Tools of the trade

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Kangor
Kangor's picture
Tools of the trade

I get alot of people asking me about modeling. Everything from pinning, scultpting, and conversions. It is my opinion that before you can do any of the above you need the proper tools. here is a list of the most common items needed, then I list the more obscure.

  • Most important is the Exactor knife. dont skimp find a good solid blade that has replaceable tip and you can never go wrong. It is used for cutting sprues, simple conversion work on plastic models, or scraping mold lines and chafe from your model.
  • Clippers, you have to have a good set of cutters. with these you can do anything from sniping models from sprues to conveting plastic and metal alike. again, dont skimp invest in you tools and they will invest in you.
  • Pin drill is my third most important item as this is a more obscure but important item. it lets you drill out little holes for effects or you use it to drill a hole for setting a pin in place to keep a metal model together.
  • Saw is a good tool to have for cutting foam and bigger sieces of plastic, important but not crucial.
  • Good Glue! spend anything you can to get good glue its worth its weight in gold. there are also excelorants to help glue cure faster but be careful as it can weaken the bond if used incorrectly.

Ok thos are the common items here is a list of some more unique but very helpful.

  • Hot glue gun, use for scenery and buildings
  • solder iron, used for damaging models gives good bullet effects
  • Dremil tool, does everything and is amazing but not common here in UAE
  • PVA glue or Elmers glue. good for basing and flocking models and scenery building.
  • old brushes always keep old brushes even for flocking models but sometimes you may use the brissles for actual models.

Ok thats enough for now please discuss :) and good luck at the table!

noxy
noxy's picture

The most important to me are clippers and a good blade!
Files are amazing for clearing out all those nasty mold lines :)

When it comes to painting I'd add a good paint brush and some small sealable glass pots - the kind that honey or marmalade come in in hotels. They're amazing to make/keep your own washes. There are lots of hotels around here :P

Kuchulainn
Kuchulainn's picture

Talking about glue,

While I enjoy the GW plastic glue, the container sucks. Big time. I remember when I first started the hobby in the 80's, I was using Revell Contact Professional. The thin and long tube made it so easy to apply, it was just perfect to ensure not too much glue is dispensed on your model:

Anyone knows where to find this in UAE?

Cheers.

Fred

nameflow
nameflow's picture

Kuchulainn wrote:

Talking about glue,

While I enjoy the GW plastic glue, the container sucks. Big time. I remember when I first started the hobby in the 80's, I was using Revell Contact Professional. The thin and long tube made it so easy to apply, it was just perfect to ensure not too much glue is dispensed on your model:

Anyone knows where to find this in UAE?

Cheers.

Fred

 

not sure if they still have it but the last time i saw them Revell glues was at the Toy Store Dubai Mall...uh wait was it at the Emirates Mall? got mixed up sometime, December of last year. they're doin an all out sale on revell stuff ..... so i guess those things are on a "while stocks last" basis. hope that helped ^_^x

Kuchulainn
Kuchulainn's picture

I'll check :) Thanks for the reply

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