Big Shoota

Equipment and Supplies

Any good house starts with a good foundation, and a good set of tools. Not everyone can afford to go out and buy all the tools one needs so their cache of tools and resources have to be built up over time. My hobby room’s been 30+ years in making.

I’ve come up with two lists of Tools and Supplies. One is for someone who is just getting into the hobby, the absolute basics one needs to put together a model and paint it. The second list is a longer (of course), more comprehensive listing that any well stocked hobby bench/cabinet should have.

Later, in the Tools section I’ll spend a short time covering what to look for when choosing these tools and supplies.

My First Model ListModelers Toolbox

  • Newspapers (to cover workspace)
  • Hobby knife
  • Glue (Either superglue or plastic cement)
  • Toothpicks
  • Dixie cups
  • Acrylic paints
  • Small paint brush
  • Shoebox or other small container to keep everything in
  • A place to work
  • Good lighting

Well Stocked Hobby Area

CONSTRUCTIONlarge red toolbox

  • Dedicated workbench
  • Cutting mat
  • Hobby knives – various handles and blades
  • Jewelers saw
  • Pin vice and bits
  • Tweezers – Flat edged and pointed
  • Dremel (or any rotary saw) with bits
  • Dish soap
  • Sand paper and nail files
  • Jewelers or micro files
  • Small pliers/cutter set
  • Miniature hole saw
  • Superglue and setting accelerant
  • Two part epoxy
  • Sticky tack (or Blue Tack)
  • 21” Steel ruler
  • Forceps or locking miniature pliers
  • Miniature clamps for larger models (tanks, etc.)
  • White glue (PVA – Elmer’s)
  • Good lighting

PAINTINGUltimate hoby workspace

  • Brushes, brushes and more brushes
  • Paint, paint and more paint
  • Dixie cups
  • Bowls or cups for cleaning and mixing
  • Acrylic medium
  • Extender
  • Flow release
  • Water
  • Dullcote (Testors)
  • Extra bottles for special mixes.
  • Eye dropper
  • Coffee filters (??? You’ll see later)
  • Rags
  • Ceramic tiles (I use them for palettes)
  • Wet palette
  • Good lighting
  • A comfortable place to paint at

 

STORAGE

You will need a place to store your tools and supplies. It might be a shoebox or it could be an elaborate system of removable drawers set in a larger storage cabinet coded to the type of work you’re planning on doing. Your available workspace will determine what you will need. Tackle or compartmented tool boxes are a great way to start, letting you keep everything together and it’s portable.