The Ship Model Forum

wow.....the PE is absolutely fabulous!
what kind of glue do you use for this? mine never gets this clean!

keep up the work!

Halsey which PE folding device are you using on this,....yes and what type glue are you bonding with? I second what P-J said about the "clean" assembly.





Mark

I use a 4" Hold N Fold (The Small Shop) and acrylic polymer glue. And thanks for the nice words!

HalseysBeard wrote:I use a 4" Hold N Fold (The Small Shop) and acrylic polymer glue. And thanks for the nice words!

Tim, another question (please!). How do you get such an equally even curve on so many guns? Do you use a tool for that too? When I have done any curvature on etch, I have always smoothed it round a cylindrical object (pen, paint pot, file etc) but it always seems to produce a different curve. Superglue then lock it reasonably close, but I get a series of different shape in the end! I have tried rolling the etch with the cylindrical object, but I never seem to get it straight, it gets twisted into a short spiral if you know what I mean.

Regards, Ray

Hi Ray! For rolling pe curves, I have a standard rolling kit

http://thesmallshop.com/index.php?main_ ... 78e7bc9a52

but I seldom use it to tell you the truth, although it does work great. I do 90% of my rolls by placing the pe part directly on a Tamiya cutting mat and using slight pressure, roll the part with either -one of the steel dowels that come in the above kit -or, more often, I'll just use a drill bit of about the right diameter. The cutting mat seems to have the right amount of "sponginess" for this, if you know what I mean.

a couple of things I've learned: I take care to keep my roller 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the pe peice while rolling (no "spirals") with even pressure across both ends of the roller. I start with about the same size diameter dowel or bit as the curve I want, and when the brass bounces back a bit (I don't anneal), I take the next smaller roller and repeat and usually I'm pretty close by then. Try to use a light, but consistant downward force (across both ends of the dowel) during a roll if you want an even curve, press slightly harder for more curve, easier for less. Varying pressure will result in uneven roll of course. The rolling kit is awesome though for those who don't want to do it by hand. Pressure is certainly less of an issue using the kit. I recommend them anyway for whatever thats worth

Thanks for asking! -Tim

Tim, a great explanation, thank you so much. I have a White Ensign Abdiel to do, and it had some etch which needs to be rolled into a circle, so that advice will be really useful. I will practice on something else first though, and buy a cutting mat too!

Keep up the good work, and giving me inspiration!

Regards, Ray

Ray, mouse pads, the thin, cheapie kind, also work great for rolling PE. Thats what I use.

Bob

robertmelvin wrote:Ray, mouse pads, the thin, cheapie kind, also work great for rolling PE. Thats what I use.

Bob

Bob, I work in a shop that sells them, so I will give it a try! we do some cheapies. It could also be a new phrase in our training:-
Q:- What are you going to do with your new PC?
A:- Use it to store pictures of my models on
Q:- What, kits or people?
A:- Kits of course, Airfix you know...
Q:- Ahh, right. Do you add extra detail?
A:- Oh yes, I put allsorts of etch on my stuff
Q:- Have you seen our mousemats? very useful...

Good job I only work in the warehouse!

Thanks for the advice,

Regards, Ray

Hi Tim,
I have retired just south of Sidney on Vancouver Island and like you, I haven't done much modeling for a very long time. I bought the new Tamiya Yamato and the Mk1 PE. I have learned since that the Lionroar PE is the preferred way to go. Before starting I built what I thought was going to be an easy weathered Willy's Jeep to get a bit of practice - especially with airbrushing which I had absolutely no experience with. Plastic models have changed a lot over the last 50 or 60 years and the added complexity coupled with Parkinson's makes placing some of the small parts interesting to say the least. After reading as much as I can on Airbrushing and what other folks have done, I've decided to try modest weathering on my Yamato. Did you follow the Tamiya paint recommendations and did you attempt to apply washes after clearcoat to bring out the rivets/construction lines etc.? I'm really having difficulty with determining what paint and when because it seems like everyone does it differently. Any advice you can provide would be much appreciated.

Bob Thornborough