Soldering PE to white metal

[eyckles]

Hi,

I’m currently working on a Studio27 Lotus 87. The front and rear wing are way to heavy to glue them together with ca glue. So. I. Want to solder them together. It seems like the best option, but have no clue how to start. I know i need low melting solder and special flux, but it seems like i can’t find them here in Europe. Can anyone advice me? I already bought a soldering iron who can handle low temperatures. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance

Best regards,
Lesley

[notime4me]

This is the solder that was recommended to me by 'Little Cars' in Britain (they sell all kinds of 1/43 white metal cars) and I have been very happy using for years. You should be able to find this on ebay.

[PeteJ]

Just one comment. When soldering white metal you want as hot a temperature you can get without melting the white metal. Unfortunately "white metal' can be a variety of alloys so they don't all melt at the same temperature. Safest thing to do is to take a piece of a sprue and heat your soldering iron until the metal melts and then turn the temp down slightly below that temperature. Better safe than sorry as white metal generally melts a lot when it goes.

[Formulamike]

Hi Lesley,

look in my old Topic from 2009 Solder of one Rearwind, ,
in this Topic are many information and comments, I am sure that can help you.
When you need more Infos ,please write a PM
Mike

[Formulamike]

Hi Lesley,
small update, I have soldering the Brass to whitemetal of the Airbox , look my topic BBR williams FW15 in the 1:43,
The solder is the same as in the Topic Solder of one rearwing.
You must need a test with your whitemetal from this kit,which temp need this Whitemetal, they are different.
Mike

[dgwoodward2]

Yes, make sure to pay particular attention to when you are performing the soldering of the brass/stainless steel, you usually need to "tin" the PE piece first. The basics is that you lay down a very thin layer of a different solder type (slightly higher temp) on the PE, which gives the white metal solder a surface to bond to. And as you will hear throughout the posts, make sure you practice quite bit prior to working with your priced parts. It it very easy for this to get away from you and practice really helps to get a better confidence level. I will add however, that when I use solder, there is no better bonding for wings, etc.
Just my 2 cents.

[gp-models]

Best advise is keep it as a model on it`s own and be patient!
When soldering PE it`s allways good to have a good flux solution, cause the etched parts need an agressiv Flux to be soldered strenghtly. Do some test before you takle the kit parts to make sure you find the right heat and flux, best to do it is using a soldering station where you can switch between different temperatures. It needs some advise and experience, but finaly it is no rocket sience to do it.