Photo etch slings?

[NinjabreadMan]

Im not sure if this is exactly the right place to ask this but here goes...

I recently began work on some of Dragon's Gen 2 figs to go with my king tiger.... they look like they are going to be very impressive, and are very nice to build/paint.

HOWEVER, the kits come with photo etch slings for the various weapons and although very nice in themselves I don't have a clue how to get them attached and looking any way decent. They come as if for a real weapon, just a long 'belt' with a buckle on one end. Now, the weapons already have the final end of the sling moulded onto the butts, does anyone know how I can put 2 and 2 together to make 4?

On another side note, how do I get the etch to bend and curve like leather would? I have previously used fine slithers of masking tape painted to the right colour, and although bland and un-detailed this bent and curved much the same as a real sling, and as a bonus was self adhesive, is it worth me just staying with this method???

Thanks

-Max

[ChrisITA]

Hi Max,

you fix them together with CA/ Superglue, just like you would any etch, but use a pin or cocktail stick to apply the glue to avoid getting too much on what is a very small joint

the art though (as you say) is in bending them. The trick is to anneal them first. Heat them with a cigarette lighter until they are very hot then leave them to completely cool. The heating changes to tensile strength of the metal and makes it a lot more bendable, even when cool.

Now bend them to shape before attaching to the rifles. Its important to do it before attaching as attempting to bend them in situ can put strain on the CA joint and cause them to come away; and once they come away, for some reason it becomes increasingly hard to get a good clean joint

HTH

Chris