Aru Nine Models - Super Glue or Solder?

[bc6]

I just got this cool little Aru 9 Models kit and was curious which do you prefer to assemble the kits with super glue or solder. I'm pretty excited to get cracking on this kit and hope that it comes out like the photos on the instruction sheet thanks in advance.

[cteno4]

You can do either. The good thing about the arunine kits is they are much more tab oriented for assembly than the world kougi kits. In fact they are designed so you could just only twist and fold tabs to hold it together. So you can do this and then apply acc glue at strategic points if needed. Acc glue does get brittle with age on things like metal and eventually crack. You definitely want to use a very thick acc glue as on these joints thin stuff will run like mad and even medium will slip along the metal while setting at times. Epoxy can be used as well, just messier to use. Same issue with acc is it can get brittle on metal joints.

 

tabs that are totally hidden and have the room, twist the tab about 30 degrees instead of bending them over, it will make a much tighter tab joint than folding and things stay lined up with the slot better.

 

soldering is the heartiest joining method, but it takes a higher watt iron and chisel tips to solder brass well. Also lots of flux and lots of practice to do it well. Not something most pickup in an hour. But you can get good at it with practice. Lots of discussion on soldering brass over in the world kougei topic here

 

With glueing and soldering you want to make sure to really clean the brass well and even use a brass cleaner to get all the oxidation off the surface and even scratch the surface up for the best glue grip and solder flow. After reading these tutorials I recently picked up some of the Bar Keepers Friend powdered cleaner to try on brass stuff. Looks like it does a nice matte finish on brass that should be good for solder, glue, and paint to stick to well. I use to just wash the brass and some times scruff up a solder joint area wirh a contact cleaner pen, but I’m now just going to try scrubbing down the whole surface. In the past I have had issues with solder flow that looked like it was even from a very greasy finger print. 
 

cheers,

 

jeff

[bc6]

Wow Jeff thanks for the wealth of information on building these kit. I have both thick super glue and a soldering iron which I may use to build the kit I'm very excited to build one of these "easy" kits.

Edited September 28, 2023 by bc6

[cteno4]

They are fun. For your first try to pick one that’s simple and you won’t mind as much if you mess anything up it’s a learning process. Also might want to look at getting a pair of xuron etch scissors. They are great for cutting off etch parts from their sprews. You can cut it clean enough not to need any filing most of the time. Not cheap but a good tool.

 

https://www.micromark.com/Xuron-Professional-Photo-Etch-Scissor

 

jeff

[cteno4]

Also use the rest of the brass sheet the parts are etched out of to practice soldering on. It really is how you get to Carnegie hall!

 

jeff

[bc6]

Lol yeah practice is the way to Carnegie hall lol, Thanks for the great tips I think that's the direction I'm going with this project. 

Edited September 28, 2023 by bc6

[Martijn Meerts]

Also, never combine both glue and solder, unless you glue parts after you're done with all the soldering. Both super glue and epoxy don't like heat much 🙂

 

[bc6]

Thanks Martin I'll remember that 😁

[mags_minibuilds]

Reposting this link that @cteno4 provided in the World Kougei thread, it was super useful as there’s step by step and tips on several ARU kits.

http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~toyoyasu/handycrafts.htm

 

I finished my first HO narrow brass kits: 2 ARU freight cars and almost done with a World Kougei Porter engine. The ARU kits definitely have thicker brass so my soldering iron temp had to go higher or think about using a larger tip that can transfer the heat faster.

 

Good luck, don’t hesitate to ask questions. There's so many helpful folks here that helped me, so grateful. I don’t think I would’ve started if I didn’t have the support.

[bc6]

Thanks Mags for link I appreciate it. 

[UnfinishedKit]

I have been building some Aru totemo kantan kits. It’s the first brass stuff I’ve had much success with. Part of it is they are really easy but also I’ve been introduced to lead free solder paste. It’s an absolute game changer. Clean the joints as normal, then apply a tiny amount of paste with the end of an awl and then apply heat with a fine solder tip. The solder just runs into the joint as the flux paste vaporises. There’s no more wondering how people solder so neatly without a pair of extra hands. 
 

I’m almost to the point I can start tackling  the more complicated brass kits I have in the backlog. 

 

Edited January 13 by UnfinishedKit

[bc6]

@UnfinishedKit Wow your Aru 9 kits look really good thanks for sharing your techniques with us. How are you dealing with the hot parts from the soldering iron. I will revisit the assembly of my kits soon using your technique.

[UnfinishedKit]

Bakelite blocks for holding hot metal (and forming). 
 

I started out with the Kato/KTM Steam narrow gauge wagon kit. whilst I did have to (safely) discard of the solder that came with it as it was lead solder it was a great introduction to soldering. 
 

They have a series of videos videos by one of the Kasumi soldering masters 

 

this one shows how to use the Bakelite blocks to hold a part. 

 

Shigemon has a good video as well

 

 

IMON sell packs of ベークブロック but you can also find Bakelite sheet of various sizes on aliexpress and locally depending on where you are. 
 

RM Models magazine also has an issue on soldering and whilst my Japanese isn’t nearly good enough to read much, the pictures are very useful. 
 

What I have moved on from or rejected was using lead solder either in coil or bar form, as still seems to be very popular in the modelling community in Japan and elsewhere. I’m not too keen on breathing lead fumes and even less keen on the baby breathing them. Silver solder in coil form was OK to work with but you need a lot of heat and I found it hard to control. Paste means you only have to apply the tiny amount of solder you actually need - tip of an awl works so well. 
 

You also have to let the parts cool down before you apply more paste otherwise it melts and runs everywhere. A few sips of sake whilst it cools does the trick. 

[UnfinishedKit]

Also I have this really cheap Chinese soldering iron with a temperature control in the handle. 460C seems to do the trick but I’m not sure I’ve completely dialed it in. 

Amazon link

 

otherwise it’s just good soldering prep, clean everything and clean again. And  practice, practice, practice on old sprues
 

next up is to try desoldering wick to try and clean up some of my earlier messes. 

[cteno4]

12 minutes ago, UnfinishedKit said:

otherwise it’s just good soldering prep, clean everything and clean again. And  practice, practice, practice on old sprues

So, so true!

 

@bc6 the arunine kits let you do just about anything as they have so many big tabs and slots to practically hold them tougher with just that. I’ve soldered tabs as well as acc glue and epoxy at times. 
 

I like the idea of using soldering paste for tabs, never tried that. Put a dab under the folded tab and heat! I’ve only used paste for tiny bits where I had to hold a part whole soldering and electronics parts.

 

btw solder smoke has almost no lead in it, the fumes are from the flux, which isn’t great in your face but is diluted easily with a small fan. But with a baby best to not have an small beads of solder or sanding powder in the house.

 

jeff

[UnfinishedKit]

43 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

I like the idea of using soldering paste for tabs, never tried that. Put a dab under the folded tab and heat! I’ve only used paste for tiny bits where I had to hold a part whole soldering and electronics parts.

it’s really game changing for those little tabs you have to fold under to hold the bogie brackets. You can use so little and not fill the crucial little slots. 
 

one downside of the paste is it has a shelf life. You keep it in the fridge, but I can’t see myself getting through 15g before the expiration date. 

[bc6]

@UnfinishedKit thanks for the link to the bakelite pieces I will see if I can get my retailer to order it for me.

[cteno4]

The Bakelite block trick is great. I was just about to buy a 10x15cm of 15mm for $10 to make a base plate and cut off a few blocks from one end. Happy to make you one @bc6.

 

jeff

[bc6]

@cteno4 Wow, I really appreciate you cutting up several pieces of bakelite for me. I'll reach out to you via DM.

[cteno4]

Anyone else want a couple of holder blocks or blocks and a base? Pm me, I can easily cut them up.

 

jeff

[UnfinishedKit]

@cteno4im good for blocks but what are you using to cut Bakelite?

[cteno4]

I’ll use my mini table saw. It’s basically like a very hard plastic, should cut fine with a small tooth blade. 
 

was thinking of 20mm h x 15mm w x 50mm long
 

jeff

[mr bachmann]

Trix Twin Railway track was made Bakelite as it was the fashionable plastic of its day (1930s 1950s)