Well, I just spent I estimate, 15 minutes getting my first ever PE part on my KV-1. I got it to finally stayand glued it into place. So I look at it and say, "Yeah it looks better than a plastic screen. But, why and the heck did I go this way?"


Darn this stuff is hard to work with. I did listen to some things I read on here, but it is still a pain. I guess after I do a few more pieces it will get easier.

I feel your pain. I've struggled with photo-etch also. I've tried it probably 5 different times and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier. I get really frustrated with the stuff. My tree trunk fingers don't help any.

I may just stick to oob builds with the plastic parts. I don't care about the rivet counting as long as I have decent replica of a vehicle.

I do OK with some PE parts. For example last year GrumpyOldMan sent me a Dragon M4A4 Sherman (6035) as a birthday gift. The kit had a PE fret with 3 PE parts. 2 of which were grills that I applied rather well. The 3rd part was a radio antennae thing that require to be bent and then rolled into a cylinder and glued into place. It ended up in the trash can because no matter what I couldn't get it to bend right and if I get bend it right on the next bend the previous bend that was just short of perfect looked like crud.

I envy those modelers that can do the Aber sets. I've found PE to be difficult to work with at times, but I try to stick to more basic sets. They may not be the most complete or elaborate, but using them has built my confidence.

I've found that using gel-type CA with a longer setting time has worked quite well. Using CA accelerator to get those tricky parts to stick right away has been a great tool too.

In the end, do what feels best to you. The key is to enjoy what you're doing!

- Frank

Hmmm, I might be mentally sick then... I love working with PE.
As with most work I find having the right tools most important. A good "hold and fold", needle nose pliers, razor blades, a tile and a steel ruler makes bending PE much easier. However, most important is patience. If you stress while bending PE the result will allways be bad. On my bench I have a Trumpeter Faun with a Big Ed PE set allmost ready for paint. This PE set consists of hundreds of parts, but taking it slowly and doing precise work get you there. Good luck with your KV-1.

Erk

Here is a pic of the Faun

I've mastered the art of PE after some intense training (thanks Yoda). I found that the biggest problem was not the bending of the parts, but the fact that you have to glue them with CA glue. There are many tricks you can use

1) for small parts, make the plastic soft and sticky first with plastic glue so the PE part sticks better.
2) use some other glue for glueing parts with a bigger surface
3) it aslo seems to depend on the weather if CA glue dries quickly or not at all If the last thing happens, blow some air slowly on the part so the moisture in you breath helps the glue to dry.
4) good small tweezers save a lot of trouble
5)sometimes you can put th part on a model, and if you apply a tiny bit of glue form a sharpened toothpick, the glue will suck itself under the PE part.

and so on, and so on

I have that same Faun, but than with Voyager set Wish me luck

I am glad to see I am not the only one who has problems with this stuff. I have some parts to add to the turret so I will give those a try. The fuel tanks and tool boxes are going to be fun, but I think I can do it.

I'll just have to get rid of everyone so I won't have any intruptions.

And just wait to they start gluing themselves to your fingers or tweezers and not the model,or have it right on where it supposed to go and bang as soon as you touch it with glue it is off by a little and the darn glue set real fast.

Or you can't get that little bugger to stick no matter what.

Way I found is not to do all of them in one sitting.

I have heard that Future can also be used to apply them,have not tried it myself.

Enjoy and remember it is fun if you move around on parts.

Agree on the Aber sets.

Still have about 4 or 5 sets that I will not use the German tool clasps to me are the worse and working also.

Hope I didn't curse to much.

Im not the biggest fan of PE either, but some things have helped a lot ..

Hold´n´fold; much easier to get good folds. If not folded properly, then gaps appear. Also very useful for holding items so the small supports can be sanded off.
Glue; I use both the gel and runny types. The gel is best for initial fixing, as it allows you time to adjust. As somebody mentioned already, the runny type can be used with in small amount to secure. I use stretched sprue for this.
Soldering; This is so easy,I´ll never understand why I didn´t make the move earlier. Glueing folded parts, does not have the same strength. The molten solder also fills gaps, and can easily be sanded back again .
Tweezers. I use staright and "L" shaped for better positioning.
Patience; Needed by the bucketfull. Sitting for hours, attaching small brass bits, one tends to become sloppy. Add over time, and take abreak doing figures or base inbetween.
Knife. I keep and old knife and blade for this. After glueing, swipe around sides with the knife to clear away any excess glue. The knifecan be sanded as needed to remove this build-up.

You are. I've been telling you that for ages.

Yes, so true about the difficulty. But with the increased difficulty come greater rewards.

I don't think I will ever try 1/48 tank tool PE straps again I have a lot of respect for people who can use 1/48 and 1/72 PE

Thats why Erik is a REMF now Murdo....poor sick man
aye
BARV
(GOSMG)


PS---I'm back

Oh goodness me Steve! Is Erik THAT old???

Officially a REMF!

They seem to be expensive to me for what you get out of it, most people would not know if you used PE or not, only die hard model and enthusists can tell, So i dont use them. I to had trouble making them stick

hey,
we've all felt the pain,and at times still do,what really,truly hurts,is working on something thats very difficult,and it's left side ,right side.not long ago,I took a stab at a Panzer I Ausf.A by MasterBox Ltd.,that came with a very extensive (Dragon)P/E sheet,it called for replace the complete fenders/mud guards I did one side which came out Perfect!! other side,sheer disaster,and my son had a very difficult time ,with the skirt brackets for DML's Jagdpanzer IV/70 (A)-#6015,in fact everything about these mesh skirts where horrible.,and you don't need to use everything ,thats on these sheets ether.they can be fun and challenging ,but when anger sets in ,time to take a breather.and go back to it later.

Joe

I found that some PE parts are harder to bend then others. For the harder ones I heated them up with a soldering iron and after they cool they are easier to bend. I use 2 single edge razor blades to bend parts. Sort of a variation of the hold and fold method.
I'm not sure if there is anything on PE parts that keeps glue from sticking or not, but I started rinsing them with a little lacquer thinner and that solved the non stick problem.

Using the old anealing trick. That could come in handy in the future.