What is the best method for attaching photo etch parts? Especially ship's railings

Ahoy Scott,
Welcome to Model Shipwrights, mate!

There are a few tried and true adhesives for making the bond between your photo-etch doo-dads and the model itself, my friend...CY, Cyanoacrylate, or super-glue, for one, in all formulations (thick, thin, etc.), fresh glue being the key, as most adhesives lose their shelf life after six months, and their bonding properties diminish after this time; choose a good brand as well (I prefer 3M brand CY's over others), as you only get what you pay for.

Another adhesive that is greatly taking over with modelers who have tried it, is "Gator Grip Glue", which is a non-toxic, non-yellowing, transparent acrylic polymer adhesive. It instantly grabs hold of the photo etch and gives a strong, flexible bond when dry. Once cured, Gator's Hobby Glue holds up well to both acrylic and enamel paints. See more about this amazing stuff here.

Also, check out our MSW review on Gator's Glue here...there are quite a few positives to using the Gator Grip Glue over traditional CY, as it gives you a bit of time to fiddle with the bond...

Some modelers also use good ol' white glue as well, but the set-up time is long, and the resulting bond is easily fractured if you're not careful.

The best advice, try them all, and settle in on what works best for you!

Cheers,
~Gunny

I will add another vote for Gator's grip...another advantage is the slow set time, allowing you to move the part around for final placement. Sometimes I may hit a couple spots with CA and accelerator to 'anchor" them in place.

here is a general PE intro link

What they said.. I'm an armor guy generally working with bigger pieces which I solder together, but for etch to plastic Gator Glue is the way to go.

Mike

Honest question: Does Gator's grip also work PE to PE? Or does one still have to use CA or solder for that?

Thanks in advance,

Harm

Yes, it does work PE to PE.

Gator grip glue is magic, I used to hate PE parts because they seemed to stick to your fingersbetter than to the place they were meant to fit but Ggg has changed that. I would also recommend going the whole hog and buy a hold and fold tool as well to make PE life a bit easier all around.
Julian