I haven’t built a plastic model in a very long time. I now have 2 kits I want to build as they have been sitting long enough. Before I screw up the parts on the trees what is the best way to remove them without damaging them? I was thinking just a very new exacto blade but maybe there is a better way I don’t know about?
I want to take this slow and easy so it turns out good.
Tug
Toe nail cliper’s and i also use a pair of small wire cutters.
Sprue cutters work wonders…you can buy them at any hobby shop or online.
When using toe nail clippers get the convex type other than concave.You’ll get a cleaner cut by the sprue.Also they have really good sprue cutters usually at a good hobby store or Hobby Lobby.
Rod
I echo everyone else’s statement. Sprue clippers are the best, my Testor’s one is still pretty darn good after 6 years. Nail clippers are also a great alternative.
Would Michael’s have the testor sprue cutters?
Tug
I’m partial to the Tamiya cutters. They’re much like the Xuron but a bit less expensive.
Here’s how to keep little parts from disappearing into your carpet. Go to an automotive repair shop and beg a couple of large, clear plastic dead parts bags. Put the parts-laden sprue deep in the bag, slip in your cutting hand, then nip away. If a part flies off the sprue, it gets trapped in the plastic bag.
Thanks everyone for your help. I will be going into town today and will go to Michael’s to see what sprue cutters they carry. They are the closest thing to a hobby shop we have here. The bag trick is a great idea Because somwhere on my floor is a big gapping hole that sucks up everything I drop. I can’t locate the hole but I know it must be there as I never find what I drop.
Tug
Whoa!
Do you have an electronics store (not a Best Buy or Circuit City - more like a Radio Shack or hobby electronics shop) nearby? Check what they have in their tools sections. There are some flush cutters made for cutting wire-wrap. They are very much like what Xuron sells as their sprue cutters (matter of fact, Xuron repackages some of their tools for the plastic hobbyist). I picked up several Plato-170 cutters for about 5 bucks at the local Electronic Discount Sales.
No electronics shop? What about a hardware store? Check their hand tools for flush cutters. You might look in the electrical department – but I’m thinking that what they carry might be bypass cutters or more crude – not fine/flush cut. Sears tool department may even have what you need. Even better if you have a Mom & Pop hardware store - take a picture of what you are looking for (this months Squadron Mail Order ad - page 38) with you and ask the oldest guy around if he has something like it.
If you must go to Michaels, they may have some flush cutting wire cutters in the silk flower arrangement section. You won’t find something labeled sprue cutter.
We do have radio shack here and a few small hardware stores, no discount electronic stores. I printed out a picture of the Xuron Ultraflush 4" cutters as a guide for when I go shopping today
I may end up ordering this item. I tried yesterday to buy some Tamiya thin glue but couldn’t find it here. Testors in the black bottle was all I could find. Sometimes mail ordering is the best and most economical way to get what you need.
If there is a list of things I should need I may as well order what I can all at once.
This forum group is a great help. I had no idea of what I needed when I first posted.
Thanks
Tug
Tamiya tools and modeling supplies, as opposed to their models, seem to have spotty distribution in local hobby shops. Several times I’ve tried to order Tamiya items through my LHS: I see an item online or whatever, I take the printout to the LHS, they search through all their suppliers’ catalogs with me present, and the item is not to be found in the U.S. wholesale channel! Some items, such as Tamiya’s build-it-yourself drill and router kits, I’ve had to import directly from Japan or Hong Kong!
I strongly second Ed Grune’s idea to forage for tools and supplies in non-hobby shops. Not only do the items tend to be much cheaper, but the quality is or can be made similar. If you’re handy with files and/or diamond hones, you can turn a pair of cheapoid wirecutters into the very finest sprue-nippers imaginable.
You might want to add beauty shops to the list for abrasives, cutters and fiddly bits for scratchbuilding. Silver- or gold-plate chains for a six year old’s jewelry box make good anchor chains, for instance.
Oh, and don’t leave our old friend Sears off the list. Just have to go looking in among the electrical tools for flush cutters. Even better is to browse the “on sale” bin every so often–occasionally a really good deal or two in there (I scored a package of “fine” pliers–various lenght & shape “needle nose” for $5 because the slip-joint pliers were missing from the package).
Also, while over in Sears, you can get toolbox drawer liners, which are very reasonably prices, and make decent “gross” cutting mats. It’s in the looking at things, some times.
I’ve used the Xuron cutters for about 15 years. Highly recomend them or a facsimile of them.
If you’re thinking mail order consider MicroMark. Their little 82393 tweezer-like ‘despruing tool’ is fantastic for the smaller parts, especially getting in to tight places on the sprue. I use this as well as standard electronics cutters.
Never be tempted to use those electronics cutters on anything harder than the thin copper wire they’re intended for incidentally, anything harder will sreck the edge.
Michael