Ultimate Products 3D Printed Modelling Accessories

[Mike]

3D Printed Modelling Accessories

Ultimate Products

 

 

We have probably all seen the rise of the 3D printing in our hobby as well as a host of other uses in recent years, and Ultimate have now leapt onto the bandwagon with some new modelling tools 3D printed in tough, hard-wearing PLA, which is a little more ecologically sound as it isn't an oil based plastic, and biodegrades in nature once disposed of.  This first batch of items is designed for keeping your various modelling fluids safe from tips and spills.

 

 

Tamiya Glue Bottle Holders

We've probably all spilled a bottle of glue of whatever brand over the years, ruining table tops, cutting mats, or in the worst case that I've ever experienced, a keyboard or mouse.  My tally is two keyboards and one mouse so far, mainly before I standardised on Tamiya Extra Thin cement and had to buy extra gear.  It has a fairly wide square bottle, which helps keep it stable, but this set of bases will keep it very much more stable, so that even I would struggle to topple it.  As you might know, there are a number of different glues from Tamiya in addition to the ubiquitous Extra Thin, such as Limonene, which is derived from citrus such as lemons and oranges, and has an orange cap, plus ordinary Liquid Cement, which has a white cap.  It seems there are even two shades of green used for Extra Thin caps, which was news to me, but Ultimate have you covered if you'd like to match your base to your glue pot.  They even have a few additional colours of translucent blue and green in the drop-down on their site.  If  you're working to a particular theme however, you can even order custom colours by emailing them, with options such as Gold, silver, grey, translucent red, yellow, light yellow, black, blue, sky blue, natural, fire red and white on offer.

 

 

The bases are light, having been printed with a light-weight matrix inside to reduce usage of materials, and they fit very snugly around the bottles, with enough "slop" to remove and insert them easily, but not enough that they can tip out without catching the side and gaining that extra base area.  The increase in effective area is substantial, and is increased further by the diagonal corners that extend the footprint even further, which makes it even harder to knock over.  Can't be bad!  Choose your colour, or buy the full-set, which contains four bases in light green, dark green, orange and white, as shown in the picture above.

 

 

 

 

Ultimate Decal Solution Holder (Microsol/Set)

Decaling is a time-consuming process, and it is so much easier in modern times thanks to the introduction of such wondrous things as decal softeners, which aid the decals in settling into the contours and panel lines of your models.  MicroSol was one of the early ones, and their Set and Sol solutions are a boon, while their Liquid Decal Film is useful for adding an extra layer of carrier film over old or crazed decals that time hasn't been kind to.  The "bullion bar" as it's known internally at Ultimate is a 3D printed gold-coloured PLA block that has three holes in the top, one for each of MicroSol, MicroSet and Liquid Decal Film, with a few additional holes for paintbrushes or cocktail sticks thrown in for good measure.  As a bonus, I found that you could also fit Humbrol acrylic tins while I was mucking about, so it's got even more uses!  You'll have to try pretty hard to knock it over, and apart from the standard gold, you can also speak to them directly to order other colours such as Silver, grey, yellow, light yellow, black, blue, sky blue, natural, green, light green, orange, translucent green, translucent blue, translucent red, fire red and white.

 

I seem to have hidden my MicroSol bottles far too well to find in order to show them in the holder, but I'm sure you can work it out.  If you simply must see it with bottles in, Ultimate have a few pics on their site, which you can see by clicking on the button below

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[Gorby]

Now that's a good idea. I've knocked over my Microsol/set a couple of times, so I may invest in that one.

[azureglo]

What is equally cunning is that the cement holders are colour coded to the various Tamiya types, perfect for those of us with OCD . Sadly though not me, as I only use Mr Hobby thin and  could not put them in a holder meant for Tamiya cement, obviously.

[j-fever]

Totally great idea, thanks