Items you have bought and at the time thought they were a good idea - but never used.

[Guest]

Talking to JR the other day, and we got onto the subject of all those items that at the time you thought were great - but never used or only used once or twice. This just covers modelling, so put the other ideas away for the magazine that comes in a plain brown envelope.
For starters here are some that I laid my hands on in the last few minutes - I am sure there are more.
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So working from left to right and clockwise - > that way... The etch folding tool that bent better than the etch you were trying to bend. The saw with detachable blades that were far too thick for the job. The ?set square... The track jig.... The little hand drill for all those smaller items - you have to hold the drill with two hands and the part you want to drill is far too small for the vice to hold without obscuring the hole mark you want to drill. And finally the little hammer for the hole punch - why bother when it is faster to just give the punch a tap with the flat part of a Stanley knife, which also teaches you to look before you grab....
Mike.

[Guest]

Mike you had more than I thought, will get a photo of mine today.

[Guest]

Here we go, there must some bits I've buried in the back of cupboards.
First a green , scatter , never seen a green like this before in nature.


Then the jig, now Mike had one as well so I don't feel as bad for falling for this , the only thing I managed was to stick the plastic tracks to it !

Only used a few times, ok for angles but you need to have 3 hands , one to operate , one to hold the part and a third to assist in holding the part to the fence.



One more item was a grass applicator from EVIL bay, the only thing it was capable of doing was giving me a shock ( no laughing at this admission ) the power for making the grass stand up was nil, any thing greater than 2 mm just stayed flat. I've just looked for it on Evil bay and see its gone, and I'm not surprised.

[Guest]

Not photos of the actual tools I own(ed), but representative ones found online:

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Just too awkward to properly use, I found. The angle thingies weren’t properly flat, so thin strip would slide underneath them, and the thing is only marked in strange moon measurements that are nowhere near fine enough for 1:35 scale modelling work. I’m much happier with the RP Toolz equivalent I bought about six weeks ago.

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This seemed useful for painting figures, but I found it much easier to just hold a figure itself, or by a peg inserted into a hole drilled in the foot, than to clamp it in a vice that’s three times the height and width of the figure in it. Not to mention you can’t put this thing down because it has a rounded end to the handle (that can be fixed, of course, but I never bothered).

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Bought one of these for spraypainting roadwheels, but I found so much paint crept underneath that I still had to do so much touching up with a brush that I might as well just paint the tyres by hand completely, like I did before (and since).

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This cuts spirals, not circles. ’Nuff said.

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These seem like a really good way to make grab handles for hatches and things, but the corners just aren’t sharp enough for many, and because it makes four bends to shape the wire like this: [ICODE]_|¯¯|_[/ICODE] the handle ends up with legs often too short to insert into holes drilled through the plastic.

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This may be useful to aircraft modellers, but I haven’t really found much use for it for armoured vehicle kits.

[Tim Marlow]

Mike, why on earth did you buy a Center finder (Weird set square)? I can’t think of any modelling use for it...great if you are a metal turner though....

[Dave Ward]

John,
I give up! what's the green thing? It looks like a pan scourer!
Dave

[Guest]

Jakko , that cutter needs a lot doing to it before its really as good as the RP . I made a long wooden fence because of those pathetic stops .

[Guest]

I give up! what's the green thing? It looks like a pan scourer!

It’s artificial grass for dioramas, railroads, etc. in a margarine tub, photographed straight down into the tub

[Guest]

John,
I give up! what's the green thing? It looks like a pan scourer!
Dave

Dave a very poor idea from.

of all the scatters I've got it never been used, and never will be. Why I'm keeping it heavens knows.

[Tim Marlow]

I’ve got that one John. It comes in handy for using sparingly in shadow areas...used over the base covering a bit like you would pigment powder on a build.....it would look awful on its own though.....

[Guest]

I’ve got that one John. It comes in handy for using sparingly in shadow areas...used over the base covering a bit like you would pigment powder on a build.....it would look awful on its own though.....

Thanks for that Tim, just decided I will keep it then,:smiling3: :thumb2:

[Guest]

Dude 1, I knew it, its not a laughing matter, my hair has never been the same since:smiling2:.

[Bortig the Viking]

Funny looking at these bits you lot have, I've got some of them and until this page I'd forgotten I had them, bit of nostalgia.

[Guest]

Not photos of the actual tools I own(ed), but representative ones found online:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n[/ATTACH]
Just too awkward to properly use, I found. The angle thingies weren’t properly flat, so thin strip would slide underneath them, and the thing is only marked in strange moon measurements that are nowhere near fine enough for 1:35 scale modelling work. I’m much happier with the RP Toolz equivalent I bought about six weeks ago.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n[/ATTACH]
This seemed useful for painting figures, but I found it much easier to just hold a figure itself, or by a peg inserted into a hole drilled in the foot, than to clamp it in a vice that’s three times the height and width of the figure in it. Not to mention you can’t put this thing down because it has a rounded end to the handle (that can be fixed, of course, but I never bothered).

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n[/ATTACH]
Bought one of these for spraypainting roadwheels, but I found so much paint crept underneath that I still had to do so much touching up with a brush that I might as well just paint the tyres by hand completely, like I did before (and since).

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n[/ATTACH]
This cuts spirals, not circles. ’Nuff said.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n[/ATTACH]
These seem like a really good way to make grab handles for hatches and things, but the corners just aren’t sharp enough for many, and because it makes four bends to shape the wire like this: [ICODE]_|¯¯|_[/ICODE] the handle ends up with legs often too short to insert into holes drilled through the plastic.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n[/ATTACH]
This may be useful to aircraft modellers, but I haven’t really found much use for it for armoured vehicle kits.

Forgot about the thing to hold a figure, got one as well, now just put a bit of brass rod into the heel and use a clamp to hold the figure. The circle cutter, ditto... where did we go wrong....:sleeping2:
Mike.

[Guest]

Mike, why on earth did you buy a Center finder (Weird set square)? I can’t think of any modelling use for it...great if you are a metal turner though....

Is that what it is???????? I bought two of them :rolling:, but I have a centre finder I made out of perspex years ago.