The Cheapskates Guide to Modelling Tools.

[Gorby]

Over the last few years I've made a few modelling tools and I thought I would show them off and ask if anyone else has made or re-purposed something that they use.

 

Sometimes I make things to help with modelling because I to damn tight.

Sometimes it's because I can't find what I need.

But mostly it's because I like making stuff, and giving the grey matter a bit of a work out.

 

Circle Cutter

Because I couldn't find a circle cutter that would cut circles smaller than 10mm, I made this. It can cut circles down to 3mm Diameter. It's by far my most used, home-made tool.

 

Paint Swatch

not strictly a tool as such, but this is one of my most useful modelling items. A couple of years ago I got feed up with Tamiya paint charts and the colours on the paint lids bearing little relation to the colour in the jar, so I started a long and very boring job of spraying all the 'XF' colours and the few 'X' colours onto strips of plastic. On the back is the few Alclad colours I have, and also the colours I have mixed. Incidentally, some of the metallic colours have been half over-sprayed with Tamiya smoke (X-19) to show the effect it produces.

I've got a lot more of the 'X' range now and I really should do a new gloss swatch, but there is always something more interesting to do.

 

Parts Rack

Again, not really a tool in the usual sense, but it helps enormously. It's made from an old washing up rack that was about to be ditched as it was going rusty. I keep the sprues lettered from left to right so that it's easy to find the one I want.

 

Corrugator

For my recent BoB dio, I needed some corrugated sheets. The purpose made tools were either very expensive, or produced corrugations that wouldn't be in the scale I wanted – 1/48.

I bought some aluminium 1mm wire (£4) and cut two pieces of ply 60mm x 60mm x 12mm. After a bit of experimentation, I wrapped the wire around the blocks, with a 2mm gap between each wire. Each wire was super-glued after making sure it was straight.

For the corrugated panels, the best material I found was a takeaway foil container from my local Indian. It was just the right thickness to be strong enough to withstand use.

Obviously the width of the foil will shrink because of the corrugations, so I cut the foil sheets 10mm wider than the blocks. Then it is simply the case of putting the foil between the blocks and standing on them. It took a few hours to make the dies, but now they are done, it takes seconds to produce a corrugated sheet. Not perfect, but good enough for me.

 

Flexifile

I thought that a flexifile might be useful, but I was put off by the £19 price tag. I made this out of a plastic clothes hanger in about 40 minutes - not pretty, but it works. The clips holding the sandpaper in place are sewing clips - which are easily strong enough for this job and very useful for other small clamping jobs as well (and you get 50 in a packet for a couple of quid).

 

Variable Pressure Clamp

Occasionally it's useful to hold a part in place with just light pressure – for example holding a canopy in place while it dries. The only thing I could find which looked like it would work was something called a multi-clamp, but it looked so simple I thought “I could do something like that” (saving £10 was another factor as well). This is the result – again made from a clothes hanger, plus a small bolt, a wing-nut, a 2mm thick metal washer and a pencil eraser. It is a little on the large size (the model in the photo is 1/48) so it may be better to use a child's hanger, but I'm not having another kid just to make another one, so this will have to do for now.

 

Aircraft Stand

About as simple as you can get; three mini planks; four pencils (with erasers); two screws and a load of holes. I made it a couple of days ago so it hasn't been used on a build yet – I've just used one of my old models to show how it works.

 

Paint Mixing Palette

We seem to get through loads of plastic bottles in our house, so when I need something to mix paint I just cut off the bottoms.

 

 

So, does anyone else make or re-purposed anything that I can steal they would like to show?

 

Thanks for looking - Gorby.

Edited July 1, 2017 by Gorbygould
typo

[Darby]

I say old bean, what a splendid example of British ingenuity against the odds. I probably use something a bit Heath Robinson but can't remember what. I do ask people to keep their washing liquid measuring caps for mixing paint and clear yogurt lids as a 'receptacle' for 'rubbish' as I work on something.

One question regarding the stand. Do the pencils have to be a certain B or H hardness and can the pen be any colour ink?

[lasermonkey]

I use those plastic milk bottle screw caps for mixing paint.

 Rather than fork out for sanding sticks, I make my own from lolly sticks (I bought a couple of packs of a hundred from The Works for about £1 per pack) with wet'n'dry either glued or stuck in with double-sided tape. It works very well indeed.

 I made my own micro chisels from knackered jewellers screwdrivers. I'd bought a set years ago and they were made of "monkey metal" and chewed up quickly. Using a Dremel drill with a grinding disc, I ground the tip to a small chisel shape. Works well enough, and very cheap!

One of my favourites is an old pair of pliers that I modified. They were originally a set of needle-nose pliers that got bent up at the end. I cut the end off and with the pliers clamped in a vice, drilled an 8mm hole so that a semi-circle was left in each side. I now have a way of gripping circular objects without them pinging off into oblivion! It's time consuming to make, as sawing and drilling hardened steel is a pain in the backside, but well worth the effort.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

 

ps Whenever I buy a new tin/bottle of paint, I paint a swatch which goes into a folder for future reference. Although online paint equivalent resources are useful, there's nothing quite like seeing it for yourself!

Edited July 2, 2017 by lasermonkey

[Gorby]

@Darby

Us plebeians have to be inventive you know. Fortunatly Mrs. Gorby hasn't notice that a couple of her blouses are sharing the same clothes hanger yet.

As to the pencils, 'H' would be my hardness of choice. You don't want to entrust your model to soft pencil when it's teetering on top. Unfortunately I have to rely on those wishy-washy in-betweeners 'HB' as those are the ones that are suitably endowed with an eraser.

 

@lasermonkey 

Interesting ideas – I particularly like the micro chisel one. For sanding sticks I use the other half's nail file sandy thingies. They're a bit coarse, but cheap as chips (before chips became quite pricey). She has noticed that she seems be buying more nail file sandy thingies than she is actually using.

[lasermonkey]

The great thing about the home-made sanding stocks is that the can be cut to the desired width- very handy for getting into hard to reach places. I've even made some with the abrasive stuck on the thinnest edge. Of course, using wet'n'dry, the abrasive is resilient and you can choose your favourite grades.

[Gorby]

4 minutes ago, lasermonkey said:

The great thing about the home-made sanding stocks is that the can be cut to the desired width- very handy for getting into hard to reach places. I've even made some with the abrasive stuck on the thinnest edge. Of course, using wet'n'dry, the abrasive is resilient and you can choose your favourite grades.

I do use a lazier method - wrapping wet'n'dry around rat-tailed files to get the right shape, but it can be a bit cumbersome. So thanks for the idea, I may give your method a try.  

[andyf117]

Content withdrawn - I will NOT be threatened by a moderator, simply because I queried the actions of another...

Edited June 27, 2020 by andyf117

[Gorby]

@andyf117 

Excellent, I was looking for something to buff me clear bits! Just had a look on evilbay and assume the different colours denote the grade, is that right? And if so, which one do you use?

[FalkeEins]

brilliant - especially the 'stand' and the 'parts rack' 

[Gorby]

5 minutes ago, FalkeEins said:

brilliant - especially the 'stand' and the 'parts rack' 

Glad you like them Neil. I forgot to mention that the side parts on the model stand swivel so they can be adjusted to the correct position. As for the parts rack - lack of space made that a necessity. 

[andyf117]

Content withdrawn - I will NOT be threatened by a moderator, simply because I queried the actions of another...

Edited June 27, 2020 by andyf117

[Gorby]

1 minute ago, andyf117 said:

 

The four faces are either numbered 1-4 and/or marked 'File', 'Remove Ridges' or 'Buff', 'Smooth', and 'Shine' - to be used in sequence.

Colours vary - my original has black, blue-grey, white and black faces, whilst the four-pack ones have lilac, yellow, pink and turquoise!

 

Thanks Andy, I'll order the colour that best matches my eyes then. 

maybe the red ones? 

[Gorby]

Just ordered from evilbay (other sources of evil are available) five for 99p.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Pcs-Nail-Art-Manicure-4-Way-Shiner-Buffer-Buffing-Block-Sanding-File-Practical/232339886833?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D43781%26meid%3Da14ace0855ee42e4aa098c5b118ed8df%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D122175366914

 

Thanks @andyf117

[Robert]

I have to take tablets and the foil that they come in are excellent recepticles for using as a paint palette.

 

Robert

[bzn20]

Great stuff Gorby.. Love your corrugator.

I made a circle cutter from a Rotring Springbow fitting a 10A blade in the middle one of those ink liner things I've never been able to use for ink lining.

[Gorby]

Thanks @bzn20. It's probably my least used home-made tool, but I must admit to be pathetically pleased with my corrugator.

[Arachnid]

Check out the make-up brushes and the tweezers in Poundland

[bzn20]

On ‎08‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 9:20 PM, Arachnid said:

Check out the make-up brushes and the tweezers in Poundland

 

They'll have you down for someone on a cheapskate shopping trip for your wife, girlfriend or mother's birthday !...Or all three!

 

Don't, for goodness sake, try and make light of buying that stuff with "Its for my modelling work" . That has connotations and will just muddy the waters !

[Beardie]

Something just occurred to me and I wonder if it might have some use. I recall some time ago that 'Magic erasers' were all the rage for cleaning marks and stains off stuff. This is something called melamine foam and I guessed at the time that it was a gentle abrasive that provided the cleaning effect. Might these work as fine polishing sponges?

[Head in the clouds.]

'Mend and make do' a great British trait and I love the model stand with I assume varying lengths of pencils for different models. Great to see.

[Gorby]

@Beardie 

Never heard of Magic erasers before but after having a bit of a peruse, you may be right. I'll see if I can interest Mrs. Gorby so they don't show up as 'modelling expenditure'.

 

@Head in the clouds. 

The model stand hasn't seen action yet, but I hope that it will be able to adjust to fit most aircraft with just the pencils in the photo. If not the multiple pencil approach may be necessary. Having said that, a few days ago I saw a home made model aircraft stand that was significantly better than mine. So if this one doesn't work – it's bin time.

[bzn20]

15 hours ago, Beardie said:

Might these work as fine polishing sponges?

 If you want a sheen, somewhere between Matt and Gloss it would be perfect.

I've got a rotary eraser ,battery operated spinning rubber tip, great for local weathering.

Something like this, I haven't got the exact model. Art shops have them too. Tips are changeable BTW.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/mfm/Hosaire-Automatic-Rotary-Electric-Eraser-Sketch-Pink/B01HEKSW3A/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1499786170&sr=8-5&keywords=rotary+eraser

Edited July 11, 2017 by bzn20

[bzn20]

13 minutes ago, Gorby said:

I'll see if I can interest Mrs. Gorby so they don't show up as 'modelling expenditure'.

 

I wouldn't bet on it.. "Why is he asking for cleaning stuff"? Then hands over the entire Casa Gorby's stock of pots and pans to you as it was your idea.. all gone ,none left !

[Caerbannog]

I use an electric milk stirrer to mix paints. I cut the round spring thing off and bend the end to a triangular shape. Works great and these can be found very cheap. Maybe you like to paint it a different colour so SWMBO does not recognise it

[theplasticsurgeon]

Another vote for the cappucino stirrer - Poundland one dedicated for the model lab