The best thing in your toolbox

Howdy Kal,

Wow , that's a loaded question for sure because each tool has for the most part a specific job to do.

I think in general, that good tools produce better results and are easier to use ie. you can buy a spru cutter for for 5 bucks at Wall Mart or 11 bucks at a hobby store. I 1st bought the Wall Mart one and quickly replaced it with a good one.  It made a big differance in the amount of work to subsequently be done because the good one cut way more cleanly and resuted in a lot less sanding etc.

If I had to directly answer your question, I'd say I can't get along without my airbrush.  I fortunately bought the best one the craft store had with a 40% off coupon from Michael's and never looked back. It's a gravity feed Badger Patiot and I'm very happy with it and the results I get using it, but this is not a little tool.

The little tool that is indispensable in my arsenal is a good pair of self locking tweezers I got from Squadron.  I use them extensively on every build.

On the low priced side of the spectrum, I find spring closepins to be very handy as clamps and parts holders while painting. I got 2 sizes at a dollar store for cheap.

Handy tools I can`t live without:

Sprue cutter

Pin vice with a good variety of drill bit sizes

Panel line scribing tool

Surgical clamps (wife works in Medical profession, thus, she can get discarded, out of date tools for me)

The Dollar store is also an indispensable source of cheap 'one use' supples:

- tooth picks

- make up brushes (for dry brushing)

- make up sponges

- coffee stir stix

- hot glue stix

- nail files

If I had to pick just one, that would be the magnifying headband.

A huge lump of Blu-Tack (silly putty . poster putty?) - indispensable for masking, holding fiddly bits for painting & keeping things in the correct position while glue dries.

Stick a small lump into the likes of landing gear mounting holes before painting & you don't need to scratch any paint away when fitting the relevant parts.

Most useful thing in my toolbox? My cat usually, the thieving little toad.

Most useful tools? Magnifying headband, and a good quality set of tweezers, and coffee, lots of it

Without a doubt,  my omnivisor.  Any other tools I have are pretty much useless without it.

ruddratt

Without a doubt,  my omnivisor.  Any other tools I have are pretty much useless without it.

In that huge scale you build, and you still need one of those 

Fine-point tweezers

Self-closing tweezers (several pairs, the more the better)

My Tamiya paint stirrer/spoon

To me, the one essential thing is a good hobby knife.  Everything else is just to make live easier.  And awhile ago I tried one of those scalpels.  So now I have that plus several X-acto handles with various blades on my tool rack.  I have a very large tool collection, having spent well over half a century modeling, but the hobby knife is truly essential.  All else I could work around if I break or loose a tool.

My hobby knife, with #11 blades. That's probably the tool I use most. Optivisor is a close 2nd. I wear it all the time, while on the bench. 2.5X lense.

Others have listed them, but here are things that, in my opinion, are necessary for a good build.

-Sprue cutter

-Future

-Microsol

-laquer thinner (for brush and airbrush cleaning)

-Tamiya thin liquid cement (the best I've found)

-Tweezers

-Sanding sticks and sandpaper, various grades.

The list goes on, but those are things I use probably the most.

Bish

ruddratt

Without a doubt,  my omnivisor.  Any other tools I have are pretty much useless without it.

In that huge scale you build, and you still need one of those 

Ummmm....errrr......uuuhhhh......it's all those blasted turnbuckles I tell ya!!!! 

ruddratt

Bish

ruddratt

Without a doubt,  my omnivisor.  Any other tools I have are pretty much useless without it.

In that huge scale you build, and you still need one of those 

Ummmm....errrr......uuuhhhh......it's all those blasted turnbuckles I tell ya!!!! 

Ye, ye, excuses. I bet if you dropped one the carpet monster would choke on it

I love the mini punch set I got for Christmas a couple of years ago. Wish I'd ponied up for it 25 years ago...

The first thing I reach for when I sit down to work is the light switch on my magnifying lamp.

The one tool that I never put up is the Xacto knife with the #11 blade.

It would appear that most of us are legally blind & play with ridiculously sharp tools.

Ah, yes. I don't always think of it as a modeling tool, but the light source is VERY important! I also use a magnifier/lamp combo.  Since I also use a pair of reading glasses at the bench, the magnifier part is not as important as the light (but it is there if I REALLY need it- in combination with +2 reading glasses the magnification is awesome).  But a positionable light source to me is essential, especially in painting.  A good gloss paint job requires seeing the image of the light reflected in the model surface so you can see if it is getting to that point just before it runs!  Even for flat paint one needs a good light.

Geez, I forgot about about my lighted magnifier, maybe because it's so second nature to me .

I couldn't build anything without it

Speaking of light, been meaning to post this for a year, now as good a time as any.....

Last year I splurged on a High Output shop light fixture. It was pricey, but probably the best purchase in decades of futzing about in basement, and of course model building. This thing is bright.

Like so many others, next to the light (not a tool), my other favorite 'not a tool' is my Optivisor.

Honey, I'm going to the basement... where's my sunscreen?  lol

Cool mancave!

Ha! That's funny. And thanks, CN.

Please forgive me for getting technical, here, but remember the reason good lighting is important.  Working close to something creates depth of field problems with your vision.  Stopping down the optical aperture is the best way to improve depth of field, whether it is your eye or a camera.  The brighter the light, the more your eye is stopped down, and the greater the depth of field.  It works!

Best thing in my toolbox? THE LOCK . (Wife doesn't know where the key is kept.)

Patrick

My favorite tools are the basics, my X-acto knives, my sprue cutter and my clamps. Add in a diamond file and some locking tweezers and I'm good to go.

Patience..when I remember to use it, plus most of the things others have mentioned.

Greg; fantastic light!  Where did you get that?

Mike

Mike, After futile trips to hardware superstores, and even trusty 'ol Ace Hardware, finally found it at one of the residential lighting places (the kind of place builders sent their customers to pick out light fixtures.

I still have the box for whatever reason, if you want the make and model number let me know.

Everyone, I didn't mean to hijack this thread with my light picture.

Thanks Greg, I would appreciate the info, and now back to the original topic...

CN Spots

It would appear that most of us are legally blind & play with ridiculously sharp tools.

Don;t forget the various bottles of harmful/flammable bottles of solvents and paint.

All sorts of stuff in my toolbox that get used from time to time. BUT, items that still get used all the time...

• Xacto knives w/ various blades.
• packet of sandpaper/films in various grits
• Xuron or other brand snippers
• toothpicks, ideal for mounting tiny parts onto, great for applying small amounts of paint or glue, occasionally used in scratchbuilding... well, long wooden handles I suppose?
• Q-Tips / cotton buds for carefully moving decals with, occasionally used for applying Luftwaffe "mottle" camoflage at 1/72 scale.
• tweezers, I've had the same pair that I liberated from my mother's makeup kit in high school. She either hasn't noticed, or doesn't want to cause a scene.
• nail files from the cosmetics department. ( I sense a theme all of a sudden ) rougher grit than sanding films, but still quite useful, especially if you are working on a flat area of the model.
• I kid you not, a paperclip, bent open on one end (now looks like an elongated #9), a couple wraps of masking tape on the other end to form a handle. This little gem has been in my kit since I first realized that precise applications of Testors tube glue were easier to clean up.

mrmike

Thanks Greg, I would appreciate the info, and now back to the original topic...

Mike, it is 6 lamp Energy Efficient Flourescent Industrial High Bay from Atlas Lighting Products. It was quite pricey and I'm sorry but I don't remember how much exactly.

The model number of mine is IFS4654UEP5

http://www.atlaslightingproducts.com/p-15-ifs6-series.aspx

I was hoping to see a retailer locator on the Atlas website, I didn't but maybe it is there somewhere.

Edit: sorry the hotlink isn't working. Sometimes they work for me here, sometimes not.

I would have to say besides my xacto knife, I cant get by without my UMM rescribing tool. I do a lot of the older model kits with raised detail. I usually rescribe them. Plus it has a bunch of other uses besides rescribing.

Hi KAL!

If I had to pick the ONE tool in my tool box that has meant the world to me, it would be my Flex-i-File.  For me, it has been a major game changer.  I've always sanded the fuselage and fuel tank seams on my aircraft but I don't think I ever did as good of a job of it until I got my Flex-i-File.  It comes with at least four different grits of sanding strips and I can change each one out in a matter of seconds.   Best of all, since the strips are flexible, I don't have to worry so much about getting the dreaded flat spots on the seams anymore.

Eric