graveturtle Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 What kind of tools have you improvised or cobbled together for building your models? I'm kind of curious to see what things people have done. It seems that it's not that uncommon for nail files to be used, and I've head of nail polish being used to paint small sections of cars before. But I'm kind of curious as to what more unusual things people have come up with. And on that note, here's a bit of humor along that vein. http://retailminions...need-know-basis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my80malibu Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 http://public.fotki.com/Gabriel12/cool-tools/cool-tools/ Here are some tools that I made, First one for narrowing wheels. The other is what I found at Walmart I use it for cutting foil. Check em out tell me what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darin Bastedo Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 (edited) Here is a small file I made out of an x-acto handle, aluminum sheet, and some sand paper. I use it to snad vents and grills that I open up on models the full how-to is avilable in issue 154 of Model Cars Magazine. Edited September 30, 2011 by Darin Bastedo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Don't know if this quailfies, but I've MacGyver'd up a few paint/detailing/drying stands for parts using nothing more than a toothpick and a paint can lid- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Oooh, you know this is going to be a great thread . . . I love the ideas here already. Keep 'em coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 I bet we're going to see some really neat stuff here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Myers Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 A cheep compass an artist hobby knife (thin handle) and you have a great tool for cutting large size holes / wheel wells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Myers Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 a hand full of clothespins and a little time on a disk sander and you have some great clamps, as many as your fertile mind can imagine. Here's another : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Very cool thread.... Cant wait to see more ideas. I will have to see if i have anything i can add to this thread. Really like the file idea with the xacto handle. I may have to try that sometime. I sure could of used the compass/xacto idea when i was doing my disk brakes for my funny car build. But found a cheap plastic compass thing at micheals. May have to look into making.one of. these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Johnny Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Hey Greg! On the lower clothes pin square off the end or even cut it bad a little too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Myers Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 (edited) Hey Greg! On the lower clothes pin square off the end or even cut it bad a little too! That's what that disk sander is for. You can make all kinds of shapes and sizes. Edited October 5, 2011 by Greg Myers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a/gass Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 dont know if anyone elis does this but - take a pice of 3600-4000 grit 1in by 2or 3 in long and wrap a bit - tape it or supper glue it so it stays on bit and use it in your dremal (like a flaper for porting heads) to remove mold lines or the dips in trunks from pro mo screw pins works good for me (ive ported a lot of heads though so i have good exp) just rember to keep it moving or youll make a dip (or remove too much too fast in one spot) it might work better at slow speeds till you get use to it - but i run it wide open - ive also cut lil slits in the open end to make lil finger things (sorta like an automatic car wash brush that beats the dirt off your car)and go over the whole car to start the polishing prosess.happy modling mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Loving this thread, keep the great ideas coming, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 You know how often you actually use your fingernail(s) while working on model cars. Like pressing down bare metal foil, scraping off that tiny bit of excess glue or putty, press down on a piece of sandpaper while sanding a tight spot, the like. Well, my fingernails are usually too short for this kind of stuff, so I got me a pack of ten artificial fingernails from the beauty section in the supermarket for a quid or so. They also can be filed to any shape you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Cool, simple tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I use both my fingernails and a .5mm push-click mechanical pencil for pushing Bare Metal Foil down to the edges of chrome trim, and into the details of badges and scripts. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Sumner Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I make all my own sanding "sticks". I use double sided carpet tape and lay it on foam cafeteria trays. Then lay down a sheet of wet/dry sandpaper and cut them to whatever shapes I want. They work dry just fine and also work great under running water. I've also used the foam trays that supermarket meats come packaged in too but I run them through the dishwasher first to get rid of any bacteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 That is just too cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Sumner Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I made a right angle sander for squaring off the ends of strip, rod, square, hex or any other shaped platic. I've never seen anything that works better than this if you want a perfectly squared off end on a piece of plastic! I had a piece of phenolic resin type plastic laying around so I used that as the base. Just laid one piece on top of the other and then attached a piece of angle iron made of aluminum at a right angle. To keep it square I drilled 2 holes and pushed in a couple of steel dowel pins. That way, if I ever want to set it up at an angle I can get it back to perfectly square in a few seconds. Here's one view of it.... Hosted on Fotki And here is how it's used. You can use anything you want to do the squaring...sanding block..piece of sandpaper wrapped aroun a block of some kind...a file..whatever. In the photo I'm using one of my homemade sanding sticks as described in my previous post. Keep in mind that you need to use your left hand to hold the piece of plastic up against the angle iron and also give it some pressure forward to the sanding block. I had to use my left hand on the camera for this photo... Hosted on Fotki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Terry, that's a fabulous jig. I might make one to get those frame rails nice and square at the tips. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 That looks like a good one, Terry. I'm going to try my hand at something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete J. Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 This has to be one of the most useful threads I seen here. I will have to throw up a couple of my own when I have a couple of minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Terry... Really like your sanding jig. That is a great tool..may have to make one of them myself. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Do these count? Ok, actual tools I've made to build with After spilling one too many bottles of glue, just a PVC cap and an electrical plate cover I made a cutting jig for plastic using a laminate table top and 2 squares. One is fastened down, the other is free to move for adjustment. I've been using this for years and have been very happy with it. Making use of the skills learned in high school wood shop Everyone had to make a spice rack right? Well this just takes that idea and adjusts for the size of paint bottles. Paint booth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalenut Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I made a variable speed(foot pedal) mini lathe from a $10 yard sale sewing machine and a $10 harbor freight chuck. works like a champ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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