Advice on PE set

[Meliodas2019]

Hi All,

 

I am looking at doing the 2cm flakpanzer wirbelwind dragon kit, got it for a great price so decided to go crazy and do the full pe upgrade kits on it

 

however there appear to be two many suppliers Griffon and Voyager Models, does anyone have advice, experience or recommendation on which set is better to go for, both about the same price Voyager seems more harder to get, be interested in peoples thoughts

 

thanks in advance

[Kingsman]

I've never used a Griffon set, but only because their range is largely German and I don't do German.  I also don't see the need to replace the entire armoured hull of my 251 or M3 half tracks with etched brass.....!!!

 

I have tried several Voyagers and find them to be overly fiddly with some small assemblies impossibly difficult to construct and with probably too many parts overall.  However they do sometimes include resin parts, copper tow cables and bits of wire and rod.

 

Eduard seem to keep things to a manageable level, and ET Models aren't bad.  For me, Aber falls into the "unneccessarily complex" box too.  Part aren't bad.

 

Point to note that it took me a while to come to understand.  Sometimes replacing moulded plastic parts with etched brass ones can end up looking far worse than the original because our skills aren't really up to it.  Mine certainly aren't!!  And I can't solder brass parts to save my life....  This is especially true where moulded-on parts like hinges are supposed to be replaced with brass parts, often requiring individually-applied bolt heads.

 

If you don't have them already, get hold of a set of diamond files for smoothing down the fret connecting tabs. You'll never cut them cleanly.  The Trumpeter Master Tools hold-and-fold devices are just as good as the more expensive brands at half the price.  But I find them hard to use.  My go-to folding tools for smaller parts are actually some cheap fine smooth-jaw jewellery pliers I bought in Hobbycraft.  They have a lot of useful little tools scattered around the store.  You can get, there and in other places, pliers with shaped jaws for bending corners, half rounds etc.

 

For smaller non-structural pieces try the new MiG Ultra Glue or the older Gator Grip Acrylic Hobby Glues.  These have more grab than cyano and are probably just as strong as modern cyano.  But they are a bit thicker consistency, which can be useful for fine gaps or squidging out around the part as a weld bead.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Das Abteilung
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