I'm having trouble with seems

[catd11rpusher]

Fellow modelers, I have a question, I put the exhaust stacks together on this 123 kenworth that I'm putting together. I only have the modeling putty, so I'm trying to sand them to fill in the seems, but while doing that I have sanded the details of the stacks off. I painted them with primer first still had some seems, so what I'm asking can I use extra glue when joining them together and sand off the excess and make that work? or use the putty and try to sans all the detial off the stacks so they are smooth all the way around. I will get something different on payday for filler.

[Jim B]

Are you talking about the seam on the stack itself, or on the muffler guard? For the stack itself, don't worry about the seam, and just slip some 3/16" aluminum tubing over the stack.

[catd11rpusher]

Are you talking about over the muffler itself, also aluminum tubing?

[Jim B]

No, just the exhaust stack itself, not the muffler. I checked one of the K123 kits I have in my stash, and those are tough seams to get rid of on the muffler. Only thing I can suggest is to mut masking tape on both sides of the seam to minimize damage when you are filling & sanding.

[catd11rpusher]

I have brush on cement, thats a great Idea thank you so much, my stacks are smooth now but I will make them work thanks for the info!!!

[Ben]

The real stacks would have a silver painted muffler with a stainless screen (heat shield) going 3/4 around the muffler. There would then be a stainless exhaust pipe clamped to the top of the muffler. The best way to replicate this would be to strip the chrome from the muffler halves, sand each half on a piece of sand paper that's adhered to a piece of glass or something very flat. This will ensure that both mating surfaces are flat with no gaps. This will also minimize the need for putty. After the halves are glued together, lightly sand the seam where the two muffler halves meet. If needed, apply a small amount of putty to make the seam disappear. Paint the mufflers silver, glue a piece of polished aluminum tubing on top and use some photo etch screen for your heat shield. There's many, many options out there for the screen. Several companies make photo etch screens specifically for truck stacks.

Something else that could be done is to simply use some Plastruct tubing in place of the kit muffler parts and not have to deal with a seam at all!

[catd11rpusher]

The real stacks would have a silver painted muffler with a stainless screen (heat shield) going 3/4 around the muffler. There would then be a stainless exhaust pipe clamped to the top of the muffler. The best way to replicate this would be to strip the chrome from the muffler halves, sand each half on a piece of sand paper that's adhered to a piece of glass or something very flat. This will ensure that both mating surfaces are flat with no gaps. This will also minimize the need for putty. After the halves are glued together, lightly sand the seam where the two muffler halves meet. If needed, apply a small amount of putty to make the seam disappear. Paint the mufflers silver, glue a piece of polished aluminum tubing on top and use some photo etch screen for your heat shield. There's many, many options out there for the screen. Several companies make photo etch screens specifically for truck stacks.

Something else that could be done is to simply use some Plastruct tubing in place of the kit muffler parts and not have to deal with a seam at all!

Ben thank you very much, you said photo etch paper can you tell more about that, also where I can get it

[Ben]

Ben thank you very much, you said photo etch paper can you tell more about that, also where I can get it

Hi Mike, the photo etch is actually real metal. It can be made out of brass, nickel, stainless, etc. The process is pretty involved so I'll try to be brief. A drawing is made of what the person wants made in photo etch, the drawing is the reversed. This drawing is then made into a thin transfer film that is applied to a thin piece of metal sheet. A special, light sensitive acid is the poured on the metal and light is applied. Everywhere that the light is able to "see" the exposed areas of the metal, will be eaten away. What is left is a thin piece of metal with precise holes etched either half way or all the way through the metal.

Kit Form Services, for one, sells "kits" of photo etch for specific trucks as well as generic sets for use on any type of truck. These kits usually include two flat muffler guards that need to be carefully "rolled" around your Exacto knife and other round objects to bend it into it's proper cylindrical shape. The sets also include badges for the trucks, mudflap weights, etc.

http://www.kitformservices.com/photoetch.html

Edited August 12, 2011 by Ben

[catd11rpusher]

Hi Mike, the photo etch is actually real metal. It can be made out of brass, nickel, stainless, etc. The process is pretty involved so I'll try to be brief. A drawing is made of what the person wants made in photo etch, the drawing is the reversed. This drawing is then made into a thin transfer film that is applied to a thin piece of metal sheet. A special, light sensitive acid is the poured on the metal and light is applied. Everywhere that the light is able to "see" the exposed areas of the metal, will be eaten away. What is left is a thin piece of metal with precise holes etched either half way or all the way through the metal.

Kit Form Services, for one, sells "kits" of photo etch for specific trucks as well as generic sets for use on any type of truck. These kits usually include two flat muffler guards that need to be carefully "rolled" around your Exacto knife and other round objects to bend it into it's proper cylindrical shape. The sets also include badges for the trucks, mudflap weights, etc.

http://www.kitformse.../photoetch.html

Ben that site is ausum, I have answers to all my questions there. They are in england but what tha hell, thanks agian for the help