Most useful supplementary kitbuilding tool

[simonhaynes72]

Hello all,

I was having a discussion at work about most useful tool we could not do without. It made me think today about what, apart from the basics such as drills, files, pliers, pincers, soldering iron, etc., I couldn't do without when modelling.

 

What would most people consider to be the one piece of supplementary non-basic kit they couldn't live without?

 

Exotic ultrasonic cleaning tanks? Reliable resistance soldering kit? Brilliant bending bars?

 

Simon

[angell328]

For me it has to be my airbrush!

 

I love the way I can get such a smooth finish over large and small areas. I can do weathering, painting, overlaying of colours to produce pre and post shading. With the right masking I can do such detailed work too.

 

If I was made to live without it and had to brush paint everything, then I dont think I would have done half the different liveries I have done.

 

So its an essential!

 

Cheers

 

Matt

[Worsdell forever]

It's got to be my blocks of wood, they are Paraná Pine and quite hard, they are about 6" x 2 1/2" x 1" with various bits screwed to them and holes drilled in them. They are ideal for clamping small bits to, usually with a drawing pin, for filing, soldering and fettling, roofless vans sit on them upside down securely.

 

EDIT :- and the best bit is that they cost absolutely nowt

 

[Horsetan]

The rolling mill and rivet press, both by GW Models.

[Allegheny1600]

My 1" (engineers/modellers) set square and an off cut of plate glass, mine is about 18" x 8" x 1/2", professionally ground down at the edges!

Oh! Rubber bands, hair clips, wooden clothes pegs and those coffee stirrers from maccie D's and other coffee shops!

Cheers,

John E.

PS a bit more than 'one piece' there, sorry!

[Gwiwer]

Thinking just a little outside the square on this one I'd say the most useful "tool" I have is patience. The other is the swear box. A coin dropped in there every time I suffer an attack of Reynard's Disease (a/k/a Fox Ache) or similar makes purchase of the next kit much easier! B)

[hollywoodfoundry]

Thinking just a little outside the square on this one I'd say the most useful "tool" I have is patience. The other is the swear box. A coin dropped in there every time I suffer an attack of Reynard's Disease (a/k/a Fox Ache) or similar makes purchase of the next kit much easier! B)

 

Ah, I been looking for some of that there Patience stuff, do yer know where I can get some?

 

Never mind, I can't be bothered waitin!

[John_Hughes]

A decent set of reamers, without a shadow of a doubt; I'd 'managed' without them for years until I was given a set by a mate, and all of a sudden certain jobs got very much easier!

 

(Not that I'd want to be without the trusty Unimat, the airbrush, the RSU or whatever else, of course!)

[Guest stuartp]

A home-made tool made donkey's years ago by soldering the pointy bit off a dart into the end of an old soldering iron tip. It served as scriber, centre punch, rivet punch, superglue applicator, panel line restorer, vac pipe bending jig (the soldering iron bit was just the right diameter), fibre glass brush splinter removerer, all sorts.

 

It dropped to bits a few weeks ago and I'm lost without it.

[PhilH]

A set of stainless steel dentists' probes bought very cheaply off Ebay. 12 tools, double ended, absolutely indispensible for holding, scraping, shaping, picking stuff off, you name it.

[Kenton]

A difficult question and I've thought long and hard to think of anything.

 

I like the idea of "patience" as it is something that I frequently don't seem to have enough of along with "perseverance" and more than anything "time"

 

But when it comes to real tools if there was something I guess it would be in everyday use and therefore easy to find on my work bench. As it is my work bench is cluttered with different tools, gadgets and props - all of which seem to be important at the time of use and certainly were at the time of purchase. Although I would now feel lost without them all, i do know that once I did build kits without them and, probably, could continue to do so again. If I couldn't it would be on the list of basic essentials.

 

I also have a number of "useful/essential" tools that are expensive additions - because I build so many kits they soon prove their value by being time-savers or by making long/difficult/tedious jobs a doddle. Again I would replace every one of them if broken but they would not be on m y list of recommended tools for every kit builder. They include: The RSU, GWrivet press, Hold'n'Fold, ...

 

So now I have had more time to think in the supplementary tools pile.

My steel plate on the work bench with its block magnets. I used to use this method of lining up edges to solder in favour of wood blocks (which also still get used) long before using a RSU. using business card baffles/insulators where required. The magnets are powerful and can hold most things in place against some force. They can be piled or work through the brass sheet and ingenious arrangements made to hold about any shape in relation to another. They are also wonderful heat sinks that can be used to keep some parts cool when you need it.

[Kris]

Magnifying glass on one of the little stand things. Ever so helpful in getting tiny bits of kits into tiny holes.

[Barry Ten]

Some reamers I got for a quid or so ten years ago - nasty, cheap looking things with bright red plastic handles. They've been incredibly useful.

 

My Black and Decker jigsaw gets a lot of use as well - it was one of those purchases where I was a bit concerned I'd only use it once or twice, but not at all, it's proven very useful and versatile.

[Oldddudders]

Drills have been mentioned, and certainly one of those whizzy things can sort out a hole in no time, help abraid here and there - lots of stuff. But where delicate work is concerned, especially with plastics, a range of pin-vices has saved the day for me. This morning, assembling a well-known manufacturer's 7-plank OO plastic kit, I found his buffers would not fit in his shanks. Huh? Call this a kit? Gentle work needed to drill out the shanks - job done in seconds, really, by having the right tool.

[ozzyo]

For me its got to be my grit blaster cabinet along with the compressor to power it and my ultrasonic cleaner and ???? ////

 

 

OzzyO.

[Adrian Wintle]

Mine would be my magnifier light - ring fluorescent around a good quality lens. It cost me all of $2 at a garage sale and it used on almost all projects.

 

Adrian

[BR60103]

Most versatile: a solid brass back-to back gauge which has nice square corners and is used:

-to scrape material off other material.

-as a form to make square corners in buildings and possibly wagons.

-to hold down small items being glued.

[Welly]

Mine is one of those clips on a heavy base, I got mine at a computer exhibition nearly 25 years ago and it is very useful for gripping those small bits whilst soldering them.

[Portchullin Tatty]

Ah, I been looking for some of that there Patience stuff, do yer know where I can get some?

 

 

 

Available from Eileen's Emporium under the extreme products........................... extreme products

 

Perhaps more seriously, I reckon the Palatine Buffer & AJ height gauge is about the most useful thing in my toolbox.

[Ian G]

I made a set of tool makers clamps at college nearly 30 years ago, as they are far to big 5'' long, but they where ground square, they are very useful for all kinds of projects in the workshop but not for clamping

 

Ian G

[multiprinter]

A tin of Elastoplast!

[Dagworth]

My reading glasses and a decent light. As I'm gettting older I can't focus as close as I used to be able to and now can do near b*gg*r all detail work without my glasses.

 

Andi

[Guest dilbert]

Reference material re. the prototype

Corner Punch

 

...dilbert

[Mal]

Now I am way over fifty and the eyes are giving up,an essential tool is an Optivisor, couldn't build or paint anything without one.

 

Malcolm

[pointstaken]

An Optivisor for me peepers, and a wife to make my tea.

 

Dennis