I have never bought any AM parts, but I was looking at some for my 234/4. Most of the kits are photo-etched, and it looks to me like it comes on sprues and you construct them and everything. What are the benefits to photo-etched?
On a side note, is painting resin parts easy?
The benifit of PE is that you can reproduce details that would be difficult to reproduce in plastic like working tool clamps and sideskirts of the correct thickness. Here are some pics of the Aber set for the Kingtiger. The tool clamps looks correct whe compared to the real thing, I now also have the choice of leaving some of the tools off but have a realistic clamp left behind.
Yes resin is pretty easy to paint, but you will have to wash the parts in soap and water to remove any mold release agent.
Yes I forgot to add that in my own answer, but I have to agree with you. As much as I like PE I must admit that I always end up with a lot of spares for the spares box.
REMEMBER!!! A lot of super detailing and a terrible paint job is 10 times worse than no deatailing with an awesome paint job.