Reuse - Recycle

I'm a big fan of recycling this way in modelling - thanks for sharing!

Hmm!

 You use corks and lids. I use small Plastic Bottles from Drug Prescriptions ( The large ones) I cut them down at the curve to the outside just at the sidewall.They make great holders for Plastruct and Evergreen strip Plastic.

 Large Plastic bottles cut the same way for holding tools. Then there's the ubiquitus rings that you can make and glue together to hold a specific group of paint bottles. M.M. size and Testors and everyone in between. Take a piece of 2" piece of PVC and set a greased block, Dead center. Very slightly tapered, Square or Round ,(the right size) and make a non tip Glue Bottle holder.

   You put the Ring on a pieceof glass. Put the Piece of release coated wood in the center,Pour in the resin and wait.  The wood plug gets removed and you just snug your new square or round bottle of glue in there, Viola' no tip!! While you're at it sand down the top and make it glass smooth.

I use wine bottle corks as holders for painting figures.  I put pins in the figure's feet and stick it into the cork.

As for recycling other items...

I use plastic takeout containers to store and organize items in my stash, like various supplies for scratchbuilding, and smaller kit parts, various figures, etc.  I use the rectangular containers with clear lids.  I put labels on the ends, so I can find things on the shelf.

I recycle paint jars, particularly Tamiya paint jars, to hold various fluids on the bench and in my travel kit.

Old steel wool scouring pads turn into homemade rust powder.

All kinds of little plastic bits become raw material for scratchbuilds.  Plastic bottle or jug caps.  Seals from orange juice cartons.  Vents from coffee packages.

Foil from packaging, or candy, becomes flags for my toy soldiers, or reins or other straps, blankets, etc.

Old ball point pen cartridges get broken down for the tube, the nibs look like small rounds or warheads for my MaK builds, and after soaking in isopropyl to clean out the ink residue, I get a tinted wash.  The pen bodies are good tube stock.

Plastic jars make good storage containers, too.  I eat a lot of peanut butter, so I have a lot of those larger rounder jars for storing things.

The wire handles from the cardboard containers Chinese takeout places use is a good source of general wire for pinning and similar uses.

When I have a Guinness, it's in cans here, and after I pour my pint, I cut the can open to scrounge the nitrogen widget inside.

Old insulated wire, fuse wire, I think the Brits call it, is a good source of fine wire stock for scratchbuilding.  And digital equipment is full of great little bits of all shapes and colors, that are good scratchbuilding stock.  Just as earlier generations of electric appliances were (and still are).  Old stereo speaker cabinets can be turned into display cases.

All kinds of stuff to use, is all around.

Hey!

     That's the case of the world being our oyster, right? And from the sound of it you've learned how to spot the pearls!

When I have a Guinness, it's in cans here, and after I pour my pint, I cut the can open to scrounge the nitrogen widget inside.

Hey Baron

I drink Guinness cans all the time.  What do you use the widget for?

Hello!

      I have heard of that! I guess I will have to get a can and see what that "Widget " is! I have More! How about Sharpie Markers. When exhausted the barrels make interesting usable bits as do the caps. Another source is medical stuff. Insulin Vials can be used as Hydrocloric Acid storage bottles in Vignettes and Dios. The Pink disposeable razors as Support posts in some kind of structure. Pepsi and Coca Cola two Litre Bottles make nice starting points for sectional large models of Submarines or Larger Planes! There's a fellow I used to know that used Toothbrush handles for Fenders and other parts for Cars. I have used Sporks for Scoops and Rear Wheel Skirts on Cars. Also they make good Lazer Turrets for an "Evil Empire" type Spaceship. And the list goes on. I have used Insulin syringe Barrels as Torpedoes and in smaller scale Torpedo Tubes. The Thumb Plate on the same item's interior plunger as hatches on ASROC Launchers! The Insulin syringe complete without needle as a device to create Hydraulic action on a model as well. Ad Infinitum!! 

wpwar11

the Baron

When I have a Guinness, it's in cans here, and after I pour my pint, I cut the can open to scrounge the nitrogen widget inside.

Hey Baron

I drink Guinness cans all the time.  What do you use the widget for? 

Anything spherical-satellites, drones, fuel cells, radomes, anti-gravity globes in Maschinen Krieger subjects (the creator of that genre used ping-pong balls)

I've thought about making a tiny model of the Death Star out of one, too.

And I saw a build on some forum once, a conversion of some helicopter, and the modeler used a Guinness widget to make the optical/camera attachment under the chin of the chopper.  The little sphere was just the right size.

The only thing about them is you have to drain and wash them throughly.  There is a tiny hole in them, to let the nitrogen escape when the can is opened and the pressure changes.  I use a small nail to widen that hole, and to poke another one.  Then I can wash them out and get the last drop of stout out of them.  Otherwise, they get yeasty.

So!

          The widget is some kind of metal bead that has Nitrogen in it? Sounds interesting. I will have to pick up a six pack!! Should I wait till the next day after emptying th six Pack before cutting the cans? Of course I will probably take a week to empty them But I will definitely find uses for them. Thanks. I liks Brit brews anyway!

           When I Captained for Shell/B.P., I ran into a  U.S.Maritime Academy graduate I had known for years. He'd never been to England! We were in LiverPool, Took him to a pub for a Pint and Fish and Chips. Talk about a surprised person. The Pub, Then called the Rusty Hulk, had the Best Fish and Chips in the area. The Atmosphers was shipyardy instead of typical stuff. They had parts and pieces of ships and boats for decor. The Food? To run to get some before they ran out.

Sitting at the bench last night, I thought of another item I recycle.  Occassionally I buy pudding in single-serving cups.  I use those cups now to hold water while painting.  They don't have a large footprint, and the cups don't tip easily.

Oh, and speaking of tipping over, I save the caps from my empty rattle-cans. They generally have an interior ring that is just the right size for some jars of paint, like the classic Testor's enamel jars.  Makes it practically impossible to knock the bottle over.

And I save the caps from jugs of laundry detergent, for the same purpose.  They are generally big enough to hold the larger jars and bottles we have, and again, it's practically impossible to knock them over.

More things are coming to me...

I use the plastic trays (washed, of course) used to package some groceries for trays to hold items that belong together for a build.  Like the parts of a figure, or several figures or other items I want to paint or work on together.

The plastic boxes mushrooms are packaged in serve the same purpose.

Hi!

  This is what started doing because of my LEGO interest I can break down lots of LEGO sets in the large and small tupperware containers that I find at yard sales. I also Turn to a micro-wave dinner once in a while from our vaunted H.E.B. They have nice dietitian planned meals and their Seafood Meals is the cheapest way for me to get my fish fix.( my Landlady and her daughter are both extremely allergic to anything that has either introduced or natural traces of Iodine!) So if I want Fish, Oh well! But those little containers are nice, The idea of laundry bottles is a good one too. I usually modify them by cutting the outside edge down a little. They hold AK interactive and other brands like that great for hand brushing!

Another excuse for a Guinness . I use the takeaway plastic hinged trays for parts i've cut off and painted seperated by groups then stack them up again when finished. Supermarket food trays for seedlings and the plastic bags from work that material arrives in for covering Pots and trays.