no I stopped because the cat was licking them too often. LOL
and no, I won’t even talk about what happened with the honey! [;)]
My problem wasn’t the cat licking them it kept knocking my M1A1 off my 5 foot dresser. But it stood up to what the critics said about the M1 because it would hit the floor and nothing would break.
But i know what you mean about the cats licking it because I used grease thinking it would work but the cats kept rolling in the greese and break the models and make themselves all nasty.[:D]
My sprue cutters from PBL . Three different thicknesses on the
cutting jaws. Excellent for removing the tiniest parts.
fuzzy
The 3 different grit finger nail sanding boards. I love those things.
God Bless
Dave
My current favorite is a set of tiny needle files…the different shapes come in remarkable handy for “sanding” hard to reach places as well as scribing a la blackwolf
Believe it or not a toothpick. I use to apply glue, stir and apply paint.
I learned the virtues of a well stocked nail care section of the pharmacy just a few years ago.
Cuticle sticks are a modeler’s dream come true, I’d never used them until a couple of years ago, but I wouldn’t be without them now.
I use the cheaper wood ones for sculpting Milliput into complex shapes and getting it into tight places.
I’ve also got a more elaborate one that has a plastic handle and two ends. One end is hard plastic and is flattened to a nice angled edge thats perfect for puting a bit of sandpaper on and smoothing out something in a very small and tight area on a model. The other end has a cylindrical piece of flexible vinyl on it thats cut at an angle and is perfect for manipulating errant bits of uncured paint and glue to where you want them if they got out of hand on you.
As many have already said here, it’s gotta be the ol’ hobby knife. Used to be a trusty X-Acto, but now I use an OLFA exclusively (X-Acto is quite hard to come by, and very expensive, here in Japan!).
Seriously, it’s all you really need to build a kit.
I would have to say first is the checkbook, perfect for getting in those tight hobby shops and plucking out the hard to reach kits. And an absolute dream at getting those pesky photo etch sets. But seriously though, I would have to say my dental picks. I tried to scribe panel lines with my x acto and with a scriber but never had many straight lines. Now I think I do a pretty good job. Second on my list of favorite tools would be this forum. I’ve learned more in the month I’ve been on here than I think I could have learnd in several years of trial and error.
Seems like I’m always reaching for either the X-acto or one of my files.
DJ
i agree with ‘hicks there, it’s gotta be the checkbook or cold cash. nothin’ aint gona materialize without the dough bro.
My X-acto is a great little tool, but I will not touch a part with it untill I turn on my magnifying lamp. The old peepers aint what they use to be.
Sanding sticks. The way I build models there is always a need for them. Second would be surgical hemostats for gripping small parts for positioning on the model. I have several sets of them, from small needle tip to wide duckbill. I couldn’t survive with out them.
Has to be my hobby knife, becasue it just seems to multiply. Every time I take one out, there seems to be more! I amy have some sort of obsession here.
Gotta go with the pack here, a trusty ol’ number 11 blade x-acto knife. I would hate building without one, and it could substitute for so many other tools.
If I was dropped on a desert island with a couple of models, I could probably get them built with a minimum amount of tools. A box of single edge razor blades, a couple of sheets of 360 wet or dry sandpaper, a tube of styrene glue, some tooth picks, 3 or 4 paint brushes, some paints w/thinner, rubber bands, scotch tape, 2 or three empty baby food jars and some clean rags. You can build both plastic and wood kits with the above items. I built a lot of models back in the early to mid 50s with those items. But probably wouldn’t be as much fun now as it was then.
My Magnifyin Xtra hands…of course Ive slightly modified it so it doesnt scratch or damage soft plastic…Dremel with flex shaft…and even though I have a nice drill press in the garage, I must say my dremel drill press set up works better for most modeling work…
Lets not forget the Acetone either…without it I wouldnt be typing this now![;)][;)][;)]
Chris
#1. hobbie knife
#2. Tooth pick
#3. My Wife is a Quilter. She made a quilt for me10"X36" made out of flannel. I use it to rest my arms on the bench while working and, a nice soft surface to work on models. (protects painted parts well)
One tool that has become indespensible for me is an old Macintosh SE. It has FileMaker Pro installed and I have created a database for my kits with fields for type (AC, armor, cars, etc.), kit number, manufacturer, scale, options, etc. If I need a paticular kit or part, it’s easy to look it up instead of searching the boxes. (600 +) I also watch eBay for some of the more rare kits I have and update the going prices.
Dust covers! My apartment tends to be very dusty as I don’t do a lot of housework, and between the dust and cat hair, I have to cover freshly painted parts with something. Or I put the freshly painted parts in a closed container. I have a bag full of dust covers of various sizes and shapes, ranging from the small plastic cups that come with take-out food (you know, the ones that hold hot sauce or parmesan cheese or whatever) through clean sour cream containers to a motel room ice bucket. Believe it or not, perhaps the handiest dust cover in my arsenal is a hospital vomit tray (clean, of course[:)]) that a respiratory therapist friend of mine gave me. Its unusual kidney shape easily fits around odd-shaped parts or over multiple assemblies that were painted at the same time and set beside each other. I’ve used this vomit tray many times and have wished I had another.