Photo-etch seatbelts - Possibly a dumb question inside, open with Caution

[Raceaddict]

I'll preface this question by stating I (until now) build in only 1/72nd scale, and strictly out-of-the-box except for sometimes aftermarket decals.

 

I'm working on a jet now that came with a nice little brass photo-etch for the HUD mount, and the seatbelts... which has left me stumped. How do I work with PE? I've seen a few Youtube vids showing how to bend the angles, etc, which is fine... but the seatbelt situation seems a bit more, uh, fluid? Is there a specific way to bend/shape the belts so they appear to hang naturally on the ejection seat?

 

And then what about painting? I'm assuming the brass needs to be primered first of course, but are there any other steps?

 

After primer and paint, then... just glue them in place? CA glue, I understand. Any other pointers?

 

I feel like this should be obvious, I'm just not getting it.