Some Equipment That I Required

Some Equipment That I Required.

I had given away, lost or sold some of my tools and equipment that you acquire over the years when I gave up model making all those years ago.  The first thing that I noticed there begin a difference in was my eyesight, never had a problem with my eyes up and till I started doing modelling again.  Some of those little bits I could not see up close, but stand a few feet away I can see them no problems. 

I can remember one of my mates used a magnifying visor for all his modelling as swore by it, so off I went to look on ebay for one of these. I was able to purchase one of these Head magnifying Visor with LED light from a company called RDG Tools I have have looked at the site and at the moment they don't seem to have these in stock.

The visor comes with 4 different lenses with varying magnification, you have 1.7, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.5 lenses on the visor itself you have 2 positions that these lenses can clip into. Another nice touch is the bright LED light that can be seen above  the lens, this light is also directional with a Left/Centre/Right positions. I must admit I would not be without this now and in fact makes things a little easier when coming to paint the small details. Well worth the £9.99 that I paid for them.

I had still kept some of my modelling knives/scalpels from earlier modelling days, however my wife bought me a wee present from Amazon (what will they not sell) a craft set. A nice little set with loads of handles and spare blades. The 57 PC Hobby Craft Knife Set includes 8 blade handles,47 assorted blades 1 pocket/desk stone 1 pocket/desk stone 1 tube of super glue: all contained within a plastic carry case.

The only problem I found with the set is that the little clasps that keep the box shut are not strong enough, this is only a slight criticism.  The cost of the set is only £8.90 so I suppose I should not look for too much. I have found the little sanding stone to be of great use to keep the blades in tiptop condition. As for the handles the range in thickness and are very little and feel comfortable in the hand.
them


With loads of tools I thought that I should get something to store these them in.  I found these tool cabinets from a firm called SGS Engineering UK Ltd. 

Mechanics 8 Drawer Tool Box Chest & Roller Cabinet the cost of this unit is £99.95, I can not complain about these units I found them to be very well made, however I was a bit annoyed when I was out looking for some wood in B&Q and found the exact same cabinet in there for £60, the only difference is the SGS logo that you can see on the right hand side.   So maybe I should have done a bit more research of these unit and saved myself a few pennies. I know I am a Scot we are not tight, we are just careful with our money lol.

So I have used this to store all my tools and equipment in, the one feature is that the top part of the cabinet is lockable. Great for keeping the knives and glues etc out of the reach of the grand kids well those that are of the age to be nosy. I have also used this for storing my paints, thinners and weathering powders etc . Now all these items are at hand with cabinet being able to to moved to wherever I need it and having everything to hand I have found that to be very helpful.

Some of the paints that I require for all the models that are being used in the diorama, I also like to use the Vallejo Pigments Sets 1-4 

1. Rust and Oil
2. Mud and Sand Railway and Military Modelling 
3. Stone, Cement and Urban
4. Snow, Soot, Ashes and Industrial Grime

These can be used dry or with a little water, I find using them dry to give the best results.  I was able to get all these from a company called gb models . I found gb models sent your order very quickly all items were very well packaged and arrived safely.

Whilst on about paint etc I thought that I would treat myself to a new spray gun unit. I was able to find on ebay a company that I had used before and had no qualms about using again. RDG Tools

This is their post on ebay for the same item, Airbrush Kit

I have used the picture from their website I hope they don't mind.  I was able to purchase all this for the great price of £99.99 inc postage. I thought that this was a terrific bargain. OK its not professional standard but for most of us a set like this is more than ample. I have found the compressor to be reasonably quiet, my workshop is right above the living room in the house and I have only to place the compressor on an old piece of carpet underlay and the noise is barley noticeable downstairs. At the same time I got a 4 way connection which enables me to use the 2 spray guns at the same time without having to change back and forth, this has been great. Once again RDG Tools sent this unit out very promptly and the packing was first class, 10 out of 10 for service.  Of course there is a lot more tools that are used and I am sure you know too many to mention all on here however if I find that I need to use something special I will include that in the text with that model.  I also have some other products that I will talk about in a later post.

Alan
20th October 2013