Invaluable modeling tools. Share yours!

[Taiidantomcat]

Razor Saw. Frankenplanes are made much easier!

[FAR148]

Here's another of my favorite tools, the Chopper. The Chopper is a cutting tool that allows the scratch builder to make clean repeatable cuts in styrene or wood.
With the chopper you can...
•Quality construction.
•Simplifies square cuts in styrene and wood.
•Repeatable cuts when you need multiple parts the same size.
•Accurate mitre cuts for corners.
•Easy to replace straight razor blade.
•Includes cutting guides for 30, 45, 60, and 90 degree cuts



Steven L 

[The Rat]

Large toenail clippers (the clippers are large, not the toenails. Unless you never use the clippers  ) Useful for trimmimg decal film right up to the edge of the marking. Get the straight-edge ones.

[Mossie]

I get a few items from the cosmetics racks:

Orange sticks, the type used for doing nails.  Almost as useful as cocktail sticks, they're a bit bigger and can be used for applying filer, stirring, mounting small parts on & such.  You can get a few styles & sizes to sit needs.

Nail buffers, basically identical to the micromesh polishing sticks but a lot cheaper.

Cotton buds/Q-tips, good for smoothing down water based fillers like Vallejos Plastic Putty, wiping paint mistakes off, cleaning sanding dust out of nooks & crannies.

Blu-tack, holding down parts for painting or keeping them still when gluing, tacking bits together during dry fitting.

[PR19_Kit]

Blu-tack, holding down parts for painting or keeping them still when gluing, tacking bits together during dry fitting.

Yes indeed.   How DID the world survive before the invention of Blu-Tack?

[Spey_Phantom]

im a more on-budget modeller, but that doesnt mean my tools dont get results.
invaluable to me are:

-small clamps
-paintbrushes
-paint thinner
-paint cleaner
-sand paper (various degrees of roughness)
-DIY decal inkjet paper (clear and white)
-pritt poster buddies (ideal for painting small parts)
-toothpicks
-my Dremel (for those serious retooling/mod jobs)
-a pair of good cutting scissors
-toenail clippers
-small tweezers


on the minor side there is also a small saw and a watchmakers magnifiyng glass (with 2 claps-arms) 

[Mossie]

Blu-tack, holding down parts for painting or keeping them still when gluing, tacking bits together during dry fitting.

Yes indeed.   How DID the world survive before the invention of Blu-Tack?

Blu Tack & Post-It's, can you imgine life without them???  Both the classic cock up turned around, rubbish for their intended applications but a turned a light on in their inventors heads.

[scooter]

Silly Putty is one of my favorites, and readily available tools.

[The Rat]

On some visits to clinics or hospitals you may get a probe stuck in your ear to take your temperature. You'll notice that there's a plastic cover on it that's discarded after each use (you hope!). Over the years I've asked if I can have it and have never been refused, and now I've got a bunch of very versatile paint-stirrers. They are stiff enough to work most paints, if they've really got a lot of solid gunk on the bottom you can stiffen them by inserting a paintbrush handle. The tip is flexible enough to fit the contours and really get a good scrape into the very bottom corner of the jars and get every bit out.

[The Rat]

Cross-tweezers. If you only own one tweezer, this should be the type:

[sequoiaranger]

>On some visits to clinics or hospitals you may get a probe stuck in your ear to take your temperature.<

What about those probes stuck in your.....oh never mind!

[kitnut617]

Ed, is there another name for a "bunny file"? Google doesn't come up with anything hardware related.

I think it's one of these, this one is curved but I have a flat one too, can't think what the name is for it though but it does do what Ed says.



Myself I use these, one is 22" long and the shorter one is 11". You get them from the RC model shop and they're dead flat, ideal for sanding down vacuforms.



You buy rolls of various grit sandpaper for them which has a sticky back to it, just change when ever you like.



But talking about files, the best thing I've found for cleaning/un-clogging them, is a bit of stiff carpet, like what you find in an office, the hard wearing type.. Just swipe the file over the carpet and it becomes clean.  Another thing to use to prevent files from clogging up, chalk,  All you do is rub some chalk into the file teeth and it prevents clogging.

[FAR148]

3M Softback Sanding Sponge
I love these things. Comes in Fine, Superfine, Ultrafine and MircoFine. I use all but the Fine. (too course)



Kind of pricey, a box of 20 will run you anywhere from $30 to $40.

Steven L    

[MilitaryAircraft101]

Ok, I haven't actually used these per se, but I just ordered myself some Trumpeter Rivetting and Scribing tools, as I want to try my hand at scribing with something a little more suitable than a blunt No.11  Also, need to make sure all of the 6,234,113 rivets are in the right place... 

[Joe C-P]

Metal straightedge-ruler
Masking tape, for sticking bits onto while painting part of them
A small glass shelf, for a hard, highly flat surface for cutting photo-etch
Single-edge razors for both cutting and for folding photo-etch