Metal models

[B BParticipant @bb42502]

Is there anyone who is still building models from sheet metal? I am contemplating on building a model using sheet metal. In earlier years I knew of a few people who built their models from the old oil cans using that metal which they had cut from them. Has anyone got any hints or tips which may become handy?

[B BParticipant @bb42502]

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Not at all common in the UK as far as boat are concerned, probably because few people are taught metal working skills these days. You do occasionally see metal construction models at exhibitions though.

 

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 12/09/2010 10:12:14

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

i think also because grp is so easy for the moderate modeller to work in, that unless you are fastidious in building as per prototype, you [ definately myself] will not even contemplate using that medium.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I have seen brass boats in the past, as this is a much easier material to work in and can be soldered easily enough. Thin sheet steel would be more of a challenge though.

 

Have to be careful in your calculations or it may not float !!!

 

Ashley

[TelstarParticipant @telstar]

Hi B B    Building model ships from tin plate (thin steel with a coat of tin on each side) used to be  common, as you remarked a 5 gallon oil tin gave a good source of tin plate.

I still have a 5ft straight runner made from tin plate powered by a JAP twostroke air cooled motor. Manipulating this media is not as as difficult as some people seem to imagine, a good soldering iron and good tinsnips are the main requirement. Boyancy should be no problem, remember in many cases Ashley the ‘real thing’ is made of thick sheet steel and it floats.  The most useful tool I had was a sand filled leather faced bag, This was a bag made from a pliable leather about 8in (200mm) square, half filled with soft dry sand,   put it on the work surface, put the tinplate to be curved on it then rub the plate with a wooden dolly (a piece of broom handle with a hemispherical end) a bit of practice will soon tell you how much pressure and which direction to rub, to give the required curve. Shaped plates can then be assembled on a wood frame or metal chassis and soldered together, since the plate is already tinned, soldering should not be a major problem

Tom

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I had forgotten of course that tin cans are tin plated and solder readily.

 

I have a 1930`s “boys own” annul, which has instructions in it for a making a Rubber powered catamaran airboat ..out of tin can cutoffs !  Homemade tin prop as well. Its dead easy, when you read the article, any boy with a sharp pair of scissors and a penknife could do it….

 

Ashley

[David MeierParticipant @davidmeier28154]

Hi Bernard.

This Model Boats article might be some help to you.

 

http://www.modelboats.co.uk/news/article.asp?a=480

 

Cheers.

David

 

[B BParticipant @bb42502]

Thanks David I got the article. Very informative and it has just made me more determined to build a model in tin plate. I have all the equipment just was not to sure of if it was worth it. Now I know..

Cheers

 

Ps I suppose I will become a blacksmith as well now! LOL. Next I’ll be building the Titanic  scale 1!

[Bob ThommenParticipant @bobthommen49571]

Hi B B,     My first day on this site and my first post.  How are you coming with your metal boat?   I have made many scratch RC boats with wood but now I want to build a tinplate.  I plan on building the US Navy TY-146 Tug.  It will be 1:72 scale, finished length, 16.625 inches.  I read the article David Meier suggested.  Do you have any other advice?   

> >

Thanks

Bob>>

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[B BParticipant @bb42502]

Hallo bob and welcome to the forum. I am not at this stage actually building a ship in metal as yet and I playing with the idea. However the steam tug J.R More that I am bulding is on a scale of 1/32 makes her 1.5m in length.. The hull is going to plated with aluminium sheeting used by Lithographers. this sheeting will be cut and have the rivit details imprinted in the metal sheeting. Once the hull has l be making a fiberglass mould and pulling a hull from the mould for my shipp. See my albums  for details and pictures of machines i have built in preperation for the hull plating. My album on the J R More will give you an idea of the size of my model.

Regards and good luck,

 Bernhard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bob ThommenParticipant @bobthommen49571]

Hi B B,

Looked at your shop and tooling.  Looks good.  I moved to a smaller house three years ago so don’t have room for large tools ro large boats anymore.

 

Working smaller than 1:48 is new to me.

 

Here is a web sight you might be interested in.

A large amuminum tug.

 

http://users.eastlink.ca/~jbentley/Tug1.html

 

See you on later posts

Bob

[DeanoParticipant @deano]

I’m keen to try a sheet metal hull. I work in an aircraft sheet metal shop and am lucky to have the tools to hand.

 

The thing is I have so many other projects in the que it’s likely to be a while before I can try it!

 

Deano.

[Bob ThommenParticipant @bobthommen49571]

Hi Deano,

Sounds like you’re all set to build, just need time.

I will probably start on the HOGA tug next mounth.  It will be quite a learning curve for me.  The main problem I see is all the curves in the hull.  Any sugestions on making concave shpes in metal.  I have not yet decided on brass or tinplate.  From what I undrestand tinplate does not work harden as brass does.  Is this correct?  If it does not workharden than there would be no need to aneal it.  I’ve never done this before but the time has come.  Maybe we can all lear together.

 

Bob

[DeanoParticipant @deano]

Hey Bob,

 

I’m a long way from doing a sheet metal build, right now I have a ‘Margoletta’ part built and have the plans for Vic Smeed’s ‘Vivacity’ ready to go. My oldest son wants to do another RC aircraft with me too, then there’s work…

 

Mild steel tin plate will still work harden, but you won’t have the same problems with it as you would with brass where you would need to anneal to keep it malleable. You can go a bit crazy on the bend allowance with your tin plate too, without worrying too much about cracking.

 

For the concave shapes you could try sandbagging, if you get a nice tinmans hammer and polish the head up you will get nice results with practice. It’s a technique I last used in training, we had to make a bowl from aluminium sheet. That’s going back a bit though.

 

I’ll be very interested in your build thread, as you say we can all learn from each other.

 

Deano.

[Bob ThommenParticipant @bobthommen49571]

Here it is almost a year later. How are you doing with your metal boat? I changed scale to 1/96. LOA is now 12.75” and I made a solid wood plug of the hull to shape the sheet around.

Using .015” tinplate I started at the shear strake and down the bow. Then I read an article by a RR modeler who said he liked tinplate because when it rusted it looked realistic so not wanting a rusty boat I stopped with the tinplate and switched to brass.

About that same time I read the article “Tinplate Construction” by H T N Batchelor where he mentioned using brass ribs to hold the sheet metal when soldering. Using the same plug I made a rib every half inch and soldered them to the brass keel. I then started shaping .010 sheet brass. Each piece is about ¾” X 2”.

As far as special tools I made a hammer from a ¾” rod of Delran and a handle from an old small hammer. One end of the head is flat the other is full radius. Other than that I used A piece of soft leather about 1/8” thick, a flat piece of steel 1”thick, a burnishing tool and sheers. The pictures show the progression of operation.

I am not happy with the finished hull. It is not smooth like a hull should be and to make it smooth would require a lot of filler, but for a first time it’s not too bad. The skeleton is good so I will probably remove the sheet and start over.

Has anyone else done anything?

Bob

 

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

that is exquisite, Bob……..lovely workmanship…………….truly envious.

neil.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Nice, but does it float?

 

Bob

[TelstarParticipant @telstar]

Hi Bob That frame without the plateing is a work of art in itself.

Could you post a photo of the outside of the hull?

I am truly envious of the workmanship.

Brass is not an easily shaped (bent) material, Tin plate is more mallable. If you work tin carefully and don’t scratch the surface coating it does not rust, the edges where you cut it are sealed by the solder when you fit them. My ‘Tin Plate’ Straight runner some 50 years old and now retired from used is still sound and shows no rust on the hull which was painted at the time of building. Alternativley if you use thin sheet copper instead of brass for the plating, it can be readily annealed and is very mallable and easily shaped. In my school days I made two ‘fruit’ bowls from beaten copper, where a 8″ disk of metal was beaten into submission and formed into a decorative bowl 8″ by 4″ deep. As you ‘work the metal it ‘work hardens’ , and has to be annealed periodically. We were taught that brass alloys are mainly ‘brittle’ and don’t anneal easily. That was many years ago and may have been surpassed by technology but Its worth looking at.

 

By the way that first tin plate hull section look good

 

Cheers Tom

[Bob ThommenParticipant @bobthommen49571]

Thanks for the kind words. OK, Tom Here are the outside pictures.

 

The brass that is available at hobby shops is half hard and I didn’t find any difference in shaping the .010 brass or the .015 tinplate. This brass can be annealed like copper. But I found that when it was too soft it was harder to shape. Maybe I just have a heavy hand. H T N Batchelor in “Tinplate Construction” talked about using .005 brass. I found that too soft also. The main thing I can say is that it a steep learning curve and I still have a long way to go.

Bob

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