Important tools

Micro applicators. Originally used in dental procedures for applying small amounts of adhesive or whatever, these things are about 3" long with a teeny-tiny bit of sponge at the tip. They're perfect for applying small amounts of CA or paint, especially in hard to reach places and work better than a toothpick. I picked up a case of 300 on eBay for 99 cents and am constantly surprised at the number of uses I'm finding for these little things.

Generic, no-name gray primer in a rattle can. I get mine at Pep Boys for about $2.50 on sale. Everything gets a coat. Sometimes, since I do a lot of Navy vehicles and railroad cars, that's the only paint they get, aside from weathering.

And, of course, my airbrush, which I've only had for about a year, but now I can't recall how I ever did anything without it.

I have this stainless steel sculpting tool that I use as often as my knife. I use it as putty spreader, a burnisher, paint scraper, and ridge finder. I can clean out recessed panel lines without marring the plastic. It has endless uses.

I have no idea where I got it, but I have had it for as long as I can remember.

Heh - Peaches has built-in tool using her fingernails. LOL!

I have a small flat head screwdriver that's kinda an all around tool for me, use to pry open paint tinlets, mix paints, spread putty, apply super glue, fish decals from water dish, burnish edges of tapes when masking, push window transparencies which have become loose from the fuselage, and so on.

I also maintain my nails in the left and right thumb about 1/8" long for picking up small parts.

In recent weeks, I've been reaching for an old set of 'beading tools' I had on my jeweler's bench for years before purchasing a new set. These are meant for rounding off prongs after setting stones, not the tools intended to string together beads for bracelets and necklaces - sharpened, hardened steel in graduated sizes with a small cup cut into the end. They make great rivets, switches, knobs, and other round pieces for detailing and scratch building. Pretty sure that I borrowed the idea from Tony Greenland's "Panzer Master Modeling Class" book, but it works like a charm on a lot of subjects beyond armor. Used with a piece of vulcanized rubber from my days of throwing pewter, they can also be used as punches for knocking out rounds of thin sheet styrene to fill ejector pin marks.

One tool I use a lot is the Xacto "extra hand."  This is the multi-positional tool with an alligator clamp on each end.  The also make them with a gooseneck magnifier.

Interlocking or cross lock tweezers come in very handy too.

Mike, granted I generally only do aircraft, but I normally just take a 1x1, throw some poster tack on there, and it holds just about everything, especially those weird angle things.

I can't really think of a tool that is more important then others. Toothpicks, paint brushes, airbrush, exact knife, optivisor, files, drills. Man, I need them all and would go nuts if I was missing one. Even fingernails, as short as they are, come in handy, and I would certainly notice if one was missing.

Scalpels come to mind.  They are usually cheaper and at times even sharper than your usual hobby knife. Also not a tool but consider some women make up as a wheathering possibility.

I have a large Jewelers collection of tools for any type of modeling.Also I have a large stash of dental tools.A mini work shop in the garage.