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Eduard photo etching question


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When my grandson and I started on our P-51B, he swindled me into buying the subject add on stuff. Well, we got it, and, number one, except for the instrument panel things there was no way in the world a 71 yr old with not so hot eyesite and shaky hands and a ten year old (you know how they are) were gonna be able to use those little parts. And we don't have capability to "shave" off interior molded in detail so some of them can be used as the instructions told us to do. I tried one of the seatbelts and that was a joke. It was too long for one thing and required some serious bending and was just too little. We gave it up pretty quickly. That is my sad story. But my question - included was what they called "film" of the instruments. What is that for? The little metal parts already have the instruments on them. Oh, and just one more thing, important to us but probably not to you skilled guys. We also got some already cut masking that we used on the canopy. Boy, is that a God-send. That wasn't around that I know of when I was modeling in earnest, but it really, really does make painting easier. Thanks for listening, and for any info you might want to impart.

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Welcome to the Ying/Yang of modern model building! Those aftermarket resin and PE parts offer "better and more accurate" detailing, but also increase the stress and workload in the project. ONly YOU can decide how important it is to use them! But, if you do, you will need at least some of the following to make it easier...

 

1) MAGNIFICATION- almost all of us use Optivisors and/or lighted magnifiers while working with such small parts, in addition to whatever glasses we already wear!

 

2) TWEEZERS/TOOLS- you need tools to handle those small parts. However, once a small PE part is off its sprue, you can use some Playdoh on the end of a toothpick to pick it up and move it.There are also specialty sticky "micro-brushes" you can buy for that purpose. You can even simply lick the end of your hobby knife (carefully!) and use that "wetness" to pick up and transfer a small part!

 

3) ANNEALING- metal pe parts have a certain '"springiness" or "memory" that works against you when you try to bend it to shape. Heating the parts (annealing) helps kill that. Simply place the entire fret of parts on a stove burner and heat it until it slightly discolors and then allow it to cool. Now, when you bend a belt or another part, it should bend easier and retain that shape better. BUT, the part has also been weakened (a little) so if you bend it a LOT of times, it could break!

 

4) MOTOR TOOL- an inexpensive battery powered rechargeable motor tool comes in handy for grinding off detail, which I find easier than "shaving" it off. That motor tool can also be used for drilling and sanding, depending on the accessories you buy for it!

 

That "film" you describe is for use with a panel that has HOLES in it. If you look closely, it probably resembles a film negative. The "markings" are actually clear while the rest of the instrument is black. If you paint the BACK of that film white, it'll only show up on the front where the "tic marks" and pointers show! You then glue that film behind the main panel so that the instruments show through the holes. Since it's also already a shiny plastic, the surface of it also helps it look like the glass of the instruments. All in all, it's a very effective way to make a panel look more realistic.

 

Using resin and photo-etch is a choice, not a requirement. It can give you a more realistic and satisfying model provided THAT'S your goal to start with! Hope this helps!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
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Welcome to the Ying/Yang of modern model building! Those aftermarket resin and PE parts offer "better and more accurate" detailing, but also increase the stress and workload in the project. ONly YOU can decide how important it is to use them! But, if you do, you will need at least some of the following to make it easier...

 

1) MAGNIFICATION- almost all of us use Optivisors and/or lighted magnifiers while working with such small parts, in addition to whatever glasses we already wear!

 

2) TWEEZERS/TOOLS- you need tools to handle those small parts. However, once a small PE part is off its sprue, you can use some Playdoh on the end of a toothpick to pick it up and move it.There are also specialty sticky "micro-brushes" you can buy for that purpose. You can even simply lick the end of your hobby knife (carefully!) and use that "wetness" to pick up and transfer a small part!

 

3) ANNEALING- metal pe parts have a certain '"springiness" or "memory" that works against you when you try to bend it to shape. Heating the parts (annealing) helps kill that. Simply place the entire fret of parts on a stove burner and heat it until it slightly discolors and then allow it to cool. Now, when you bend a belt or another part, it should bend easier and retain that shape better. BUT, the part has also been weakened (a little) so if you bend it a LOT of times, it could break!

 

4) MOTOR TOOL- an inexpensive battery powered rechargeable motor tool comes in handy for grinding off detail, which I find easier than "shaving" it off. That motor tool can also be used for drilling and sanding, depending on the accessories you buy for it!

 

That "film" you describe is for use with a panel that has HOLES in it. If you look closely, it probably resembles a film negative. The "markings" are actually clear while the rest of the instrument is black. If you paint the BACK of that film white, it'll only show up on the front where the "tic marks" and pointers show! You then glue that film behind the main panel so that the instruments show through the holes. Since it's also already a shiny plastic, the surface of it also helps it look like the glass of the instruments. All in all, it's a very effective way to make a panel look more realistic.

 

Using resin and photo-etch is a choice, not a requirement. It can give you a more realistic and satisfying model provided THAT'S your goal to start with! Hope this helps!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Thanks. I had tried wetting the end of my finger to pick up the part, but then when it came off a couple fell into the carpet or some place and haven't been seen since. And even though seeing the part of hard, trying to get it where it is supposed to go and having it stay there, well, back to the shaky hands it is just pretty much impossible. When my grandson saw the hard time I was having, he pretty much understands. But our instrument panel looked really good. I had no idea about the film. We didn't have anything that had holes in it. At least those parts were of a decent size and we could work with them sort of. Thank you for all your other info. It is showing how much model building has changed since back in the mid 70's, or how maybe how little I knew even back then. Thank you again.

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Ah yes...the dreaded carpet monster! Seems a ravenous beast who only snacks on the smallest parts! Or (as in my case) there's the "black hole under the bench" that sucks anything dropped into another dimension, never to be seen again until you've completed that model and don't need it anymore!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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