Let me start out by saying that I am a photo etch (PE) addict. Yes, that’s right - if there’s a model I’m preparing to build and there’s any type of PE available for it, I will buy it and I will use it. I just can’t seem to help it. OK, I feel better getting that off of my chest. I just love PE detail parts and what they do for the scale appearance of my models. However, I have always struggled with removal of the parts from the frets, not only in making a clean cut, but in not damaging or bending the PE part being removed. I’ve tried about every PE part removal technique known to model-building man (or woman) and have never been totally happy with any of them. So when given the opportunity to review this new PE scissor from Xuron, I jumped at the chance.

Punch & die sets are one of those tools that you don’t think too much about until one day when you need it. Then once you have one, you wonder how you ever did without it. Roll Models now offers the familiar Waldron set containing a punch guide and six punches in the following sizes:

.160”, .120”, .089”, .081”, .059”, and .039”

What You Get in the Bag

The Photo Etch Part Cut-Out Kit is packaged in a simple poly bag containing 3 black 3/32 inch-thick Plexiglas square tiles just shy of 4 inches on each edge, 1 clear 3/8 inch diameter Plexiglas rod 1 inch long, and 1 clear 3/32 inch thick Plexiglas tile measuring 1 by 1.5 inches. The rod has a slight chamfer (a 45 degree cut that softens the edge) on one end, and one long edge of the small clear tile is also chamfered. A one page instruction and description sheet is included. All of the parts were loose in the bag, but the black tile had protective paper to protect the finish.

I would like to thank Julie Lockwood for this review sample.

I would consider myself to be very experienced working with photo etched parts, having added them to armor, aircraft and ship models. In fact I love the challenge of working with the media. Up until now, however, I have roughed it, being content working the metal with a few pairs of pliers, scrap dowel, a steel rule, a no. 11 knife blade and a scrap piece of acrylic. In fact, I have turned up my nose at the fancy PE folding tools on the market. So Julie Lockwood of Kalama Precision Machine may not have realized that she was throwing down a challenge when she asked me to review some of their latest PE working tools. Suddenly, I was in the lion's den … alone.