P.E NEEDS HELP

[john i am]

Hi everyone I would like to ask you good people for some help advice and guidance. I have recently acquired a few kits that came with some substantial amounts of P.E .Never having used it before it would be most useful to know what tools are absolutely essential for working with the P.E and the ones that are not really necessary as I have done a little bit of research myself and if I was to buy all the items available it's a substantial amount of £££££s .Thanks for any help/advice/ref and guidance that you leave regards John

[tanktrack]

a folding tool would be very handy ,you can pay from £5 upwards I find the 1 on johns sit very handy for my work some times I use a small steel ruler and a modelling blade the one with the reinforced back , I also use deluxe ca with a slight delay to get the fiddly bit into position , iv tried waxed pencils for holding small parts with varied success but I keep going back to the old cocktail stick and bluetack

[Guest]

Tools - diamond file , supply of new blades , slow setting superglue or epoxy glue , etching primer , an old ceramic tile or thick piece of glass for cutting the pe on.

When cutting tiny pe parts from the sprue stick the it on masking tape first it stops it pinging off and getting lost to the carpet monster.

Richy

[stona]

Firstly a magnifier or you'll struggle to see the parts. Some use a head worn version like me, but anything that will magnify and can be used hands off will do.

A supply of sharp blades to remove the parts from the fret

A decent small flat file to remove any spurs

Some good quality tweezers to hold small parts. I have some surgical haemostats which are basically locking tweezers for clamping blood vessels which work well, but any good tweezers will do. You may need to spend a few quid to get some good ones but it is very difficult to work small PE parts without a pair

A good flat surface and a Stanley knife blade for folding. I use a combination of the Stanley blade and a scalpel to make folds. For forming or rolling round parts I simply roll them around the shank of an appropriately sized drill bit. I've never used one of those expensive folding 'machines'.

Now you've got your PE part ready to fit you will need a few more bits.

A glue applicator is essential to get small amounts of glue where you need it. You can make one by taking a sewing needle and cutting the top off the eye leaving an open U shape. Stick the sharp end in a cork or something similar or you will definitely end up sticking it in yourself! The U will enable you to apply a drop of glue to the relevant place.

Fresh CA glue (Superglue) is usually best for attaching PE parts. If you think you need some wiggle room then an acrylic glue like Gator's Grip will also work.

An accelerator for the CA glue. I have one which can be wiped onto either the part or the place where it is going. This causes the CA glue to react very quickly and when the part is offered up it will stick instantaneously. There is NO wiggle room and you only get one chance, but you don't have to struggle to hold a minute part in place whilst holding your breath

The most expensive thing on the list is probably the magnification, but it's something you will use for modelling generally and you may well have it already. The same goes for most of the rest, standard modelling equipment entailing no vast expenditure.

This advice from Richey is very important:

'When cutting tiny pe parts from the sprue stick it on masking tape first it stops it pinging off and getting lost to the carpet monster.'

Ask me how I know

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Firstly a magnifier or you'll struggle to see the parts. Some use a head worn version like me, but anything that will magnify and can be used hands off will do......

The most expensive thing on the list is probably the magnification, but it's something you will use for modelling generally and you may well have it already. The same goes for most of the rest, standard modelling equipment entailing no vast expenditure.

...

Cheers

Steve

I have never used PE but I bought this headband magnifier a year ago and love it:

https://www.expotools.com/cgi-bin/sh000003.pl?WD=magnifier&PN=Headband-Magnifier-with-3-lenses-73840.html#SID=68

Being able to use both hands and both eyes at the same time is hugely useful. It offers several degrees of magnification, easily accessible.