Scissors are the most basic and necessary tools for making models. I used to unscrew the parts directly from the board by hand, but now I think it's really a waste. Special scissors are tilted forward, and can reach into narrow gaps to cut parts. The better cutting pliers are Tamiya's professional model tool pliers (divided into two types: flat-headed oblique mouth and round-headed oblique mouth), with sharp and durable cutting edge and flat cutting edge, and the retail price is 75-90 yuan. Domestic products are relatively poor, and the price is much cheaper, ranging from 15-30 yuan. I have two now, Tamiya Hiraguchi and Harayama Hiraguchi in Japan. Tamiya 75 bought it, and Yamashima 98 bought it at Tianqiao Electrical Appliances Store. At first, my boss asked me for 1 16. I cut the price for half a day to 100 and told him that I needed two pieces to go home by car before 98 yuan won. )
Then a pen and a knife. As the name implies, the pen knife is a pen-shaped knife (nonsense), so it is very convenient to hold the pen in your hand, whether it is cutting, cutting or engraving. The new blade is so sharp that you can easily cut a deep wound on your finger. Be careful when using it. You can buy more than 300 military scratch-resistant gloves if you can (~ laughs ~). Blades can't be exposed to air for a long time, and they will be oxidized and rusted. If you want to use famous brands, you can buy Tamiya 50, domestic 10, ranging from a few to 30. In fact, the blade quality is almost the same, and the spare blade is about 10. I used a German-made pencil sharpener, which I bought at Baihua Art Store in the Art Museum in 86 yuan. Pure copper pen body is very weighty, and cutting plastic is very labor-saving.
Plastic files are generally used for polishing that needs obvious changes in appearance, and are mostly used to remove excess waste at the edge of primary processing parts. The polishing ability of a file is much stronger than that of sandpaper, so you must think it over before you start. There is no need to buy expensive documents, let alone imported ones. Try the art store. 10 several pieces can buy a set of files of various shapes.
P-type knife was originally used to cut plastic plates, but later it was gradually eliminated because the blade was too thick and the consumption was too high when cutting. Later modelers found it very convenient to carve grooves with it, because the special shape of the blade made it possible to actually dig out plastic instead of squeezing it to both sides. P-knife can be said to be one of the indispensable tools for in-depth model making.
Glue is also essential for making models. Persistence is an essential step towards perfection. In fact, it is often used for vehicles with small scale, simple structure or internal structure, such as HG version1100,1144 and MG internal structure. Then it is because the positioning bolt was cut off during the fake ball, so it needs to be pasted. Generally, special type adhesives, such as Mr. Tamiya's or Jun's, are used, both of which achieve bonding effect by corroding the surface of parts. You can also use 502, but the corrosion is a little more serious than the special one. The newly bought model glue is a little thin, so you can put some small plastic blocks in it to solve the problem. There is also a kind of flowing seam glue, which is thinner than the general type glue and more like 502. Because of its strong fluidity, it should be used with caution on Gundam model parts with many lines. The price of special glue is around 20, 502 is much cheaper, and a better 5 yuan can buy a tube. A few days ago, I found another good glue called 509 15 yuan box, which contains a big tube and a small tube. When in use, mix the two tubes evenly according to the ratio of 2: 1 before use. Drying is slow, and it takes at least half an hour for the prepared glue to dry completely, but the effect is very good, with little corrosion to the parts and transparency after drying (special glue will also burn the parts white, especially the transparent parts).
There are also talents and indispensable things for "reforming fanatics".
Plastic reforming board, also called plywood or reforming board by many people, is probably the most used reforming model. Generally used for scale increase, symmetrical expansion, armor strengthening and some original items (such as weapons). What can be bought now is generally white or transparent. According to the thickness, it can be divided into many kinds. I won't go into details, because there are too many kinds, and most of them are 257mm*364mm(B4). Friends who can't buy it can replace it with other plastic plate-like items, such as 1mm thick phone cards (ic, IP, IQ cards will do), CD sets of about 0.5mm (fragile texture, handle with care) and pads of about 0.2mm, all of which are good substitutes.
Glue stick, rod-shaped thin plastic stick, mostly used in hydraulic pipes, gun barrels, etc. Generally, it should be used with plastic pipes or modified plates.
Copper bars and wires, the outer armor of the modified model mostly needs to be fixed with copper bars or wires, and it is also often used to increase the details of the model.
Etching sheet, I don't need to say more about this, I believe most people know it. It is one of the most convenient things to add details. You don't have to carve it yourself. You just need to find a suitable cut and paste it where you want to add details. Many military models and airplane models are available, and some model shops can also find them.
Two things that directly affect the quality of spraying, mending soil and sandpaper.
Mending soil: it is very important to make a model, and do the first thing, formerly known as putty. According to different uses, it can be divided into three categories: plastic patch, modeling patch and primer patch. Gundam models are generally made of plastic and primer. Plastic mending is also called enamel mending, and tin pipe mending in Tamiya can usually be bought in the market for mending joints. It can be used directly or diluted slightly into paste. Molded repair soil can be divided into two types: polyester, also known as putty, and epoxy resin. These two kinds of mending soil are mixed with two kinds of clay with different components and hardened by chemical reaction. The mixture ratio of Bao Li fill is about 1/30-50 (depending on what you want to do, it depends), and the mixture ratio of synthetic fill is about11. Modeling and soil improvement is often used in the first office, but Gundam model is not used much, so I know so much. Primer repair must be the most familiar to everyone. There are two kinds of canned water patching and canned spray. Shake the canned water well and you can use it directly. You must dilute canned water before using it. Don't be bold, or your pen will be disassembled and washed. The price of plastic repair and primer repair is relatively cheap, generally between 20-40, which is about 60% of primer repair tank. Modeling patching is more expensive, and the cheap synthetic patching made in Korea is about 50%. Soil remediation in Bao Li is even more expensive, with the Tamiya pipeline costing 90 pounds and the small pipeline costing more than 40 pounds.
Sandpaper: Sandpaper plays a very important role in model making (it takes a lot of time to polish). Whether sewing, remodeling or painting is finished, it must be sanded first. 800-2500# is often used for modeling. 800# is used for the preliminary polishing of the whole model, and more can be prepared when the dosage is large. 1000# is used for further overall polishing. 1200# and 1500# should be used according to your own preferences (I have never used them). Both 2000# and 2500# can be used to polish the sprayed paint surface (but it will also leave tiny scratches, so spray a thin layer of paint or varnish, and finally polish it with 2000# grinding paste). In fact, I won't buy these special sandpapers with high price and small area, but you can find cheap and big woodworking sandpapers in ordinary hardware stores or woodworking supplies stores. The price is very cheap, generally between 1- 1.5 yuan. It is said that there is also fine 3000# sandpaper used for paint polishing.
After sanding and filling with water, it's time to paint below.
Let's talk about Tamiya and Junshi, which are familiar to everyone and currently occupy a large proportion in the market. These two kinds of coatings are divided into water-based and oil-based. Among them, Jun's oily paint (we often say Mr. Paint) is the most widely used, because it has the most colors, the strongest adhesion and the fastest drying speed. Moreover, metallic paint contains metallic particles, so it will have a great metallic luster after being gently wiped. But because it's nitrocellulose paint (containing benzene and formaldehyde), it's the most toxic, and it smells terrible (because the smell is too bad, my mother won't let me brush it in the house, so I left all the paint outside the house, and I lost more than a dozen bottles, probably because the corridor sweeper threw it away as garbage). I've never used water-based paint. Some people say that the color particles of this paint are too big. The price is generally around 10- 12.
Tamiya's oily paint is also called enamel paint, which is divided into X (gloss) and XF (matte). Because of its poor adhesion and slow drying, it is generally used to penetrate lines and wash stains, but I like to spray it with its luster, because the gloss after spraying is better than yours. Waterborne paints can be divided into X and XF just like oily paints. It is the least toxic and safest paint. Soluble in water, that is to say, it can be diluted with water, so it is very convenient to wash the gun with a washing pen. Retail price1below 0 yuan.
The most important thing has not been said, spray gun, air pump.
Spray gun: Actually, the model is too small to be called a spray gun. It can be divided into single action and double action. Generally, single action is triggered, and double action is button. The latter can control the air output and paint output (there are two kinds of internal adjustment and external adjustment). The price gap is relatively large, ranging from 1200 to several thousand. There is no need to buy famous brands, as long as they are cheap. I used to use a domestic high-definition spray gun, and the red gun body looks good. Now I use the "Green" brand double-action spray gun made in Taiwan Province Province, and it cost 280 yuan when I bought it. The paint jar was small, so I changed the medicine bottle.
Air pump: It is the most expensive of all tools, ranging from several hundred to more than ten thousand. As mentioned above, there is no need to buy famous brands or professional ones (professional ones are not affordable for ordinary people). I have seen a Tamiya pump, which is flat and cylindrical. It looks like several pieces of bread are stacked together. The price tag is as high as over 360,000 yen. I really don't see any place worth so much money. When buying an air pump, you should consider the air pressure you need, whether it is a silent pump, whether it can adjust the pressure, whether there is a water barrier (oil-water separation) and whether it is a gas storage type. Of course, the more functions, the more expensive. Generally, 300-700 will do.
Let's talk about things that may be used when making and painting.
Slow-drying agent: slow down the drying speed of paint, and add appropriate amount when spraying to make the paint surface more shiny. Covering glue, covering liquid and paper tape, because the color separation of the model can not be perfect, they are either removed or covered when making, so these three things are often used when spraying. Grinding paste: used for grinding transparent parts and painting surfaces. Speaking of this, it reminds me of a funny sentence I read in a magazine: "This magazine is not responsible for any oral ulcers, bad breath, tooth loss, rotten chin, genetic mutations and zombies caused by brushing teeth with ground toothpaste." Droppers and bottles are used to extract solvents. Clamp (used to clamp parts for easy painting), double-sided adhesive tape, chopsticks (used to wrap double-sided adhesive tape on chopsticks and then stick parts for easy painting), plastic foam (used to insert chopsticks), electric soldering iron (used to remove parting lines on plastic parts and do some special effects), hand drill (generally used to pile up the first office, or make bullet holes, craters and scratches as high as possible), and hair dryer. In fact, there are many odds and ends like this, depending on your own economic situation and habits. By the way, I forgot to mention one thing "dust mask". I'm definitely not kidding. You can use a mask instead of dust when polishing, but you must wear a dust mask when painting (especially friends who like to use county paint). Masks can't filter out those toxic substances. If you can't buy it, or don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on dust masks, use disposable activated carbon masks instead.
As can be seen from the above, the tools for making models are not necessarily model-specific. In fact, many can find substitutes in daily necessities. Friends who like to make models can go to various stores (hardware stores, art stores) and maybe find something that suits them.
Next time I'm going to write "the production process and my experience", and I'll also write something that is not mentioned above.