P.E - How do you get on with it?

[BarryW]

So far I have made limited use of p.e. - what has come in some of then kits and some seat harnesses. I have seen the Eduard detailing sets and have been tempted. My Eduard Bf109 comes with a fair bit of p.e. and I thought this an opportuinity to assess it better with, maybe, getting the detailing sets.

My findings:

1/ A lot of the pe details will not be seen at all.

2/ The cockpit looks good but I do not think it is that much better than without pe, at least as afr as what is visible when it is closed up

3/ Many pe parts are simply too small to be practical even with the use of a magnifying. A lot of the pe ended up in the bin with me left angry and frustrated.

This model is a good kit and the result will be excellent but every time I look at it I will think of that visible detailing missing because the p.e. would not work for me.

I will never buy a p.e. detailing set -well, may some seatbelts but that is all.

These sets are just not worth it....

[Ian M]

How many times have you tried your hand with PE Barry?

I'm sorry to say it, but from your post above, it sounds like you are just a tiny bit frustrated.

My first endeavours with it was also a total fiasco. Now its just an other medium that gets used as and when needed.

Is it the handling or the sticking down that is 'giving you problems'.

Ian M

[john i am]

I to have major problems with p.e and have omitted it from many kits when supplied it would be interesting to see a comparison of two identical finished kits one with/without as in my personal opinion it doesn't make a vast amount of difference aside from belts for pilots/seats (more satisfying making your own)it is something I just wouldn't buy.i also feel that the prices the various manufactures now charge for kits that the kit should be of a standard as not to require pe to enhance/ upgrade it :soapbox: lol

[Guest]

Would not use PE for seat belts always seemed contived & unreal.

Used PE on the Tamiya 1/48 Mosquito for the bracing tension wing supports. Looks ok after getting over the fact that nothing fitted with out chopping the stuff about.

Some is a complete waste of energy. The cockpit instruments where you have to file away the plastic moulded instrument to stick a bit of PE on the top. Decided to leave as is & hand paint the instrumentswhich I thought looked better.

The limited times I have used it I seem to have 50% not used at the end.

Fixing & bending have not provided any problems. Cutting from the holder I have found the most difficult & getting rid of the raw edge at the cut.

Laurie

[Guest]

As Ian said I am sure it all comes down to practice and technique,although that could be describing modelling in general! I don't know if this will help but a couple of tricks I found useful, well they work for me

Use a quick set epoxy glue or thickslow setting cyanoacrylate being thick they will tend to grab the part and will support it while the glue is curing and also will give you adjustment time.

An obvious one,place the glue were you intend to position the part not on the part.

Use fine off set tweezers

Get an optivisor (or similar)

I would say I use p.e. in the majority of my builds at the very least for ip's and seat belts,there are also certain parts that would be very difficult to produce in any other medium,an obvious one would be the ice shields as seen on Mosquitoes,Lancasters etc.

I do find though occasionally manufactures will use the process to try to produce parts that should be made in another medium.

Laurie I am curious what do you mean by the “bracing tension wing support”?

Malcolm

[Guest]

Laurie I am curious what do you mean by the “bracing tension wing support”?

Malcolm

Malcolm tis the tension & compression bars supporting the wings on a Swordfish. Some may call it bracing but they are in fact oval shaped bars. They are according to the Curator at the Fleet Air Arm museum about 1.33 inches by an 1inch. Thought they were stainless steel. But after some dissent info (brain washing actually) I changed to thinking they are steel probably galvanised. A Fleet Lynx helicopter landed on the grass infront of our flats recently & one of the crew told me they are eliptical in shape. The PE was an extra to the package by Tamiya.

Laurie

[Guest]

Laurie In your posting,you talk about about a Mosquito not a Swordfish.

Malcolm

[takeslousyphotos]

I've tried it on a couple of kits ............. and end up chucking most of it in the bin. Generally I find most of it is just far too small and so I get narked with it. It's probably a sign of my limited skill and even more limited patience............... So now, I don't bother with it.

Peter

[Guest]

An obvious one,place the glue were you intend to position the part not on the part.

Not wishing to sound contradictory but, for me, in more cases that not when fitting small parts it's easier to dip the small part in the adhesive of choice and place of the main assembly than vise versa, i get a smaller amount of adhesive on the parts this way, making for a tidier join without having to clean up the excess. I find i'm more accurate this way too.

[Guest]

Laurie In your posting,you talk about about a Mosquito not a Swordfish.Malcolm

Aplogies Malcolm. First mistake this year !

Laurie

Second one just came up spelling

[Guest]

Not wishing to sound contradictory but, for me, in more cases that not when fitting small parts it's easier to dip the small part in the adhesive of choice and place of the main assembly than vise versa, i get a smaller amount of adhesive on the parts this way, making for a tidier join without having to clean up the excess. I find i'm more accurate this way too.

Colin

I think this is a case of whatever works for you.

The reasons I have for doing it my way are ...........

If you use an applicator you have control of the amount of glue and were it is placed,carrying the part with glue on it is more unwieldy as you are having to grip the part while positioning the glue and part, if you misplace the part or drop it you run the risk of getting glue in places you don't want.(A high risk strategy)

If you drop the part without glue on it your chances of getting glue in the wrong place are negligible.

I also find because I am concentrating on just getting the correct amount of glue in place (and not concerned about placing the part) I rarely have any excess glue to clean up.

The applicator I use I've made out of a sewing needle with the top of the eye cut off to form a fork,the pointed end of the needle is held in a modelling knife handle while the glue is carried and applied using the fork.This is not my idea I've heard it described by many modellers down the years,I think at one time you could buy a commercial version.

Off course you have to use epoxy or thick cyanoacrylate as you don't want the glue going off immediatel ybut this also gives you more time to place the part.

Malcolm

[BarryW]

A fair bit in respect of seatbelts Ian, plus some of that fairly limited pe in Trumpy and Tammy kits.

This is the most detailing I have tried. Frustrated, a bit yes.... For me it is mostly the handling of it, some of the parts are just incredibly small. There are about 5 pe switches to go on the instrument panel, I got one on and it was literally applying ca to the edge, a small edge. One disintegrated on the bend, one simply vanished = it was fixed on but was gone I know not where when I returned to the piece and another did not 'stick' for some reason then it too was lost. The other I did not even try to fix. Other bits left off are two vertical risers one in each of the underwing intakes, these did not fit then I lost one while fiddling around so I dumped the other. I have also missed off two control rods on the tail-plane. These latter two looked as if they would be easy but was not....that was when I simply had enough and called it a day on the pe.

Incidentally - I have a head magnifyer, fine tweezers and some sticky things for placement...

Overall though, looking at the cockpit with the fuselage halves closed and what you can see, I just do not see that the result is worth the extra effort. In spite of those switches being missing there is a lot of pe still in there and you would hardly notice those switches anyway. I have better cockpits with just painted plastic.

I am going to use some stretched sprue for the control rods and vertical bits in the intakes.

[Dave W]

I share your frustration with P.E Barry.I don't think I have ever used a complete fret.Some always ends up in the bin.Usually the tiny levers and other small bits.I persevere with seat belts as a cockpit without them is unacceptable to me.The biggest problem for me is glueing the parts without ruining the surrounding area with superglue.Seat belts I now attach with micro crystal clear as I can put them straight onto a painted surface and wipe off any excess without ruining paintwork.For instrument panels I prefer the painted plastic with individual decals approach.Though I haven't tried the Eduard pre painted stuff yet.