Etch – When Necessary!

Sometimes there’s just no option, and a 1:32nd scale aircraft with a perfectly clear canopy is one of those occasions – you just have to bite the bullet and consider etch, no matter how much you hate the stuff.

I set out to build Hasegawa’s 1:32nd scale Fw 190 A-8 in markings for Operation Bodenplatte, and I stalled out for a number of reasons – difficulty with obtaining the paints in the format I wanted, finding display space for so large a model, but really, ultimately, there was only one reason, and that was the fact the kit cockpit came without harness. I needed harness before I could complete the cockpit, before I could close the fuselage, before I could do one more stroke of work, much less finish the project. There it lay in limbo, because the basic etch set I picked up from Eduard (#32-053) was just too intimidating.

Fast forward a couple of years and I spotted 32-600, a pre-painted set which was even self-adhesive. Well, I thought, that might simplify things to the point even a sausage-fingered hack like me might manage to not make a pig’s ear of it, so long as the light is bright enough and the magnifying specs strong enough..

Still, it took a long time to commit to the job, there is always another kit to procrastinate with, and eventually it was a blazing hot day in summer that was too hot to airbrush even at 8am that set me thinking about itty bitty etched parts that didn’t need painting.

I had studied the instructions a number of times, visualised the process, realised there was no way you could pass two thicknesses of etch through the same hole no matter what the instructions said to do, and at last trimmed the first few parts and gave them a go. They worked, more or less, I’m sure any mismatches were my fault, and an experienced etchaholic would have knocked the straps out in no time at a much better standard. The main thing is, they look the part and dress the cockpit with a detail that is otherwise all too obviously missing. Under macro-enlargement the fabric effect printed into the paintjob is nothing short of remarkable and prompts the question as to what eyesight these things are made for? Certainly not mine! (Thanks to my bro in law for the super-closeup images!)

The frightening thing is imagining doing it at a smaller scale. A bit of painted tape is fine for 1:72nd scale, I feel, unless one can miniaturise oneself to both do the work and appreciate it afterwards. Yes, now you mention it, I do still need glasses… My favourite 48th scale? I don’t know… Am I an etch convert now? Well, let’s just say that there are times when it’s the go-to solution!