Soldering Minis

Hauptmann6 · Post by **Hauptmann6** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:01 am

Is the alloy that GHQ uses able to be soldered with a standard iron? I couldn't seem to get it to melt on a building I was putting together. First time I've done it.

TAMMY · Post by **TAMMY** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:01 am

Be careful. When soldering you melt a filler material to join the parts. To help the joining you may heat the parts to be joined but do not melt them.

I have never tried it on GHQ models but I do not see why it should not work as on any other white metal models. On GHQ I normally use cyanoacrilate.

Thomaso827 · Post by **Thomaso827** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:10 am

It will depend on the temperature of the soldering iron. Normal solder melts at a much lower point than white metal. Also the possibility is there that when you cross that line to a higher temp, you may melt the mini. If you have a rheostat of some sort, one of those things that allows you to increase voltage, you can adjust the temperature of your soldering iron a little at a time. Try it on a piece of scrap before touching the mini you want to use. I'd honestly go with the ACC glue before going to this trouble. I've tried soldering 54mm metal toy soldiers and was never happy with the results. I'd probably pass on smaller scales.

Tom Oxley

Hauptmann6 · Post by **Hauptmann6** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:02 am

Fingers crossed. Going to try it. It's one of the vestibules on the manor house. So it's nothing little that I can screw up too bad. It's also a part that I can see popping off easily if it's just glued.

Hauptmann6 · Post by **Hauptmann6** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:13 am

Test failed. My iron isn't hot enough to get the job done. Would barely melt the solder on it's own let alone heat up the work area enough to melt the solder.

TAMMY · Post by **TAMMY** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:26 am

What is the power of your iron and what type of solder are you using?

A 15W iron should melt easily the proper low-meltring solder but has not enough wer to heat large piece being for electorinc works.

Hauptmann6 · Post by **Hauptmann6** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:02 am

Silver rosin core solder. Looks to be about 1/16th of an inch. Was the smallest I could find at HD. It's getting hard to find the really fine stuff.

And not sure what the iron is. Doesn't say and the package is long since gone.

piersyf · Post by **piersyf** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:09 pm

Pewter must have a low melt point soft solder. For joining flat sections (like panels) I'd recommend a separate flux made from 1 part hydrochloric acid to 18 parts glycerine. Take a non core solder with the lowest melt point you can find (either from an electronics store or a jewellers supply store), snip bits off, bash them flat (they heat quicker then) and run your iron over the join. The bits of solder should melt and flow through the liquid flux through capillary action before the model can suck too much heat away.

Look for any online tutorials for soldering pewter jewellery or ornaments.

I did a degree in this, and worked as a jewellers assistant for a while, and I won't even try it. CA all the way.