I’m not new to the forum but don’t have much time for building things. Now I decided to get more
serious and have some questions about PE parts.
1. Do I have to sand them and why?
2. What is the benefit of dipping them in vinegar?
3. Do you prefer to paint them or to, instead, show their natural perfection?
In armor building PE are painted but I saw some ship loaded with unpainted PE

You do not have to sand pe. Washing them in vinegar helps clean the metal, before painting. Unless the pe comes in color, you will need to paint it. The exception to this being turned brass rounds.

To carry on a bit with what friend Matt started I'll add that the only part of PE I sand is the edge if I need to remove traces of the mounting tabs.

As for ships and PE, a lot of brass is used on some ships for fittings and such because it won't rust. On a combat ship, I expect most of it would be painted to avoid any chance of a reflection. Also, in the military mindset (and this isn't a put down), it's easier and faster to paint over than around.

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the process of annealing the PE can be your friend. Basically, you heat the metal over a flame, then let it cool back to room temperature on it's own. This will soften the metal and remove the "springyness" making bending it into shape much easier.

A few other things I've found helpful: Make sure you have some decent tweezers and mini-needle nose pliers. A bending jig comes in handy at times. Also, if you're going to be working with very small pieces, a quality magnifying lamp makes life so much easier.

Here is one ship with a lot of PE and no paint.
How do you like the look?Probably if it get painted it will be less atractive ?!?!?

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_8508-vi.jpg

That type of thing is just to show off which parts are PE and which aren't. It's not 'accurate', it's just a show pieces, or a work-in-progress.

Geez, that's a lot of PE!...and I complain if I need to do a few tool and can holders!

I would agree with Jesse that it is probably just a display to highlight the PE parts. Actually, it would look better fully painted, to answer your question.

Thanks for all comments. I'll start with plastic and will see how far I can go.

Start off slow with PE and gradually add it as you gain more experience, and PE tools as well.








~ Jeff