Ollie T-Y Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Hi All, I'd like to start looking into adding some extra detail into my builds with pipes, cables, and various parts. What are some materials and sizes you recommend always having in the toolbox for this sort of thing? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 I've got a lot of found materials ... 1. Copper Wire from little, broken, electric motors, in as many gauges as you can find. 2. Lots of styrene stock. Rod ( Round and Square ) Tubing ( in a variety of diameters ) Styrene sheets, in a variety of thicknesses ... .005", .010", .020", .040", .060" 3. Aluminum Foil, thick and thin household stuff 4. CA Glue and lots and lots of found items ... I've been building models for about 12 years and doing a LOT of scratch building on every model. I mainly build Real Space subjects, check out some builds on the Real Space forum. And I try ... and use ... a wide variety of materials. Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob de Bie Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 If you buy a lot of different sizes of Evergreen, Slaters and Plastruct strip and rod, finding the right size from all the packages becomes a problem. My collection drove me nuts: I could never find the size I was looking for. A year or two ago I solved that problem. I used plastic sleeves to put documents in a folder. I used a temperature-controled soldering iron set at 225C to make (say) ten vertical pockets in each sleeve. I made around ten sleeves, and put them together in a paper folder. And then I filled nearly all 100 pockets with all my plastic strip and rod, profiles, metal wire and Albion tubing. I even made small stickers with the dimensions of the content of each pocket. All in all it was a couple of hours work. But it works really well. Every time that I used it ever since made me very happy. Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doppelgänger Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Everything Pete and Rob suggested + Basic tools A good punch & die set Hobby Elements Section Tracer contour gauge (it's the best there is on the market; also, check the specialised tools they've got) Some good needle files, tweezers and drill bits A good moto tool with variable speed Watchmakers parts Mission Models micro chisel Variety of Cyanoacrilate glue Advanced tools An opti-visor or any device alike Dental vacuum-forming machine and dental acrylic powder A micro-lathe Mould and resin stuff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
krow113 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 References, lots of them , from different sources. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 6 hours ago, Rob de Bie said: If you buy a lot of different sizes of Evergreen, Slaters and Plastruct strip and rod, finding the right size from all the packages becomes a problem. My collection drove me nuts: I could never find the size I was looking for. A year or two ago I solved that problem. I used plastic sleeves to put documents in a folder. I used a temperature-controled soldering iron set at 225C to make (say) ten vertical pockets in each sleeve. I made around ten sleeves, and put them together in a paper folder. And then I filled nearly all 100 pockets with all my plastic strip and rod, profiles, metal wire and Albion tubing. I even made small stickers with the dimensions of the content of each pocket. All in all it was a couple of hours work. But it works really well. Every time that I used it ever since made me very happy. Rob I love this idea. I'm constantly fighting my supply of rod & strip styrene. I may have to copy this set-up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 I'll add another thing, a well stocked scraps box of parts from other models. I try to pick up extra parts at swap meets and contest from any old or new kit I can. You never know when one of the shapes is exactly what you need. Whenever you build a model that has optional parts, NEVER throw away the unused parts. chances are if you get into scratchbuilding it will come in handy one day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob de Bie Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 6 minutes ago, niart17 said: I'll add another thing, a well stocked scraps box of parts from other models. I try to pick up extra parts at swap meets and contest from any old or new kit I can. You never know when one of the shapes is exactly what you need. Whenever you build a model that has optional parts, NEVER throw away the unused parts. chances are if you get into scratchbuilding it will come in handy one day. I've got photos of my spares boxes. The central slot of the yellow box is chock-full of wheels, they are my greatest treasure. I got them from another modeler who built all his aircraft gear up! Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 11 minutes ago, Rob de Bie said: I've got photos of my spares boxes. The central slot of the yellow box is chock-full of wheels, they are my greatest treasure. I got them from another modeler who built all his aircraft gear up! Rob You sir are an organizing King! Hat's off to ya'. My spares box is just that, a huge box full of spares, many of which are still on the sprues, and takes up a huge corner in my garage. I need to take inspiration from you and get them sorted. It would make my life so much easier. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob de Bie Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 6 minutes ago, niart17 said: You sir are an organizing King! Hat's off to ya'. My spares box is just that, a huge box full of spares, many of which are still on the sprues, and takes up a huge corner in my garage. I need to take inspiration from you and get them sorted. It would make my life so much easier. Haha, I never looked at it this way 😀 Thanks for the complement! I do recommend larger compartment boxes, mine are too full. Otherwise it works well. Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 There are some ideas here, especially that one with the styrene strip 'file'! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 A knife with a #11 blade hole punch, JLC saw with mitre boxes, Mission Models micro chisel, Swiss-cut needle files, calipers, dividers, and metal rules are my critical scratch building tools. I also have a spreadsheet computing various scale measurements for my common scales. For materials, I use Evergreen plastic stock, thin aluminum sheet (from Costco 3-lb coffee containers), Albion tubing, brass wire, solder. and 6-mill carbon fibre. Solder is very flexible and stays where you put it. I just made some seat belts by flattening thin solder to make very flexible strips. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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