White metal casted parts- curing blush?

SocrManiac · Post by **SocrManiac** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 7:05 pm

I bought a couple of 1/2400 scale white metal aircraft carriers for an Enterprise display. The flight deck of CVN-65 appears "blushed," or uneven somehow. Is there a way to smooth this up? I've never worked with white metal before, so I'm a little curious as to how problems like this are cured.

Thanks in advance!

DX-SFX · Post by **DX-SFX** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 7:30 pm

Any chance of some pics of these (tut tut) "casted" parts? Is it shrinkage or general discolouration?

SocrManiac · Post by **SocrManiac** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 7:44 pm

Not sure why I'm being "tut-tutted."

http://photobucket.com/albums/a67/SocrM ... CF0751.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/a67/SocrM ... CF0750.jpg

It's difficult to get pictures of it, but basically there's an unevenness/texture in the metal of the flight deck. Normally, I'd think putty would be the way to go, but having never dealt with this stuff before I don't know how putty adheres/shrinks/reacts with the metal.

DX-SFX · Post by **DX-SFX** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 8:21 pm

Sorry, the tut tut was for the word "casted" which is not a word. You meant "cast". There's been many threads here about it so it's a bit of a running gag.

You can fill whitemetal with any type of filler designed for cars. There's all sorts of things can cause surface blemishes but unless there's foreign inclusions in the metal that are likely to weep, leak or similar, you can just use filler over them to make good the surface. Hope that's helpful.

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:08 am

I know from experience that Bondo, Milliput, and gelled CA work well as fillers for white metal. I don't see why Aves wouldn't work as well, I just haven't gotten around to trying it.

Post by **TER-OR** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:32 pm

Clean the metal well - it looks like you have.

Epoxy putty is my first choice for something like this. Thin it to a putty consistency and spread it on. Then wet-sand later on a flat surface.

I've seen large metal minis have cracks and blemishes. I really should ask some of the guys I know in the business why this happens.

Mr. Surfacer also works well for metals.

Cloudwalker · Post by **Cloudwalker** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 8:21 pm

TER-OR wrote:I've seen large metal minis have cracks and blemishes. I really should ask some of the guys I know in the business why this happens.

It's a heat thing. If you pour the metal too slowly, it begins cooling before the spin caster can get it into the nooks and crannies perfectly. Also, the molds just might be wearing out.......or both.

My dad was the founder of Grenadier Models, so I've done a little bit of white metal casting. "White metal," by the way, is just lead with a little bit of tin in it.

Post by **TER-OR** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:47 pm

They're using a "lead free pewter" these days, or in oldspeak "Raldium."

It's lots of zinc and magnesium IIRC. I think it's more suceptible to the heat issues than the lead stuff.

Your dad founded Grenadier? Wow.
I've got a fair number of their big figures waiting to be built. I still snap up Grenadier dragons whenever I see them - great sculpts. Reaper's really on the track now, but Grenadier was the best of their day. He should know he made lots of geeky guys like me very happy over the years!

Cloudwalker · Post by **Cloudwalker** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:59 am

If you have any Dragons sculpted by my dad (Andrew Chernak) that you're willing to part with, I'd be happy to buy them. He didn't save anything when he disolved the company and sold off the molds 10 years ago. All I managed to save for myself were a few cases of Future Warrior figures (including a couple prototype pieces that were never mastered and released). I only have a Shire dragon, and a vinyl version of The Ultimate Dragon.

Post by **TER-OR** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:50 pm

I'd have to look at who sculpted the ones I have.