Need to rant

[Big10]

I hate trying to work with small PE or any PE in general. Half the time I'm looking for it after it flies away. Next thing I know I have to much superglue built up trying to attach the damn thing. I have wasted 2 nights trying to build this bomb rack that will never be seen again after I put the model up.

I know that PE can bring so much life to a model but for me, it really takes my enjoyment away from my subject to where I begin
to hate it and next thing I know the model sits for months.

I swear I would not waste money on PE and the next thing you know, I go and buy the damn stuff, try it again and back to square one.

It's a vicious cycle that never seems to have end.

Rant off.

 

[moon puppy]

I think I can say that I got some experience with PE.

And I still think I can do a better job on this thing now but..

I'd much rather work with resin. Some of the "major" producers of PE really take us for granted, offering square boxes for what should be very round pumps in landing gear wells, (F4F anyone?) colored parts that look like they were printed on the color printers they used for comics back in the '50s and parts that are just scaled up from smaller kits that really don't fit the scale they are sold in.

I'm with you John, rant away.

 

[Big10]

The larger PE I dont mind too much. If I waste a few more days on this bomb rack, it will be back to the kit supplied parts.

I'm with you on the colors they use sometimes. It really makes an eyesore. Makes you wonder what the hell they were thinking. I mean, the colors are not even remotely close.

 

[ausf]

I hear ya, even if you get past tweezerpult.

I was always a sucker for it, then I started selling Voyager and went off the deep end. I have some insane PE kits, like the full kit for the Trumpeter BR52. The box is the size of a VHS tape and it's just solid packed brass sheets. At one point I spent over $400 on a resistance solderer I was so hooked on the stuff.

But, truth is, like you mentioned, I never ever finish one with the full treatment. It either becomes a chore or a source of tension that is the absolute antitheses of why I build models, to relax.

The only two models I've finished in a long time were a WnW and an Eduard Pro. Just enough in the box to wet my whistle, but not enough to bog down.

 

[Scrodes]

Gator glue is the answer to your problem.


I place the smallest of PE parts using something similar to the RB pencil - I have a tiny burnisher that has a little bit more than a speck of bluetak on it. Enough to hold the part, but not so much that I can't pull the burnisher away and allow the part to remain standing. If the part needs to stand vertical to the surface I've glued it to, I'll use a knife with a #11 blade and hold the part up until the glue sets to the point that it will hold on it's own.



Stick with it, pick and choose your battles. Not every PE part has to be used. I prefer resin myself.

 

[Big10]

Hmmmm...Gator glue, I will have to try that and your tips as well. Thanks.

Ausf, I remember one time buying an Eduard Super PE set...my first and only time. I was so pumped and thinking about how great it was going to look, not even half way through the set I tossed it, I was seeing nothing but red I was so mad. LOL

I don't even want to know the amount of money I have spent on PE, enough to buy more kits I know that.
:pinch:

 

[Heavens Eagle]

I can understand most people having trouble with small PE parts. As a watchmaker I spend 8 hours a day handling and manipulating parts so tiny they look like dirt specs to the naked eye.

I also had a number of years experience making prototype sheet metal parts by hand. Chop, cut, bend punch, all the stuff you do with PE only much bigger. The processes work the same, the PE parts are much smaller.

The biggest problem with handling small parts is caused by tweezers that are damaged and need some minor rework, and holding tweezers incorrectly. I discovered just how little folks really know about condition and handling of tweezers last month when I gave 2 demos at my local hobby meeting.

They had been pestering for a soldering demo for a while, so I did one and thought while I was setting up stuff to do the demo that I should do a demo on how to retip and handle tweezers.

While the soldering demo went quite well, all they could talk about after the meeting was the tweezer demo.

I guess I better take some time this weekend and do a Tool Time on tweezers. It should help with the parts vaporizing into thin air or getting eaten by the carpet monster.

 

[Hippy Ed]

I can understand most people having trouble with small PE parts. As a watchmaker I spend 8 hours a day handling and manipulating parts so tiny they look like dirt specs to the naked eye.

I also had a number of years experience making prototype sheet metal parts by hand. Chop, cut, bend punch, all the stuff you do with PE only much bigger. The processes work the same, the PE parts are much smaller.

The biggest problem with handling small parts is caused by tweezers that are damaged and need some minor rework, and holding tweezers incorrectly. I discovered just how little folks really know about condition and handling of tweezers last month when I gave 2 demos at my local hobby meeting.

They had been pestering for a soldering demo for a while, so I did one and thought while I was setting up stuff to do the demo that I should do a demo on how to retip and handle tweezers.

While the soldering demo went quite well, all they could talk about after the meeting was the tweezer demo.

I guess I better take some time this weekend and do a Tool Time on tweezers. It should help with the parts vaporizing into thin air or getting eaten by the carpet monster.

Sounds real good! Please do that for us when you have time! :drinks

 

[Hippy Ed]

AMS is hell & I too have it bad!! Tweezerpaulting is my main gripe So, Preach it Brother!!! :drinks

 

[Duke Maddog]

Reading all this makes me glad that I can just build OOB. I refuse to buy aftermarket P/E sets; the ones I do have came as gifts or raffle prizes. I can take it or leave it. If I buy a kit that contains P/E, I pick and choose what I'll use and what I'll leave on the sprue tree. I think I've been able to buy several dozens of models with the amount of money most have spent on P/E, so I now have plenty in the stash to keep me going for awhile.

 

[DioRandy]

I've felt your pain, as well. Even before my eyesight went south, it was always a lesson in futility. I never used half of it. Just removing the parts from the unrelenting sprue was a gut-wrenching proposition. I don't think it's worth it, unless you need it for a desired effect, like battle damage.
It's not quite as bad, but assembling metal tracks is another task that takes a tremendous amount of perseverance. I'm not looking forward to tackling the Friulmodel tracks for my M113. The ones I did for a Tiger I were bad enough. These are miniscule in comparison. I must admit, though, they look much better than the plastic or, God forbid, rubber ones.

 

[chukw]

I love PE! As for slingshotting, try licking your tweezers- just a bit of magical spit will hold a part in place. That said, never lick another modelers tweezers... For parts I have shot off into space, I'm finding more and more that they travel in a curve, like a boomeranging frisbee. Never a straight line! Gator Glue is a real lifesaver- but soldering for any of the tiniest bits is another fun challenge.

 

[Swordsman]

I also feel all Yawls' pain as I'm always losing the battle to the Carpet Monster ... My bench has a drawer that I open to work on/over lately it has been catching most of my dropped parts ... the other day though I dropped my Halftrack Motor on the floor three times in a row ... good thing my Doctor checkup is next month they may have my Medicine messed Up again ... Been dizzy lately ... nearly fell down 5 or six times ... the other day going to bed ...

So that being said this is said drawer ... I've also done some things inside ... the drawer ...

Hard to see in this photo ... but one day I'll get this straightened up ... when your working on 6 models at once ... it takes some real multitasking ... So I went out and picked up a metal baking sheet ... on the left and right of that I put some Magnets to hold the tools I work with ... then the other day I had so much going on I put these plastic bins on top of the sheet they catch dropped parts very well ...

You just need to look in all the bins to find the part ... that was where the missing deck supports were found ... I won I Won !!! now this weekend I get to try Gator's grip out as the PE starts ...

 

[135engineer]

On a slightly different note but still pe related. I cover the back of the entire pe sheet with frog tape . this allows the parts to be cut free without launching in the process. Chukw take a deep breath sit back for a minute and then wrap some tape around your hand sticky side out and start patting the floor this will help find the missing pe

 

[Tony lee]

Go to Wally World and buy yourself an APRON. When working with small parts put it on and drape it across your lap and it will catch most of those dropped parts. :facepalm


Uncle Tony ldguy

 

[Hippy Ed]

On a slightly different note but still pe related. I cover the back of the entire pe sheet with frog tape . this allows the parts to be cut free without launching in the process. Chukw take a deep breath sit back for a minute and then wrap some tape around your hand sticky side out and start patting the floor this will help find the missing pe

:hmmm interesting... I have used nylon stockings over the nozzle of a vac to find lost parts...

 

[moon puppy]

I love PE! As for slingshotting, try licking your tweezers- just a bit of magical spit will hold a part in place. That said, never lick another modelers tweezers... For parts I have shot off into space, I'm finding more and more that they travel in a curve, like a boomeranging frisbee. Never a straight line! Gator Glue is a real lifesaver- but soldering for any of the tiniest bits is another fun challenge.

Just imagine that the folks who buy your house are going to be finding all these little itty bitty parts all around your former modeling room.

 

[Hippy Ed]

I love PE! As for slingshotting, try licking your tweezers- just a bit of magical spit will hold a part in place. That said, never lick another modelers tweezers... For parts I have shot off into space, I'm finding more and more that they travel in a curve, like a boomeranging frisbee. Never a straight line! Gator Glue is a real lifesaver- but soldering for any of the tiniest bits is another fun challenge.

Just imagine that the folks who buy your house are going to be finding all these little itty bitty parts all around your former modeling room.

 

[chukw]

I never lose a part. :dude Except for that pe bomb rack on the Helldiver, but I'm 99% certain it went out with the trash. If I'm gonna find it, it'll be now!

 

[ausf]

Go to Wally World and buy yourself an APRON. When working with small parts put it on and drape it across your lap and it will catch most of those dropped parts. :facepalm


Uncle Tony ldguy

I used to sell aprons with two velcro strips to attach to the underside of the bench lip. It had an upside down warning on the front 'don't stand up' in English, French and German, It was kind of a joke item, but really was useful.