I’m now up to 4 of the very small 1:48 PE parts for a plane I’m building gone lost during handling. By small, I mean extremely so…tiny little control handles that go inside the cockpit.
My question is this:
How in the HELL are you supposed to handle extremely small parts like this and not lose at least a few? I use high quality fine-tipped electronics-grade tweezers and 3 times now as I was trying to place them in equally tiny holes each time the part flew off into the lost PE part dimension. Something that small is virtually impossible to find again. With me it’s not a matter of dexterity…I can handle the parts O.K but the tweezers, which is the only tool I can imagine suitable for this, acts instead like a tweezer-pult.
Why in the HELL don’t the geniuses who make this stuff include a few extras for the really small parts like this that inevitably get lost? Especially for what some of these sets cost. Would it really be asking too much that a few extras of the tinier parts come with the set? I’m sure as hell not going to buy another set just for a couple of little control handles, and the problem is when you have to remove the original part to be replaced by the PE, only to lose the PE and now that part of the detail is lost.
This particular set is the Eduard PE kit for the Heinkel 219. I don’t think I’ll ever shell out another penny for a PE set in 1:48, and probably not in any other scale either. This crap is just to easy to lose in handling, and if the price is less accuracy, well f&ck it.
Try using a little low tack masking tape to back the part against while handling…all you need is a sliver. You can also use clay, blue tac or even a small chunk of wax. Just something to lightly adhere to the part while working with it.
Reverse action tweezers also help hold small parts while you handle them. Wrapping some masking take around the one of the tips of either your tweezers or PE pliers will keep parts attached to the tool preventing loss.
That’s why God made wire and small-diameter solder… 99% of all PE control handles, like throttle levers, mixture controls, prop levers, charging, hydraulic, & flap handles can be done with wire that’s flatted in a small bench-vise… Same with seatbelt hardware…
Not to mention that you can get 3-D parts out of small solder or wire, like the throttle lever in P-51… A flat lever with a round handle… You simply bend into shape, then flatten the bottom half of the lever in a vise, leaving the top part round… Sprue works too…
I don’t know why I didn’t think of those things. Thanks so much for the suggestions, I will definitely give them a shot! I was beginning to think attaching those tiny parts was nigh well impossible.
Thank you sir for those suggestions. I thought about making those lost parts, but pretty much resigned myself to the fact that they were simply too small to successfully engineer…I actually have some very small diameter enamel wire that ought to work nicely for this.
Really good tips…the techniques about how to add knobs using CA and also the rolled up masking tape for holding parts I found especially interesting and useful!
BTW if you’ve never heard of this one, I clean my “fork” tool of dried CA glue by immersing it in one of those fill-n-clean bottles filled with acetone. The glue dissolves completely within minutes depending on how dried it is, and I don’t run the risk of breaking the forked end by using a hobby knife to do it.
I’m going to add on to the fine tutorial about adding 3d to PE from Marc and Han’s suggestions of using wires. To add say a handle as in Marc’s demo, use a long piece of wire, drill a hole into the panel and glue it down first. Then cut the wire down the the length you want and then use the technique Marc outlined to add 3D effect. The long wire is much, much easier to handle and glue than a short little piece, especially one with a CA glue knob that you dont’ want to damage.
Here’s 2 pictures to demonstrate just the switch with no knob, I could have never been able to put a PE piece that small in. This was in a Hasegawa 1/48 Shiden kai cutaway model.
I use a toothpick with a small daub of blue tack, that “poster” adhesive stuff, on the end. I have also found the tweezers to be a “part launcher.” However, since the blue tack does not release the part, at the last minute I transfer the part from the toothpick to the model with the tweezers (making sure I have my lap apron/parts catcher on).
Another tip I learned from a demo at a club meeting- I now use thinned white glue as an adhesive for PE parts.
I’m far from an “expert” modeler at this point, but let me add [2cnts]…
I’ve completed my first kit with a P/E set,an Eduard 1/48 Bf-109E-4 set. After fiddling with microscopic bits of metal for two weeks, I determined that I probably won’t detail a cockpit that much again. I used about 75% of the interior parts, only to see them disappear int the recesses of the C/P, never to be seen again.
I used ALL of the exterior parts, much easier to work with(no major 3D bends), and the detail is much more noticeable. Remember, This was my first attempt at P/E…
Some in this forum posted something like "If it looks good to you from a few feet away, it’s probably good enough (super detailers & accuracy pundits notwithstanding)
I guess the final result depends on your vision, goal for the particular subject…?
Just getting into the PE phase with my SBD-3, and Don, I’ve got to say, thinned white glue works great for small cockpit bits! Not sure as far as the various levers go, but for anything that can sit and dry on its own, it works great!
Also, the adhesive side of a Post-It note works great when you’re dealing with “stacking” PE parts, or just holding parts in general. Think I’ll be using Post-Its to mask the PE dive flaps when the time comes, too. Not really sure how else I’m going to handle that job without bending the flaps…but at least they’re big!
