photo etch

[Robo]

Just spent 4 hours fitting photo etched seat belts to a 1/48 scale aircraft. They came with the kit, so I thought nothing to loose Ill give it a try, wrong, talk about loosing the will to live, flat pieces that just fit into place with no bending ,fine , but why on earth would anybody want to try and make seatbelts out of brass pieces when there are lots of ways shown on the internet on how to make them from material, lead masking tape etc. They just dont lay naturally theyre stiff and rigid, end up full of wrinkles from misplaced bends they just dont look right. Sorry to offend anybody who thinks there the bees knees but there not for me.

 

[Tim Marlow]

No offence taken here, but I do use them myself as I find them a real time saver....
I find the pre-coloured ones are the best compromise between scale appearance and ease of use. Masking tape and fabric always look like what they are, unless you spend ages on the detail and paint stage....pewter or lead foil would be best if scratchbuilding them, but you still have the detail and paint stages....I think scratchbuilding a good standard of harness would take me far longer than using a pre coloured set....probably around three hours of real concentration and extremely fine work.
They do have drawbacks though....they are only coloured on one side, so really not great if both sides can be seen, cyano adhesives can lift the finish, self adhesive invariably isn’t, and as you say they can be a right sod to bend properly....I use good quality fine round nosed pliers for that job by the way....flat pliers add fold lines.....still wish they would etch them on shim copper stock though....it would be far easier to work.

 

[boatman]

Just spent 4 hours fitting photo etched seat belts to a 1/48 scale aircraft. They came with the kit, so I thought nothing to loose Ill give it a try, wrong, talk about loosing the will to live, flat pieces that just fit into place with no bending ,fine , but why on earth would anybody want to try and make seatbelts out of brass pieces when there are lots of ways shown on the internet on how to make them from material, lead masking tape etc. They just dont lay naturally theyre stiff and rigid, end up full of wrinkles from misplaced bends they just dont look right. Sorry to offend anybody who thinks there the bees knees but there not for me.

HI now no offence intended just read through your thread an just trying to under stand why its taken 4 hrs to fit some seat belts ? if ive read your post right whats the aircraft you are building ? an I aggree they can be a bit fiddly . An remember no offence intended here
chris

 

[Jakko]

why on earth would anybody want to try and make seatbelts out of brass pieces (…). They just don[/ICODE]t lay naturally theyre stiff and rigid, end up full of wrinkles from misplaced bends they just dont look right.

Did you anneal them first? That is, heat up the pieces over a flame (like from a gas cooker) and then let them cool (either naturally or by holding them in water)? You’ll find they get much more pliable if you do that, letting you fit them more easily and have them look more natural than if you try to bend stiff metal. Doing this with the pre-painted seat belts that Tim mentioned probably isn’t a good idea, but if yours were plain metal, annealing would likely have solved many of your problems. I know, this advice is a bit late for you, but it’s worth giving a try next time.

Added quick tip: don’t use the ` key for an apostrophe, but the ' The forum sees the former as you saying, “The following represents computer output”, resulting in your message looking odd.

 

[Robo]

HI now no offence intended just read through your thread an just trying to under stand why its taken 4 hrs to fit some seat belts ? if ive read your post right whats the aircraft you are building ? an I aggree they can be a bit fiddly . An remember no offence intended here
chris

Hi chris, I guess its all down to the necessary skills and know how and not using the stuff enough, the model is great wall hobby 1/48 mig- 29 fulcrum 9-12 which in itself looks to be a great kit, the problems with the photo etch are not enough detail in the instructions as to how they go together and no bend lines to guide you on the shape. No offence taken Im all up for helpful advice.

 

[Robo]

Did you anneal them first? That is, heat up the pieces over a flame (like from a gas cooker) and then let them cool (either naturally or by holding them in water)? You’ll find they get much more pliable if you do that, letting you fit them more easily and have them look more natural than if you try to bend stiff metal. Doing this with the pre-painted seat belts that Tim mentioned probably isn’t a good idea, but if yours were plain metal, annealing would likely have solved many of your problems. I know, this advice is a bit late for you, but it’s worth giving a try next time.

Added quick tip: don’t use the ` key for an apostrophe, but the ' The forum sees the former as you saying, “The following represents computer output”, resulting in your message looking odd.

View attachment 329233

Thank you, consider it taken on board.

 

[boatman]

Hi chris, I guess its all down to the necessary skills and know how and not using the stuff enough, the model is great wall hobby 1/48 mig- 29 fulcrum 9-12 which in itself looks to be a great kit, the problems with the photo etch are not enough detail in the instructions as to how they go together and no bend lines to guide you on the shape. No offence taken Im all up for helpful advice.

HI again well I don't know if this will help you but when I fitted the brass seat belts in my 1/48 th tomcat I just used stiky tape to hold the seatbelts at the top of the seat an in line
with the seat an then just pressed down with my finger tip to push the belts to the seat. An then tac glued them at the bottom of the seat although the other guys may do
this a different way

chris

 

[Robo]

HI again well I don't know if this will help you but when I fitted the brass seat belts in my 1/48 th tomcat I just used stiky tape to hold the seatbelts at the top of the seat an in line
with the seat an then just pressed down with my finger tip to push the belts to the seat. An then tac glued them at the bottom of the seat although the other guys may do
this a different way

chris

Yes, hi again the seat belts consisted of five separate pieces, the back brace, the shoulder straps and the cross belt all of which had buckles to join them together. I've found with photo etch that you can't experiment you have to get it right first time. Thank you for the advice it's appreciated.

 

[boatman]

Yes, hi again the seat belts consisted of five separate pieces, the back brace, the shoulder straps and the cross belt all of which had buckles to join them together. I've found with photo etch that you can't experiment you have to get it right first time. Thank you for the advice it's appreciated.

That's ok rob just like to help if I can
chris