More Tools

This post is to introduce some tools that aren’t “absolutely essential” except that I don’t know what I’d do without them. I’m a “low tech” kind of guy and you can see that none of these tools would qualify as “high tech.”

I think this is a forty-year-old eyedropper. When I was a kid, buying an eyedropper meant that you were a junkie. You’d get suspicious looks from the pharmacist and if the pharmacist had an old lady working for him (they were all men in those days– the old ladies I mean) you’d get an earful from her on the dangers of shooting up. So when I finally acquired an eyedropper, I held on to it! I use it for one thing and one thing only– putting water in paint to thin it. But over the years, it has been used for many things. MANY THINGS!

Forty-year-old eyedropper

Here’s something I should have bought forty years ago. It’s a Zona Razor Saw. I bought an X-Acto piece of junk and fought with it for decades before I came to my senses and bought the Zona. Accept no subsitutes! Get the Zona. It’s worth it. Get the extra-fine blade.

I cut up heatsinks for a video card and it still works like new!

This next item is supposed to be a nail buffer, but it works better as a plastic model kit buffer. Cheap and effective!

You can polish a canopy with this thing.

This is a wonder of our modern age. The silver Sharpie. Who needs to paint on silver paint on anything tiny– use the Sharpie!

I love this thing.

Get a good pair of dividers. They’re not that expensive. It’s something you NEED. You’ll thank me later. Go. Go out and get it NOW.

How long did I do without this? What a maroon.

Artists have some good stuff that they don’t tell us about. “Charcoal” pencil can be used for a variety of stuff. The silver pencil walks hand in hand with the Sharpie and if you make fun of them they will kick your butt.

Use the silver pencil for paint chipping and stuff.

Last but not least, we come to the drill. This one is “double headed” and that was not a good move, but I’m cheap so I bought this and made a “handle” for it that isn’t in this shot. You need some kind of handle.

The point is that you DO NOT NEED POWER TOOLS FOR PLASTIC. You can put a drill in a pin vice and twist twist twist you have a hole. No power. Also, you need a set of tiny bits. Need them. Get them when you go out to get the Zona Razor Saw.

This is the pin-vise or chuck or whatever. It’s a manual drill. You need bits, too.

 

 

2 Replies to “More Tools”

  1. Ok, I’ll bite. What do you use the Zona saw and dividers for with models? Scribing a spot for heatsinks on your corsair? 😉

    1. The dividers are a measuring tool. You can take a measurement from a drawing or another model, and transfer it easily to another model. The saw is for conversions. I’ve sawed the cannon “bumps” off of a 1/72 Spitfire’s wing to convert it. The Zona saw with the extra fine teeth gives you tremendous power when it comes to cutting up the original kit.

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