what to do with etched brass

[Indefragable]

So I came into possession of some, mostly for vehicles.

 

What the heck does one do with it? Does it go on before or after painting?

 

Any guides or insights are welcome.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[sockwithaticket]

Most of it works best on flat surfaces. There are a some pieces you can bend a little for curved ones, but even then it's a bit of a pain.

Before or after painting is entirely dependent on whether you want your symbols to be brass coloured. Brass doesn't feature in my paint schemes, so they're attached prior to priming. Occasionally I'll do a main prime, attach the pieces and then hand prime them because the detail can be a bit shallow and this way I get to control things better.

[Major_Gilbear]

The stuff that FW sell is mostly just icons, and these can be cut out and glued on before you prime the models. Be careful, as the etching leaves a rough edge and can cut you very easily.

 

If you have detailing kits rather than just icons (things like vehicle panniers, turret bustle racks, railings, etc), these are likely to need tome careful bending and "assembly" first. There's some good advice about doing this (along with some recommended tools) here.

With detail kits like these, you will need to judge for yourself what can be primed and painted in sub-assemblies, and what needs to be fully assembled and primed in one go at the start - generally, I'd say that these are fairly obvious.

 

Hopefully that helps, but feel free to ask if you have any specific queries. :)

[Firepower]

Lately mine have been having issues staying glued to the models.  They just pop right off.  I've tried sanding the areas, to no effect, and using different glues, to varying effect.  I didn't use to have this issue.  Weird.  

 

Anyway, yeah, what they said :D

[Axineton]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but can I cut brass with the citadel cutters or is there a special type of cutter?

 

I picked up some squad symbols for shoulder pads being as GW don’t print their transfer symbols in blue. How would I go about sticking them to already painted shoulder pads? Would superglue be best?

[Semper Fortis]

Personally, I wouldn't use my good detail cutters. Also you'd likely deform the piece you're trying to liberate because they're so small. I use an Xacto knife. But no matter how carefully you trim there will still be a little roughness left. I use a fine flat file to clean that and return the proper shape.

 

Shoulder pads are something of a pain in the butt because of the compound curve. Take your time to fit them to the pad. I use thin superglue to attach mine. You'll likely find that the top doesn't quite lay flat on the pad. I use a tiny amount of superglue and wick it into the crack, rinse and repeat until the crack is filled. (By tiny amount, I mean really tiny. Without a special tool, the easiest way is to put a drop or two of glue on a piece of scrap, pick some up on the point of a pin and place that to the inside edge of the brass. )

 

Also, because it will require a lot of handling to get placed right, you might want to clean the brass with dish soap and water then dry well before priming.

 

Hope that helps.

[Axineton]

Cheers mate that is the help I was looking for