"I'm Not Worthy"!

It's nice to see someone else is having the same fun with photo etch parts as I am. I'm tackling the eduard set for the 1/72 U-boat and even though it's a larger scale, it is frustrating too. You're right about the glue not going where one wants it to, for me that's the biggest headache.

Scott

Archangel Shooter wrote:

It's nice to see someone else is having the same fun with photo etch parts as I am. I'm tackling the eduard set for the 1/72 U-boat and even though it's a larger scale, it is frustrating too. You're right about the glue not going where one wants it to, for me that's the biggest headache. Scott

Yeah, gotta love it!

I did a Revell type VIIC and opted to just add a few 'home grown' details including drilling out the deck gun's barrel and then adding a detachable tampion (SIC?) with it's own eyelet so it had a 'rope' which wrapped around the barrel when in place or it would attach to a receptacle on the gun base like I saw in a book? Wound up using human hair for the filament looking for the right 'scale'?

I looked at the Eduard's PE and found it daunting! I still managed to detail the conning tower areas and such with brass and styrene including working hatches and telescopes. Those models sure do build into nice displays, what with the sheer size and of course the subject matter! Must have watched Das Boot a dozen times to keep myself motivated.

BTW, finished the first of five 20mm machine guns and have it mounted now. I pity the modelers of larger vessels with more armament though!

Best of luck to you and your efforts!

Squiddly

PE = Photo Etch, usually brass, sometimes stainless steel.

AC or ACC (model RR term) = CA = super glues like Zap, Hot Stuff, etc.

PE= very expensive after market sets consisting of miniscule etched metal pieces that are nearly impossible to see and stick better to your fingers than to the model you bought the pieces for.

Julian

T-rex wrote:

So its a model made from stainless steel or bass instead of plastic?

No, the model itself is not made from metal (although it could be -- see Eduard's stripped down WWI fighters).

The photoetched metal is applied to the plastic/resin kit as details, railings, radar arrays, lattice masts, etc.  These items cannot be made in scale from plastic or resin due to the limitations of the plastic technology.  They are often solid parts in the kit. 

However more realistic and in scale replicas of these items can be etched from metal.   The parts start as flat sheets and must be folded to shape.  The photoetch technology is an outgrown of the electronic printed circuit-board industry.

mfsob wrote:

The joys of PE - especially in 1/700 scale ... That which does not kill us makes us stronger. And that's all I've got to say about that.

photo etch in this scale in MENTAL suicide

i know  i am dain bread  i mean brain dead

Haven't tried working with PE in 1/700 scale, 1/350th been the smallest I gone with my ship builds. I can imagine what a bear it would be to detail out something in /1700, hats off to those who do!

Scott

After doing two 1/700 ships with full PE and then judging the 1/700 catagories at Nationals last year, I for one can say that there are some modelers that have a real talent for getting those small details to look perfect.  I am not one of them for sure.

I also have concluded that rigging sailing ships, which I have gone back to building as my main subject, is much easier then doing a full PE set on a 1/700 battleship. 

Scott 

EdGrune wrote:

T-rex wrote: So its a model made from stainless steel or bass instead of plastic? No, the model itself is not made from metal (although it could be -- see Eduard's stripped down WWI fighters). The photoetched metal is applied to the plastic/resin kit as details, railings, radar arrays, lattice masts, etc.  These items cannot be made in scale from plastic or resin due to the limitations of the plastic technology.  They are often solid parts in the kit.  However more realistic and in scale replicas of these items can be etched from metal.   The parts start as flat sheets and must be folded to shape.  The photoetch technology is an outgrown of the electronic printed circuit-board industry.

In addition to Eduards 1/72 strip down aircraft kits, there is a manufacturer named Micro Engineering which produces etched brass kits of Victorian homes in N (1/160th), HO 1/87th) and O (1/48th) guages for model railroaders.  They're absolutely gorgous and extremely pricey.  (I'd really like to have some of the N scale kits but my wife would probably render me a canidate for the Vienna Boys Choir if I bought them) 

I was quite afeared of PE but took a leap and gave it a try. Surprisinglyit's not that bad! (tho it certainly has its frustrating moments).  Granted I am working in 1/72, but still...my first experience I managed to install a slat vent by bending the flat slats with a knife blade, and then was able to make a triple compound bend in a piece (twice, mirror pieces).

It all went so well I teamed up with a smart mate and we produced a PE set ourselves (a pro etching compnay etched, we just did the art). It's not scary once you leap, but it can be a pain (I have breathed a few pieces across the workbench to be lost forever, and that toast logic about dropping it on the buttered side applies with glue and PE!)

But my 2 cents is that PE is great stuff, just another tool in the box.

MrSquid2U wrote:

Let me start by saying that I consider myself a 'competent' modeler. I've built most genres of subjects and always enjoy modifying, detailing and sometimes simply scratchbuilding whatever I want. I'm no stranger to PE kits most recently using them on 1/72nd scale aircraft from WWII. Things like Eduards PE foot pedal replacements for an HE-111 with those finicky lil straps! Even did alot of detailing in the 1:160th RR (model trains) world. But now I'm building 1:350th scale ships and wanted to really add some detail to the 20MM MGs. So I broke out a Tom's Modelworks PE kit designed for a Fletcher and decided I liked the tripod effect using a Tamiya gun as a base subject. Well, even if Tom's uses a thin guage PE I gotta say that just holding, folding, gluing those six or so pieces per gun has been more than a lil frustrating! Seems at times that my eyes aren't good enough, my hands aren't steady enough, the glue (AC on a wire applicator) won't go precisely where I want and stick good enough and on and on ad nauseum! I expect that I'll get it done but don't let a neighborhood cat stray my way for fear that my foot will make contact! Why is this post under ships and not under general modeling, odds and ends or such? Because "you guys" are getting it done! Somehow a 1:350th WWII warship is 'naked' without PE and you guys manage through this and display some fantastic results. So my hat's off to you and just having switched to this catagory of modeling I have a newfound respect for anyone who's done what I'm struggling with right now! Enjoy a cyber-beer on me! You've earned it!   Squiddly

Chuck0 wrote:

Also one thing that makes 3 dimensional peices easier to fold and glue for me is to give the brass fret a light coat of primer, the superglue will stick much easier than to the smooth brass. The argument can be made that it isn't as strong a bond but any bump strong enough to break the bond will destroy the brass peice anyway.