<![CDATA[Latest posts for the thread "."]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/8.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net . http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096059.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096059.page GMT Alternatives to GW modelling supplies?
For sprue cutters, go to Amazon and search for "flush cutters" and look for the cheapest available. I got a pair of blue handle ones for $6 that are great.

The knife is the same way; search for "hobby knife" and buy a cheap one that accepts #11 blades at the least. I personally bought a metal handle Exacto from A.C. Moore that works just fine.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096114.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096114.page GMT Alternatives to GW modelling supplies?
1. Tamiya plastic glue (comes with an applicator brush attached to its cap) for $5.
2. No-name clippers/cutters I picked up for $2 at my corner plumbing store.
3. Exacto knife with 10 refill blades for around $15 from e-Bay.
4. Zap-A-Gap glue from the local hobby shop for less than a tenner. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096122.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096122.page GMT Alternatives to GW modelling supplies? GW tools with most of the ones on the list here: http://tomschadleminiatures.blogspot.com/2014/04/games-workshop-has-recently-advertised.html

They've all been great so far. Much better than the GW tools and way cheaper.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096215.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096215.page GMT Alternatives to GW modelling supplies? GW is by far the worst I've seen. I use zap-a-gap thick superglue and a no-name brush superglue.
- Revell Contacta plastic glue hasn't given me any reason to get something else, it's been perfect every time. The applicator works really well, and on the odd occasion it clogs it's easy to clear with a lighter.
- Go to a hardware store and look for odds and ends like cutters, blades and what not, will find a lot of useful stuff.
- I've found the mantic plastic clippers to be the best. You can clip models right on the join with no damage to the model. They're not even branded, are probably just from a hardware store local to them hehe.
- Be careful with hobby knives, some aren't very sharp and some have notches on their back that stops you scraping away mould lines with it. Sadly they're the cheaper ones in my experience so I've started sharpening my dull ones which actually works really well.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096454.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096454.page GMT Re:Alternatives to GW modelling supplies? Clippers - GW clippers have worked out for me so far but they're the previous incarnation ... not the current stuff...
Files - Gale Force 9 or Army Painter files have worked for me.
Hobby Knife - I've used different kinds... I forget the last brand I bought.
]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096471.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096471.page GMT Alternatives to GW modelling supplies? http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096475.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096475.page GMT Re:Alternatives to GW modelling supplies?

Automatically Appended Next Post:
In fact... I got a pack that had a hobby knife w/ extra blades... a self-healing mat... and a ruler type thing.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096479.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096479.page GMT Alternatives to GW modelling supplies?
 Random Dude wrote:
What about self-healing cutting mats?


Pretty much ANY craft hobby store sells these.

I've had one for 15 years - long before GW thought of selling them. My blades come from the local model shop (as in aircraft, tanks and ship models) for my x-acto #1 handle (+11 blades).
In fact, my paints, glues and greenstuff also come from that model store. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096543.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096543.page GMT Alternatives to GW modelling supplies? http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096734.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7096734.page GMT Alternatives to GW modelling supplies?
 chromedog wrote:
model shop (as in aircraft, tanks and ship models)
A place like this for hobby supplies.

If you are fortunate to have a local hobby shop (as opposed to a game shop), do yourself a favor and check it out. I am fiercely loyal to my FLGS (the owner is one of the most genuine people I know and I enjoy helping him make money), but I am also very lucky to have a regular hobby/train/scale model store in my town. That store caries all the stuff my FLGS doesn't (Vallejo Model Air, Vallejo Game Color, and Tamiya paints plus Evergreen styrene and the like) because it's geared more to model train enthusiasts and scale modelers (which I also dabble in).]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7097287.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7097287.page GMT Re:Alternatives to GW modelling supplies? GW, cutters and drill bits from the great hobbycraft range alongside my dad's motorbike tools.

Gale Force 9 does a nice range of GW copy products, though I unfortninatly refuse to buy from them because I don't want to give any money to Battlefront.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7097527.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7097527.page GMT Alternatives to GW modelling supplies?
 Dendarien wrote:
I replaced all of my GW tools with most of the ones on the list here: http://tomschadleminiatures.blogspot.com/2014/04/games-workshop-has-recently-advertised.html

They've all been great so far. Much better than the GW tools and way cheaper.


I'd take the files, mould line scraper, and possibly the sculpting tools off that list, by virtue of actually having seen or tried the tools in question.

I have a set of cheap diamond files already, and the new GW files make them look like gak. The coarse one has about the same tooth as the very fine, diamond-coated knife sharpener I have. It made me go research types and grades of files, trying to find if there were cheaper GW-equivalents. I ended up buying a #4 cut ('dead smooth' cut, not diamond coated) swiss vallorbe needle file, and that cost almost as much as the full GW set. Although that was for semi-professional purposes.
The GW files might be intended for polishing the last bits of mould lines off GW's plastic models without leaving grooves or fuzz, and if you want some files just to quickly chew the mould lines off metal models, the cheap diamond files are probably okay. But the difference in quality is obvious and they won't act in precisely the same way.

The mould line cleaner: I use knives for scraping mould lines off plastic. I tried the mould line scraper, and I gotta say it's much better. Not to say you can't get the same results with a knife, but the head of this cleaner being a relatively thick bar of metal (I'd be interested and amused to know how much Tom Schadle thinks it'll 'dull') means there's less-to-no 'juddering' of the blade over the surface, nicking or gouging of the plastic, or even having the blade slip into a finger. All of which is avoidable with time, care and effort, but spending noticeably less of all that is pretty convenient in my view. I'd buy that for a dollar. Or ten quid. And I did! I still use a knife for nicking and carving mould lines out of tricky places, but for most of my plastic model cleanup I break this thing out and whizz round.
I also looked up similar tools - seam scrapers - before I tried the GW tool, and they are cheaper. But to have one posted to my location bumped the price way up to be comparable. (And to be honest, their shapes looked more awkward too.)

The sculpting tools... I was interested to see that GW was switching to a 'wax #5' shape for one of the metal tools, but when I saw them in person I was disappointed. The mould line cleaner (the 'thick bar of metal') almost has as good and useful an edge as these. It baffles me that GW still seem too coy to put a knife edge (not a true, knife-sharp, finger-slicing edge; just a fine edge for chopping and marking putty) on their sculpting tools when they sell sharp knives, clippers, and even pointy drill bits and files alongside them. I can only guess it's a deliberate handicap to make their own sculptors seem more unmatchably talented and mysterious. The plastic spatula seems like the most useful piece in that set.

However, I'm sceptical that the 'a zillion wax carvers for two bucks' sets are so much better. I've bought a couple of cheap carver sets before: compared to the GW tool of the time (two generations back, at this point) the first lot were a revelation, and I swore by one particular carver for a time. But now when I dig them out and look at them, I wonder how I got much done with them. The edges and points are also blunt, squared-off, or even badly-machined to some degree. In fact, when I bought a set of cheap Rolson chisel-shaped carvers, I had to grind them down myself to straight, right-angled edges!
Also note I swore by one particular carver. From my own experience, and reading of a few others (including pro sculptors), it looks like you generally settle on one favourite tool for 95% of your sculpting. The total number of cheap wax carvers I bought is fewer than the one 12-pack Tom Schadle points out, and most of them haven't been touched in years. I have about half a dozen tools I regularly use for sculpting, lying by my right hand on my hobby table, and only one of them is a wax carver! What particular shape of wax carver you gravitate towards depends a bit on personal preference, but all wax carvers are not created equal.

The third option, the one I'd highly recommend, is the dental-quality wax carver. The good news is that, unlike vallorbe files, many retailers sell them for less cost than the individual GW sculpting tools. Some retailers can be most easily found on ebay, and usually sell carvers for about £3 each on Ebay UK. Some of the more useful or intuitive shapes, IMO, include the zahle (the almost-legendary 'wax #5'), the lecron (the GW tool shape of the previous two generations) and the vehe. Go search for those names to have a look. Remember to type 'zahle wax carver' to avoid a bunch of 'Zahle, Lebanon' results.

It's a wee bit like paintbrushes, I think. You can buy a whole set of different sizes of cheap brushes that start fraying and fishtailing after a week or two; or you can go for one or two kolinsky sables with good bodies and points, that make your beginners' practise easier and go like stink when you have more experience.

So, I'm no GW white knight. (especially not with those sculpting tools) I'd just as soon rant about their crappy rules, crappy prices, and crappy ideas. But remember, girls and boys: the moral of the story is that although GW often sells equal/lower quality ancillaries for a higher price, don't take it at face value that their stuff is always rubbish, or that the cheapo alternatives are always better.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7097851.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7097851.page GMT Re:Alternatives to GW modelling supplies? http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7098585.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/609232/7098585.page GMT