Your best quick tip/technique/diy

[Unreality]

I haven't seen this mentioned before, but I'm sure others have done this long before I felt the light bulb turn on.

I buy a strand of Hematite 6mm beads and drop 1 in each Vallejo paint bottle. Actually, I put them in every paint bottle I have now. It acts like an agitator. It won't rust or mess the paint up in any way. And you can clean it off and reuse it again later.

The bead is so heavy it always sinks to the bottom, so any shaking will eventually mix the paint up. You would be surprised, but it may take a minute or two of shaking before I hear the bead rattling around in a bottle of Vallejo (even Vallejo air takes a while). And it REALLY helps mix the paint. Works great with Tamiya, MM, and probably LifeColor. And did I mention they are cheap?

 

[Drpepeprz]

6feet of 1/35 tank tow cables...3$ at Walmart's!!

 

[unttld]

Instead of coming up with clever ways to keep small parts from falling prey to the carpet monster… just get rid of the carpet. Straight up engineered hardwood.

It looks better, it's healthier, and you'll never lose a part ever again.

;D

 

[Papermodder]

I can tell you from experience. My apartment has hardwood floors and that floor gobbles up dropped parts worse than the area that's carpeted.

Jim

 

[WebbyNZ]

No matter if its wood, carpet, concrent or woven mat my tip would be if a part hits the floor, dont stand up or roll your chair till you know you are not gonna step on/roll over the part.

I have also made the switch from paper towels (or whatever you call them where you are) to cheap tissues.
Way more convenient to have a small box on hand, especially when brush/airbrush painting.
I still have paper towels but use them if im workin with decals/flocking/pigments where i have time to setup a "drop sheet"

 

[Junkie]

Good call on the tissues.

For brush cleanup, airbrush etc...I've thought about using toilet paper...the woven, thick, expensive type. A package would last a long time.

Ken Abrams uses old t-shirts. That's a smart choice too cuz you can just wash it.

 

[Zemmix]

I use Kimwipes. They come in a small box and are nearly lint free. I've found them to be the best tissue for the model bench. They are readily available here in Japan at most hardware stores in different sizes too.

Looks like they sell them overseas as well: http://amzn.com/B0013HT2QW

 

[Junkie]

Good tip.

 

[LrdSatyr8]

Here's a good tip I learned from a jeweler. Get a BBQ apron and attach velcro to the bottom of it. Then place the velcro hooks to the underside of your workbench. When you sit at your bench, put the apron on and attach the apron to the bottom of the workbench. If any part falls again, it's caught by the apron and never hits the floor.... no more need to worry about the floor goblin eating small peices again!

 

[WebbyNZ]

Here's a good tip I learned from a jeweler. Get a BBQ apron and attach velcro to the bottom of it. Then place the velcro hooks to the underside of your workbench. When you sit at your bench, put the apron on and attach the apron to the bottom of the workbench. If any part falls again, it's caught by the apron and never hits the floor.... no more need to worry about the floor goblin eating small peices again!

Nice idea, but I move around all the time so I just have one of these for the cave and dont let the main vacum cleaner in the room

 

[The Nylon Gag]

I use saved water bottle caps for paint pots, just squeeze enoght in an throw it out when your done.

 

[JohnnyO]

I use saved water bottle caps for paint pots, just squeeze enoght in an throw it out when your done.

I do this with beer bottle caps. If I run out, it means I need to drink another beer. It's a win-win.

 

[LrdSatyr8]

I use saved water bottle caps for paint pots, just squeeze enoght in an throw it out when your done.

I do this with beer bottle caps. If I run out, it means I need to drink another beer. It's a win-win.

I just use a sticky pad to mix paints with... seeing as I don't use much of a certain color, I just mix the small amount I need on a sticky pad, and then toss it in the trash. No fuss, no muss!

 

[CQModels]

Depossosable dinner plates used for BBQs and picnics , are cheap and a great saws for plastic sheet. Just cut the flat middle section out. The bottoms of plastic wine glasses are a cheap way to display your Bandai or flying mechs for Warhammer.

 

[unttld]

I have a spindle of about 200 dvds or cds (I don't even know which they are) that I use as a paint palette. Whenever a disc gets to dirty, toss it and grab a new one.

I also use bottle tops for mixing washes in and for mounting 28mm figures to so I have something bigger to hold onto while painting.

 

[WebbyNZ]

I have a piece of glass that was from a old chine cabinet, it's about A4 size that I use for a palette.
It does not absorb paint, makes mixing easy and the lil finger hole holds a lil cup of water/thinner, and the best part is that once dry it can just be scraped off like pva glue with a cheap scraper and a quick wipe with Ab cleaner

 

[LrdSatyr8]

Here's a great and inexpensive tip for gold leafing and chroming at scale... every year around Easter time you can find metal foiling kits for Easter eggs... they work great and are the same material that is used for Gold Leafing and Chroming kits. But as a bonus you also get different colors as well... here's a video I made about them.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TVWkE_ke_Y[/youtube]

 

[Alkosh]

An overnight soak in Simple Green takes Model Master acrylics right off with hardly any brushing.