Alright, lets pick up where I left off from part 1 (in case you want to refer back to part 1, link is here ). Sorry it took me quite a while to write this up.
DISCLAIMER - I am in no way a master in SBing or modding, there are so many others out there who can literally rape with me the amount of beautiful words they do. I believe in sharing and I want to bring out the best in everybody and help everybody in anyway I can. Many Thanks!!!
4.0 Tools
Obviously, I don't need to say '' use a hobby knife'' as it is the first thing you would need to pick up whenever you start modelling.
Hobby Knives, however, comes in various kinds of blades and handles and it would really benefit you if you could invest in a set like this. The reason being that different blades have their different use, for example, the blade that look like a chisel ( I'm talking about the square one, third one from the left) is very useful if you need to cut away short pieces. Usually, if you overshoot something and need to cut, you use your ruler or whatever you can find, line up with the ruler, and run your knife along, which can and will result in too much force pushing the ruler away and your line of cut will be all messed up and you got a knife mark going all wobbly instead of a straight line. With that blade, I just mention, you just line up with a ruler, and just press down the flat blade down, and voila, hassle free cut.
Saws; Saws are your allies. Seriously, when I cut anything above 1.00 mm, Saws are the best to cut through them in short time while saving you the hassle of exerting too much energy. Before I invested in saws, I use my hobby knife to cut a 2.0 mm plate and OMG, it took forever and my fingers were almost blistered. With a saw, it’s just ''zig zig zig zig ( saw noises) ' and ''snap'', a nice cut.
Like knives and blades, saw comes in a great variety of forms. Quite a lot of Scale modellers who build those massive 1/32 airplane kits tend to use these kind of saw when they have had to cut the plane’s wings or fuselage or whatever. Personally, I think that's over kill; I mean look at it, you could kill somebody with it. For gundams( Gunpla), this size of saw is more than enough to do the job. And lately, I have fallen in love with this particular saw ( from Trumpeter ).
I don't think I need to say anything special about Sand paper as everybody knows how important they are. To be honest, I am still a noob when it comes to sanding, but I can say this, go to a DIY shop and grab from at least 400 all the way to above 1000. The more variety you have, the better. For me, I have 400, 600, 800 and 1000. I even have those sandpaper the carpenters use which are like 100 grit ( I think). Dang those things are really really coarse but quite useful if you need to do heavy sanding on two part epoxy. It would also be beneficial for you to invest in a set of file as well. I have this particular set of files and it really helps. It has a triangle shaped file, square shaped files and other shapes which I just can't describe (LOL) that will really really help you with sanding hard to reach areas and what not.
Or if you are lazy and there is a large amount of sanding or you need to sand the inside of the tube (Concave surfaces?!?!?), you can always use a trust worthy power tool and a sanding bit.
Power Tools: ah, another very useful ally to us modellers. Without it, I don't think I could have even finish some of my kits. This little thing has been with me for 3 years and really really helped with me drilling through thick parts, cutting very very thick part, sanding down massive amount of epoxy. It comes with as you can see from the link but you can also buy more bits (not the 00 universe bits, I mean the heads that you put into the machine). Every time I do some heavy amount of joint mod, I use this little thing to do some heavy duty drilling.
Rulers: Until about 1 and a half year ago, I always use my left over rulers I bought for my university, u know those two part rulers with one clear side and one dark white side. And seriously, plastic over plastic, the darn thing always move when I’m doing precise cutting. So I was ticked off, got off and went to a art store ask for a fine metal ruler that artist used. From then on, I just kept using Metal Rulers and I seriously Suggest using them.
Divider and circle cutter: They are your one of two options if you have to cut circular parts or some properly beautiful curved plates/plates/shape. I don't think I need to link what does a divider looks like (LOL). The other option you might need to invest in would be a simple, Circle Cutter like this .
Measuring: Most of the time, we use just our eyes to measure a approximate and then just use our rulers to measure it. That works, yes, but from time to time, when it comes to precise cutting, going on with that method is a royal pain in the butt ( not literally, mind you) and not to mention it hurts your eyes from them being strained too much. In that case, VOILA, A digital calliper comes in mighty handy. You don't really need to get an expensive one, just get the one that's work and it should be fine.
Measuring angle is a major downer and most of the time, I always come up with some crappy angle and had to re-do stuffs 2, 3 times. It can be easily avoided with the thing every school children use (I think every school children use them); A protractor. For me, I use a metal protractor; that kind that sailors used (I stole it from my brother.. hahahah). It really helps make a difference.
Well, that’s what I can think of, at the top of my head, regarding tools. I may be missing something and If you do find out I’m missing something or forgetting something, please tell me and I will put it in.
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