Need some advice on the following...

I just picked up Revell's 1:32 Stuka JU-87D kit at Noreastcon in Buffalo and the vendor provided Eduard's beautiful pre-painted cockpit interior set with it. My questions is can the seat belts and harnesses be "annealed" safely without damaging the pre-painting. If so, what techniques have you folks used to do the annealing with? For example, butane lighter, soldering iron, etc.

Thanks for your comments

Annealing is mostly used for large and smaller pieces that are not painted. If you heat painted photo etch the paint will just burn off. For seat belts you can use a smooth faced needle nose pliers to get them in shape. HTH.

Hello John,
I have to agree with Andy, heating up the PE would only bubble/burn off the paint. Why are you asking about annealing the PE, I ask only that the PE parts are thin enough to bend and hold it’s shape…even with out tools. What did you think off the show, did you enter.

Happy Modeling,
Joe

It was a great show...I saw the effortsof very talented people. However entered the armor diorama of the WWII train wreck with the Sherman tank should have won best of show (IMHO). I entered a 1:35 Bundeswehr Gepard anti-aircraft tank and a 1:72 Bundeswehr Leopard battle tank.

I was finally able to find and purchase a punch set so now I can make circles and create disks.

My experience with photoetch has not been very good. I do not have a bending tool so my efforts in the past were disappointing. Having read posts and articles in magazines, I thought I'd give annealing a try (soften the brass and remove the "stiffness" to belts to give it a more natural look to them.) I also figured using metal tools would remove the painted surface.

What did you think of it?

Thanks for your advice

Yep, don't go annealing pre-painted PE, it'll burn the finish right off. Annealing isn't so commonly needed on the pretty thin brass PE of today anyway. The last time I remember having to resort to a lighter's flame was when bending machine gun cooling jackets which were reluctant to hold their desired tubular shape otherwise.

The steel PE included in some kits is another thing however. Older Dragon kits as well as Trimaster's tend to have those. For them, annealing is a must, as they're "springy" and hard, making them sometimes tricky to even cut off from the fret.

As you reasoned, I would too try to avoid using metal tools with prepainted PE to avoid damaging the finish.
I recommend giving the pre-colored parts a coat of flat clear prior to assembly. It'll protect the pre-painted finish from scratching off, something which might happen to parts that require multiple bending (seat belts for example).
I've also noticed that the (at least the older style) pre-painting is prone to re-liquify when coming into contact with superglue (and can then smugde off when touched while still wet). A coat of varnish also takes care of this potential problem.

The guy's are right , you don't have to heat the parts for bending . The paint will bubble up and burn off . If you do feel the need on which to do this a lighter will do or even a candle . I have a T-light candle on my work bench . You can use things are the house or tools you have on the work bench for bending said parts .

Spary the parts with lacquer will aid in the paint staying where it is and stop it from cracking and flaking off .

In addition to what everyone has said, be careful when bending the seat belts, such as over the side of the seat. Tight bends like this might cause the painted side to split at the bend. I just had this happen to me on one of Eduard's Hellcats.

Thanks to all for their sage advice...am I allowed to post pix of my efforts?

Actually John, forum rules require that you post photos after having a question answered.







Just kidding!! Post away. The more pics, the better!