Any special or home-made tools you use?

Ok... here's another one I made myself that helps alot.  Couldn't afford those "helping hands" rigs that tend to sell for about $50-80 bucks so I decided to make one myself using a plastic Testor's bench vise, a couple of alligator clips, and a length of coat hanger.  I used a pair of pliers on the ends of the wire to "roughen" them up and then some epoxie putty to hold the alligator clips on tightly (for some reason, I tried solder but it never worked, not sure if I did something wrong or not).  Then clamped  the middle of the wire in the vise and bent the wire up and viola... instant helping hands.  Cost me about $3 for the vise and $1.50 for a pack of 10 alligator clips.  But what makes it even better is that I can break it down and store it in my toolbox when I don't need it! :)

I use rubber bands, sometimes bag clips, sometimes Scotch or masking tape. I've never tried it but you make me think of this. You could take two small blocks out of a 2X2 or whatever and saw a V into it. Place the V against the model and use small bar clamps on the outside flats. Clamping force can be modulated and the wood shouldn't mar the plastic. Sand small radii all around the wood to ensure no scratching or gouging of the plastic. 

Dash8

Also god bless the person who invented the

styrofoam base, wooden skewer, alligator clip drying rack, so

simple but epic in this hobby.

jelliott523

 

 

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

LOL! I swipe a few from my office

 

 

Someone stole my stapler....

 

Bwahaha!!!

BTW...I just use regular ole masking tape to hold parts together, when needed.

It's already on hand, and I don't have to find room for any clamps or the like.

I wonder if velcro strips the kind for cables would work for holding

the fuselage together. Also god bless the person who invented the

styrofoam base, wooden skewer, alligator clip drying rack, so

simple but epic in this hobby.

Not necessarily a home-made tool, but my wife is a musician and I stumbled across a bottle of valve lubricant called Blue Juice that she uses on her French horn.  That stuff is THE best lubricant I have ever used on an airbrush.  I simply spray some through at the end of a painting session after cleaning and the airbrush operations stay silky-smooth.  I think a bottle is $4.99 and lasts forever!

Often times I find fuselage halves have enough warp, that there is not a natural flush contact area completely around. If it's minor I use rubber bands, if a major fit issue I use properly sized radiator hose clamps from the auto parts store. 

To avoid either rubber bands or hose clamps touching the area to be cemented and causing a mess, I use small basswood square stock placed under the clamps, on either side of the joining line and close to it.

That keeps the cemented area clear of contact with the clamps, and also places pressure downward and inward on the surfaces to be joined. I find that makes for a tighter surface fit, less open area with no need for filler at the seam, then usually only primer with sanding to prepare for paint.

Sounds sorta Rube Goldberg, but it works for me. I hate filler.

Patrick 

I do alot of epoxy putty work and instead of spending a load of cash on specialized tools, I create my own using coat hanger wire.  I cut a length of wire (maybe 4-5 inches) and then take it outside and pound one end flat with a hammer on concrete.  I do several wire pieces  this way.  Then I use a Dremel to shape and grind the pounded end to a desired shape.  I take two of the wires that I fabricated and roll some epoxie putty into a handle and stick two wires in both ends and smooth it out and let it dry.  Makes a great tool that I can use over and over again for just about any purpose.  One tool I use all the time has a small elongated spoon wit ha sharp edge that is great for smoothing out putty.  The other end is a flat drowel with a sharp tip for doing detail work.  I've also used this method to make scribers, holders, glue loops, and various other tiny tools for working with and all are custom made for what *I* need them to do.  And all for the price of an old wire hanger in the closet and a bit of epoxy putty! :)

Cheap tweezers with prongs bent inward. Great for holding wheels for airbrushing!

Aww ;

Was that yours? Sorry -LOL.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

LOL! I swipe a few from my office

Someone stole my stapler....

Got any pics tankerbuilder?

I think this one is different .

I use ship blocks and cradles made from LEGO parts . That and large coils ( soft springs ) stapled to a board .Set the ship hull down in it and work on above deck items for hours without a wobble or roll . Now here's where both interact . Basic stands for and aft - LEGO , midship -Tighter coils to raise the hull slightly for finishing .

www.walmart.com/.../14264848

I would recommend getting some of the Arm and hammer heads so you can put different grits on there.  For example, you need 1000 grit, just take off the 500 grit head and throw the 1000 grit head on there.

www.youtube.com/watch  

I use the circular ones myself for the velcro my self from HL.

I will get a cheapo powered toothbrush for sanding!!!

Thanks!

 Rudy

I will look for some of the shapers. I have recently started using the "perfect plastic putty" by deluxe materials, and LOVE it. Any excess sands off very easily, and I found spreading it or finishing it off with a wet finger works wonders. I also picked up two small "quick clamps" (similar to ones made for wood working by Erwin) I also picked up a few adjustable Velcro straps at the hobby shop for 69 cents each. They were in the radio-controlled aircraft section, and had many different sizes.

Rudy

I keep particle board on hand (it is cheap) and frequently make jigs by drilling various holes in it.

Electric toothbrush? That's actually a great idea. Farewell and adieu to my fair Spanish ladies, etc,etc

Another couple of things I just did, is I took a 1/2x1/2 block of wood cut it in half threw it into a vise and drilled into the center of the wood.  This gives me the exact size jig I need for round parts such as missles and what not.  I set them in there, throw a piece of polystyrene dowel/rod in there and it allows me to clamp it down much easier that previously.

I also have discovered the electric toothbrush sander (3.97 at Wally World)

By the way, Berna clamps can be a bit puzzling but they work wonderfully on round object as soon as you align both arms (if they make an angle, you can't set them as they  "escape"

I usually use car acrylic putty on finishing as it is half paste half liquid (not intended to plug big holes I mean) that comes from an auto repair shop. To spread it on the model, I use a shaper (shaper are brushes with no hair but with shape blocks of rubber instead) they come in three grades of stiffness, white for soft, grey for medium and black for strong stiffness. I found them on ebay for a dime; I use a white set, be aware that there are several sizes but I think the smaller the better. By the way, when you have finished with putty, cleaning the shaper is very easy as putty does not stick on it

Love this thread.    I admire the clever ways you modelers figure out how to solve the many problems we have without having to resort to buying thousands of dollars worth of specialized tools that are on the market.    Keep em coming guys .

Recently I bought two aftermarket resin Wasp Jr. engines for a project.  The engines did not include the pushrod tubes- those were for the purchaser to sratch.  It took eighteen per engine!  I sanded a board down to a thickness equal to the length I needed, and drilled two small holes in it.  I then stuck stainless steel pins in the holes (cut points off first) and cut at top surface of wood.  Got my pushrod tubes pretty fast, two at a time.  Cut the pins with small dikes.

I use strong, thick rubber bands to hold two big parts together.  For relatively small parts, I use regular clothespins.  For tiny parts, I use mini clothespins that I bought at W-Mart.

Thanks guys! I keep tying out a response, but this damn page keeps auto-updating or reloading and losing it! All great tips, I will try them all. I think I will buy some quick-clamps and have our machinist at work put some radii in some pieces of UHMW that I can attach to the clamping surfaces as well. Cant hurt to try!

Is that the one about using the dowels for metal PE, and annealing it? I have yet to get a set of PE or a set that has it. But I am gonna try it soon!

I have two homemade tools for rigging (biplanes and ships).  One is a fork, the other a hook.  Both are made from knitting needles by cutting away a different portion of the eye.

I make clamps from wooden clothespins, by cutting away the fishmouth area so it grips right at the end.

look for my reader tip in the May issue of FSM as well for PE

I use "self sticking " Ace bandage for fuselage clamps and other usage.  

Being old I have regular blood tests done and the nurse always attaches the cotton ball at the needle site with this stuff clear around my arm.  I took it off my arm and tried wraping around the fs I was working on and voila, it worked like a charm and I get it free.  you can wrap it around the fs as tight as you want and it stays there and conforms to any shape...much easier to put on and off than rubber bands.

When I need to use metal binder clips for wing edges etc. they don't seem to stay ,put popping off the model.  I solved that problem by sliting a clear surgical tube longways and sliding it over the clyindrical clamping edge of the binder clip..  They stay put anywhere. You can also put the surgical tubing over the ends of spring clothes pins for the same reason.

My local flea market has a vendor who sells lots of dental tools for cheap.  Where she gets them IDK.  I bought an L shaped  dental pick from her, carefully sharpened it up and it turned out to be the best scriber I ever used for panel lines.