Help with photo etched parts

Modeling Subjects Ships
1

Hello,

I bought 5 of the 1/350 scale Tamiya battleships that served during WWII.

Arizona (though briefly)
King George V
Yamato
Missouri
Bismark

I’m very interested in getting some photo etched parts for railings, cranes, etc. I’ve never worked with trying to fold these to attach to the models. Can someone offer some advice?[8]

TIA

2

Get hold of a copy of “Basics of Ship Modeling” by Mike Ashey. It was a great help to me. Many hobby shops stock it; it’s published by Kalmbach so you could also order it through FSM. It does take a little practice but once you see the results you’ll never build a ship without photo-etch again. Good luck!
Paul

3

I didn’t think that Tamiya had a 1/350th scale Arizona, are you thinking of the Banner or Trumpeter kit???

4

There’s some good articles in the how-to section of Modelwarships.com, but Mike Ashey’s book on ship modeling is very good. I also believe that Loren Perry has a booklet available on using photoetch.

Loren is, of course, Gold Medal Models.

Regards,

Jeff Herne
Modelwarships.com

5

Ooops, you’re right, It is the Banner model of the Arizona. I forgot.

I will look into the book on this. Just curious about your individual techniques
on keeping the parts straight while bending them. I think if I use the unattached deck as a guide I can bend the railings to the shape of the deck but wasn’t sure if that is the best approach.

Now if Tamyia or Trumpeter would just make a USS Texas in 1/350, I’d be set. The battlewagons and PT boats are my favorite subjects of WWII.

6

I second the vote on the Texas! I would love a good plastic kit of her, and since I live fairly close to her (about an hour’s drive) I have the best reference source available. As far as the photoetch goes just take it slow and easy, any little mistakes can easily be made straight again. But if you get fast and sloppy you can end up with a real mess. I also bought Mike Ashey’s book when I started to superdetail my ships and found it to be a wonderful tool. As a matter of fact I still refer to it every now and then.

7

Yeeeoowwzza sahickerson,
You must really close to my home town, Beaumont, TX.
I had a chance to see the Texas before it was refurbished back in the 60’s.

How’s the job market down there for IT?