Soldering the Mainmast

This post concerns the soldering of the mainmast. This is the first time that I’ve ever soldered any parts for a model. I made a run to Home Depot and purchased a soldering gun, flux, and solder. Something that I would add to the purchase is a device known as a third hand. (You’ll find out why later)

(The third hand)

I started off this part of the build by using an index card to transfer the dimensions of the mainmast from the plans. I used the card as a cutting base to get the mast cut and joined at the proper lengths without hosing up the plans. The mainmast was .032" brass rod, the top mast was .020" diameter brass rod. The remaining parts were made from .016" diameter brass.

This is the first time I've ever soldered a mast but it turns out that it's not that difficult. The first thing to do is to make sure that the components are clean. I sanded the brass stock that was going to become the mast with a sanding stick. I also tapered the top mast for a more realistic appearance.

Once they were clean I applied a little dab of flux to the parts. The flux facilitates the soldering of the parts by providing a chemically clean surface. Then I took the gun and heated it up. Using a small amount of solder I touched the tip of the gun until a small amount of solder melted off onto the gun tip.

In turn I sued the gun to “paint” the area where I was going to join the parts. This left the parts with a surface area of solder on them. Set aside the gun and align the parts as you want them joined. The main to top mast is the easiest join. In this case I secured them to the index card with some masking tape.

Heat the gun up again and touch the tip to the parts. The solder that you painted on earlier should “flash” (liquefy). Remove the gun and you should then have two soldered parts. Don’t over-do the application of the solder. Less is more in this context since only the top surface of the solder has any grip on the parts.

The other joints are going to be harder to do. Firstly because they are just more complex and secondly because you don’t want to heat the parts up so much that the earlier joints you made re-liquefy. I advise using metal clamps to hold the parts since that will act as a heat-sink to drain off excess heat.

The third hand would be useful to apply items such as the boat boom. I rigged something up using a chunk of florist foam but do yourself a favor and buy the third hand tool. These parts took me 2 hours to make…most of that time spent in a rather frustrating attempt to align the booms before I figured out the florist foam & alligator clamp arrangement.

A related 101 course on soldering.