In praise of the lowly toothpick ... and organic adhesives

Attaching photoetched details to a 1/700 scale ship model has GOT to be one of the more frustrating/exasperating parts of finishing a kit, especially the really tiny things like life rings, hose racks and lifeboat falls.

Enter the toothpick, the squared-off kind that has a blunter tip than the rounded ones. I discovered that I could use a toothpick to pick up and manuever those little parts to where the white Elmer's glue was if I used a suitable adhesive on the toothpick.

The adhesive? Good old, 100 percent organic, spit. Works for me, anyway!