A new selection of super-useful tools is now available via a UK mail-order retailer.
It’s easy to place all your focus on the parts and detail in any kit you want to build. However, having the right tools can make the assembly and finishing process so much more productive… and often brings more pleasing results.
All three of the items are available from UK online retailer Tyrell Models. The products are very different but extremely handy. Firstly, there’s what maker U-STAR brands the Thin Bladed Pen Knife (UA91801, shown above and below). Great value at £14.99, this high-quality knife is rather like a fountain pen, in that its blade is housed by a cartridge that sits inside the hollow handle (there’s a protective threaded top to protect you and the blade, when it’s not in use).
Both top and ferrule are fashioned from turned brass, while the machined handle is made from an attractive wood and has a comfortable diameter. The blade itself is very small and angled, and makes it much easier to watch the task in hand and ensures greater control. This could be separating items you want from a from a tightly packed decal sheet, fine-tuning pieces of rod/strip for scratch-building, or even removing mould seams/casting imperfections from figures. Two spare blade cartridges are supplied with the knife, which comes in a smart metal branded tin with hinged lid.
Replacement blades for the abovementioned knife are here
Next comes an item by U-STAR that’s based on something many military modellers already use to replicate paint chipping… sponge. Here, and with the rather odd title of Model Grinding Brush (UA-90912, below), you receive a circular plastic receptacle, which holds round portions of flat-fronted sponge. Basically, it’s a more ergonomic and user-friendly way of adding paint-chipping/rust effects on your models. Ideally used with acrylic paints, the sponges can be washed and are, in effect, double-sided you get more use from the 12 sponges supplied. This costs just £4.99 and refill packs are available here
Lastly, the Finger Palette (FP1) by Galaxy Model, at £19.99, is a boon for figure painters. It’s a 43 x 33 x 1mm metal rectangle that fits on your finger/thumb, bringing the paint source much close to the subject being painted. This is especially useful if working under a magnifier; if the paint is very close to the figure, you don’t have to keep changing your focus to dip a brush in a paint pot on a work bench. A magnetic, machined aluminium block is also provided, so it sits on the palette to hold different paint shades, for wet mixing if desired. You can carry out wet blending on the adjacent palette area due to the provision of self-adhesive patches of transparent film (five films are supplied). Three narrowing slots on the magnetic block allow you to fine-tune the amount of paint on your brush. While it’s aimed at figure painters, it could just as easily help anyone detail-painting the switches and dials of an aircraft cockpit tub, especially if working in smaller scales such as 1/72.
All these highly useful items are available from Tyrell Models
