What tools do I need to model railroad items?
Below are some of the tools that people use. This is not a complete list and some items are nice to have. Also not all of these tools are required to get started in model railroading and most are
not. These are the tools that modelers use when they work/play with their models.
Now if I can get these guys to agree on what just the basic tools are I will change the format on this page to show the basic tools, painting, scencery, building models in different sections as to
make it easier to find out which tools are right for you.
Also any reference to any make, brand or model of tool in not to be consider an indorsement.
I started at 6 am EST today with a clean desk. I built two A-Line 28' trailers. There are finished except for a few more doses of decal fluid and the gloss and flat clear coats. Here is what is
now on my desk ready to be put away. No particular order.
New this morning single edged razor blade.
New this morning #11 X-Acto blade in holder, sharpened twice during project
Needle tweezers
Seriated tweezers
6" Scale ruler (Mine has HO and OO!)
12" scale ruler
Fiberglas brush
Iris scissors
Seriated jaw thread scissors
Dissecting needle
5H mechanical pencil
2b mechanical pencil
Machinist's deburring tool
Fine, Medium and course cut flat needle files
Medium cut flat riffler
240, 320, 400 grit sanding wands
Xuron sprue clipper
300 and 600 grit wet sanding block
180 grit garnet sanding block
Arkansas stone
Crocus cloth
Micro Mark detail chisel
#56 drill in palm vice
#77 drill in pin vice
3" machinist square
Bottle of MEK
Needle point applicator of MEK
Runny CA
Gel CA
Magnifying Visor
Pipette
Double action airbrush
Air regulator
(Other airbrush stuff)
13 colors paint
2 clear coats
2 decal fluid
Vinyl cutting pad
Pasteboard cutting pad
32 oz machined iron bar (squared and flattened)
Xuron needle wire formers
Rail nippers
#'s 1, 3, 5 Kolinsky sable liners (brushes)
#8 Acrylic round brush
#0 Script liner (brush)
#4 scumble (brush)
Porcelain slant
Tuna can of filtered water
Kool-aid can of "wet" water
Tuna can of brush 2d rinse water.
Whew!
Christian
Add to that,
A full set of jewelers and regular wood/metal files
Soldering Iron
Desoldering Iron/bulb
Different sizes of solder
Flux
Toothpicks
"Helping Hands" holder (RadioShack has these)
Alligator clip wire jumper cables
Precision screw driver set
Volt/Ohm meter (digital with continuity recommended)
Test light
Razor saw with both type of blades
Dental picks
Clip light for working under benchwork
Squaring table for working on structures
Hot glue gun
Stapler/Staple gun
Staple puller (for layout and finger use)
Tack hammer
Magnet (for holding nails, screws, etc)
Nail set
Empty coffee, baby food, etc cans for misc. stuff
"Zip lock" bags
Needle nose pliers
Needle nose pliers with bent jaws
Wire cutters
Regular pliers
Vise grips
Cable ties (4,6,and 8 inch lengths)
Black electrical tape
Duct (Quack) tape
Masking tape (1/4", 1/2", and 1")
Elastic bands
Plastic disposable bowls (for glue, paint, etc)
Utility knife
Acid brushes
Dremel type tool with accessories
Key hole saw
hand held magnifying glass
Allen wrenches
Regular size screwdrivers (regular, Phillips, and Robertson)
extension cord
Creeper (if your layout is low to the ground)
"Easy Grip" clamps
5 gallon bucket (trash, storage, firefighting, etc)
Empty gallon milk jugs (Great for ground foam holder when making trees)
Bread knife (Great for cutting Styrofoam insulation)
Wood rasp (for Styrofoam insulation)
Wood and white glue
Small flashlight
Batteries
Extra fuses (for layout, hopefully not house)
1st aid kit
Fire Extinguisher
Jason Ciastko
I'll add a few of mine which I use for scratchbuilding and hope I don't duplicate anything going before :-)
3" and 6" engineers squares
Scribers
Piercing saw
6" and 8" second cut and smooth files as well as needle files.
Various sizes of toolmakers clamps
Largish soft brush for cleaning workpiece of filings, etc.
Small square and triangular scrapers
Glass fibre brushes
Two temperatures of solder paste
Resistance soldering unit
Old darts (good as general purpose pokers and persuaders with their
flights removed)
Magnifying glass
Anglepoise lamp
Set of drills in metric and UK number series
Set of taps and dies for small modellers threads.
Chisel point permanent marker as marking out fluid for metal
Various sizes of heavy lead weights - used mainly as gravity clamps.
Candle in holder to use as gentle heat source to mould styrene
Lots of wooden spring clothes pegs all hacked about to use as clamps
Alloy hair grips to use as light clamps.
A home-made skrawker (from an old hacksaw blade) ground to make a tool which cuts grooves in styrene or softer metals.
And a workshop with a 3 1/2" lathe and a lot of accessories :-)
Jim