Advice pleeze (1)? Photo-etched parts...

[conkerking]

I have just discovered the wonderful world of limited-run Czech-made kits... I've jumped off my Spitfire treadmill to do a FAA Phantom, and through that have discovred all these interesting planes flown by the Royal Navy over the years. All those butt-ugly Blackburns and Faireys are extraordinarily well represented in the offers of the likes of Special Hobby and Valom. These kits usually come with a combination of injection-moulded, resin and photo-etched parts.

Anyways, my point (I do have one) is... I've never used these PE parts before... can anyone give me any tips on working with them? How should they be painted, fixed in place etc?



Cheers!

[kgambit]

Copied this over from another thread:

1) If you are planning on painting any PE parts, make sure you clean them first to take off any oils. They can be hand painted or airbrushed with either enamels or acrylics - whether you hand paint them or airbrush them will depend on the size of piece involved and your skill. Some people recommend priming and also doing some LIGHT sanding to rough up the surface to make a better bond with the paint - I've never done either. This ONLY applies to the PE sets that are NOT pre-painted - those can be used without any prep.

2) You want to attach them using a CA glue, in particular a slow drying CA glue so you have time to position the piece(s) where you want them. when the CA dries you can always go back and touch up any overrun on the glue if necessary. Note that CA glue applied to a painted surface will actually bond with the PAINT and not the underlying surface. If you need to detach a glue PE part, you can use a CA debonder. If will dissolve the CA joint in a hardbeat but it turns any paint it touches into goo.

3) If a unpainted piece needs to be bent, bend it first and THEN paint it. It prevents you from marring the paint with tweezers while bending it and it also removes any chance that the paint will chip or flake if you bend it after it's painted. There are special tools available for bending PE parts but you can get by with a good pair of flat tweezers. Similiarly, bend any parts BEFORE gluing them in place. It minimizes any chances of the bond breaking.

4) You will, more likely than not, suffer an occassional mishap where your PE part will pop out of your tweezers (accompanied by the dreaded SPROING) and fly into the carpet. In most cases, that part is gone forever - or at least til the vacuum cleaner sucks it up. I bought a large black piece of construction paper to put under my workbench to catch PE parts (just in case mind you) and have managed to find a couple that way.

I especially like PE for seatbelts, instrument panels, and rudder pedals.

5) Almost forgot - you can preview the instructions (in pdf format) for almost all of the Eduard photoetch sets to see what the installation entails. Looking at the instructions before you buy the set gives you a heads-up on much part grinding, cutting and bending you will need to do. That way you will have a preview of whether you are getting in over your head or not and can save a lot of headaches down the road.

Hope that helps.

[conkerking]

Thanks - very helpful!

[Vic Balshaw]

PE parts are great to enhance a model detail, they are small, fiddly and sometimes need a deal of work in shaping them. Some lucky people (like me) have a special tool (jig) for bending PE parts, god ones are expensive but cheaper PE bending implements are around, some people, and I used to be one, use a nice reasonably solid clean flat surface and a couple of razor blades, preferably the single edge variety. Bu placing one blade on the line where you want to bend, and holding it firmly, slide the other blade under the bit you want to bend upward to meet the securing blade.
Personally I've come to enjoy the PE parts and the effect they can create on your model, particularly within the cockpit and undercarriage area. As for painting, the tutorial is good though personally wherever possible I now buy the pre-painted PE's.

[r2800doublewasp]

Really quick- Is CA glue like the Testors glue that comes in an orange bottle by any chance? If not, what type of glue is it? Sorry was just wondering as may work with PE parts in the future.
Thanks,
Jack

[B-17engineer]

Jack CA glue AKA Super Glue, Krazy Glue etc.