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Modeling Supplies Suggestions


Noyhauser

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I've recently come into a bit of a surplus, and have purchased a couple of models/resins, and I'd also like to spend a bit on my supplies. For most of my life I've used basic supplies (a full set of Tamiya paints, tweezers, exactos, brushes ect.) but its those cool extras that I see people use I'd like to pick up. So suggestions please?

I'm probably going to buy the bulk of my stuff from HLJ, so suggestions from that site would be most helpful.

Some of the stuff I'm looking at.

Mr Surfacer (which ones and how much?)

that Hasagawa scribing tool (is this a good one?)

The Tamiya polishing compound (I see a lot of you using it for canopies, is there other uses?)

I need a new putty to go along with surfacer.

Is there a Japanese equivalent of metalizer?

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The only thing I can comment on from your list is the Hasegawa Scribing tool.

It is very comprehensive there are shapes and curves etc from very small sizes upwards you`ll need a very fine scriber to use some of the 1mm size shapes but so far I have found it good for the larger sized squares and round shapes etc.

As far as the other products you mention I use different makes of these so I cant give you any feedback.

Edited by big F
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For the putty get the Tamiya putty basic, I like it. I don't use that green stuff no more. Don't know if you know this site but I buy most of my stuff from these guys. Tape, get a acid free masking tape it won't peel your paint off.

http://www.best1hobby.com/

Edited by DrunkenMaster2
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Definitely get the Mr. Surfacer 500 & 1000 even 1500 and see if you can get them in white instead of the grey.

Get Tamiya masking tape and their assortment of fine grade/grit sandpapers (1000+ grit plus).

Get the Hasegawa photo-etched micro saws.

Get an assortment of WAVE option parts and their X-Decals (both sheets)

Do you have an airbrush or compressor? If not, that's a great item to get. Then you also need to get a good 3M face mask with organic filters.

Ah.. the list never ends...

p.s. if you still have money after that... get the Fine Molds Millenium Falcon!! Boy can I spend other people's money!! :p

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I've got a airbrush/compressor.... however I'm trying to get better at just doing things by hand painting. I find hand painting as more enjoyable, even if it doesn't look as good. And I'm getting better at it.

How long does a bottle of surfacer last? I've gotten 2-1000 and 1-1200

I've got the Hase scribing hand saw, 2 Tamiya Putty tubes, 1 Tamiya surface compound (just the regular one, is that good? and is there any other use for it?) The Wave option decals (any suggestions on parts?) and the very fine grit sand paper set... any other suggestions?

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There is a metallizer line made by GSI calle mr. super metallic, they came in 15ml bottle and you must thin them, they are probably the closest japanese product to alclad metallizer.

http://www.hlj.com/product/MNE02568

Fine grit sponge files are a cool item to smooth out the surface, they do miracles with mr.color.

http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZGT37

I bought recently mr. precision swab, cool item, regular cotton swabs are too big sometime, so they are handy.

http://www.hlj.com/product/WRK00036

This is going to become my favorite putty, it's a lot better then tamiya's, it's useful when you have to fill big gaps, missing plastic on the corners or reshaping.

http://www.hlj.com/product/AIZ00014

It's like tamiya tape but its so thin(apply with tweezers) that it bend very easely, it make masking on curvy pieces a lot easier, reccomend for canopy masking.

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you can buy a pin vice at your local radio shack now I believe...

They also have a "helping hands" which consists of a weighted base sporting very adjustible arms ending in aligator clips with a magnifier and something else. It's designed for assisting those with unsteady hands do percision soldering but is a great help when gluing and painting pieces, holding small things steady, roach clip, etc. This thing is soooooo friggin useful I don't know how I survived without it.

they also sell "nippy cuts" or "percision wire snips" which are mini tapered clips that make taking model parts off a spruce so quick and painless without fear of breaking an exacto blade or having to use a fret saw. I have three pair and love them.

You should be able to buy a set of dental probes there... or at least I did a while back, probably depends on what old stock your local store has.

needle files I got from radio shack are very useful.

radio shack also has a liquid solder pen. It's designed for making simple traces and patches and works a lot like a paint pen. With it you can use surface mount led's and use the solder as panel lining to have electronic lights looking super sweet without drilling a bunch of holes to run wire through.

there is an anti static camera lens cloth that is fabulous for dusting your models and toys, and tv screens and camera lenses...

Can you tell I used to work there and had all sorts of "non-approved" uses for stuff they sold :rolleyes:

one thing I highly recommend is a "fret saw". It's bascally a mini hand saw bit for an exacto knife. They are soooooo useful and I have no idea where to find them. I stole one from a friend in highschool and since then I've had to make my own cutting a hacksaw blade into segments.

and nobody mentioned a hammer. You definately need a hammer. When you take the crazy glue cap off with your mouth so you can use both hands to fit the piece and then glue your lips together when trying to put the cap back on, followed by the realization that while you were trying to unglue your lips your hand dried to the piece you were gluing and as you try to pull your hand off the pieces break still glued to individual fingers and the leaking tube falls from you lips onto your lap seaping through your pants and gluing your genitailia to your chair. As you try to stand up removing yourself from the chair you natuarally bump the desk holding all the unassemble model pieces and dumping them into your glue covered lap, along with the table lamp, your exacto knife, and whatever else you happened to have on the desk including your beer. Now beer soaked looking like you wet yourself with various modeling supplies stuck to you [some pointy], a hand useless due to model part gloves, and a crazy glue cap between your glued together lips you try to find help..

the hammer if for the person who askes how it's coming along...

I recommend an estwing 28 ounce framing hammer :rolleyes:

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Coby: I've got a small pin vice, and I agree with you, if I didn't have one, I'd need one. A bit of clarification is in order... I've done alot of modeling over the years, and I've got all the basics. I can do everything I needed to, but I was looking for stuff that I didn't have that would make a difference. Seeing WM's buildup I noticed the scribing tool. I use a chipped end of an exacto knife and a bit of sanding to do the same effect, but a scribing tool would be better. the Putty I currently use (the testors stuff) IS crap. Even with thinning it doesn't get into the spaces I want it to, or take the right shape. Mr Surfacer is what I need.

Ido, Coby, WM, your suggestions are great. I've already ordered most of the stuff you've recommended.

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I'll second the small/jeweler's files. There's a lot of times they'll work far better than sandpaper. I know there's got to be people like me who sanded and x-acto'd a piece for 30 minutes until finding that one perfect file that'd do the job faster and better. I'm fond of the "knife" style file, it's my all-purpose one.

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If you live anywhere near a Micheal\'s or Walmart, you get those file for about the same price without shipping. The files are known as jeweler\'s files. Also in either of the two stores, you can find pin vises and hobby knife sets.

Just go take a stroll through the stores and look around. You\'ll find lots of great stuff.

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If you live anywhere near a Micheal\'s or Walmart, you get those file for about the same price without shipping. The files are known as jeweler\'s files.  Also in either of the two stores, you can find pin vises and hobby knife sets.

Just go take a stroll through the stores and look around. You\'ll find lots of great stuff.

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To be honest, I'd rather get purpose made ones for modeling for obvious reasons. Also it saves me the time to go to Walmart when I can have it delivered to my door (walmart is a bit of a ways for me in any case, it an afternoon I don't have). Thats actually another reason why I don't like using the airbrush, my modeling "life" usually consists of 30 minutes every two nights or so, and If I spend 20 minutes setting up and dissassembling and cleaning, I'm not really having much fun doing it.

Oh, and I've got a pinvice.

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To be honest, I'd rather get purpose made ones for modeling for obvious reasons.

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On one hand, it's usually worth looking at tools that aren't specifically designed for modelling, as often you'll find that they're actually just as good - sometimes even the same tool, but cheaper because they're not sold under such a specialist banner. One of the local hobby shops here sold disposable-blade modelling knives and replacement blades for about four times the price you could get an identical 'wallpaper knife' at the DIY shop down the road a little... and the [cheaper] wallpaper knife blades came in a nifty little dispenser so it was less likely you'd cut yourself getting one out of the box.

On the other hand, my experience of files suggests that they basically come in two varieties - those intended for filing plastics and those intended for filing metal. If you buy GW's, for instance, those are the metal ones; the 'teeth' of the file are deeper and further apart. I think the only problem I've noticed using the metals files on styrene is that if you slip and go wrong they scar the plastic quicker; if you file without error you get pretty much the same finish anyway. Oh, and the metal ones are easier to clean. ;-)

(Myself, I most recently got a set of Expo files from my local modelling shop, which contained a mixture of both)

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A few of my top picks

Tritool line engraver - one of the best scribers I've used

http://www.hlj.com/product/HSGTT-10

Tritool Scribing tool - Another great scribing tool, great with stencils

http://www.hlj.com/product/HSGTT-1

Tritool chisel - Easily one of the most useful tools I own

http://www.hlj.com/product/HSGTT-9

MoriMori putty - One of my favorites. It's like Bondo, except it doesn't suck.

http://www.hlj.com/product/WRK00036

Tamiya epoxy putty - great clay-like putty for sculpting and gap filling

http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM87051

Aves Apoxie Sculpt - Another epoxy putty. Not as high quality as Tamiya, but a LOT cheaper if you need a lot of it. It's a scratchbuilder's best friend.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/cfstore/ind...&Product_ID=162

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Oh, which kind of sanding sticks/blocks etc tools do you guys use?

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Strips of wet-n-dry sandpaper superglued to strips of 2.5mm styrene. ;-)

And man, I can't believe I forgot those tritool chisels.

Personally I also find a set of small sprung grips useful - the kind of thing used here to hold the piece. Mostly I use them for holding things at particular angles for drying, they're also useful for clamping bits together while glue is drying - generally more convinient than a G-clamp or whatever.

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You definately need a hammer.

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You sound like you speak from experience.

Another thing I use now (after seeing a Japanese model master using them) is a girls padded flexable nail file/polisher. The type that is dispossable it two bits of different grade wet and dry type material pasted to a hardfoam center. They are flexable and can be cleaned out in water they sand Tamiya filler really well and can also be used to polish up the surface after sanding best of all a pack costs a couple of bucks/pounds.

Edited by big F
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You definately need a hammer.

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You sound like you speak from experience.

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I'm afraid that is the truth. Is this the way you make your customs Kanata? Smashing your pile of toys with hammer and hoping for some kind of new combinations? :p

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Yeah, the ostrich man is right, check out MicroMark.com. They've put me back about a grand over the past few years. Mainly in power tools, but they have everything tools wise and then some. Wait and get a free catalog from them, first, trust me! They of course do all the resins, glues, blah blah blah blah...

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I see that is the place to get the stuff. Actually I had been on that page some time ago. Though, only on the resin casting starters kit page. Pretty cool...

Only downside seems to be the prices. But I guess you get great quality too.

Edited by Sdf-1
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I just ordered this... I know I know its not necessary for model building, but it really helps for scratchbuilding. At $179, its quite a deal... you save $71 and no shipping!! You also wouldn't even need to buy a dremel... just buy the flexi-shaft attachment and some bits!

Dremel Scroll Station

B0002HC23Y.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Edited by Less than Super Ostrich
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Whoa, that's a mecha!!! Not a bad price you're right. Though, I would be very happy to get just some good hand tools at the moment. I already have a Dremel, but not yet the flexi shaft. But I haven't yet needed Dremel that much. Maybe it's different if you make more your own stuff, rather than oob kits. Except resins are useful to drill for pinning and cut off the sprue residues with that. I'd like to learn to get more out of my Dremel.

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You definately need a hammer.

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You sound like you speak from experience.

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I'm afraid that is the truth. Is this the way you make your customs Kanata? Smashing your pile of toys with hammer and hoping for some kind of new combinations? :p

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I wanted to blend spawn with macross... you mean I shouldn't have put the toys in a blender? :rolleyes:

dremel. I believe I have only used my flexi shaft attachment once while I have used my dremel to the point where the collet is stuck in place and I can no longer swap bits. I should track down my warrenty info and see if there is a lifetime warrenty or anything. The flexi-shaft is usefull in confines spaces.. like under a sink or car, but I didn't find much use for it working with models as I had room to work with. Maybe if I was working on a model under a sink...

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Spawn and Macross, that would like be a Gerwalk with long grotesque fingernails, entrails off the fusealage, and some kinda bio weapon thingy. Maybe they could do a Macross Zero Plus Bio or something!?!

About Micro Mark, their tools are a bit pricecy, but the quality of their Micro Lux tools are great. I have the Bandsaw, Tablesaw, 10" Disc Sander, and some other smaller tools. They're all made in Japan. Yes, I'm a aheavy duty scratch builder!

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A modern Dentist chair/station. Built-in movable halogen variable light lamp, foot pedal dermal(spl) that has an easy to change chuck, multi-purpose vacuum, and a place to set-up a laptop computer for easy reference and surfing.

Just rip out the chair and put a small table(or several levels of tables) in it's place!

And speaking of dentists has anyone try'ed working in their quick-setting putty?

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You mean the kind you set with the the visible blue light? Damn... that is expensive stuff..

Also, don't forgot to hit up your local $1, 100 YEN or 10 HKD shop! I just hitup the local 10 HKD and bought scotch tape, masking tape, box cutter, blades, hooked cutter, wire (sprue) cutter, small files, mini pliers, a small table top vice and bunch of kitchen stuff to build my new spray booth for less than 20 USD.

The money you save can go towards quality paint, good model kits and the really nice tools you need as listed above.

I will post pictures of my mini spray booth later. I think I need to buy another fan as the existing one is not powerful enough.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi guys! I'm thinking to order these from Bare-metal, just thought to ask do you think they're great stuff? I'd think so. :)

BARE-METAL PANEL SCRIBER

MICRO SET

MICRO COAT FLAT

MICRO GLOSS COAT

MICRO SATIN COAT

MICRO WELD

MICRO KRISTAL KLEAR

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Got my stuff, took HLJ two weeks to get it to me, and it caught me on one of the days I work from home... thats probably not a good thing. I can't resist the temptation to pull out one of my new Hase files and remove some seams on an old model.... wonderful.

Also got a question about MoriMori. What is the proper ratio of the black bottle liquid and the main putty? (man its a big tube too)

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Also got a question about MoriMori. What is the proper ratio of the black bottle liquid and the main putty? (man its a big tube too)

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I don't know about MoriMori in particular, I've never used that one, but typically with polyester putty (this goes for three or four different brands I have used, they've all been more or less the same) the little 'bottle' isn't actually liquid but a similar consistency to the stuff in the tube. You use 'an equal length' of each; squeeze the putty and the hardener out in lines next to each other. The nozzles of the bottle and tube are sized such that you get the correct ratio.

Also, I don't know exactly what it is but I've always worn a respirator and latex gloves when working with polyester putty, even with sanding after it's cured, the stuff just smells like it could cause cancer at fifty metres.

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can some one recommend a good paint stripper for plastic? I heard there is a strong one that doesnt craze plastics.

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Oven cleaners are great... stinky and messy, but great. Stuff like Easy-Off can be liberally sprayed on styrene, ABS, Vinyl, etc without any deleterious effects; just spray the part inside a plastic bag or plastic wrap and seal to let the goo do its voodoo, after about 15-30 min scrub the part with an old toothbrush under warm running water and you'll be left with a paint free part (any left over paint/residue can be easily handled with a second dunking or other cleaning methods). ;)

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