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Rodney J. Williams
171 articles

Modeling Tools

November 8, 2019 · in Aviation · 16 · 2.3K

I show two photos of my work bench that was in one of our spare bedroom's over in Colorado. The walls are covered with some of my 301 model awards. I made a round tool to roll down the panel lines on top of my decal's. Without doing this you don't see the panel line. Like I said in other stories, I only use thin superglue to glue parts together and the thick glue for filler.

I bought all these tools in the 1980's and have used them all these years, (1984 - 2016 ). I was told to use water when filing plastic with my metal files and use "3-IN-ONE" oil when working on metal such as aluminum, brass and copper. I cleaned the files with a fiber brush with oil and water, then dried the files so they would not rust.

I paid 70 bucks for each 6" and 4" long file set in the mid 1980's which came to a total of USD$280.00 + tax & "s/h." Each set had 12 files. I bought some other #0 & #2 cut files. When I quit modeling after 32 years, my tools worked like new because I was taught to take care of everything. I kept lot's of paint in the original bottles and just put a piece of tape on the lid and write the name/number on it. A side view drawing of my "Waldron" punch was presented at a club meeting, so guys could learn how to use the punch set. I took a photo of a full bottle of "FUTURE," but the name is no longer written on it. The last photo shows my home made wire tools that I used to apply the super glue onto the models. Enjoy...RJW.

Reader reactions:
11  Awesome

19 additional images. Click to enlarge.


16 responses

  1. A neat workbench is the sign of a sick mind. 🙂

    • That can depend Tom.
      Some us have just a corner of the living room to work in, so been tidy-ish is a real boon when building/painting, but not O.C.D LOL.

      Simon.

    • Doesn´t matter how much space i have on my desk. I always end up having tools, glues, projects and paints eating it all up till I have just a small area the size of my cutting mat to fit.

    • Please send a photo of your work bench!

      BTW: I just looked at all my photos and the are very small. I have no idea why?. The other stories have bigger photos.

      • It's a JOKE! The original version was "A neat desk is the sign of a sick mind."

      • Here are a couple of pics of my bench.
        This is in the corner of our living room.
        Thankfully , my wife Rose does the hobby to, so I have a little lee way there.

        2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

        • When I got back into modeling in 1977 my wife let me build models on my office desk which was in the corner next to a window just like your present set up. Winter's were cold and rainy in Northern California and I was prohibited to paint anything on my office desk. I got a 3'x6' (1meter x 2 meters) table that had fold up legs and set up a new work station out in the garage. I had to leave my car out on the concrete drive way. My wife was very happy and we are still married, going on 58 years. I got our only son building models but we both had to go out in the garage. I don't know if I have a photo of my office desk with all my stuff on it! Remember...modeling is fun!

          Thanks for your photos and say "HI" to Rose. Rodney in Southern California, U.S.A.

          • I will do Rodney.
            Rose does the hobby for therapeutic reasons, and it gives me some one to talk to while on the bench.

          • You are lucky. The only thing my wife talked to me about my modeling was the money I gave her from customer sales. We really never had a husband/wife disagreement over the hobby. She even went with me to some of the model contest show's.
            I guess I'll get another model ready to post as I have another 284 models to show!

  2. Congratulations on the impressive wall of awards for your builds. Special.

  3. I went to over 20 club contests in California and never got an award, then all of a sudden I started getting them and I guess it was due to met getting better at modeling. I had 2 great modelers that showed me many things and I put them into my model work log. I have not been to a contest since 2015 and after I moved from Colorado to here, all of my models and awards are still in boxes. Living with 9 other family members does limit my space. Anyway's, I'm still happy.

  4. Really like the decal rolling disc.Why didn't I think if that years ago! And yeah my workbench takes just one session to run out of space to work on.

  5. Hi Haslam> I thought about that and at first my roling tool tore up the decals as I was pushing the thing down the panel. The I learned how to lightly roll it down the panel line, it worked out just fine...again..."experience" is the name of the game. In our club we had a saying. If you first don't succeed ..."Try Try Again."

  6. Hi Rodney. Thank you for sharing. I have been in the trades for 40 years and when my workbench is clean that means there is no work !

    That said I spend a lot of time organising and cleaning. Both at work and modelling that makes for a better job.

    When I interviewed people to hire I would ask what the most important tool of the shop is.

    Very few have gotten it right. The answer : a Broom ! It’s a meditation tool to brood with as well , cleaning , resetting the mind and solve the work issues.

    I feel validated with the work you do !

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