hi folks
picked up some of the FW brass etched eagles and =I= icons for use on my guard project and have a couple of quick questions.
first with the icons such as the small eagles and the basic =I= whats the best way of applying them and painting them? would it be to stick them on prior to base coating and paint them up as part of the model or would it be to complete the model and then add them?
secondly with the more detailed icons, such as the large squares with the =I= and some text etched in to the brass its pretty much the same question, do i place them on the model pre or post paint?
any tips on using these things would be great as i'd like to get painting ASAP and the use of the brass etch and when to apply it is holding me up (well apart from the question of the 40mm or 28mm bases in my painting blog post)
cheers
millest
Hi there,
I have used a fair bit of brass etch on my guard so I can share how I found it to work with.
I must admit it can be a bit fiddly and frustrating, but stick with it as it gives nice results.
In terms of sticking it I use superglue, and this works very well.
I snip the etched part off the brass sprue and then dry fit it to the area I am applying it.
This isn't so important on most vehicles as they have large flat surfaces to stick it on, but with some things, such as infantry you will need to gently bend it in place.
Also be aware with the aquillas that they have a front and back, the back of the brass etch has less detail, which I didn't spot until it was too late!
Once you have dry fitted the piece ensure that the area you are glueing it onto is clean and I find it hepls if you give the area a quick rub with some very fine modelling wet and dry sandpaper. Having a rough surface helps things stick together, but obviously you don't want to use anything too coarse or you will see scratch marks.
To glue it in place I use the GW extra thin superglue with a brush applicator. I know people will say that this isn't the best glue, but I find it works very well is easy to get hold of.
You will find that the brass etch glues onto plastic almost instantaneously so make sure that it's on straight, I use some needle nose tweezers for the more fiddly stuff.
Once it's on you won't be able to move it into position as the glue is quite brittle and you will find the join either becomes very weak or the brass etch just falls off.
On curved surfaces I then very gently run a needle file on the corners of the brass etch to smooth it into the curve.
You don't want any of the brass etch overhanging parts of the model, or have bits sticking up.
This is because the minute you put the models in a carry case the brass etch will get snagged on the foam and is a bugger to get out without pulling the etch off. I know this isn't that common, but on infantry models with brass etch on I have had some figures get stuck in the case! :)
In terms of painting this one really depends on the both the model and the brass etch.
All of mine have been undercoated and then painted whilst on the model.
Again for infantry this doesn't cause too many problems, and you can paint them like any other part of the model.
On larger things like vehicles etc what I do is glue it to the model and undercoat the whole thing. Then before I start painting I mask off the brass etch.
This is because I use drybrushing to base coat my vehicles which isn't an exact science and I find the brass etch with text can be spoiled if it has too much paint on as the text starts to disapear.
I hpe that helps, you can see my brass etch stuff in the Imperial Guard painting section. I have used it pretty extensively on my Macragge PDF army.
cheers for the feedback guys, i think i had come to the same conclusion when it comes to the small (and larger =I=) symbols that painting with them in place makes more sense.
my problem is im thinking of using some of the plates like in the top left of this picture:
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Images/Product...rge/inqetch.jpgon ones like that where the detail is etched in to the brass is priming in place better then gluing on afterwards?
millest
