I am starting Merit’s 1/350 USS Enterprise, CV-6 and not sure how/where to attach the photo-etch railings. They have 4 horizontal bars and my question is: is the bottom bar glued to the side edge of a platform or is the bottom bar just glued to the top surface of a platform? I suspect the former because the later would mean the the gluing surface would only be the thinnest portion of the PE. Not a strong joint for sure even using CA. Pretty basic question but some advice would be appreciated. Thanks
Almost always on top. I have seen some the other way, but they’ll come out too short.
There’s so much good information on this site that it’s worth reading through.
Strong joint, only in our dreams!
A few of my tips are to put the thing on with a little bit of Elmers. That seems to hold the placement better, then go back and bleed in some CA with a toothpick tip. Or, not.
Second, I always manage to get a corner into each section.
Both of these help avoid having railing sections topple over into puddles of CA, which really sucks.
How do you like that Enterprise kit? I seen it advertised on the Sprue Bros site this morning and it looks pretty sharp.
As GMorrison said, Elmers is good for getting it started followed by adding super glue. I also tried Tacky Glue by Aleene’s which is much like Elmers and now Aleene’s has a clear gel tacky glue. Availble at Michael’s and your finer Walmart stores everywhere. I’m trying out the clear gel on my Tricongeroga and it gets the job done much as the others do.
One PE rail tip I learned from the FSM forum members here is to cut the longer handrails into smaller segments for easier handing.
I recently tried that new stuff advertised on TV, although I bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond. It’s the UV cured glue. After bending the railing to fit, I made a 1" long skinny puddle of glue on the glass plate on my bench. Then, holding it with tweezers, dipped the bottom edge in the puddle. Placing the PE in place, then used the UV light to cure a spot, which happens in about 2 seconds. Then can move the PE a bit to get it lined up and hit it with the light in another spot. When completely lined up and tacked, I go back and hit the whole length with the light. If there is a spot you’re not sure of, just add a bit of glue with a piece of wire and hit it with the light. It cures perfectly clear. It has added a new tool for my PE work and I like it. Took it in to the model club for a demo. I found it also works well as a non shrinking gap filler with nearly the same sanding characteristics as plastic, with a 5 second cure time. Painting over it does not show a difference in porosity like some fillers do. EJ
Well, that is most interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.
I always put the railings and much of the PE on last or almost last just because PE, no matter which way you apply it has such small bond area it will be fragile. Ships with PE are fragile- no way around it. I like to fabricate large bases so I can handle the ship just by the base, never touching the model itself after completion.
The kit looks great and BIG! I did some internet searches and discovered that most of the Enterprise railings I could see in the photos have 3 horizontal bars. Since the PE has 4, I CA’ed the bottom bar to the edge of the platform and it all came out even all the way around. I’m going to assume the same is true throught the kit. The bend locations were spot on which really helps in the process. So far so good!
REGARDS
Try using Aleene’s tacky white glue. It works really fast and has superior bond over Elmer’s. It dries clear and if for some reason you don’t like how it looks, you can carefully pop it out without damaging the paint.