hello can anyone help me. iam a first timer and have brought 1/350 enterprise. i have changed planes to trumpeter and have brought g.m.m photo etch kits. ive not looked at these until today as i am slowly making the hanger deck its coming along well, back to planes i have a folding tool from white ensign but have mucked up 2 ejector seats already and the cockpit interior is ok to fold but getting rear instrument panel in is not working for me . i think because the bits are so small i am scared of them. if anyone has useful tips or what tools needed i would be please to hear from you .one last thing i will need to make seat pads and instructions say to use plastic sheet for job do you know what this is. well many thanks for looking and many more thanks for helping best wishes john

Hi John,
Sorry for taking so long to answer but I have been contemplating what to say.
My first reaction was what! Photo etch cockpits in 1/350 scale aircraft, why? Our small scale expert, Luciano, is probably the best person to answer your question but I will try and give you a helping hand, but I do think that you have possibly taken on too much for a first timer. Cockpit detail sets need to be painted well to be worth it, in this scale I would reckon that about al that you could do is paint them medium grey and "dry brush" them (I'll explain that later).

PE (Photo Etch):
First of all use a sharp scalpel or craft knife to cut the tabs, close to the part. Align the blade then put your finger over the part (to stop it flying away) and press down, on the blade.

You need to cut the PE on a hard surface, such as a ceramic tile or piece of glass, but I have found that a "cutting mat" (one of those green mats with the grid marked on it) is the best thing to cut PE on.

You now need to trim the tab because no matter how close you cut it there will still be part of it there. This untrimmed tab might be part of the reason why parts don't seem to fit. To trim, hold the part in a pair or smooth flat nosed pliers, so the tab is just clear of the ends, hold the pliers tightly closed and use a rats tail file (small file) to gently file off the tab. This is difficult to do on very small parts so you may just want to trim the tab as close as possible with your knife. But be aware of fit problems.

You can by megger bending tools which do work well, but I use a pair of flat nose pliers or a a pair of tweezers with flat ends, to hold PE parts and use my fingers, 6" metal ruler, small screwdriver or knife blade, to bend the parts. Parts with multiple bends require some thought as to where to bend first and subsequently.

Like all detailing sets PE parts, or the cockpit that they are intended for, may require trimming to get a good fit.

Use CA (Cyonacrilate) or super glue for gluing PE parts. If you can hold the part in position, then, using a piece of wire, pick up a small amount of CA (decant a little onto a piece of your marge lid), touch this to the join and the CA will run into it under capillary action. That is if you use the thin variety. The thin stuff will clue instantly, so be very careful.

Plastic sheet, sometimes referred to as plasticard, is just that, a sheet of plastic about A4 size which you can buy in various thicknesses, from about 5thou to about 40thou (thousands of an inch). For your needs though I would look in the fridge The lid from a margarine tub should be ideal. Wait until the contents have been use first though, and wash it before use Cut strips the width that you require, and then cut to length.
Dry Brushing; decant some paint onto a piece of card (this will help remove some of the “carrier”, making the paint thicker), dip the tip of a largish brush (relative to the parts you are painting) then brush this back and forth on a piece of paper towel to remove almost all of the paint (dry brush). Flicking this dry brush over painted parts will, if done correctly, deposit very small amounts of paint to high spots. It is usually done with a lighter colour than that which it is being added, to give the effect of light hitting these raised edges. Practice first because it is easy to overdo this technique, especially in the smaller scales. When a newcomer first sees the effect the tendency is to overdo it and to dry brush everything. If you do have a go be selective and remember, certainly in the case of dry brushing, less is more.
We would be very interested in seeing some pictures of your efforts; in fact this is the best way to be able to get help as members can see what the problem is.
All the best and happy modelling.

mal thanks for your really in depth reply its a great help and i will take it all on board at the moment ive gone back to enterprise i think i will leave aircraft for a little while if you think the cockpits are small you should see the ejector seats best wishes john

You're more than welcome John, best of luck with the Enterprise, do let us see some pictures, in progress and complete