your collection that, at least, will do until a pristine copy comes along. If it is a robot that was painted originally, such as a black, silver, red, or grey robot, a person can have good luck repairing and refinishing it back to a similar appearance, and, now here is where the fun is, also, you can be creative with the colors. For instance, one could refinish a Cragstan's Mr. Robot that is really in bad shape and do it in one of the more rare variations, such as white. I want to redo an SH attacking Matian in red for myself. -L7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIGHWHEEL KICKER Posted October 29, 2004 Author Share Posted October 29, 2004 Yes Larry you are quite right where Robots are one colour. Patterned litho is beyond my painting skills though!HW-K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 :) Yeah, HW-K, over the last few months, I've been doing a lot of repainting and repair on tin robots for people, and I can't do much at all with the refinishing on a litho robot. The new paint just does not look like it should but, I did discover something to try further. I baked in a toaster oven a robot part that had been resprayed with Rustoleum, and I got it just a little too hot,probably over 160 degrees F, and the paint really smoothed out and slighly dulled down from such a high gloss, it did look like a 50 year old litho'd surface. Interesting, maybe later I will pursue it further. -Larry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIGHWHEEL KICKER Posted October 29, 2004 Author Share Posted October 29, 2004 Yep Larry, thats certainly worth a look. Always enjoy your postings because you are doing rather than talking,Best WishesHW-K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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