THE HISTORY OF PHOTO ETCH

Thanks to everyone for their input. I am doing the tutorial tonight ,should be fun.

Here is my selection of p/e ,accumulated over 2 yrears. Earliest would be the Model Technology which is nice but very thick compared to todays stuff. There is only one sample from the auto genre and none from the ship side of things as I dont model ships yet. Enjoy!

The one on the lower right is Reheat...

Thanks for the excellent response's!

Dr. Eduard was responsible for much of the model etching advances we see in model making today...etching metal itself is not a new technology--it has been around for centuries...

I think I can recall reading about PE accessories some time in the late 70's early 80's. Maybe a bit sketchy, but I believe that at the time, they weren't model specific, rather, they were just a generic collection of small wheels, levers, wheel spokes and such.

I can certainly remember the Model Technologies sets from the mid-80's. I think these were among the first model specific (designed for specific kits) sets, with some of the first instrument panels and consoles to feature "3D" etching to represent depth (eg. raised instrument bezels with recessed instrument faces) I still have a small number of these, which I think were etched in stainless steel. By today's standards, they were pretty crude and basic, but at the time they were pretty awesome.

By the latter half of the 80's we were seeing the first kits to include PE in the box (eg. Trimaster, Gunze Sangyo)

A byproduct of the electronics hobby. Years ago hobbyists in the radio and amateur electronics wanted to design and print their own circuit boards. Soon kits were made available to do just that. Crud at first as they were hand drawn but as graphics and computers improved and became widespread in use so did the ability to create crisper and smaller master prints. Then it was a matter of applying those new images to the plates and the etching process.

As demand increased, more products were produced. As the cost and access to the materials became more difficult and costly, those who could produce in quantity survived.

I want to agree with Mark.  I got back into the  for a brief stint in '86 I got a set of rear view mirrors for an F-14 and thought OMG look what they can do now.  There wasn't much else around besides that.

Interesting subject.  Off the top of my 57 year old brain:

The first thing that comes to mind is the use of photo etched watch parts to detail aircraft cockpits, i.e., using watch gears as trim wheels, etc.

As far as model industry manufacturers, I earliest I can remember is Waldron Products from back in the mid-to-late 70's. 

Model Technologies was the first to market on a large scale.  I still have a bunch of their stuff in my stash.

Of course today Eduard seems to be the dominant player.

Mark