Hey guys, I figgured I would drop a line here and tell you about this.
I have started driving recently, finally, and because of this I have been driving everyone everywhere. Recently I drove my mom to a few dollar stores to get shipping paper and such for selling stuff on ebay.
While we were there I was looking around and I found three things right off the bat that I purchased and are working wonders for my modeling.
The first was 2$ (yea, 2$ in a 99c store, but still) it was a non brand named (no name at all) hobby knife set. three handles, normal exacto size, a thicker one, and one with a handle and 13 different blades. So far its very good.
Second was just a small travel bottle for like soaps and stuff, but its a perfect size and with alittle spout for holding thinner for putting it into the bottles of paint to thin them.
Last was one of those impulse rack items, it was a little pouch with 3 little fine tip tubes of Super Glue. So far my experience with CA has been horrible, always getting the tip clogged and such, but these are small enough that there definatly worth the 1$ for the pouch, they last just long enough that the nozzles don’t get all sealed closed, and for the price, cant beat it.
I love those places. I was looking for a way to organize my millions of bottles of paint. I found plastic Tupperware-like containers for a buck each. They hold about 24 bottles, were the perfect height and with their lids were even stackable.
About 80% of my modeling supplies, tools, & equipment from “non-hobby shop” sources… Hobby shops are for buying kits, styrene cement, and “model-brand” paints, nothing else, as far as I’m concerned…
I figured itd be a good idea to post this here and see if you guys have found any kind of deals in odd places for your supplies as well. If you have, cough up those details
Guess what…I have the same exact knife set. Except I paid a little bit more then $2, and I picked it up at Harbor Freight Tools. It’s an okay set for the money, but I found the blade holders(the blue plastic that holds the blade onto the handle) were quite lousy. After a while they loosened up to the point they wouldn’t hold a blade in position, and another one had some of the plastic crack off rendering the handle useless. I still have the red grip handle if that’s any consolation.[;)]
I havent had much luck with the el cheapo CA glue. seems like the tubes are 80% air.
I do agree that the $1 shops are a good source for tools, clamps, sandpaper, cutting mats, wooden kebab skewers (invaluable) and blocks of that green florists foam stuff.
I used those for a while. They work ok but the tips seem to get clogged after about the third use. And yes, they sure look like they are 80% air. I got a 1/2 bottle of Extreme Power Thick CA from Hobby Lobby at $3 less 40% coupon. This CA is great, it doen’t clog the tip and is great for filing gaps. One of my Exacto handles has to be 20+ years old and still looks brand new, while I’ve gone thru a couple of the cheaper Chinese made ones. Some of the cheaper tools are ok but others sometimes turn out really crappy.
I only buy the “Cheapo” CA glue… At five tubes for a 1.29, they work OK for me… The tricks to keeping the tips clear is to take a piece of foam and cut a slit in it to store the tube upright, and to always clear the very tip of the glue-tip before capping it by tapping the base on the bench to puch any glue farther own the tip, then give a quick puff of air to the tips… With some brands though, I need to cut the tip farther down, then store it with a straight-pin inserted in the tip before capping… A quick pull with a needle-nose will remove it from the tip if it bonds…
How about picture frames from Dollar Tree? I use them for diorama basis, and the glass makes for great pallates for mixing paint, and for cutting masking tape.
Those are the best bang for my buck that I’ve had from there.
Try the clear plastic “Box” frames there too… Used to get 'em at Wal-Mart, but they stopped carrying them, although Hobby Lobby still does as well… They run about 3 to 7 bucks depending on size and allow pretty good flexibility… You can glue them together to make any size base you want, they’re about an inch high and are hollow so you can “dig” holes in them as well as hide wires and power sources underneath… They come in 3x5, 4x6, 8x10, and 11x14 inch sizes…
frames are good, foam is good for bases, heck, EVERYTHING is good there. It’s so cheap… Oh wait, there’s the 99-cent store… I’VE BEEN ROBBED!!! THOSE HACKS!!!
When you go into one of these places it pays to think laterally. You may bypass the craft/beading aisle, but you would miss out on cheap chains, spools of 0.5mm craft wire (which comes in many colours) which can be used for grab-handles and many other applications. You may also find LED “tea light” candles which, when you dispose of the casing, will give you a ready-made flickering light module. These can often be found in sets of four for $2.00 (and even if you were to dispose of the “candles” completely, you’d still have four CR2032 lithium batteries) .You may also find spools of mesh ribbon which are a great cheap alternative to PE mesh.
Look beyond the surface and you’ll find lots of handy stuff. [:D]
Also be careful of X-ACTO knock-off blades. A discussion on another forum warned about this, but thare are some very convincing fakes out there (You need to look hard to see them)
The last pack of X-ACTO blades I got have lasted me for over 3 years, with regular sharpening. I only had one break, after I tried using it in a way not reccomended by the manufacturer (use as a pry tool) Even then, only the tip broke, and stayed in the plastic.
