I am a newbie to fine scale modeling. Probably the last model I put together was Frankenstein when I was 14 years old. When I bought my first kit a few weeks ago, an Academy M3A1, I was amazed at the detail and the number of tiny parts. Therein lies my problem. I am becoming increasingly frustrated at the small parts that keep flying across the room. I’ve tried using regular tweezers, spring loaded tweezers and alligator clips, but I still usually end up on my knees looking for parts.
So how do you guys secure these tiny little parts while gluing, sanding, etc? I know it’s ineveitable that I’ll lose a part from time to time, but if you guys could offer a few tips on how to make the assembly job go a little smoother, I sure would appreciate it.
HEY,
Well when sanding them if i do any of that, i use needle nose pliers or just my hands, but i have pretty skinny fingers so that may be idfficult for others to do. When gluing they usually stay put where you put them because of the glue and the fact that they arent really that heavy.
hey i have the same prob… ive had tiny metal transfers go flying when adjusting them…
ive found that using masking tape (any kind) and blu tack to hold the parts helps…
for glueing small parts i use a toothpick (or knife or anything) with a TINY ball (like no bigger than the part… u dont need much 4 a small part) of blue tak to hold the part. u have to be careful when removing the bluetak that it doesnt take the part with it(thats why u use a tiny ball!).
hope that helps
oh… and when cuttin a part from spure try and alwys hold the part(hands, tape, bluetacvk) but dont support the weight of the tree with the part(rest it on the table or something)…get me?
I know where tominator is coming from here. I’m having to scratch build a new joystick for my MH-53J Pave Low. When I went to cut it off the Sprue, I was using wire cutters. It was attached at two points and when I cut the first point, it snapped the stick in half and I lost site of the portion that had the hand grip. Of course, the straight portion is still attached to the sprue. If I had applied a piece of tape over the part, it still may have broke, but I’d know where all the pieces were.[:)]
yea what randy said aswell… a good pair of pliers helps to stop accidents aswell…
i recently bought a new pair, they have very thin and very sharp blades and work like a dream
A good idea is to put a piece of masking tape or scotchtape over the small part you are about to remove. That way when you cut it, it will stick to the tape and not go flying.
Another idea is to cut up the piece of sprue that contains the small part using side-cutters and place that small section of sprue in a ziplock baggie. You can clearly see what you are about to cut, and when you do cut it, the piece will stay inside the bag for easy retrieval.
Welcome to the world of modeling. You’ll be spending a fair bit of time on the floor looking for parts. I’ve been modelling for 25 years and I still end up on the floor! First, you should get some sharp modeling tweezers or sharpen the ones you have. I find regular ones are too blunt to hold most tiny parts. Also, when removing parts from the tree, I use a razor saw. This prevents most of the flying parts. One other trick I use is to place tiny parts with the tip of a knife that has a little bit of cement on it to make it sticky. Hope this helps.[:)]
Got to Walmart, K-Mart, Target, Office Depot, Office Max, whatever. Find some of the putty that is used to hang pictures. It is sold under numerous name but it is usually blue and remains tacky indefinitely.
Take a SMALL blob of it and wrap around the tip of a toothpick or stick a little blob in the end of a hollow plastic coffee stirrer. It will pick up small parts and hold them very well without “Tweezerpulting” them across the room.
Thats one I have never heard before![:p] Interesting idea! As far as sanding small parts there are some very good tools you can find in the ladies nail care sections at your local stores.