Solder for Weld Beads

[Skinny_Mike]

Hi guys! I thought someone had done a tutorial here of using solder to reproduce weld beads, but for the life of me I can't find it! Anyone remember that or am I just going crazy? :gogo

 

[moon puppy]

Terry did it I think, i'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[Brokeneagle]

I thought that I had done a how to on this but I only have a brief mention in my Stug 3 on a flat car build.
Basically you need to scribe a shallow v into the area you want to add the weld strip (the v trough should be at least as deep as half the circumference of the solder wire.
apply some super glue or other glue for metals into the trough and add the wire into the trough. Let it take then use a small flat semi pointed tool to push into the solder at small regular interval. Try to keep the solder weld shape slightly higher than the plastic after applying the pressure pattern.
Photo below shows an example on my Stug 3.



I hope this helps.

Ian.

 

[moon puppy]

Seems I remember that Ian, still can't find it. Think Iron Mike does it as well.

 

[Iron Mike]

He does. You just have to be sure you get CA under all the length of the solder, so it stays put when you tool it. As Ian said, scribing will allow you to get the adhesive under the bead. An alternate method for welds is to use some half round styrene rod and glue it in place with liquid cement. You can add the weld texture in the same manner and the styrene is easier to manipulate. Have fun!

 

[Skinny_Mike]

Thanks for the tips guys. I gave it a shot tonight. Here's what I ended up with.

First try. 0.5mm styrene

Second try. 0.5mm styrene

Third attempt. 0.2 mm lead wire

Thoughts?

Thanks
Mike

 

[JSteinman]

I prefer styrene.

 

[centaur567]

Nice welds on both. Too big for my scale. Gary S.

 

[moon puppy]

Thanks for the tips guys. I gave it a shot tonight. Here's what I ended up with.

First try. 0.5mm styrene

Second try. 0.5mm styrene

Third attempt. 0.2 mm lead wire

Thoughts?

Thanks
Mike

Think the wire looks better. John's looks great also so I guess it boils down to what technique you're more comfortable with.

 

[Skinny_Mike]

Thanks guys! I'm going to try to clean up the weld in first picture, its not as clean as I want, then get some paint and a wash on them to see how the texture looks. I'm also going to try some 2 part epoxy putty and see if those are any better. The experiments continue!

:dude