I need some more advice from you old heads again. I know when using photoetch its a good idea to wash the parts to remove any oils,etc from the manufacturing process to aid adhesion. This is my first time trying PREPAINTED PE. Do you still need to clean these and if so with what?

There shouldn't be need for any cleaning before use, at least to my knowledge the PE manufacturing process doesn't involve any oils or such stuff (like mould release agent, etc.). I haven't done any clean-up on prepainted parts and had no problems. Just the usual tools used with PE should be fine.

Giving the prepainted parts a light coat of flat varnish (airbrush is handy) before use is handy, especially if the parts are to be bent, like seat belts for example. As the prepainted finish tends to be fragile, the varnish gives it a degree of protection while handling and bending. A coat of varnish also levels out the shine of the parts. Naturally, you can use different kinds of varnish depending on the parts.

The "first generation" of Eduard's prepainted finish, identified by the flat finish & uniform colors, is sensitive to superglue: I've noticed the paint reliquifying when coming into contact with CA. That's no problem if the superglue is left alone to dry, but handling while fresh smears the finish. A coat of flat varnish prevents this as well.

I don't know if the current style of prepainted finish (slight shine, kind of "pebbly" or pixelated colors on some parts) behaves that way too, since I usually varnish the prepainted parts before use.

Other than that, I don't think there's any real tricks to them. Almost the same as with regular PE: remove from fret, clean up, touch up any bare spots from cutting, glue in place.

Hope this helps.



Ps. One more thing: it's usually best to think ahead a bit and try to attach prepainted PE parts at a stage in which the risk of getting paint spills on them is as low as possible; trying to touch up the prepainted details isn't fun. Or easy.
For example, glue seat belts to the finished seat, instrument panel faces to the painted backing plate, side consoles to finished cockpit tub, etc., then bring all the cockpit components together .

An idea is to prim them (that's what I always do )


Cheers Nick

Thanks Eetu and Nick! The reason I asked is because I have had past experience with photoetch where I had to clean it in order to get it to stick with CA. It was like there was a light coat of oil on it. To keep it from rusting during shipment maybe? I didn't think about just flat coating it. I'll give it a go! Thanks ya'll!!

Light coat of oil on PE parts, can you remember what brand it was?
Although I haven't used PE from that many different manufacturers, oily parts is one I haven't come across before. But I recall some brand's parts having a glossy coating that made them a bit harder to glue than bare metal, probably some kind of varnish coating on them.

The idea of clear varnish is mainly for the prepainted parts as mentioned in the starting post, regular primer would probably be better for bare metal parts if you wish to use something to coat them.
Apart from the prepainted parts, I haven't personally found a real need to coat PE prior to assembly, as I always prime everything before painting so the PE would get a coat anyway.

If and when priming, it's good to either prime the parts so that the gluing surfaces aren't covered or then sand or otherwise remove the primer from those areas before gluing in place: A bond of metal - adhesive - plastic/resin/metal/what-have-you is always stronger than metal - primer - plastic.

Eetu,
I said a light coat of oil but in all honesty I don't know what it was. It was an Eduard photoetch set I was refering to. They simply would not stay glued down. After I soaked the remainder of the fret in soapy water and wiped it down with a cotton bud soaked in alcohol they worked just fine.