photo etch, excuse to buy yet more gear!

[pjgtech]

One of the models on my "to do" shelf has a small photo etch sprue, and some of the parts are tiny and require bending.
What do I use to bend those... I thinks to myself?

So....yet another excuse to buy some more modelling gear, so off I pop to the SMS, and lo and behold they have some of those posh PE bending doodar/thingmebobs/oojamaflips.

Two minutes later and my wallet is a bit lighter (again).
Also bought yet more paint, as the kit in question requires a couple of colours that I do not have (or anything close) so more for the paint collection.

2025 New Years resolution, must curb my spending... (yeah right!) ???

[pjgtech]

Forgot to ask, how do you glue photo etch stuff? I assume it will be super glue (CA)?

Edit: just watched a few YT clips (what did we do before YT?) and some peeps say you can stick PE parts down with plain varnish or even extra thin, if they are very small/fine and don't need any strength, etc.

[PaulTRose]

Good luck

Pe is something i dislike.......sometimes i think it enhances a model.......but other times i think its just not needed and is a pain in the posterior to work with

Ive always used ca

[Richard48]

Quite agree with you.P.E fights me always.Bstard stuff.
Richard

[Tim Marlow]

Done a lot of photoetched kit building in my railway modelling days, from wagon springing units and brake gear to complete coach and locomotive kits. Most of my main construction Work was done with a good soldering iron and Carrs 145 solder with phosphoric acid flux. The strength was needed because railway models tend to be handled a bit. This is not really necessary for plastic models, so unless you are looking at building huge amounts of etched kit in the future you can gloss over this aspect.

In those days I used five minute epoxy to stick on smaller parts because the bond is so good. However, I tend to use CA to glue it on these days, mostly for the convenience. For large parts, like tank fenders etc, I would probably tack the part in place with CA and use epoxy to make the main bond. Smaller parts I would use CA alone, usually gel because it gives a better bond. However, make sure the etch is dry and free from grease to get the best bond, and do experiment because some CAs are better than others when it comes to etch. TET, varnish, etc will not give a satisfactory bond because they do not bond into the surface. With TET the melted plastic will initially grab the part, but will dry harder and harder over time. Eventually the part will ping off, even under paintbrush pressure. Better to use the right glue in the first place.

For bending parts I’ve never owned nor used one of those fancy expensive bending tools. When I started using the stuff they were not available, so I invested in a pair of high quality box jointed fine nosed smooth jawed and round nosed pliers (mine are lindstrom) and make ninety nine percent of my bends with them. They were expensive, but are a long term purchase. For long straight bends I just use one or two good quality steel rulers and the bench. My pliers are well over thirty years old now, by the way, and I expect them to see me out, but I do treat them with respect and use them purely for modelling. Buy a cheap pair of needle nosed pliers for rough stuff around the house….

However, all etch is not created equal, and some parts are far better left in plastic, so assess what you use as you build….box structures are an example. The vast majority of etch boxes simply look wrong when folded because the designers are lazy. To work properly the sides should overlap the ends, so the corners “work”. Most designers just draw the sides and ends out from the base without taking this into account. The resulting etch boxes look for all the world like octagons with four long sides and four really short side. It’s a shape far better made from plastic….. Handrails also look better when made from appropriate gauged wire rather than etch. They are round, not flat, and flat handrails just look wrong…

[Jim R]

Tim has said it all. Just a couple of things to add. To clean the dirt/tarnish/finger marks off PE one of those fibre glass pens is good. Just be very careful of the tiny shards of fibre glass than break off. I'm very careful and wipe over the work area with a damp kitchen towel - getting one in your finger is not good. The trouble with using super glue (CA) is you have very little time to get the part exactly where you want it. A few seconds and the part is solid. What you can do is tack the part in place with white glue, PVA. Plenty of wriggle time and any smears and smudges clean up with water, - damp brush. The bond is not strong so when dry just wick in thin CA around the join to strengthen it. Capillary action will draw the CA into the join.
Paul makes a good point. Not all PE parts are worth while. Some are just stupid tiny and some are no better than the plastic part. PE is flat and that can be a drawback. For example a grab handle is better made from thin, bent wire than a flat piece of PE.

[Tim Marlow]

Regarding fibreglass brushes……best way to use them is wet. If I do use them (rare these days) I keep a saucer of water with a drop or two of dish soap in it. Dip the brush in every time you use it. This will minimise bristles flying around. They are nasty…..though, you have been warned….
Personally these days I use a soft paintbrush brush and a gritty cream cleaner to scrub the fret before I start cutting parts off. You are only trying to remove residual etch chemicals. Oxides on the surface are not so great an issue for glues. For solder you need to get the part bright clean, hence the acid flux I mentioned earlier……

[scottie3158]

Some great advice there from the guys. I use a lot of PE but it is not always better than the kit part and in a lot of cases worse. For all the detail that PE has it's 2 dimensional so for things like hand rails etc your better off with the kit part or wire. Good luck.

[pjgtech]

I assume for PE you would still need to prime before painting, and are acrylics ok?

[Jim R]

I'm my opinion PE certainly needs a primer. There are special treatments for PE. VMS Metal Prep 4k is the one I use. Just as important is preparation of the metal. Ideally slightly roughed up and very clean.

[pjgtech]

Oh, so more gear I need to buy, Lol!!! 8-)

[Steven000]

Peter, I'm also using the VMS metal prep 4k. It feels more like a varnish and next I apply Vallejo primer over it.

[Tim Marlow]

My approach diverges from the guys there. I only ever use normal primer over PE. I don’t use metal preparatives first as I’ve never found them necessary. However, I don’t use acrylic primer, I use Tamiya or other cellulose (laquer) primers, so perhaps that is the difference. They were used for years in the automotive industry to get paint to stick to sheet metal, which seems similar, though on a larger scale, to getting paint to stick to PE. I always wash the model to get rid of swarf and build detritus along with handling grease though.

[pjgtech]

Hi thanx, yeah I watched a vid last night (US based) and a guy demonstrated putting acrylic paint and then laquer based paint straight onto PE parts to compare. The acrylic would not bond, but the laquer did, as apparently its solvent based and therefore more "aggressive". So makes sense that a laquer primer would work, cheers.

[Tim Marlow]

Hi thanx, yeah I watched a vid last night (US based) and a guy demonstrated putting acrylic paint and then laquer based paint straight onto PE parts to compare. The acrylic would not bond, but the laquer did, as apparently its solvent based and therefore more "aggressive". So makes sense that a laquer primer would work, cheers.

Never had a lot of luck with acrylic primer for larger subjects. I’ve never yet found one that sands to a feather edge, so don’t use it because I can’t make post priming corrections if required. I do use it on my little blokes though, and it sticks fine, even on the white metal ones. It is also great on polythene (Airfix type) figures because of it’s flexibility. Lacquer based primer will crack off if they flex, but acrylic primer just bends with the figure. Can’t see either type bonding to the brass substrate, they probably just lock into the surface micro imperfections.