Can white metal be strenghtened?

[ismaelg]

Hello,

The suspension on my current project (2005 Danica's Indy 500 car) is made of white metal and it is extremely soft. I don't trust those parts holding the weight of the rather heavy model. Is there any way to strenghten white metal? I thought about coating it at the bottom with superglue. I did one A-arm in styrene with so-so results. The best way would be doing it in brass but I'm trying to minimize all that extra work. Any ideas?

Thanks,

[torinobradley]

The best way to keep it strong is to try not to bend it. Bending it damages the crystaline structure of the metal and makes it softer. Other than that, I don't know of too many other ways that don't involve major work or recasting... I don't think you can temper the white metal because it reaches fluidity (is that a word?) at a lower temperature than it gets red hot. The stuff goes from solid to fluid in a few degrees... Too hot and you got a puddle of shiny metal with no indication of what it used to be...

Is it possible to make a few of the main supports from brass and keep the others in white metal?

[Harry P.]

I don't think that the white metal parts would have any problem supporting the weight of the model. How much can the model weigh? A few ounces? Maybe even a pound? Why would the cast metal pieces not be able to support that?

[ismaelg]

These are the parts. The body is a solid chunk of resin so it weights more than your average model, but not as much as say a diecast car. The white metal parts are paper thin and not much stronger than say aluminum foil. What I plan to do is to use them but replace the spring rod (diagonal bar) with brass. That should keep it in place. I don't think I can solder brass to this as this will melt way before the solder even winks.

Thanks,

[ismaelg]

I just had an idea: I'll sandwich the tip of the A arm with 2 brass strips and solder the spring rod to that. Or maybe styrene instead of brass... Either one should work...

Thanks,

[HotRodaSaurus]

White metal is lead based and can be worked fairly easily if carefull.

Just a note if you need any more white metal material,cant get any? give me a PM

John

[Zoom Zoom]

Another reason I loathe white metal

Seriously, I wish it didn't exist. It's used far too much as a crutch for aftermarket kit production.

[Jairus]

Issy,

No!

But, the inboard springs are controlled by a push rod...right? Use a piece of steel wire in place of the push rod and you have doubled the strength of the suspension.

[Modelmartin]

Just superglue some brass rod to the bottom sides of the a-arms. Brass strip is too flexible. I have soldered a lot of white metal over the years and it is not for the faint of heart but if you do it you will be glad you did. I have been able to make really nice models out of poorly engineered kits because I was willing to solder them together. By the way - with white metal you are actually welding it since the solder and the white metal are essentially the same and they are fused together.

Andy

[HotRodaSaurus]

By the way - with white metal you are actually welding it since the solder and the white metal are essentially the same and they are fused together.

Andy

Forgot to say, but Andy almost said it for me, Lead is sligtly softer than white metal so you could get away with soldering if you use the old type lead solder.

White metal is used in shell bearings and contains(I believe) lead tin & zinc.

Here's a hint, put your message on a model soldier board/forum of warhammer, the figures are white metal and lead and eople do restore them.

John