Fittings – white metal or resin?

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

Hi all,

I’ve noticed that many deck fittings are available in white metal or resin. With kits in particular, it’s often possible to buy a set of fittings in either material and I was wondering what the advantages / disadvantages of eash are.
I have used budget resin fittings before and fond they needed quite a bit of ‘finishing’ to remove mould seams and uneven surfaces, so as a novice builder ease of working is a significant factor. I believe some white metal alloys can contain a high percentage of lead so presumably significantly heaver than resin – any issues with secure fixing or raising C of G?

Look forward to hearing opinions

Dave

[Kevin BeallParticipant @kevinbeall91525]

Last lot of fittings I got from SLEC were in white metal as they are, in my opinion, easier to finish to a good standard. Some of the recent resin items have been really poor and so fragile that they broke too easily. For the price difference I would opt for the metal ones.

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

Well, that’s 100% for white metal.  One out of one owners who expressed a preference said their boat prefers it.

Thanks Kevin

Dave

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

A lot depends on what your own personal requirements are.  Some of us are driven by the desire for the best, most realistic appearrance and some are driven by cost.  In certain circumstances the defining factor could be weight.

At the end of the day there is no single answer to the question.  When you are looking at requiring a fitting for a particular item on your model you have to look at all options and make your decision for that specific item.  You have also missed out another major contendor in this day and age and that is 3D printing, plus you have missed out many people’s favourite and that is scratch building.

As an example I decided to improve the looks of a bridge wing mounted Oerlikon on a Graupner ready built 1/48th scale Corvette.  I sourced a 3D printed item from Shapeways and found too much of the parts were far too weak and mishapen.  Patience ran out with brass barrels and replacement sheild brackets as the sheild still looked bent!  I then bought a replacement white metal item but was very dissapointed with the level of detail when I got it.  I finally found a resin item and bought that but again was dissapointed in the strength of certain parts such as the sheild brackets and sight.  So what did I do?  I added some scratch built detail to the original and gave it a careful painting and weathering.

That was just one example and I’m certainly not saying buy everything just to try it.  I actually thought I was buying the best item each time but ended up dissapointed.  However I do think it is important to evaluate all posibilities for any given situation and pick the best you can for that specific item.  Don’t restrict yourself to only one medium for your parts.

To answer the original question though there are good and bad castings in both white metal and resin and there are good and bad 3D printed items so it is still a case of evaluating individually.

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

Hi Richard,

I would describe myself as a novice builder, scratch building of fittings such as cowl vents is not something I could do well or consistently, hence my preference for manufactured parts. I hadn’t considered 3D printed, I’ll include that as a search option in the future.

I had been browsing boat kits where there are optional complete (almost) sets of fittings available in resin or white metal which prompted my original question. Sounds like there’s good and bad in all materials so I think I’ll probably opt for white metal first due to the fragility of some of the plastics.

Dave

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Cowl vents are very difficult to scratch build. Fortunately there are are a lot of commercial offerings. The cowl is the difficult bit so if you can buy that at the size you need then extending the supporting tube is a relatively easy scratch built option.

Colin

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Its always worth having a look at Shapeways but bear in mind the following.  Items come from Holland so you might have to pay import duties and sometimes the parts are too fragile to be practical on an operational model.

Also check out after market parts made in brass.  Deck fittings such as horns, bells, bollards and handrails are frequently available as brass parts.

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