Detailing on a budget.

Lets go melt some sprue.

Oh yeah! Zokissima hit the nail on the head!!! Stretched sprue! Antenna for armor, antenna stubs on the rudders for aircraft, interior conduit and piing etc... the uses are endless!!!

The guys above have pretty much introduced all the basics of cheap detailing. I use a variety of materials for straps, from paper, masking tape, to aluminum foil. I also find that the thicker aluminum foil, generally found in lasagna baking trays, chinese takeout, etc (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) is a great material for scratchbuilding realistic fenders, muffler guards, anytihng that is constructed out of thin sheet-metal in real life.
No PE bending tool for me. My desk, a steel ruler, and a pair of pliers is all I use. Soldering wire is great for detailing plumbing, but don't forget plain old electrical wire. It comes in pretty much any size you'd ever want, and is sold in quantities that will last you for years.
My one gripe is with punch and die sets. They are ridiculously expensive, but I want one very badly. Most of the self-made ones I've seen seem very flimsy and probably don't provide the best result. The method outlined above might be something to try. Also, up here in Canada, acrylic is the same as it is in the States. It's basically (usually) clear plastic. Not too sure where you can get it though, as that's one area I have yet to explore myself.
One other thing I feel must be mentioned is the water filter canisters that you find in things like Brita water filter, etc. Take the filter, and cut it open. Inside, you'll find small beads and chunks of minerals that are very very small, and can be used for bolts, and other such details. You'll just have to have patience looking for enough parts of relatively similar sizes, but trust me, there's enough in there to go around.
Also, it's been mentioned, but one key faced of modelling has always been stretched sprue. Practice doing it, and you'll be able to create rod in any size you'd like, for nothing.

Thanks Tom and Eddie. You guys are great. I actually just picked up a great stock of nail files at the dollar store and some soder wire too. Great ideas.

different sizes of solder(sp?) is easily used for hoses,hydraulic lines,etc. and when painted works well.

Jaysun - some other tips... for harnesses in aircraft some people use masking tape (thin type, not like the purple painters tape, more like the type you get at Wal Mart) use a straightedge and cut a strip as wide as you need it... play a little and you will find a width that is good for you for the seat you are decorating. Paint it the color you want then lay it in the seat just like you want.. buckles can be made from wire bent with a pair of tweezers or small needle nose pliers, and a dowel.

Others report using tea bag paper with success.. havent tried that yet... they also use it for making tarps and such for armor.

for antenna try "invisible thread" about $4.00 for 440 yards at your local sewing shop... if they look at you funny, tell them it's by a company named "Sulky" and then maybe they can show you where to look... it's VERY fine polyesther thread for delicate fabric... put it on your antenna with CA and use a lamp bulb to make it contract and become tight... 2 lb test fishing line also works well for this...

metal rod stock can be got for about 59 cents US a meter in varying sizes... you'd be surpised what uses you can find for it!

Sprue nippers can be found at the cosmetic section and they are called "cuticle removers" I believe... they look just like sprue cutters but have an sharper angle to the jaws...

Sanding sticks can be had in the cosmetic section as well... they come with varying grits from "cleaning" to "smoothing" to "polishing" and are called nail shaping boards... (they will get the plastic to the highest gloss you can imagine!! will even polish a scratched canopy!

just some ideas.. keep your eyes open and you will find almost the identical tools at your local hardware or retail store (like Wal Mart in the US) for half or even less the price of the hobby versions!

Once your cash flow is better some of them actually work better with the real thing from the Hobby shop(like the sprue cutter/cuticle remover thing) but are more than adequate in the meantime!!

Oh yeah! dont wanna mess with a lot of PE? Try ultracast resin parts.. their seats have the belts molded in and look more 3D and to me more realistic than the PE.. about $4.00 US gets you not one but TWO seats!! thats versus the sometimes $15.00 or so for PE...

Thanks I'll look into that.

Hey, I just grew a brain and realized that Ashey's book has been featured in an ad in Finescale for months now, and also that I could just find it in their catalog and post a link. It's called "Basics of Ship Modeling: The Illustrated Guide" and you can find it at: http://store.yahoo.net/kalmbachcatalog/12220.html

I'd say the book is well worth $19.95 unless you're a very experienced ship modeller.

Hey jaysun, will you take advice from a guy who's never done photoetch before? :-)

Mike Ashey's latest book (can't remember the name, AAARRRGGGHHH!!) has a whole chapter on photoetch detailing, and he uses single edge razor blades for most of his parts bending, using one as the edge and the other as the bending tool. For curved parts he uses tweezers and curves them over dowels of various sizes. His ships are stunning, so he must be doing something right...

Acrylics are just another form of plastic. If you live fairly close to a larger metroplis, check the yellow pages under Plastics or Plastic suppliers.

Thanks for the info lee tree. I have to get access to some of those materials though. I'm not sure what you mean by a peice of acrylic. Might go under a different name here in Canada. For anyone else keep these ideas and tips commin. It is greatly appreciated.

Jaysun,
Making a punch and die set is really quite easy - and it's really inexpensive - you just have to have access to a few tools to make one.
Below is a drawing of one I made a while ago........

Now - imagine the top piece is acrylic about an inch thick......the bottom piece is steel or aluminum about a quarter of an inch thick.
Cut both pieces so that they're the same size, clamp them together, and using a drill press, drill two holes in either extreme end right through both pieces. These holes are for steel locating dowels that you should glue into the metal base plate. Make sure the dowels you use are a snug fit in the holes that you drill - just match the drill size with the dowel size.
Once these dowels are stuck fast to the base (making sure the top acrylic block slides on and off easily), and using the drill press to keep all the holes perfectly square to the base, drill a number of holes along the side........from larger to smaller - whatever sizes you need.
Make sure that the drill is set on its slowest rpm setting and work slowly - use lots of 3-in-1 oil or a suitable coolant to help keep the drill tip and sides cool so you don't heat and melt the acrylic.
Once you have the holes drilled, hit the back end of the drills you just used (to make all those different sized holes) with a fine wheel on a bench grinder to make the ends as perfectly flat as you can get them - with sharp edges. These edges, along with the sharp edges on the metal base plate you just drilled, are the effective "cutting edges" - cuz what you're doing is "shearing" the plastic or paper or whatever......by placing the original between the metal and the acrylic, placing the back of the drill into the right hole, then hitting the drill point with a weight.......I use either a plastic hammer or a brass hammer.....neither one will damage the drill tip.
The extra thick acrylic top gives more support for the drill and acts as a "guide" to ensure that the drill doesn't move offline or at a slight angle - the more carefully you make this tool, the longer it'll last and the sharper the cuts you'll get.
If you have any questions, just email me at the link below - I'd be happy to give you any help you might need.

I've actually used some of my wife's scrapbooking punches on thin sheet styrene to make bolt heads/ detail bits, and tried my hand at using masking tape for straps and plain wire to make all sorts of details. My best suggestion is to just keep an eye out, you never know when that next tool/material will show itself. Craft stores, the grocery store, hardware stores all have added to my stockpile at various times, and usually you'll get a lot more for a lot less money.

Could you describe a home made punch and die set up. I found a hole making punch in the local hobby store. It was for creating holes in cloth and such. Is this the same thing?IT looked like it made some pretty small diameters.

PE and wire were being bent and used long before the top dollar tools to bend them. A good metl straightedge and a set of needle nose pliers will go a long way for you. Since the pliers have a taper to the "nose" you have a nearly infinite number of sizes for bent wire. You just have ot use a little care. A little creativity with sheet stock, sprue, especially stretched sprue, various gauges of wire, and sundry other products can get great results.