Editing Photo-Etched Brass (section)

== If It's So Detailed, Why Is It Dead? ==
Photo-etching is an old technique, which is not used much for making models anymore.  That's not to say it isn't done: many companies which specialize in high-detail scale models have been around since photo-etched brass was in vogue, and they're still doing it.  That being said, you aren't going to see high-volume tabletop war games switch back to brass any time soon.  The reason is threefold:
* It's fucking fiddly.  Photo-etching brass takes time and attention.  Each step in the process requires you to work precisely with chemicals, some of which you don't want to touch, and others of which cannot be exposed to light for very long.  If you leave an etching in the acid bath for too long, you ruin the etching completely and make acid slurry byproducts for nothing.  The fastest turn-around time on a single brass etching is like, a day and a half.
* It's fucking dangerous.  Photo-etching requires strong acids and UV lights, both of which are bad for you if your job is to be exposed to them 24/7.  The used-up acids are a nasty by-product of the manufacturing process, that are tough to dispose of.
* It's fucking unnecessary.  Back in the old days, plastic models just couldn't be made well enough to compete with the detail of brass.  By the 2010's, plastic moulding techniques have evolved enough that fine details and repeatable precision are no longer a problem.  With [[Games Workshop|model companies]] constantly finding new techniques for improving their plastic and resin model kits, why bother with brass?

These days the only people who sell photo-etched brass parts in wargaming are 3rd party shops online, and [[Forge World]].  Games Workshop themselves has long-since switched over to transfers for adding surface details to their plastic models.