Rolling photoetch gun barrel coolling jackets

I'd seriously like to know what the guy does for a living to have all that time to do all the wonderful work he did!  I just have an 8-5 desk job plus a wife and two kids and I'm lucky if I get two or three hours of build time in a week!

I'm kinda in the same boat as ChuckW... Although I'm not a pro modeler or a paid artist, I build about 40-50 hours a week and actually work my "real" job about 10-20...  I got my Army pension, and I manage an apartment building for a living as a supervisor, general handyman, and rent collector...  I get a smallish salary and a free apartment out of the deal, so my supervisor pay goes into models, supplies, and tools...  Problem is, I have about 10 dioramas in progress right now, so having all that time can be a draw-back as well... When I reach a mandatory stopping point on one, I'm liable to start another project, rather than pick up on a  partially-done one...

I'll tell you one thing, I went back and looked at that Helldiver build.  All I can say is "Will someone please pick up my jaw??"  Absolutely amazing.  I'd seriously like to know what the guy does for a living to have all that time to do all the wonderful work he did!  I just have an 8-5 desk job plus a wife and two kids and I'm lucky if I get two or three hours of build time in a week!  Last night I airbrushed the bottom of my P-51.  That's all I had time for!

But I digress.  Regardless of the material (brass vs. aluminum), I picked up some wonderful tips from reading that build.  Actually, I picked up a LOT of tips as well as inspiration.

Eric

echolmberg wrote:

Help! I ordered an Eduard PE set for my B-17.  One of the components in this set are the perforated cooling jackets for the .50 cal guns.  However, they come flat.  After doing exstensive research, I've discovered that the gun barrels were, indeed, round. Now that we've extablished that, how do I turn the flat PE part into a round tube? Help! Thanks! Eric

if you useing eduard pe you will fine ive used plenty of pe and ive never seen it done with aluminum.

Well I, for one, am NOT laughing.  I just ordered a blast furnace and matching annealing ovens.  They're supposed to get delivered tomorrow!  Curses!  Curses!

Eric

Hans von Hammer wrote:

Sorry, Guns....  Didn't think I'd have to be that specific for a modeling question, but I'll ammend my statement to say that, "You can't anneal photo-etched aluminum parts for small-scale models in the traditional manner of most non-ferrous metals and alloys due to the extremely low melting point of the material and the average modeler's lack of precision thermal measuring equipment and the varibles of such a process, especially in the the amount of work-hardened crystalization already undergone in the process of manufacture and shaping of the basic stock material used for the etching..."  It's not very often I get asked, "What time is it" and need to answer with a detailed explanation of how time works and how to build a reliable and accurate watch to monitor it... Usually, "Three O'clock", or something like that, suffices...  I'll strive to be more detailed in the future....

Ok, now this one actually made me laugh out loud at work. Awesome!

Sorry, Guns....  Didn't think I'd have to be that specific for a modeling question, but I'll ammend my statement to say that, "You can't anneal photo-etched aluminum parts for small-scale models in the traditional manner of most non-ferrous metals and alloys due to the extremely low melting point of the material and the average modeler's lack of precision thermal measuring equipment and the varibles of such a process, especially in the the amount of work-hardened crystalization already undergone in the process of manufacture and shaping of the basic stock material used for the etching..."  It's not very often I get asked, "What time is it" and need to answer with a detailed explanation of how time works and how to build a reliable and accurate watch to monitor it...

Usually, "Three O'clock", or something like that, suffices...  I'll strive to be more detailed in the future....

yes you can aneil aluminum http://www.key-to-metals.com/Article139.htm

You guys are all great!  Thank you for the great info.  And Rad, I'm going to look for the build on the Helldiver too!  Thanks!

Eric

PS. Hans, my little quiz I had last week on annealing covered iron, not aluminum.  LOL!  No wonder I didn't know about it.

echolmberg wrote:

Hans, why do ya gotta screw things up for me???  I think it might be Al.  If it is, in fact, aluminum, what are my options?  I've never worked with the aluminum stuff before.  Will it be softer to the point where I don't have to anneal it like brass? Eric

LOL... Heh.. Consider what it would have looked like had I NOT screwed things up for ya...

Truthfully, I'm not the best guy for PE tips, since I don't use much of the stuff.  I've only used what's come with the Pro Modeler kits.  But speaking metalurgically, aluminum is softer than brass and can't be annealed.   

Hans, why do ya gotta screw things up for me???  I think it might be Al.  If it is, in fact, aluminum, what are my options?  I've never worked with the aluminum stuff before.  Will it be softer to the point where I don't have to anneal it like brass?

Eric

echolmberg wrote:

Thanks Doog!  I've heard of the annealing trick (heck I even had a test on it last week!).  But now it's time for my stupid question of a lifetime.  We can wait until the metal has cooled, right? Signed, Fred Smith (not my real name)

Thanks Doog!  I've heard of the annealing trick (heck I even had a test on it last week!).  But now it's time for my stupid question of a lifetime.  We can wait until the metal has cooled, right?

Signed,

Fred Smith (not my real name)

Not an easy thing to do. But try this:

Heat the PE part up over your stove burner; let it get good and hot (might want to try it with a spare piece first). This is called "annealing"; it softens the metal. Then find a cylindrical object smaller than the actual tube that you want to make, and bend the PE around that piece. You might want to bend it around a piece of steel rod, or maybe even brass? If the metal is soft enough, you should be able to do it with your fingers somewhat. It ain't easy to do, but that's how I do it when I need to get cylinders.