On the Subject of Tools

[Subtle Discord]

Tools of the Trade Hobby

 

Taken from my WIP p'log, Legion Rising, I thought this information might be useful as a tutorial, of sorts.

 

First up, let me just say that I try to talk from a place of first hand knowledge and experience; I won't write about something unless I've tired it myself. My aim in these is to show a wide range of tools and techniques - from basic to more advanced - so people can get a really good idea of what's involved, and try it themselves if they want. I Always found lots of great information while researching and reading, but it was usually in bits-and-pieces or poorly documented. I figured it might be helpful for some to get a lot of my lessons in concentrated form, and create some free extra added value from my studio.

 

My methods and opinions are not necessarily 'the best', they're just what I do and think, and they work for me. I take what I do, and try to push it as far as I can, because I'm lucky enough to have a basement to setup my studio in. I understand that scope and scale of workspace is set by your living space. Take what I talk about and make it fit the scale and scope of your hobby; however there are things that hold true everywhere, no matter how large or elaborate the setup is.

 

Good Light - Weather you're building or painting, lots of good light is key. Get yourself several 26W 'Daylight' or 'Cool White' bulbs and brighten up your space. Setting them up in adjustable arm-lamps lets you move the light where you need it to eliminate shadows. Do your eyes a favor, use good light while you work.

 

Organized Space - No matter how humble the space try to have some level of organization. Trust me, I constantly struggle with this, and my space gets seriously cluttered. But once-and-awhile you need to tidy up. Once things start finding a logical place to go, the entire build and paint process is improved by it.

 

Quality Tools - I'm a bit of a tool snob, and that's what this article is about. Don't get me wrong, we all start somewhere, and you can do amazing things with a limited selection of tools. Do yourself another favor, and make your limited starting tools good ones. The thing is, a few quality tools won't instantly make you more skilled at building and modeling; but they will make all your projects easier and more enjoyable, by working exactly how they should. Low quality tools can and will ruin hard work very quickly, so get something that works the way it should from the start. Quality tools are an investment, and many last decades or a lifetime, but in many cases the best tools don't even cost very much. Take your time and purchase some select quality tools over the years, and keep a supply of other simple disposable tools at hand, and you'll have what you need to do great work. Just think about how much you spend on these models; it's only fair to spend a little on the tools your use to build them.

 

 

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Cheap and simple - exactly my speed. Not everything needs to cost much to setup.

 

It doesn't take anything really elaborate to take some good pictures. I took a cheap table on wheels, mounted an old magazine rack on it (that also holds an extra overhead light), and attached sheet of textured white plastic as a backdrop. Bring in a few lamps and a cheap tripod and I'm good-to-go. Since the table is on wheels I can roll it away when I don't need it.

 

 

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Lets start with some of the basics ~ Clip, Crush, and Bend. Try to get spring-loaded Pliers and Clippers if you can.

 

1) Be sure to get a good set of clippers. Don't settle for a set that will mangle parts as you try to clip them free of a sprew. A set of nippers is also useful now-and-then.

 

2) A good set of standard Pliers and a set of Needle-Nose Pliers are always useful. Make sure they have good teeth for a strong bite and grip.

 

3) Sometimes you want to bend or pinch something without damaging it. A set of Round Pliers is handy if you work with metals. I've added a bit of rubber wire insulation to give them extra padding.

 

 

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If you're going to scratch-build, you're going to do a lot of cutting and measuring.

 

1) Don't ever cut with a wood or plastic ruler! You're asking for bad cut if you do. Get at least one good stainless steel ruler. The larger ones to the top of the picture are good for larger projects, but the thinner rulers in the middle are perfect for cutting styrene. The Square to the left is great for making accurate 90° cuts. I prefer a ruler that doesn't have a no-slip back (cork or rubber) so the ruler sits directly on the plastic I cut. It helps with accuracy and making precise cuts.

 

2) A digital Caliper and a digital Angle Gauge help take really accurate measurements easily. They each cost about $22 CAD, and they're worth their weight in gold. I couldn't get my work as accurate as I do, without them.

 

 

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You don't need a lot of different blades to do great work, I cut the vast majority of my projects with the same razor blade.

 

1) By far my favorite razors are No.11 blades; I use them for almost all my styrene cutting. Do yourself a favor and buy them in bulk. It costs a bit more upfront, but you save a lot more in the long run, and you always have fresh blades. A No.11 blade has a really fine tip that will hold up well during cutting, but they break eventually (especially on heavy styrene) and need to be replace regularly to keep cuts clean. When I'm chopping plastic, I prefer to use the push blades shown in the center-middle. They're much thinner then a No.11 blade, so they are excellent for chopping and shaving through material.

 

2) If you're cutting a lot of sheet styrene like I do, a ring-style handle is a good investment. It holds the blade directly under your finger and really locks it in place, helping make very accurate vertical cuts, very safely. Not quite a 'must have', but I swear by it and can't do lots of cutting without it.

 

3) A standard stick handle is a good standby for holding a blade, and a larger handle is always useful for larger blades and when you want a more substantial grip. The larger handle is also good for larger chisel-style blades. I don't use them often, but they're very useful when they're needed.

 

4) A Compass is always useful for drawing circles and arcs, but I use this one to cut them as well. By replacing the drawing point with a second sharp metal point, I can use it to scribe into plastic and cut circles. It's a bit of a crude cutting tool, but it works in a pinch to make very accurate circles and arcs.

 

 

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A selection of saws, miter boxes, and the handy-dandy Chop-It from Micro-Mark.

 

1) The top saw is a crude club beside the elegant rapier that is the bottom saw. I use the heavy saw up top to do really rough cuts; it never touches a model, it's a utility saw for ripping through things. The second pictured on the bottom is called a Razor Saw or a Jeweller's Saw. The blades (which you can buy in bulk) are thinner than a razor and have fine teeth that can quickly cut through any material a modeler might work with. With a Razor Saw you can harvest a part from a model with great care. I get all my Jewellery tools from places like Contenti and Rio Grand. Any Jeweller Supplier is, hands-down, the best place to get Saws (and bulk replacement Blades), bulk Drill Bits, and quality Files.

 

2) These are two Razor Miter Saws, with their Miter Boxes. Sometimes you can't use a blade to slice through an object (tubes tend to crush and distort) so it is best to cut it with a saw. The Miter Box helps make accurate cuts at most common angles. The plastic orange Miter Box to the top is for smaller items, and the aluminum Miter Box on the bottom is used for larger material.

 

3) When repetition is the name of the day, the Chop-It from Micro-Mark is a really cost effective solution. This little arm lets you chop simple pieces that are identical, without losing your mind. The rail is customizable to let you set any angle you need the chop to be. Very handy when you need a ton of tiny consistent bits.

 

 

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My go-to selection of adhesives. Never underestimate the advantages of using the right adhesive for the job.

 

1) I discovered Acrylic Adhesive many years ago and I try to extol its virtues to anyone who will listen. I hardly ever use White Glue because of this wonderful stuff. I can find it at well stocked Art Stores and Hobby/Craft Shops, but it can be hard to locate. It's also a little expensive, but it goes a long way; a bottle will last years. When used for basing it shrinks very tight and bonds super strong; it holds basing material better than While Glue ever did. It dries clear, and since it's acrylic it dries waterproof. It can be mixed with acrylic paints to thin and/or toughen them, makes a good base for homemade washes, and works well as a protective varnish for scenery pieces or even models in a pinch. This is just great glue with lots of other uses. The only thing to really remember is that it is not sticky or tacky; parts must be in good contact and let dry completely. Once it's dry, it's really solid.

 

2) When I do use White Glue, I use Weldbond. Nice and sticky, super strong, and thins well for large coverage.

 

3) Spray adhesive comes in a lot of brands, some better than others; you'll need to a brand that works well for you. That said, it's great for making anything sticky. I use it all the time to glue sand paper to sanding blocks, glue no-slip pads to the bottom of items, or to laminate virtually any two materials together. Spray Adhesive has a tendency to dry out and loose its stick (especially the cheap stuff) so I wouldn't use it on important long-term building jobs, but when you need to make something sticky, it's great.

 

4) My favorite brand of Plastic Glue is made by Tamiya; white cap is the general purpose glue, and the green cap is an Extra Thin product. The white cap glue is great for big projects and the built-in brush gives you lots of control. The white cap glue is useful, but... The green cap Extra Thin glue is absolutely amazing and I use it a lot. Since it's very thin you can use the built-in brush to touch a join, and capillary action will pull just enough glue into the gap to fuse the parts. You can also use the brush to smooth and clean joins, should you happen to add a bit too much glue. A damp glue brush can also be used to polish and finish an area that has been sanded. Being mostly solvent, the glue also evaporates very quickly, keeping the glue lines very clean and letting you smooth surfaces with it. Finally you can use this glue to carefully create a bit of 'plastic soup' that you can use to fill small gaps and cracks; excellent for stubborn wrist, elbow, and shoulder conversions. This glue is really useful, and i always have a few bottles in the studio; I think I might do an art installation with all of the empties.

 

5) Last but not least, the humble Super Glue. Normally, you can find a cheap brand of Super Glue that will do, and you can save a bit by finding that strong generic brand. But, I've really gown to like the official Krazy Glue single use tubes. With larger tubes, no matter what brand, I was loosing most of it when it dried in the tube. With these tubes you open a small amount (that still lasts as long as a larger tube) and save the rest for later. If it dries out, it's fine, you have more. Better still, each tube has a fresh tip, and they can be easily trimmed down to a nice point to get the glue into tight places. The cost a bit more, being a brand name product, but I save more in the end by not wasting glue.

 

 

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Speaking of glue and adhesives, it's worth mentioning a few things about Syringes.

 

1) This kind of syringe can be purchased at many Drug Stores, Pharmacies, or Chemists. You might need to search, but try to find an Oral Medication Syringe if you can. These Syringes have a plunger that is made of plastic and has an o-ring gasket to create a seal. You can put all but the Spray Adhesive and the Krazy Glue into one of these Syringes, and since very little of the rubber is exposed to the damaging adhesive, it won't wear out or turn to slag. These are also my preferred Syringes for resin casting because of the o-ring style plunger; they resist cured resin and lasts much longer than normal syringes.

 

I'm still having a hard time finding a bulk supply of these Syringes in Canada; I would love to get 20cc and 30cc sizes for larger projects. Turns out they're not made and distributed by many companies.

 

2) The next best thing can be found at a well stocked Art Store or Hobby Shop. These are rubber-plunger Syringes with super fine tips for applying thin beads of glue. Since the plunger is all rubber you'll have issues using them with solvent based adhesives. They can work, but the rubber tends to go... funny... after a while.

 

3) Standard Syringes can be found in massive sizes (this is a 30cc) if you have larger projects.

 

4) Fine point tips that fit on most standard Syringes can be found in Hobby Shops as well. Testors makes the ones I use. They resist glue, so anything that might dry in them can be easily pushed out, letting a pack last a very long time.

 

*Subtle stops and takes a long deep breath...* Pant... wheeze... gasp... *He composes himself* ...

 

 

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The fundamental task - make a hole. A wide selection of tools for just that. And Magnets, because many times they are the reason you're drilling a hole.

 

1) I can remember being 14 and reading White Dwarf, and they would talk about a Pin Vice used for drilling holes to pin and support delicate conversions. I lived in the middle of nowhere, so they seemed like witchcraft far outside my reach. Needless to say, if you don't have a Pin Vice, get one. In fact, get several, so you don't have to switch Drill Bits as often.

 

2) This is a Micro Hole Punch from Mico-Mark (this place has too many wonderful little tools to spend money on - you have been warned) that can punch discs out of various materials. 1.0mm to 5.0mm in half millimeter steps. Place the material between the plastic sheet and the metal plate, place the corresponding pin the the hole, and strike it with a plastic/rubber hammer. Great for rivets, gauges, gaskets, and all manner of other small round bits.

 

3) A selection of Drill Bits. The gold Bits at the top are titanium-coated, and can be found at most Hardware stores. For larger drilling, if you get goods ones, they can be quite good and will keep a sharp edge for a long time. Downside with a Hardware store is selection; smaller Drill Bits are usually only sold in sets. I buy all my Drill bits in bulk from Contenti; high quality Bits that will cut resin/plastic/metal like butter.

 

4) I have a local Surplus Store that carries all manner of odds-and-ends; the selection is vast and too lengthy to list here. Needless to say, I found these at said shop. They are Dental Drill Bits, and they are some really useful Bits. I like basing with natural stone, and these Bits can easily drill holes clean through stone so I can pin a model in place. They are also excellent in a rotary tool (Dremel); it takes a firm grip and a steady hand, but you can carve, hollow, and shape wonderfully with these. The larger bit to the right is used for the same; its larger shape is perfect for hollowing out shoulder pads and larger objects.

 

5) And that brings us to some of my favorite little items: Neodymium (Rare Earth) Magnets. I'm tossing them in here because many times you drill holes to mount these little bits of awesome. If you don't already use Rare Earth Magnets, get some and start. You don't need to do anything really elaborate to make use of them for basic jobs, and if you get creative then can do all sorts of things. If you plan on getting them to mount bits, wargear, and gubbins for swapping, remember to get extra, and get a few different sizes. Once you start using them they go fast, and you wish you had a bigger one here, or a smaller one there. I get mine from K&J Magnetics, but there are many places to buy online. For $20-$30 you can have all the magnets you'll need for ages.

 

 

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Good Files are a must have in my books; I swear by Swiss made Grobet Files. Once you use a good quality file you quickly become spoiled and lesser Files don't measure up.

 

1) Files are cutting tools. They have formed teeth that shave at the material, and if you use a hard wire brush to clean your files you'll dull them quicker. This funny looking round thing is a File Cleaner; made by Alpha Abrasives, I've had it for 10+ years and I'm sure I'll have it 10 more. It's a tough rubber disk with rough texture and it's slightly sticky. Scrub it across a File and it clears out fouling from the teeth better than anything else I've found. Nothing clears Greenstuff out of a File like this little disk, and it even works to clean/clear sandpaper of clogging material. It;s once useful little lump of rubber.

 

2) #2 Heavy, #4 Medium, and #6 Fine Half Round Files. Half Round Files have a blade edge that is great fro cleaning mould lines from annoying places like corrugated tubing and vents. Being round on one side, flat on the other, and tapering to a nice point, this file is useful for all sorts of tasks.

 

3) #0 Heavy, #4 Medium, and #6 Fine Equaling (Rectangle) Files. Great for getting smooth fat surfaces and sharpening up corners. When you want it flat, this will do it.

 

4) #2 Heavy, #4 Medium, and #6 Fine Round Files. Sometimes, only a Round file will do the job; the Half Round is usually enough, but have a Round file or three is nice. Note how slim and subtle the taper of the file, and how fine the tip (~ 0.5mm). It's really hard to find a really nice Round File like these outside of a Jeweller's Supply Shop.

 

5) An assortment of Micro Files. Bought from a local Hobby Shop, these are not quite as well made as the larger Files, but sometimes you need something a bit smaller for a tiny job.

 

6) If I could only pick three Files these would be the three. Top - #4 Half Round for the perfect mix of flat and round with a good bite. Middle - #4 Round for when you need a good Round File to get the job done. Bottom - #0 Equaling (Rectangle) for a heavy-duty file that can really chew through material when it's needed.

 

7) I've seen crap quality files being sold in Hobby shops and Craft stores that cost almost as much as these Grobet files. These files will have perfect edges and corners, a sharp smooth bite, and practically polish the surface while they work. They're more than sharp enough to cleanly file even softer materials (like Greenstuff) without tearing and mangling it. #00 and #0 (Pictured) are very coarse and will chew through material really fast. #2 and #4 (Pictured) are a nice average bite; press lightly and it will polish, press hard and it will remove modest material. #6 (Pictured) are very fine and will polish any surface; they are almost too fine, and clog very quickly. A #0 for heavy work and a #4 for everything else is all you really need. Trust me, these Files are worth the trouble to get, they almost make removing mould lines enjoyable. I hate mould lines, and these Files make sure my army has none.

 

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/2013%20WIP%20Photos/WIP%20Tools/Sculpting_Tools_01.jpg

I don't sculpt nearly as much as I should. I want to get better and more confident sculpting, and the only way to get better at something is to do it. When I do brave it, these are my tools.

 

1) Painting Knives, an Art Store staple, come in all shapes and sizes. I used them mostly for mould making but they have a great sharp edge and smooth surface that's great for some jobs.

 

2) Stainless Steel Sculpting Tools of various shapes and styles. I prefer going to an Art Store to buy my hard Sculpting Tools so I can inspect the quality of the working ends. These kinds of tools come in a wide rage of quality, and it's best to see it before you buy. Good thing is that they are usually cheap, so it's easy to amass a collection over time.

 

3) Cheap Soft Sculpting Tools with Steel Burnishing tips on the other end. I got these in my search for rubber/soft tipped sculpting tools. Sometimes you want a softer tools to blend the medium you working. These work well, but I use them more for the Steel Burnishing tips now that I have the real deal...

 

4) These, are called Colour Shapers; they come in many wonderful shapes and sizes. I had the hardest time finding these tools; I kept looking in the sculpting section of Art Stores for 'Clay Shapers', since it seemed like a logical description. I finally found these 'Colour Shapers' in the painting section. They offer a subtle touch when you sculpt, so they don't replace hard tools, they just offer a lighter touch when you want it. Like any tool, they don't make you better at sculpting, they just give you more options and another technique you can use.

 

 

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Different products for different jobs, all on an handy-dandy working board.

 

1) A Cutting Board with baking Parchment Paper (check your Grocery Store) taped onto it to help make it non-stick is a great board to work sculpting materials on. Roll, press, sculpt, and do whatever on this and it should peel away easy. Peel off and replace if Parchment Paper gets chewed up.

 

2) Milliput - This product is like clay; you can even use moisture to thin it and make it softer. It's a bit soft and crumbly/flaky to sculpt on its own, but it cures as hard as stone. That's a major advantage when you want very hard sharp details, but it can be a bit brittle. You can find it at any good Hobby Shop.

 

3) Fimo - A staple of Craft Shops, Fimo is an oven baked plastic clay that is cost effective way to make all sorts of things. Horns, spines, bones, and other quick-to-make mass produced items can be baked up, read to use. There is a small amount of shrinkage when being cured, so don't use it for size sensitive sculpts.

 

4) Kneadatite (Greenstuff) - The good old standby, Greenstuff is the go-to middle ground. It will cure but a bit of a plastic-y consistency; hard and stiff, but with a bit of flex. Sometimes I will mix a bit of Milliput in with the Greenstuff to counter that flex; the Milliput adds hardness when the blend cures, but it stays tough and not brittle.

 

5) Kneadatite (Brownstuff) - Cousin of Greenstuff, I've only just got my hands on some of this stuff. It's supposed to cure harder and stiffer than Greenstuff, and should eliminate the need to mix Greenstuff with Milliput. I'll see once I have a project that warrants using it.

 

6) Instant Putty - I got this along with a restock of Greenstuff and when I got the Brownstuff. I've played with it a bit, and as advertised, it cures fast (under 5 minutes); maybe too fast. I'll have to see what I think of it when I can try it with some press moulds. It cures so fast, that's about all I think it'll work with. Time will tell.

 

 

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The humble sanding block. Big and small.

 

1) Anyone can make a Sanding Block with some Sand Paper, a bit of Spray Adhesive, and a heavy block or tile. I like thick tile as a base since it's nice and heavy. I add a bit of padding to the bottom to help keep them from slipping. They're so easy to make, might as well have some of different grits.

 

2) Made by Alpha Abrasives this is a pack of adhesive backed Sand Paper and acrylic sticks you can stick it to. You can use this to make small sanding blocks of exactly the grit you want. Reusable and it comes with plenty of Sand Paper, it's a simple but brilliant idea.

 

 

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A few more advanced sanding options.

 

1) These sanding sticks are really useful when you want a softer touch. Perfect for subtle blending and final cleanup. It's really just good sandpaper attached to a styrene stick with some double-sided foam tape, so they are easy enough to make if you want to. It surprising how something simple can be so useful; these sticks are how I clean plastic without taking its hard edge off.

 

2) I don't use these often, but sometimes a Needle File is good to get in tiny corners or awkward places. Good for taking unwanted glue residue from nooks-and-crannies.

 

3) If you work on curved surfaces (and I plan to more, in the future) this Sanding Bow can be handy. Since the Sand Paper is a strip held by the metal bow it has lots of give and contours to curved surfaces.

 

4) Finally, another cost effective tools from Micro-Mark, the Sand-It. This little sanding jig lets you set up a brace at any angle to sand little bits at obscure angles. The Sanding Block is cleverly designed to take four different pieces of Sand Paper; one per side.

 

 

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Brushes are one of those simple little tools that can be overlooked. Filing and Sanding will always cause some burring, and a good brush is the solution.

 

1) Metal for metal; A harder Steel Wire Brush for a more aggressive scrub, and a Brass Wire Brush for a softer scrub. When you're working on pewter, wire is the way to go. They work well enough on plastic and resin too, but they can bee too harsh.

 

2) A good standby is a stiff Toothbrush. If you can find an older 'Hard' style brush like the vintage pink one at the top, all the better. Just get a few brushes with the stiffest bristles you can find. Then, take one and clip the bristles down to give you a more aggressive, but gentle, brush. The Shortened bristles will help it really remove plastic and resin burring, but not harm fine details.

 

3) Kinda' like the Toothbrush, but bigger. This is a Denture Brush. Nice and large, with a smaller brush on the back, it ha stiff bristle and a nice large handle. Again, get two, and shorten the bristles on one so you can make a stiffer more aggressive brush. I use these all the time while I build to clean and burnish plastic without harming detail.

 

4) A 2" paint brush I use as a Dusting Brush. It's just a coincidence I started using this brush ages ago to dust and clean my miniatures, but its natural bristles taper to fine points letting it gently scrub even suborn dust off of miniatures. Since the bristles do taper and give, there's no chance of harming details or paint jobs.

 

 

And with that, I come to the end of my wall-o'-text-and-pictures on the subject of Tools. This covers most of the common tools I use all the time to build and construct for the hobby. I've got other odds-and-ends, but they're more for specific tasks, and I talk about them when it makes sense.

 

Ok, thanks for reading, hope it's useful; as always, comments, questions, musings, are always welcome.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Subtle Discord

[Tyrannicide]

I wish I could say more, but... I'm a bit overwhelmed. In a good way!

 

You're a great source of inspiration and a wealth of knowledge. This article is a great resource and I'm certainly appreciative of the time and effort you poured in to this. I've already checked it twice, like yesterday when I was out looking for clay shapers (which are stupidly hard to find in person).

 

Thank you, sir. :)

[shabbadoo]

As somebody who knows about all of this stuff, and who used to sell all of this stuff to people, this is a near exhaustive listing of pretty much everything a person might need to do anything miniatures-related so far as tools are concerned.

[Darkn3ssF4lls]

Simply amazing write up

[Quixus]

Impressive collection of tools and a very informative writ up. My only nitpick is that the numbers on the pictures are nigh illegible.

[Subtle Discord]

Thanks for the 'likes' and the positive feedback everyone. I'm glad this write-up has proven useful and/or insightful to those who could use the information.

 

I do apologize for the choice of font I used for the numbering; not exactly the right time to try and emulate a Chaos inspired esthetic. Given the age of this write-up, that some information has evolved and changed, and that I've got even more tools, materials, and insights to add, I will be updating this article once I'm in my studio fulltime; I'll be sure to use a more legeble font when I do.

[Major_Gilbear]

If I could make a small suggestion for the improvement of this excellent write-up: for each section, maybe make a note on what is "essential". The reason is that a lot of this stuff, whilst not expensive for the use you will get out of it, front-loads a significant additional cost to people who are starting out, and having a shortlist of say a dozen items that are essential to get you started would be a great help to those people.

 

I'd probably suggest:

 

• 2 files (flat and half-round, a medium grade)
• A pin-vise drill and half a dozen bits (0.7mm, 1.0mm, and 1.5mm sizes are most useful I find)
• Two good hobby knives with spare blades - a small one for delicate work, and big one for cutting bigger parts
• Good poly cement (I'd actually suggest a solvent-weld, but it can be hard to get hold of in some places)
• Good superglue (get an industrial-grade glue rather than a "big brand name" glue or the cheap stuff)
• Some Milliput
• Some Green Stuff putty (or an equivalent)
• A couple of sheets of fine wet-n-dry glasspaper (240-400 grit)
• A pair of good clippers
• A decent automotive primer (white, grey and black are all popular, but I'd suggest just getting grey to start with)

 

I would also say that whilst not as essential as the above, the following are also extremely worthwhile:

• A mouldline scraper
• Good PVA glue (get a construction-grade glue rather than regular wood glue or hobby/craft stuff)
• Brass rod (0.5mm, 0.8mm and 1.2mm sizes are most useful I find, and match up to Imperial sizes too)
• Some reasonable-quality but cheap natural-bristle brushes for applying glue, painting bases, painting terrain, etc.
• A steel dental/sculpting tool, or a silicone-tipped clay sculpting tool - it just makes simple gap-filling with putty much easier, even if you aren't planning on sculpting!

 

The first set of items will likely set you back around £75, and the second set will cost around £35. It is possible to get better deals, and you may have local suppliers that you can buy from as you need. However, even if you buy very cheap rubbishy versions of these items, it is still going to set you back a good sum of money, and it is very easy to spend quite a bit more than the approximate budgets I mention! I think that if you have been modelling for a long while, and pick up these tools and equipment over time, it's less obvious. For somebody starting out, and who wants to avoid the "mistakes", it is worth bearing in mind that the actual tools will last you a *very* long time indeed, and that it's like buying paint - a high up-front cost, but over time it becomes more "affordable" because it lasts you for so long.

 

Anyway, just my thoughts! :)

[GoblinChow]

Great write up.  I do have one favorite putty that you don't mention.  I use Mr. Thinned Putty for small cracks,  gaps in seams between parts and small surface dimples.  I am digging into it today to assemble a pile of Dark Vengeance Ravenwing bikes.  The whole bike is one big seam, through the tires, fenders, everything!   The thinned putty will fill those little seam gaps much more easily than green stuff, Milliput, or Squadron putty in a tube.   In the old days, we used to make concoctions of body putty and solvent cement, but I got lazy.  This stuff is pre mixed, and costs less than a tube of super fine automotive putty.  

[SW1]

An excellent write up and one that answers a big chunk of my questions on what direction to go with refreshing my hobby supplies. I'm guilty of using the wrong tools for the job quite often most of my gs sculpty in is done with a surgical blade and the same for all my cutting and mould line removal.

 

Time I rectify this. ;)

 

Looking forward to your next instalment if you get time to do one. :D

Edited January 9, 2017 by SW1

[Wendigo]

Absolutely excellent tutorial packed with information.  I'm a big believer in 'the right tool for the job' -- it can make a big difference.

 

Your posts are genuinely inspirational -- I don't say that lightly.  Thanks for this, Subtle Discord.

 

P.S. Good luck with your final semester!

[Exilyth]

Great indepth overview over hobby tools containing a lot of solid advice.

 

Some comments and suggestions:

• When looking for a knife handle, look at the little bit holding the knife in the handle - first knife handle I got, this bit was made from plastic and thus the thing didn't last long. On my current knife handle, it's a metal bit, which is a lot more durable.
• Miliput is available in different grades. Using grey-yellow for coarse work and then a layer of superfine (or greenstuff) for fine detail, one can get much more mileage out of the more expensive grades/putties. A piece cut from plastic sheet (or a plastic bag) is nice for temporarily parking putty without having it stick to the table or cutting mat/board.
• Plastic cups (the throwaway ones used for BBQs and parties) are cheap and great for mixing substances, e.g. 2 component resins, silicones - or white glue and basing material. They can also be used to hold water when painting (but I do prefer more stable/sturdy containers for that).
• Wooden toothpicks are nice for mixing paint (and any other substances you wouldn't want to touch), getting into corners and all other pointy stick needs.
• I'm using a left over ceramic bathroom wall/floor tile as a palette for painting. Served me well so far, don't know how it compares to a proper palette though.
• Don't throw away old paint pots/bottles - they can be cleaned and reused to hold mixed paints, basing material, all kinds of stuff.
• I'm using a (cleaned up) small fish-shaped soy sauce squeeze bottle from a takeaway sushi meal as a pipette. Not the most precise, but came pretty much free with the lunch. Can also sometimes be found in asian food stores for cheap in case the local takeaway doesn't have them.
• Sorting boxes are boxes with a bunch of trays/compartments - smaller sizes tend to be sold in art&craft stores (intended for beads, sewing material and other small pieces) and larger sizes tend to be sold in DIY/home depot places (intended for nails, screws and other small components). They make great bitz boxes.