Hi Gang,
I`ve been a modeller for over thirty years now but i`ve recently started to use photo etch to sharpen up some of the kits i`m building.
My questions about it`s use are :-
(1)Do you have to anneal everything ?
(2)Other than superglue,is there any other adhesive you can use ?
(3)What`s the best way to go about painting it ?

I`ve come to the best place on the web to ask these questions coz you guys (and gals !!) hav`nt let me down yet.
Cheers All,Danny.

As far as painting goes, as a general rule I always put something alkyd (oil based) over metal for the first coat. Newer acrylics are really good, but in time depending on the environment there is a chance the paint may flake or fail. With a good oil based enamel primer that will never happen.

Welcome to the world of PE Danny! To answer your questions:

1) No...generally speaking you should anneal only those items that you need to curve or otherwise produce a similar complex shape. Annealing softens the metal and makes it easier to work with for that type of shaping but can make it harder to get crisp 90-degree angle bends. It's something you should do selectively.

2) It depends on what you are gluing to and how strong you need the bond to be. CA or CA gel (superglue) will work but it has short work times and weak shear strength, but is the most common way of securing PE. I also recommend Gator Grip glue, this is an acrylic-based binder that is more forgiving and also works well with PE. You can also use liquid or regular model glue if you're careful to attach PE directly to plastic but it's not very strong, so should be done selectively.

3) Chris' recommendations are good ones. Priming is always a good idea if using acrylics, if painting with enamels priming is less important but doesn't hurt.

HTH!

Not wanting to hijack Danny's thread, but I have a related question that so far I've not found an answer to (and which indeed Danny might find of interest also):

Apparantly, you have to "burnish" (polish?) indented rivets on PE sheets in order to make them rise up and stand out.

Anyone know the best way of doing this? Is it just a matter of keep on rubbing the underside until they rise up?

- Steve

Not wanting to hijack Danny's thread, but I have a related question that so far I've not found an answer to (and which indeed Danny might find of interest also):

Apparantly, you have to "burnish" (polish?) indented rivets on PE sheets in order to make them rise up and stand out.

Anyone know the best way of doing this? Is it just a matter of keep on rubbing the underside until they rise up?

- Steve
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No Worries mate,all input is good input.

@ Danny

Another good way to attach pe to other pe is soldering.
Some people also use superglue to glue small pieces of plastic to the pe part, afterwards you can glue it to the model and you'll have more time to position the part.

@Motorbreath

You might use a ballpoint to raise the rivets. Use a soft piece of rubber for a working surface.

If you can, push the rivet out into a countersunk hole with a diameter of the rivet head. Maybe just drill a hole into a piece of .030 styrene. This will give you a crisp and flat surface with the protruding rivet

Okay, well as nobody else wants to ask the really dumb question: how does one anneal the PE? ** yes, I'm blushing embarrassingly as I ask this **

Rudi

No drama, mate.

Annealing is a heat treating process. Heat the piece of brass with a flame (candle) or a soldering iron or electric stove (be bloody careful!). Heat until the colour of the brass changes. It doesn't have to get red hot (althought that will do it), just enough so that it changes from brass colour to a bluish or greenish shade (you'll se it, don't worry).

As soon as the colour changes let it cool. You can move the flame around the fret discolouring areas as you go and in the end, anything discoloured will be annealed. Don't bother with those that say you have to plunge the fret into water. That isn't the case and isn't what you do for annealing, it's what you do for heat treat hardening.

Very small & thin parts run a risk of melting if you put them into a very hot flame or the hot part of a candle so hold them higher & just watch for the colour change.

Practice all this on the edges or left over pieces of old frets to see how long to heat and how to get the results you want.

HTH

Paul

Thanks Paul - I should have guessed something as simple as a candle would do the trick

I use the gas burner on my kitchen stove...regulate the heat by the height with a pair of locking tweezers and it's cool to the touch by the time I walk back to my workbench. Larger pieces go right into the flame, just a couple of seconds is all that's needed.

I use slow setting CA Gel to attach PE to plastic. I put a small spot of CA on to the back of a old business card (as it has a gloss finish) or piece of glass (such as from an old photo frame). Due to the slow stting time and the non-pourus surface, you have quicte a few minutes to take the glue and apply it to the model.

For application, I use a pin or a sharpened cocktail stick to apply small amounts of glue to the model surface. I place the PE part with tweezers, push into place and then let set. Some people use CA accelerators, but I just let it set naturally.

Once the CA is dry I paint a small amount of Johnson's Klear / Future over the piece to lock it in. Klear settles very thin and also works as a seal -- I find that this really helps prevent the parts being knocked off in those accidental bumps.

HTH,
Ian

i use my 50$ zippo lighter. ( i didnt buy it, i found it im really poor.)