P.E. Gotta be careful there !
Photo - Etched - Brass .
Sounds good doesn't it . Look at all the stuff out there for cars , planes , tanks and ships . Some is really great , some good and some not to great but serviceable .
What would you think then , at today's prices , when you get some and it's so thin and so fragile that it has to be replaced with scratch - built components of plastic , which was supposed to be avoided by the P.E. Purchase in the first place ?
Here's a warning to all of you out there . Maybe you haven't had this happen yet , But invariably you will experience it . When you receive your sought after P.E. do this and you'll avoid the problem .Take the P.E. Out of the envelope and place it in a container of warm water containing some Dawn Dish soap ! Stir a little and then using a full blush brush swirl it on the parts in the water for about a minute .Then rinse in very hot water .
Let the parts air dry . Put in a clean Zip - Loc bag with the instructions , Purge out the air and seal till needed . I think this is what I experienced .The parts were etched , rinsed , dried and enveloped and shipped .BUT , I don't think they were rinsed well enough .I don't think they rinse them under running hot water .
This causes contamination of the rinse water and a little of the etching chemical remains , to work on the parts while experiencing the ambient humidity in shipping and such . Remember the envelopes are usually NOT airtight ! So you get very frail patterns , but certainly not parts that you can bend , fold , solder or use , except as patterns for new scratch - built ones .
Let this be a warning . With rising prices we need to protect everything we get that is made of White Metal and P.E. Brass or Steel . Go the extra step and clean it once more and store in Zip - Loc bags .
Yes , I used the bag brand name because I have found they are the absolute best for keeping things dry and airtight ! I even mix paint in the little ones ! Don't laugh , They thus , serve a dual purpose and I don't have to keep cleaning out mixing bottles . Model On - - - -Tanker - Builder