Tools not used every day

[GoForItPainting]

Hello

I am quite new to modelling and I am interested in any techniques and tools that I have not used before in miniature painting.

I am interested in tools to get to a higher level or specifically for model car upgrades and conversions. What do you recommend that is not basic equipment on a modeler's desk?

I recently bought one of these round cutters for diorama making or wheel and fender conversions. But I think I will mostly use it to cut out stencils. (First I will be correcting the VW Beetle's start numbers, which you may have seen before or you can find in my signature.)

 

[Straightliner59]

This isn't really a tool or technique, but, it's served me well, over the years. When I go to a hobby shop, if there aren't any kits I "have" to own, I buy scratchbuilding materials--Evergreen, Plastruct, brass and/or aluminum tubing. Over the decades, I have accrued enough materials, that I rarely find an instance, where I don't have the stock I need. If you make a list of stuff you do, or don't have, you won't end up with say, four packages of .020"X.040" Evergreen strip, like somebody I know!? I'd also add to keep your eyes open for  "found" scratchbuilding materials--things like various wire, broken car turn signal lens plastic (can be used to carve and shape into the same, for scale models), and other miscellaneous items can be picked up, for nothing, and can be very useful.

[Fat Brian]

Yes, scratchbuilding materials are essential, it makes it so much easier when you have all the shapes you need.

I recently bought digital calipers and don't know why I waited so long. Keeping my scratchbuilding symmetrical and checking my build during assembly is much easier now.

Photoetch saws make your cuts much cleaner and remove less material than other saws.

A panel line scribers have all kinds of uses, they are available from a few sources or you can make your own. I used a piece of a 3mm wooden dowel about as long as an Xacto handle, I drilled a small hole in one end and stuck in a piece of the core wire from a wrapped guitar string.

[stitchdup]

If you use photo etch a folder is very handy to have. You can fold using a hard back book but the folder is much easier to see what you are doing

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Ya gotta have the right tools for the job!!! A digital caliper is a must for accurate measurements. 'L' square and this little 1" square block is invaluable. The 'grabber' that holds parts. This is the tool I probably used the most, besides the trusty X-Acto knife. The bottom device is used to find the center of a circle, great to find the center of a wheel, etc... Then the usual assortment of the normal stuff, a box of 100 count #11 X-Acto blades and handles, files, rulers, saws and whatnot.... -RRR

Edited October 6, 2022 by Rocking Rodney Rat

[Ace-Garageguy]

I don't use it very often, but my Unimat lathe has become indispensable for making or modifying small parts, as it converts to a vertical mill too. It doesn't have much power, but with patience and care, its several speeds mean it can be used to create just about anything a modeler could want, in almost any material.

Unimats of this design were made in Austria from the early 1950s through the '70s and sold by the thousands all over the wotld. The quality is excellent, there are still parts being made for it (like urethane drive belts), parts and accessories seem to be readily available, and there's a substantial global network of enthusiasts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Y1nkr6v2M&ab_channel=SteamerEdge