Intersection Replicas Forums

Hi,
These cars are the most outstanding pieces of scratchbuilt equipment, I've ever seen!
Shall return, and share some more from my little world of building cars.

Thanks for having me!

Kind Regards,
Brian

A big welcome to you!

thanks for stopping by and saying hello.

If we get a big enough group of dirt late model-modelers, I may even add a separate section dedicated to it.

Hi Michael,

While my car building skills are not even close to yours! I really enjoy building slot cars with brass and music wire. Finding this website has only inspired me to try someday building a dirt late model, as a slot car. Not just a stamped production unit with a late model body but one with a full roll cage such as yours.

Only speaking for myself, I would really like the pleasure of seeing how you hold all the parts together in a jig. What type of solder you use and what brand or how many different soldering irons does it take to build one of these wonderful detailed cars.

The complexity and scale accuracy of these cars you build are just overwhelming in my mind.

Not sure If you like to have website links posted on the forum, but this is one website that's a must read for any builder of brass race cars.

http://www.theindependentscratchbuilder.com/1.%20TOC/TableOfContents.htm


Have a Wonderful Day!

Kind Regards,
Brian

The true challenge of soldering is how do you hold the part, and it took some time to figure out the best method.

Each part has different requirements on how to hold it, how to keep the heat away from soldered joints around it, and how to keep it straight.

I use a couple different soldering irons (with different size tips), though the main one is a Weller 75 watt soldering station. Many parts are torch soldered, since the joint is very clean when you use a torch. I have a couple different torches as well.. a pencil type torch, and a larger 'gun style' torch, that has a nice electric start.. so you just pull the trigger and it's burning.

As far as solders go? I also have a couple different types.. I use silver bearing solder for parts that need to be very strongly bonded.. the main chassis rails for instance are soldered this way. Delicate parts are soldered with very thin electronics solder, that has a low melting point.

The right flux is very important too, i use a very strong acid flux, because it very quickly cleans the joint when you heat it, and the solder flows very smoothly. The problem with using strong flux is getting it cleaned up afterwards, which is a whole other issue i have to deal with.

I've built a number of different jigs to hold the parts, that i've developed over the years. As i build the cars, I create a database of photos of how i hold each part, so i can duplicate it should i forget the next time around.