Indispensable modeling tools
 

Being in this hobby, off & on, for the last 35 years, I was thinking of how incredibly handy some tools are for building models. Many of these tools I have had for dozens of years. Sure, models can be built, even quite well, without many of these tools, but they make the job easier, better, and sometimes possible. Since I am a "workshop person", many of these tools perform various other duties for me, too. Some are model-specific, but they also come in very handy for other tasks.

123 blocks, both solid and perforated, and another type of blocks, whose name escapes me. You have known and precise 1", 2" and 3" sides. They can act as squares when gluing things, and they are heavy, for weighing things down as glue cures or dries. These can be found at better tool supply places, like McMaster-Carr.

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Bar stock. Used in similar ways as 123 blocks, but I use them mainly for straight weights when gluing things. You also get known sizes, like 1/2", 3/4", 1", etc.

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The handiest glue mixing and applying sticks that I have ever found. I got these as a Michael's craft store, and bought several packages, so I have a lifetime supply. Much handier than toothpicks or popsicle sticks.

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Great Planes drill (the exact name escapes me). Extremely handy for marking engine mount holes, or getting into tight places inside a model. I have had this particular one for probably 20 years.

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Small hand drills. Much handier than a pin vise, as you don't have to screw around with mounting a common size bit - just grab the drill.

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Snips for cutting many things (fuel line, capstrips, etc.). These are even made with bases on one jaw that are marked with 90, 45 etc. degrees.

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Small scale. Not used often, but comes in handy when you are trying to shave grams on small parts. Grams add up to ounces, and ounces matter.

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Old business cards for mixing epoxy. Having had a long career, I have a lifetime supply of these from the many jobs I have had in the past.

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Engineer squares. No explanation needed.

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45" "square". No explanation needed.

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My selection of clamps, hanging from a beam in my shop. You can never have too many clamps.

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Small chop saw. Very handy for cutting aluminum and brass tubing.

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The big boys:
I use the drill press almost every single day, and have had this one for 30 years.
I don't use my bandsaw often for models, but sometimes in comes in real handy.
I use my 30 year old scrollsaw very often in building models. You can also cut thin metal with one, as well as drill a small starter hole, then cut out an opening inside a part. Draw a straight line, follow it carefully, and you can have surprisingly smooth and straight cuts.
I use my small disk/belt sander very often in building models.

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Feel free to add your favorite, handy model building tools to this thread.

I have three tools that are "Go To" in my shop. I use these more often than many of my other tools as they are more versatile or easier to use in my model building:
1) I've found this sander to be my most used tool in my shop. It's great for sanding out lightening holes and is better when sanding long straight areas than a vertical belt or disc sander.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-5...4424/202459151
Attachment 2268017
2) I've found this little gem to be great for stripping wood for stringers and gusset blocks, more so than my scroll, band or 10" table saws
https://www.micromark.com/MicroLux-M...op-Hobby-Use_2
https://www.micromark.com/Web Store .../80463_R-1.jpg
3) My last "go to" I've found to work better for me than 123 blocks, which require assembly and can be assembled out of "square"
https://www.micromark.com/SET-OF-THREE-ANGLE-PLATES
https://www.micromark.com/Web Store .../60714_R-1.jpg

^^ Thanks for that post. I've always wanted a tiny tablesaw. My ancient 10" Delta gets used often for other things, but extremely rarely for models. A 3/32" blade kerf eats up way too much balsa.

I made a sander kind of similar to that Ridgid, but it only has a spindle, and not a belt.

Those angle blocks look real handy for models. Truth be known, I didn't buy my 123 blocks for models, but rather for general shop use, and I found that they come in real handy for gluing model stuff. But the ability to clamp things to the angle blocks makes those more useful. I end up putting a 123 block on both sides of ribs, but I don't have enough blocks to do that, without it really slowing me down.

Another reason I created this post is that I am trying to keep an endangered and dying part of the hobby (kit building) alive. Coming back into it, I was sorely disappointed to see the lack of available kits anymore. If there was enough demand, the manufactures would bring stuff back, or create new stuff. Having built my SIG Cub, and almost finished with my SSE, I have yet to find another currently manufactured kit out there that I want to build. I'm not really into scale WWI biplanes, etc. (BUSA), and when I finish this SSE, SIG doesn't offer anything else that I want to build and fly. Unless I go to scratch building from plans, it appears that I am SOL on what to build and fly next. I love building kits.

edited: I am pretty sure that the next plane I build will be a Uravich OV-10 Bronco. Only short kits, plastics and plans are available for that, though - no complete kits. I don't mind that part of it, as I have scratch built (even one that I designed myself) in the past. I just do not like ARF's. At all.

I bought the table saw for one main reason, cutting strip stock down to the widths I need. To save from wasting a bunch of wood, I also bought a.025 kerf blade, 230 tooth IIRC. I had ordered a bunch of strip and triangle stock from Aircraft Spruce but had to get stock larger than I really wanted or needed, hence the table saw.

My favorite is a wood working chisel in various widths. Very handy to use as a scraper and handy for cleaning out inside corners, excess glue, etc. Also great to rough out a shape like a wingtip.

For those of you who have metal tools, fixtures, jigs, etc. that are rusting a little, get a can of Johnson's paste wax and wax them every now and then. You can scrub off the rust with a scotch brite pad.

carl

Something else that works well for that is, of all things, bees wax. Since it's not a man made product, it doesn't have some of the adverse affects a man made product can. The big thing is to keep moisture from getting to your tools since that is bare metal's biggest enemy.
Now, getting back to "go to" tools, one I should have added to my previous post is the ever useful Dremel Tool. With some of the things now available for one, it's more and more a builder's friend.

Being a long time woodworker, I also use my Marples chisels fairly often on models. But with soft balsa, they have to be quite sharp, or they make a real mess of the wood. And my Flexcut carving knife works wonders (waaaaay better than an X-Acto) for carving wingtips and such. Also, a cabinet scraper can come in real handy sometimes, on harder balsa and any plywood.

I wish those little tablesaws weren't so darn expensive. I am on a very fixed income, otherwise I would definitely have one.

An option for you would be a less expensive version that's got a fixed angle blade and a bit smaller.
https://www.micromark.com/MicroLux-M...re-Table-Saw_2
Attachment 2268019

If you really want to get "heavy duty" in your model building, you could go this way, but it's spendy
https://www.rockler.com/jet-2244-22-...ith-open-stand
Attachment 2268020
What makes this thing even more expensive is that you need a dust collector that can handle 550 CFM through a 4' hose, kind of like this one
https://www.rockler.com/jet-vortex-d...r-dc-1100vx-ck
Attachment 2268021

I wanted to add this tool, which I use every single time I install new servos. I always us "servo screws", which are SHCS's with a "washer" built into the head. Normally I drill a 1/16" or 5/64" hole, tap the hole with this tool, then drip a little thin CA into the hole, to solidify things, especially for the cases when the screw cracks the wood around the hole a little, which is common.

I soldered one of those servo screws onto a ball driver, then gut a shallow groove along the threads with a Dremel cutoff wheel (difficult to see in my blurry close-up picture). I had used this for many years without that groove, but after splitting more wood during my last build, decided that I needed to actually kind of tap the threads, instead of just pressing them into the wood, like a bare screw does. I use this technique in my workshop to chase damaged screw or bolt hole threads. Sometimes that works better than running a tap through the hole, plus sometimes I don't happen to have the exact tap that I need. Cut a groove along the threads, and that lets chips and material removed come out, plus the edges of the groove do some cutting in the material. That's a mechanic / machinist trick.

This tool is easier and faster that just threading in / out a loose screw that you may drop down inside your plane.

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A year or so ago I bought a digital protractor for doing cabinet trim work and baseboard miter cuts. Then when I started my latest short kit build I found that the protractor was a great tool to accurately measuring both stick and sheet pieces from the plans. Once measured, I just set up my miter saw and made very accurate and square angle cuts. This was particularly useful if you have similar angles on multiple pieces. I found that the parts fit perfectly, making tight gluing joints. The results were that I had an accurate and strong framework with no need to have the glue gap filling under the wood joints.
But wait, there’s more.....I also used it for finding where to position my engine mounting. I knew the angle of right thrust I needed and was able to accurately position the offset mounting hole pattern
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required on the firewall.
It was good value too, about $12 on Amazon.