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Modeling in General: Advice on...
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Brief intro on AM parts, please
AaronW
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Member Since: August 03, 2003
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Posted: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 06:33 AM UTC
I'm pretty happy with OOB but I see lots of referance to resin, PE, vacuform AM kits, I would appreciate a little description of what these various bits are, how they are to work with etc. Also what about AM barrels, I see a fair amount of referance to brass or steel AM gun barrels, what's that about, strength, better quality? Thanks.
AJLaFleche
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Posted: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 06:49 AM UTC

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resin



This is a plastic related material that doesn't respond to the usual solvent cements for plastics. It is usually cast in such a way to permit more and crisper detail that styrene. It's more brittle than styrene and more suseptible to heat. Warping can be a problem, but it responds well to hot water to straighten things out. Becareful when sanding, the dust can be a health concern.


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PE



Metal (brass or stainless steel) chemically etched in a precess similar to photo negatives. These are used to replace thin parts to a more scale thickness. While the process can create relief, it cannot make a round/tubular shape.

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vacuform


They still make these? Thin plastic is heated and pulled into a female or over a male mold. Relief is marginal and there are no attachment points. Verlinden uses this for things like canvas bed covers where there is little need for great detail but scale thickness can be better approached. ALso used for thin, very clear canopies. THe parts must be cut/sanded from large sheets of plastic.


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AM barrels

A godsend! Really round barrels, no seams to repair. Aluminum is the most common and is intrinsically stronger than plastic. Attach as you would the regular barrel and enjoy! Every manufacturer should spend the few extra pennies to include one in their kits. Really should be primed before regular painting as most model paints don't adhere that well to metal.
slodder
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Posted: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 06:50 AM UTC
PE = photo etch parts. These are spues of flat metal (brass) parts. They are meant to be add ons or replacements for plastic parts. Favorite parts are Light guards, grab rails, etc. Sometimes you even have to go to the degree of carving off some premolded details on the kit to use PE. PE tightens the scale a little more, it gets small parts to a truer size.
Barrels are actually metal tubes built as one piece to replace the kit barrel. They exist because most barrels are two parts and it is very time consuming and difficult to get a nice round barrel with two parts. Lots of putty and sanding. Some barrels even have rifling too.

Just more things to add more detail and realism to your kits. Some people are selective on the add ons, for example they don't use 100% of a PE kit, just the light guards.
brandydoguk
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Posted: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 07:25 AM UTC
Hi AaronW, as you say there are many different aftermarket addons.They are designed to add detail missing from the kit or to correct faults in the kit. As an aircraft modeler I can only tell you about the aircraft ones but I'm pretty sure the same applies to other types.
Firstly resin. Resin parts usually come attached to a "block", rather than a sprue, which must be removed. Great care should be taken when cutting or sanding this block off as the dust is toxic, a mask should be worn to avoid breathing in the dust and the hands should be washed after cleaning up the dust. Once done and the parts are glued in place they are painted as normal.
PE or photo etched parts are metal parts which are cut from the fret and glued into the required place on the kit. They can be tiny and easily swallowed by the carpet if droppped. They can also be fiddly to get into place. Some require to be bent into a certain shape to form a replacement for the kit part and are scored along the line where they are to be bent. It can be frustrating at first but as with anything, practice is the key.
Another type of addon is white metal parts. They are cast in a soft metal so are light and can be scraped or sanded to get a good fit.
Vacuform parts are thin parts pressed into thin plastic sheet. They are cut away from the sheet and replace parts which are too thick on the kit to give the correct scale thickness, such as aircraft canopies.
I've only seen metal gun barrels used by others but they can be a vast improvement over kit barrels in shape and finnish.
One thing to check before buying any addons is that they will be right for the kit you want to use them on. Some addons are designed to be used with most manufacturers' version of a kit whilst some are specific to one manufacturer's kit. For example Verlinden's ME109 cockpit detail set is designed to fit the Tamiya kit and may not fit into Hasegawa's kit without a lot of sanding, cutting and filling.
There are some addons which are basic but still add to the finished kit. I regularly use PE seatbelts as the only addon for my aircraft and they really do make the cockpit look much better. Others have the most minute parts for attaching to give an amazing amount of detail, the choice is yours. Once you get the hang of using them they can really make even the most basic kit look excellent.
Martin
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