Crafters Jottings--Take One; Leave OneIt so often happens that when I am in the middle of building a model or detailing a diorama, I come up with this neat little kludge that makes the project easier and less time consuming. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work for someone else.With that in mind, I started “Crafter’s Jottings,” a library where these ideas can ferment, be checked in and checked out.Let this become a place where you can find an occasional idea you can use in your modeling, or drop one off for others to use.If you have an idea you would like to add, simply email it to me aA LittleDab Will Do YouTo keep from using too much adhesive and at the same time have a convenient palette, I use brightly colored 3M PostIt© Mini-flags. They are about a half-inch wide and three inches in length with repositionable adhesive on one end. Place it on the bench beside your work and squirt a drop of adhesive on the strip. Then use as toothpick to pick up a dab of glue and apply as needed. An added benefit is the cleanup. Just fold and drop in the trash.
Getting More Out of Your MedicationsOne of the handy things about getting older and getting into the medication path is the more than adequate supply of small, water-tight containers (pill bottles).These serve a number of uses around my work bench and layout from liquid storage (weathering mixtures), dry material shakers (punch holes in the screw-on caps) for grass, dirt, weathering powders, and tiny pebbles, anything that needs tight storage or easy application.
Magnificent Magnetic AttractionThere are so many uses for a dozen or so magnets around a workbench that has any steel parts (mine has steel legs and a steel sheet work surface)…what a help.On the legs I use a magnet to hold my 12-inch steel ruler, another holds four different Xacto knives, I use a tape magnet strip to six-seven mini files for abrading plastics woods and even plaster castings. They hold screwdrivers, tweezers, pliers, wrenches, scissors and most metal tools. I use magnets to hold model assemblies to square for gluing. They hold small parts for painting along with nails, screws or pins you are using for a particular project.
Don't Want To Lose It? Double Face ItI have found a roll of double-faced tape (adhesive on both sides) makes an ideal pad for holding tiny detail parts for painting or gluing. These pads hold similar parts that are easily dropped, you know, the ones that disappear into the carpet, into a crack, or into a hole. They are always the critical part.Add Your Jotting and Help A ModelerJot down your Tip That Saved You Time? How About A Technique other scale modelers can use...Share it!
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