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The best modeling product EVER


Kasparov

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Like all modellers I too have crumbled on many occasions under the weight of my own wallet in the local shop. The aching burn in the pocket, the twinkle in the eye, the eager anticipation of your boyish soul and the slight tickle in the fingers. Without much contemplation one tends to leave a hobby shop with a lot of gear, usually quite expensive and eventually used in much more moderation than one thought while under the spell of the handsome shopkeep's daughter. After more than two years of hoarding I've come to the conclusion very few products one bought while salivating in front of the shop window actually really adds to the ease of the hobby. I've bought dozens of washes and other panel lining products, three colours of oil paint is all I end up using. I've bought many tweezers, pinchers and grippers, clothespins, cocktailsticks and the missus old hair tweezer is all I use 99% of the time. Many tapes, maskers and foils have passed through my hands, Tamiya's flexible masking tape in two widths is all I generally use. The same goes for brushes, glues, saws and putty's, I think you might get my drift.

 

To add to this misery many meshes, sponges, files and sticks were in my possession and in the end here is where true simplicity comes to shine its virtuous light another time. If there is one product that gives the most reward for the money, here is where a lost soul can find his grail. May I present you, the nail file:

metal-nail-file.jpg

This specimen can be bought for 3 euro's. It is made of pure tempered spring steel coated in Corundum or Diamond with just an ever so slight hint of chrome to eager the eye. Yes you have read this right, this magnificent little piece of engineering is covered in more Saphires, Emeralds and Rubies than a Persian princess. The handle is molded on in sturdy plastic and the complete product is indestructible to our puny fleshy hands. One might ask, but why dear sir is this the best product ever? Let me tell you;

  • Its file is indestructible and has exactly the right coarseness
  • It won't dull in any way when used with plastic
  • It won't even hesitate to do some proper bump and grind with your average PE
  • It's thin and springy which gives it very exact control over your labour
  • Its rough metallic form makes it a very capable scaffold for other sanding sheets
  • The pointy end has endless uses;
    • It pries
    • It pushes
    • It taps
    • It separates
    • It fills
    • It even pricks

 

I hope you don't mind me stating again that this remarkable thing does all this for 3 euros and will continue doing this, thanks to it's top level abrasive and metallic matrix, for longer than you'll want any modeling product to last. "Where can I buy it?" A smart individual might ask. "These must be rare, precious and fought over worldwide, all tucked away in the endless vaults of the rulers of our future!" Well they are not, one only has to follow any woman in the city around for a tad longer than five minutes (try not to look like a molester) and you'll automatically find yourself in an establishment selling these by the boatload without hesitation.

 

It's such a good product that I'm honestly puzzled why nobody put an ULTIMATE sticker on it and tried selling it to us for twice the price stated.

 

Edited by Kasparov
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Yes, different grades exist, my daughter has swarovski glass nail files for nail art, these are micromesh sort of grade for polishing after using your buffer stick.  Supposedly using it on your nails makes them stronger, don't know if that's true of use on model aircraft canopies though!

Obviously glass nail files aren't flexible.  They're also more expensive than metal nail files but not stupid "I saw you coming" modeller prices!

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19 minutes ago, modelmaker said:

even if it wasn't any good it would have been worth it just to read your wonderfully worded presentation, I salute you sir!  what are Euros by the way????

Oh, about £0.95p !

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42 minutes ago, modelmaker said:

 what are Euros by the way??

 

I'm not sure either. Some form of coinage used on the continent I believe... 

 

Nice tip on the file will have to try one out.

Seen them before but always thought they were too coarse for our delicate plastic... 

Witches talons on the other hand... 

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My friend  Gus "The Crevice" Maloney (currently spending a holiday as a Guest of Her Majesty)  must be allowed some hobby privileges, as he often asks if I can send him a couple of these. Curiously I think he's also become interested in baking too - as he usually says, that to save on postage, I should enclose them in a cake....

 

 

Nice tip though ( literally)  - I can see a trip to Superdrug in my future

 

Jonners

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9 hours ago, malpaso said:

Yes, different grades exist, my daughter has swarovski glass nail files for nail art, these are micromesh sort of grade for polishing after using your buffer stick.  Supposedly using it on your nails makes them stronger, don't know if that's true of use on model aircraft canopies though!

Obviously glass nail files aren't flexible.  They're also more expensive than metal nail files but not stupid "I saw you coming" modeller prices!

 

I've tried the glass files too. To me they weren't nearly as useful as the metal ones, they hardly "grip" the plastic and are quite cumbersome in comparison.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Might I suggest something very useful in a similar vein.

I have a diamond fishing hook sharpener which is a sort of diamond impregnated metal stick in a pen style holder which I discovered recently is actually excellent for dressing plastic after a diamond coated needle file has done the rough work. It really polishes up the area and they only cost a couple of quids.

This is the sort of fellow I mean http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3in1-Hunting-Fishing-Pocket-Sharpener-Diamond-Knife-Saw-Hook-Flat-Edges-ZT-/381842578058?hash=item58e7975a8a:g:T7IAAOSwKOJYIdvR

Not quite the same as mine as this one comes to a point where mine is the same all the way down and has a brass coloured outer but I am guessing it will do the same job.

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On ‎30‎-‎1‎-‎2017 at 18:12, modelmaker said:

what are Euros by the way????

 

Little pieces of metal us continentals have started using since the Common-Wealth stopped giving us beads and and marbles.

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