discussion Small parts holder

[BattleshipBob]

You may already know or use this tip, if it's well known, sorry

Been having problems holding and working on / painting small parts such as the bofors mounts on KGV. Have tried blue tac but either the airbrush blows it off the wooden coffee stirrer ( borrowed from a well known coffee shop) or it's in too deep and a lot of the parts have no paint on them lol. The wood stakes with a crocodile clip are too big, the tub just pinged off!

So wide awake at 5am, my tiny brain had a light bulb moment! So this afternoon used a razor saw to cut of a small length of straight sprue. Drilled a hole slightly smaller. Works a treat, nice and snug. This is the bofors mounting with the Eduard PE shield. Much better than the kit shield!

Good way to recycle the sprue I think and it's reusable. For parts with a hole and not a peg I'll use plastic rod.

Hope this is of use??

Bob

 

[Ian M]

I do that with some larger bits. the smaller parts I have been known to superglue a rod to the bottom. CA is brittle so a quick snap and its off.
I made my own croc clip sticks. Bamboo skuers and the smallest clips I could get .

 

[rtfoe]

Good idea Bob, when in desperation some thing will come up just at the right time to help us along.
I normally use small flat head crocodile clips or reverse forceps to hold these tiny bits. 3M double sided foam tape was used for my tiny pigeons. Ians superglue technic is what I use for larger items as well.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[Gern]

Sounds good. Call me a glass half empty guy, but I know from long experience what I'm up against. To fit a peg, I'll need a drill bit the right size. To lock into a hole, I'll need some plasticard rod the right diameter.

Despite having lots of choices of both drills and plasticard rod- neither of those is gonna happen 'cos I won't have the right size!

If there's a hole in the part that you can use, it's useful to have both cocktail sticks and bamboo skewers to hand. Obviously the very point will not grip, but cut the point off at the right length and you'll be able to wedge the tapered bit that's left into the hole. Unless the part is very big or heavy, the friction of the taper will hold it for painting.

 

[BattleshipBob]

Never had this issue building StuG! So a lot to learn and experiment with!

 

[Guest]

Never had this issue building StuG! So a lot to learn and experiment with!

Well I'm not surprised , he who can build one with out any plans !

 

[Guest]

My SWMBO uses this method on my ears...
In reality they are a lot kinder than some of the 'aligator' ones you can buy, I still use the old wooden ones...

 

[LeytonO]

My finger tips have become rather useless for fine detail work, Raynaud's hasn't helped.
I now fix small parts initially with a speck of PVA applied with a cocktail stick or toothpick.
Once in place I follow up with some extra thin, seems to be going well thus far.
The PVA i use is Deluxe Materials R/C Canopy Glue, its a bit stickier than the usual stuff.
As the name suggests it is ideal for fixing clear parts and dries clear too.
https://deluxematerials.co.uk/products/r-c-modellers-canopy-glue