Your Indespensible Tool

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, October 30, 2003 1:57 PM

Beer. always beer. Takes the frustrations away.

Oh, and paint thinner, and my knife.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 26, 2003 10:29 PM

The old thought locker!!!!!

and secondly, tweezers and sanding sticks and halogen lighting!!!!!

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 26, 2003 10:15 PM

I've got an assortment of hemostat clamps (surgical tools) that I use to hold parts for spray painting, gluing. Problem is, they're not very gentle. However, since X-Acto was named by most everyone else and you don't need another vote for it, then I'll go with my hemostat, just to be different.

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BlackWolf3945

Member since
December 2002
From: Pominville, NY

Posted by BlackWolf3945 on Thursday, October 23, 2003 3:49 PM

Belt sander... Wink [;)]

Fade to Black...

Steve O. Reno Check Out My Photo Sets on Flickr

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, October 23, 2003 5:29 AM

for me it's got to be
1. my Xacto knives
2. my assortment of dental tools
3. my lighted swingarm magnifier

Bruce

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lizardqing

Member since
July 2003
From: Dahlonega, Georgia

Posted by lizardqing on Saturday, October 18, 2003 7:34 PM

I also agree with most in saying exacto and sand paper. The builds look a whole lot better since I figured out why they sell that stuff next to kits.
I'm suprised no one has said a candle to stretch sprue!

Chris The Scale Firehouse The Lizard's Workshop

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Jim Barton

Member since
February 2003

Posted by Jim Barton on Friday, October 17, 2003 5:37 PM

Dust covers! My apartment tends to be very dusty as I don't do a lot of housework, and between the dust and cat hair, I have to cover freshly painted parts with something. Or I put the freshly painted parts in a closed container. I have a bag full of dust covers of various sizes and shapes, ranging from the small plastic cups that come with take-out food (you know, the ones that hold hot sauce or parmesan cheese or whatever) through clean sour cream containers to a motel room ice bucket. Believe it or not, perhaps the handiest dust cover in my arsenal is a hospital vomit tray (clean, of course Smile [:)]

) that a respiratory therapist friend of mine gave me. Its unusual kidney shape easily fits around odd-shaped parts or over multiple assemblies that were painted at the same time and set beside each other. I've used this vomit tray many times and have wished I had another.

"Whaddya mean 'Who's flying the plane?!' Nobody's flying the plane!"

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Hoser

Member since
January 2003
From: Foothills of Colorado

Posted by Hoser on Thursday, October 16, 2003 2:42 PM

One tool that has become indespensible for me is an old Macintosh SE. It has FileMaker Pro installed and I have created a database for my kits with fields for type (AC, armor, cars, etc.), kit number, manufacturer, scale, options, etc. If I need a paticular kit or part, it's easy to look it up instead of searching the boxes. (600 +) I also watch eBay for some of the more rare kits I have and update the going prices.

"Trust no one; even those people you know and trust." - Jack S. Margolis

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, October 15, 2003 11:20 PM

#1. hobbie knife
#2. Tooth pick
#3. My Wife is a Quilter. She made a quilt for me10"X36" made out of flannel. I use it to rest my arms on the bench while working and, a nice soft surface to work on models. (protects painted parts well)

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, October 15, 2003 3:09 AM

My Magnifyin Xtra hands...of course Ive slightly modified it so it doesnt scratch or damage soft plastic....Dremel with flex shaft...and even though I have a nice drill press in the garage, I must say my dremel drill press set up works better for most modeling work....

Lets not forget the Acetone either....without it I wouldnt be typing this now! Wink [;)]

Chris

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qmiester

Member since
May 2003
From: Central USA

Posted by qmiester on Monday, October 6, 2003 10:24 PM

If I was dropped on a desert island with a couple of models, I could probably get them built with a minimum amount of tools. A box of single edge razor blades, a couple of sheets of 360 wet or dry sandpaper, a tube of styrene glue, some tooth picks, 3 or 4 paint brushes, some paints w/thinner, rubber bands, scotch tape, 2 or three empty baby food jars and some clean rags. You can build both plastic and wood kits with the above items. I built a lot of models back in the early to mid 50s with those items. But probably wouldn't be as much fun now as it was then.

Quincy

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, October 6, 2003 9:26 AM

Gotta go with the pack here, a trusty ol' number 11 blade x-acto knife. I would hate building without one, and it could substitute for so many other tools.

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cnstrwkr

Member since
March 2003
From: USA

Posted by cnstrwkr on Saturday, October 4, 2003 10:44 PM

Has to be my hobby knife, becasue it just seems to multiply. Every time I take one out, there seems to be more! I amy have some sort of obsession here.

Tommy difficult things take time...the impossible, a little longer!

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berny13

Member since
February 2003
From: Panama City, Florida, Hurricane Alley

Posted by berny13 on Saturday, October 4, 2003 10:21 AM

Sanding sticks. The way I build models there is always a need for them. Second would be surgical hemostats for gripping small parts for positioning on the model. I have several sets of them, from small needle tip to wide duckbill. I couldn't survive with out them.

Berny

Phormer Phantom Phixer

On the bench

TF-102A Delta Dagger, 32nd FIS, 54-1370, 1/48 scale. Monogram Pro Modeler with C&H conversion.

Revell F-4E Phantom II 33rd TFW, 58th TFS, 69-260, 1/32 scale.

Tamiya F-4D Phantom II, 13th TFS, 66-8711, 1/32 scale. F-4 Phantom Group Build.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, October 4, 2003 12:45 AM

My X-acto is a great little tool, but I will not touch a part with it untill I turn on my magnifying lamp. The old peepers aint what they use to be.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, October 3, 2003 10:09 PM

i agree with 'hicks there, it's gotta be the checkbook or cold cash. nothin' aint gona materialize without the dough bro.

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djrost_2000

Member since
February 2003
From: Where the coyote howl, NH

Posted by djrost_2000 on Friday, October 3, 2003 9:37 PM

Seems like I'm always reaching for either the X-acto or one of my files.

DJ

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, October 3, 2003 9:20 PM

I would have to say first is the checkbook, perfect for getting in those tight hobby shops and plucking out the hard to reach kits. And an absolute dream at getting those pesky photo etch sets. But seriously though, I would have to say my dental picks. I tried to scribe panel lines with my x acto and with a scriber but never had many straight lines. Now I think I do a pretty good job. Second on my list of favorite tools would be this forum. I've learned more in the month I've been on here than I think I could have learnd in several years of trial and error.

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J-Hulk

Member since
February 2003
From: Tochigi, Japan

Posted by J-Hulk on Friday, October 3, 2003 11:34 AM

As many have already said here, it's gotta be the ol' hobby knife. Used to be a trusty X-Acto, but now I use an OLFA exclusively (X-Acto is quite hard to come by, and very expensive, here in Japan!).
Seriously, it's all you really need to build a kit.

~Brian

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upnorth

Member since
December 2002
From: Canada / Czech Republic

Posted by upnorth on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 11:36 AM

I learned the virtues of a well stocked nail care section of the pharmacy just a few years ago.

Cuticle sticks are a modeler's dream come true, I'd never used them until a couple of years ago, but I wouldn't be without them now.

I use the cheaper wood ones for sculpting Milliput into complex shapes and getting it into tight places.

I've also got a more elaborate one that has a plastic handle and two ends. One end is hard plastic and is flattened to a nice angled edge thats perfect for puting a bit of sandpaper on and smoothing out something in a very small and tight area on a model. The other end has a cylindrical piece of flexible vinyl on it thats cut at an angle and is perfect for manipulating errant bits of uncured paint and glue to where you want them if they got out of hand on you.

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tigerman

Member since
March 2003
From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA

Posted by tigerman on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 1:37 AM

Believe it or not a toothpick. I use to apply glue, stir and apply paint.

Eric

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, August 4, 2003 11:53 PM

My current favorite is a set of tiny needle files...the different shapes come in remarkable handy for "sanding" hard to reach places as well as scribing a la blackwolf

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Daprophet

Member since
July 2003
From: Charlotte

Posted by Daprophet on Monday, August 4, 2003 9:47 AM

The 3 different grit finger nail sanding boards. I love those things.

God Bless
Dave

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fuzzy

Member since
May 2003
From: Lewisburg , Tenn

Posted by fuzzy on Monday, August 4, 2003 1:01 AM

My sprue cutters from PBL . Three different thicknesses on the
cutting jaws. Excellent for removing the tiniest parts.
fuzzy

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, August 4, 2003 12:36 AM

My problem wasn't the cat licking them it kept knocking my M1A1 off my 5 foot dresser. But it stood up to what the critics said about the M1 because it would hit the floor and nothing would break.
But i know what you mean about the cats licking it because I used grease thinking it would work but the cats kept rolling in the greese and break the models and make themselves all nasty. Big Smile [:D]

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M1abramsRules

Member since
June 2003

Posted by M1abramsRules on Monday, August 4, 2003 12:26 AM

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-man

QUOTE: Originally posted by M1abramsRules

at first I used peanut butter but when it sits out for a while it rots and then it really stinks.

Let me guess you stopped using peanut butter because your parents told you that you use something that doesn't stink or you can leave the house.
At least thats what they told me when I thought about that!

no I stopped because the cat was licking them too often. LOL

and no, I won't even talk about what happened with the honey! Wink [;)]

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, August 4, 2003 12:13 AM

QUOTE: Originally posted by M1abramsRules

at first I used peanut butter but when it sits out for a while it rots and then it really stinks.

Let me guess you stopped using peanut butter because your parents told you that you use something that doesn't stink or you can leave the house. Big Smile [:D]

At least thats what they told me when I thought about that! Big Smile [:D]

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Keyworth

Member since
January 2003
From: NE Georgia

Posted by Keyworth on Monday, August 4, 2003 12:10 AM

1. Ma'am, ahm blushin' at the thought! :)

2. My Olfa knife (replace my Xacto with this one.

"There's no problem that can't be solved with a suitable application of high explosives"

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M1abramsRules

Member since
June 2003

Posted by M1abramsRules on Monday, August 4, 2003 12:08 AM

at first I used peanut butter but when it sits out for a while it rots and then it really stinks. Big Smile [:D]

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