Photo etch railings

Thanks everyone for your help. Time to get started........

I spraypainted my railings and ladders at the same time I did my Victory ship, using a rattle can.

The only problem I ran into was forgetting to touch up the little shiny points on the railings where you cut them off the fret BEFORE you glue them down ... if they end up in an inaccessible spot, you're stuck with a very shiny spot that you can't hide. And don't ask me how I know that

Excerpts of my comments at a seminar given at the recent IPMS Nats ...

Paint the PE fret at the same time you are painting the ship. The color should be the same as the bulk of the supestructure behing the rails. Add camo color with a hand brush after installation. Touch up and nicks & cracks in the railing paint then too.

Work in short lengths - three or four inches at most. Resist the urge to apply an entire side of railing in one installation. Measure using a draftsman's dividers. Measure between logical end points (ends of previous railing runs, bulkheads, gun tubs, etc. ). Note gaps for ladders.

Cut using a #10 Xacto blade (round blade). A #11 is pointed and the tip will easily break and fly off. Cut on a sheet of glass or piece of tile. Cut in a rocking motion like a paper trimmer.

Clean up the nubs with a fine emory board/sanding stick.

Measure and make your bends off the model. Commerical bending tools are not a necessity. Make square bends between a pair of opposed razor blades. Hold the piece down with a blade over the top of the rail. Slip another blade under the rail until the blades face each other. Bend by raising the under blade to the desired angle. Round bends can be made using a wooden dowel or drill bit shank.

Apply a pin point amount of white glue at each end of the rail run and at 1/4 to 1/2 intervals. Use white glue to allow for positioning before cementing the rail finally in place. White glue can be cleaned up with water. Not so with superglue.

After the white glue has dried, go back and apply a bead of superglue along the bottom rail (the gutter rail).

Touch up any paint nicks & cracks

Shoot a coat of clear flat over the whole model to kill the shine of the glue.

I've built the tamiya fletcher with the GMM photoetch. Most of the model went together satisfactory but my biggest mistake was drilling out the funnel caps. I ended up breaking both of them and I had to reconstruct the broken off sides with putty. From about 4 feet away u won't notice a difference:). The railings should definately go on after the model is painted. Put them on the higher superstructures first and work downward. I would suggest you to completely finish the model first including all Rigging and final decals before you put on the main deck railings. I found while trying to rig the ship I had broken off at least 3 main deck rails and had to reglue them. It turned out very nice and I'm very proud of my first photoetch model.

Add the railings last, just before you give the model her final flat coat.

There's no pitfalls with the GMM set, it's a very nice fret. Just take your time, measure twice, cut once.

Jeff