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I was working on cutting some marines from the spure yesterday and got out these old cutical clippers i had from when i build 1:72 scale planes and the shape of the injections make it so it actually makes divits in my shoulder pads. What do you guys use to clip stuff off the spure?

I use my good old hobby knife.

i use a small set of Wire cutters that i got from my local hardware store for 3 dollars

I use the one good thing GW made , the cutter, pliers , don´t know the correct word , I´m swedish ...
( they make many thing´s not worth it´s price , but this one is )

But with this one U get really close to the object and it cuts straight too ...

Unskul ...

Cheap nail trimmers. Then I clean it up with a hobby knife and jewler's files.

side cutters Unskul
lot easier than a knife and worth the investment

also handy for chopping up sprue into iddy biddy bitz for rubble (coz I don't have a meat grinder)

I use GW clippers.

Ok , thanx Chibi ... Ah and for the original poster , I can recommend the GW saw too , when U want to cut of some leg or anything else really ... It works like a dream on plastic and metal alike ...

Yup! another very useful tool to get as and when you can.
Have an X-Acto razorsaw with a couple of different blades, and has been invaluable.

My chainsword. Duh.

No, seriously. The GW clippers are pretty awesome for the task.

I use the GW Clippers.

However, please note!

I have found that it's usually best to clip, and purposely leave a 'small' amount of the clipped peice of sprue on the model. Then go over it with the razor blade once it's out of the sprue and smooth it off. For older clippers this works beautifully because it prevents the tearing and the cratering you mentioned.

Buy some GW clippers- They may be a few bucks more than an off brand of the same tool, but you know where to find them, you know they work, and they're good.

Thanks folks. Great advice in there.
And I already have a x-acto micro saw also and yes it's awsome. I also invested in the GW mini drill which is also invaluable for pinning! Love that thing.

I use normal nail clippers or scissors if I am desperate

Dragonchef wrote:i use a small set of Wire cutters that i got from my local hardware store for 3 dollars

I use these!

I'm not overly concerned with a perfect cut off the sprue, since I have to do a little knife-work after it's been removed anyway.

Mold lines and flash and all that. I little extra plastic isn't a big deal if you have a nice sharp knife.

Flat base side cutters for me.



the flat side ensures that you cut flush.

and a pound cheaper than the GW ones, and at Maplin, free parking, so saved another quid. . .

No I don't work for, or represent maplin in any way. . .

Clippers or knife, whichever does the job best on the part to clip.

I use some of these, but it looks like the Games Workshop ones are cheaper

I repeat, the Games Workshop equivalent costs less

Dragonchef wrote:i use a small set of Wire cutters that i got from my local hardware store for 3 dollars

Same here,except I got mine at Wal-Mart.

FITZZ wrote:

Dragonchef wrote:i use a small set of Wire cutters that i got from my local hardware store for 3 dollars

Same here,except I got mine at Wal-Mart.

I think I used a very similar set of dikes back in the day too. Probably cheapies from harbor freight. It worked but I couldn't cut too close to the part and sometimes I had to cut the sprue around the area I wanted to cut first to make sure that the part didn't get bent from the compression while cutting it out. I'm back in the hobby after over a decade out of it and I'm upgrading to the good stuff this time. I just got the Xuron 2175ET cutters and they are so much nicer. They're more expensive than the regular cutters that get rebranded, but they seem worth it. Longer handles and a longer head that is thinner than the small cutters. Highly recommended.

I use a pair of Dikes (no homosexual connotation or insults intended, it is a tool) that I pulled out of my tool chest that are too old and rusty to ccut wires and pull out screws and staples like they used too.