Who is this "Sidkit" and why don't I own his Mal Reynolds pistol?

[jason1976]

YES! I just got mine ordered.

 

[TridCloudwalker]

thats awesome, yeh, i forgot about soldering.... i might just do that..
BUT mine will be plated?!!?
so maybe JB Weld is still the best bet..

Not if even the tiniest bit of the JB Weld beads out to the surface. True, there is steel powder in JB weld, but the epoxy bonding it together will insulate it from electrical conductivity. What you'll end up with is a beautiful brass plated gun with grey seam lines all around it. Hell, it's even possible to insulate an entire section of the kit from the current, and you end up with a brass body and pewter muzzle.

So unless you can definitely prevent Weld from beading to the surface via the seams, and make sure there's a metal to metal connection point somewhere to every kit piece, i'd stick to soldering.

Of course, you can always have your electroplater plate before you put it all together. Then all you have to worry about is the seams beading.

 

[DavidS]

yes, its gonna be plated unassembled..... each peice plated

 

[Blad]

Ok, I know the first billion pages of this thread debated how soft, "soft" is, but we're hearing it a lot again, and now that a lot more people actually have their kits. How soft, is "soft"? I mean, can I costume with this piece? Or, do I have to put it in some kind of heat controlled case, to keep it from malting? :lol

Oh, the solder Is a very good point. I just saw a thing on antiques round show, on how they restore pot metal (pewter, etc.) pieces, and they said they basically solder them back together. They did say to do a scratch test first, though. (in a place you wouldn't see) They said if it flacks, it wont take solder well at all, other wise solder away. By the time they were done finishing it, you really couldn't tell the pieces were ever broken at all.

It's not soft. It feels like silky metal out of the box, a bit like lead, but it's harder than lead. You could happily costume with it.

 

[KidL]

I really don't have experience plating, but I've seen some examples that resulted in 'swirls' in the finish. Is there a way to make sure the plating process turns out as flawless as possible? Or would I just have to trust in the shop's ability?

 

[eltee]

Like painting, so much depends on the prep work. When I get stuff plated, the prep is the most time consuming and costly phase. The shop I use looks for metal flaws, etc. then the pieces go into a booth for buffing and polishing. Then, wearing gloves, the buffer guy dunks the pieces into a cleaning solution that removes all oils, polishing compound and other residues before it gets plated.

So, see if your plating service includes cleaning and pre-plate polishing or do it yourself. Some places may simply dunk your parts as received straight into the plating tank. On some metals, plating with another metal is needed in order for the final plating to adhere properly. Don't forget that heavy plating may change fit tolerances to the point that pieces may not fit together afterward, so determine the thickness of the plating if the fit is already snug.

 

[dr_slurpee]

Anyone have an idea what plating would cost? I have some other things I wouldn't mind plated in brass to look gold.

 

[DavidS]

Anyone have an idea what plating would cost? I have some other things I wouldn't mind plated in brass to look gold.

like i said its gonna be expensive.... the place that does my plating for me, is where i got a graflex chrome and gold plated once.... they do great work.......

i imagine this will cost about the cost of the gun itself!

 

[Krel Jedi]

Just received Sidkit #034. I am very happy with it, it is a very nice kit. Sorry there are no pics at the moment, but my camera is packed.

 

[HouseAtreides]

What about the way they bronze baby shoes? Would this be an inexpensive alternative to have something plated?
I always wondered if this would be a good way to go for non metal items; have them bronzed then plate another color metal over that.

 

[DavidS]

the plater that i use only does BRASS and copper plating....

i am actually considering doing COPPER plating, since when it oxidizes it becomes more brown....

 

[dr_slurpee]

Why wouldn't you do brass so that it would be the same starting point as the original prop?

 

[DavidS]

errr good point....
im just brainstorming...

 

[Darth Brass]

Got mine today! Now to get the dremel wheel and my blueing agent!

 

[PodRacer X]

I just put in an order. Thanks to all on this thread for the tip. I may be cancelling my QMX order if I like how this turns out!

 

[cheech9898]

For those that got your Sidkit in 2 separate boxes... how far apart did they arrive time wise? I still haven't seen my '2nd box' show up that would have just the top rail plate in it, mail has already come today.

At this point, I'm guessing my best hope is QMx releases their pistol and I can pull the dimensions needed for that top plate and do my best to mill it myself in the shop.

 

[Kadajiroth]

For those that got your Sidkit in 2 separate boxes... how far apart did they arrive time wise? I still haven't seen my '2nd box' show up that would have just the top rail plate in it, mail has already come today.

At this point, I'm guessing my best hope is QMx releases their pistol and I can pull the dimensions needed for that top plate and do my best to mill it myself in the shop.

If it doesn't arrive for quite a while, shoot Sid an e-mail. He may be able to send you another one.

Also, the QMx pistol is the "Serenity" version, and SidKit's is the "Firefly" version, so the top rail may be different (it's just a guess, though).

 

[Kadajiroth]

Just ordered my kit. Woohoo! :love

 

[IronFist]

Just ordered my kit. Woohoo! :love

Welcome to the revolution, brother!

 

[kurtyboy]

Order placed :thumbsup