PE parts on models.....

[Nirvana]

I have tried to find a sort of answer regarding PE parts, say you are building a plastic ship and have bought PE parts for it.
Do one paint the items to blend in with the model or leave them as is in order to show the enhancements.
I will continue my search.

If anyone has some good advice that can be helpful for builders.

 

Thank you

[Pirate adam]

It is totally up to you, but I would paint them. There are plenty of people that build plastic models and don’t paint them at all. 
 

The Britmodeller forum has tons of good info on plastic models and painting. Very helpful and likeminded group to this one. 
 

Adam

[CPDDET]

It's your model, do what pleases you! That's my motto.

[palmerit]

Note that if you paint the PE, research the right way to paint it. I painted the PE for my Sherbourne and used Vallejo acrylic primer (which works great on wood and plastic) and discovered that the primer (and paint on top of it) would peel off. I only then watched some YouTube videos and saw that you either need to abrade the PE (which is hard to really do on tiny PE parts) or use a non-acrylic primer like Tamiya Surface Primer.

 

This video does a comparison of PE painting methods:

 

 

Edited December 19, 2024 by palmerit

[GrandpaPhil]

I always paint the PE parts on my plastic models.

[wefalck]

Brass photo-etched parts are usually intended to represent something else than flat (or folded) sheet-metal parts. So I would venture the guess that in most cases they would require some surface treatment, such as chemical blackening or painting.

 

I can't think of too many brass sheet-metal parts on a real ship. Typically, brass or bronze cast parts were used. However, in some cases PE bits may be tweaked to look like cast parts, e.g. bronze reenforcements/cladding on bollards or pin-rails and such.

 

There is a certain 'artisanal' style of models that are mainly intended to show off the workmanship of the builder, where the materials are left unpainted. In such cases one could perhaps leave PE parts untreated, but they may require some special varnish (zapon lacquer) to prevent them from tarnishing.

 

Otherwise, I can't really see a reason to leave PE parts untreated. Often, PE parts need to be soldered together and in an untreated state the solder tends to show up unsightly.

 

[serpe]

When I built my 1/72 Revell HMCS Snowberry I left all the parts on the frets I ordered from Great Little Ships. I then taped them to a flat surface and sanded them with a fine sandpaper. Just easy swipes across. This helped rough them up a bit so I could airbrush them with a very light blast of primer. I bent and attached some of the small parts then hand painted them. The larger parts like the funnel and wheel house etc, I built sprayed and weathered them them as you would the kit part it replaced. I wanted an accurate look to this kit. On some of the wooden model ships I've built I have left some of the items brass or steel just for interest.   But it's your call.