MODELLING TOOLKIT.

 PART 1.   SMALL TOOLS.

This article is all about the small tools I use to build my armies. I shall do a separate post about the larger tools I use later.

From left to right the above photo shows an emery board, I use these for all light filing tasks like sanding the end grain on wagon bodies after the sealer has dried, (see the post on constructing GS wagons). Next are tweezers which I use to place the star transfers I use on flags. Next is a sharp round file that I use to make locating holes for horse harness wires on wagons, (see the article on constructing GS wagons). Next is my metal ruler used to measure out balsa blocks to cut into wagon/trailer bodies and to mark up plastic card for cutting into horses. Then comes my sanding "stik" used for heavy filing. My craft knife is next , used for just about everything including cutting out horses, trimming wagon and trailer shafts to length and even locating transfers correctly. My pencil is used for record keeping and marking balsa and plastic card for cutting. Lastly are my scissors used to cut out horses, trimming flags to size and the tilts on GS wagons to shape.

This photo shows my pack of metal files, two of each shape. These are used for cleaning up the cuts in      screws  for cavalry and filing the grooves in screws used as standard bearers, see the post on making flags.                   

                 

This picture shows my razor saw used to cut balsa for vehicle bodies and of course my cutting mat. I do all my work on the mat as can be seen by the paint stains. I use the other side with the metric measurements   when cutting trailer and limber shafts to length.                                                                                           

                                            

This final photo shows the sticks I use to stir paint, one for each colour together with the pen stand I use to hold wet brushes while I scratch my nose etc. and the "nail" tool I use to open paint tins and  create the bend in horse harness wire as well as just poking things around generally. This tool came with some emery boards I found cheap somewhere hence the pink colour !!!!!         

I hope this is useful in showing the tools needed for basic modelling and demonstrates the start up costs need not be too high for the beginner.    

                                                                                                   

Modelling Toolkit, Part 2.

This article is about the larger tools I use to build my armies. Small tools were covered in a previous posting.

The above photo shows from left to right, my wire cutters, these are used  to cut the end of drawing pins to make wheels and to cut the twisted wires used as horse harness. Next is my small engineers square used to mark up planks of balsa ready to cut into vehicle bodies. Next is my home made jig for cutting the twisted wires used for horse harness. The wire comes in 300mm lengths so I clamp the jig to the work bench, hold several wires in place against the stop and cut at the edge. A cut wire is shown in the photo. Lastly are my pliers  often used to install horse harness wires. Sometimes the balsa is too hard and I need to use pliers to push the wire into the balsa. 

This photo shows my mini drill. I have had this drill for over 35 years and other than an upgrade to a tool less chuck, it still operates perfectly. I use this tool to make the holes in artillery shields for gun barrels and to drill axles for the wheels. It is also used to make holes in cavalry horses for the leg assembly and of course all towing eyes in all trailer types. See postings on Cavalry, GS wagon and trailer construction for more details.

This photo shows my box of mini drill tooling. I confess I do not use the saw blades or grinding disks much but the set of mini drills are invaluable.

This is my hot melt glue gun used to make GS wagons and cargo trailers, very useful but painful to the finger tips if used clumsily as I know only too well !!!!

This photo shows my home made sanding box. The unit is clamped to the worktop using the flange and the hose from a vacuum is pushed into the larger hole in the side. Sanding is carried out over the small hole grid. It works well and saves a lot of fine dust filling the air which is good  for the lungs and minimises the amount of cleaning up I have to do !!!!!

Lastly this picture shows my modelling lamp. Although my work station is alongside the window which can just be seen on the far right of the photo, I still find the additional light provided by the lamp very useful. When the arm is closed down that action switches the lamp off. A very useful tool bought for my birthday by my daughters some years ago.

I hope these posts on tools give a useful indication of the kit required for scratch building and although my collection has been built up over many years, anyone just starting out would not face a vast expenditure purchasing the basic essentials.