PE rookie

[pingvuiini]

These past several months I have been enjoying my return to building models after more than a couple of decades away from the hobby. During that long hiatus I have been fascinated by the explosion of third party accessories that have become available: PE, resin, metal tracks, turned barrels, tow hooks and cables, etc. etc. I said to myself that if/when I ever return to building I would love to try out all those interesting detail kits.

After I started again late last year I pretty much built straight out of the box just so I could get to the painting and extreme overweathering, which is what I enjoy most. The only third party detailing kits that I have been using were individual metal or plastic track links. I think I put off trying out PE because I was intimidated by it. I have used the PE that come with the latest kits, but they were usually limited to easy things like grilles.

This week I finally gave in and have been working on a Dragon Jagdtiger and a Lion Roar PE set (2 frets). As I expected things are getting a little messy from a vast comedy of errors: bending/gluing things the wrong way, too much CA, breaking pieces, losing pieces, the list goes on and on and on. And the tediosity is unreal, but I guess I feel this way because its my first attempt. I was discouraged when reading the PE instructions about having to cut away pieces of plastic from the tools, which is a real PITA. But then I thought to myself that since I will be overweathering the kit maybe I could get away with just gluing the tool clasps by themselves to give the appearance of pilfered stowage and adding to the 'Panzerwreck' look.

So far he build looks really 'pretty' with all the shiny brass and metal spare tracks looking like jewelry. Seems almost a shame to paint over it, but I am hoping to hide a lot of the messy build under the weathering (I purposely photographed from a distance to hide the crappy build work);D. I'm currently waiting for a RB aluminum barrel and will be using Friulmodel narrow transport tracks.

 

[spud]

Hey Pin at First it does seem Daunting, i have a set for a T62 with 13 sheets of etch waiting for me to get back to, but most of it wont be needed as its ammo cases and stuff.

But get your self a small Pe bending tool from the small shop this will make life so much easier for bending the narrow parts. if you live in the UK Historex now sell there tools.
http://www.historexagents.com/shop/hxsearchresults.php?SupplierCode=ts

the second one on the list is the one to have,

also get some Acetone to clean the etch of greasy finger marks before you paint it,

So far yours is looking sweet so far, and Painting over them at times is a Shame.

 

[danimal518]

At least you're trying it. I'm still intimidated by PE. I want to get a good 3-4 models under my belt before I start that.

Spud - do you know where I could buy a PE bending tool in the states?

 

[wbill76]

PE is one of those love/hate relationship elements, but the love (usually) outweighs the hate in the end! You've done a nice job here with it, agree with Spud, it's almost a shame to paint it.

 

[Big-John]

PE work looks good so far. Just remember that the more you work with it, the better you will get. You will eventually learn tricks and techniques to improve your skills and find it easier to work with. As spud said, a PE bending tool will make life so much easier.

This is the tool that I use.

Spud - do you know where I could buy a PE bending tool in the states?

The Small shop has them in the states.

http://www.thesmallshop.com/

 

[geegad]

before you try it with the photo etch do the bends with a thin piece off card or paper that way u wont damage the pe

 

[spud]

as John said direct from the small shop.

 

[pingvuiini]

Thanks for all the tips guys! And I will definitely look into that bending tool.

I went ahead and did the primer, then initial paint and decals. As mentioned before I decided to go with the 'pilfered stowage' Panzerwreck look, leaving the PE tool clasps empty. This made it easier in a sense in that I didn't have to detail paint any tools. So while the PE was a lot of time and work during the build, it did save me time and work with the detail painting later on. I think the only thing I have to detail is the exhaust pipes and tracks. I will probably add tarps and camo netting later.

The next step is where the fun starts: WEATHERING!!! ^D

 

[bdr65]

Nice paint job on this P ;D

 

[danimal518]

Excellent work. Makes me want to try my hand at some PE sooner rather than later.

 

[model maker jnr]

Great Job i remember my first PE build

 

[pingvuiini]

I have pretty much completed the Jagdtiger. I painted it using Tamiya Field Grey which has a definite green tint to it and ended up darker than I had anticipated, thus adversely affecting the weathering. FAILURE!!! >:^[

Its a good thing the Fourth of July holiday is approaching so that I can put this kit out of its (my) misery:
http://youtu.be/8ARjuTKdiIk

As for the PE it certainly was interesting and challenging, and I will probably do it again down the road. Right after I finished the Jagdtiger I started on a Tamiya Möbelwagen AA straight out of the box build and its amazing how fast things go without having to deal with PE. (Things are also going faster because most of the Tamiya parts are attached to the sprue at only one point. Whereas the Dragon kits tend to have parts attached at two, three or even four points, requiring more filing and cleanup of parts before gluing).

 

[rookie]

That came out real nice, good rust effects, very realistic

 

[danimal518]

That looks fantastic. What'd you use to weather it?

 

[pingvuiini]

Thanks for all the compliments! ^D

That looks fantastic. What'd you use to weather it?

I usually use oils and mineral spirits but this time around experimented with acrylics and water quite a bit more because I was afraid the mineral spirits would weaken or break the CA joints for the PE.

 

[adampolo13]

looking good!