The basics of metal etching Enhancing models with your own custom etchings/Scott Lupia PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR C ertain model projects always
seemed to be just out of reach due to the limits of the materials
I was using. Styrene, my material of choice, can only do so much. That is where etched metal parts come into play. Passenger car sides and thin struc- tural components such as signal bridges or catenary structures are best modeled using etched metal. Until recently I was limited to what was commercially avail- able. There are many parts out there but, of course, I wanted more. Fortu- nately,
Bryan Bussey of Eastern
Seaboard Models (
www.ESMC.com) started me down the path of producing artwork for my own etchings. Bryan does this for many of his models so he is fluent in this and many other types of modeling media. In no time at all I was making my own artwork and having my own etchings done. The Seaboard Coast Line E3/E6 that I kitbashed in this is- sue could not have been completed without the etched detail parts. Long ago I had considered doing my own etchings, but I never got past the gathering parts stage. At that time I was going to do the artwork, as well as the etchings. I never got all of the chem- icals needed and was also not convinced that I could do the actual etching process well enough. There are many environmental factors and I knew it was going to be a steep learning curve. The project fell apart almost as soon as it began. Bryan shared his metal etch- ing ace in the hole with me. That would be PPD Ltd. (
www.ppdltd.com). PPD is a company who is a friend to the small manufacturer as well as the individual modeler. They will take projects from al- most anybody and will do projects of any size. I have sent them projects from one piece up to several hundred pieces. Working with them is also quite simple. E-mail them the artwork as well as a few important pieces of information such as material (brass, stainless steel,
50
nickel silver, etc.), metal thickness and quantity. They usually e-mail back in a day or two with the cost per part and will also review the artwork for errors or parts that will not etch properly. An e-mail back with updated artwork, if necessary, and also the go ahead will start the ball rolling. A few weeks later the etchings should be on your doorstep. Although PPD is located in the UK, payment is simple. Credit card and Pay-
The use of etched brass parts made the SCL E3/E6 modeling project possible (top). These computer screen saves show the two layers of artwork used to make the etchings. The bot- tom layer (above) is done in magenta and is the basic shape of the part. The detail such as rivets and panels will rest on top of this layer. The areas that are magenta will be brass. The areas that are clear will be etched. Tags connect the brass part to the fret. These are shown on this layer and not on the top (black) layer. This will make them half thickness so that they will be easy to cut through. The top layer, done in black, contains all of the detail (below). The shapes on this layer seem to float in space. That is because they are sitting on top of the ma- genta (bottom) layer. When both layers are merged, this will become apparent. Areas that are clear on this layer as well as the magenta (bottom) layer will etch completely though.
MAY 2014
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