Buying Model Tools On the Cheap!

Model making tools is a lucrative industry, can you buy on a budget?

Hobbies Can Be Expensive!

We can all see how EVERYTHING in life is getting more expensive these days. And when you are balancing the household books the onus is often on YOU - the hobbyist - to make some of the first cut backs. (I'm not going to be one of those guys who complains that while they have to tighten their spending that their wife still makes regular visits to the hair and beauty salons - my wife is one board with sharing the budgeting and has cut back on such things!)

That said, it is one of the biggest annoyances that while we all recognise that we are in a period of austerity game and model making companies seem to be doing their damnedest to find new ways to part us from out dwindling funds! 😠

Above: Notorious price gauging company Games Workshop and
it's infamous pricing of it's accessories.

Hobby tools and accessories are a hugely lucrative part of the industry, egged on - to be fair - by a section of the hobby community that is always eager to show off that they have the latest and 'best' tools that are on offer (I partly blame the rise of the social media 'influencer' for this).

Just have a look on YouTube and you will find a myriad of videos crying the benefits of this or that latest hobby tool or accessory (partly because it's a great way to get 'free stuff' - hence the almost cliched preamble about 'I was not paid to day good things about this...')

But Expensive MUST mean Better, Right?

Like all crafts, specialist tools evolve to help the craftsperson better deal with the specific techniques and materials that they employ in their particular activity.

Paying a little more for a specialist tool doesn't seem unreasonable, but my experience as a scale military modeller taught me that often the advantages of such 'specialist' tools were somewhat over-hyped and their real advantage over more traditional tools were sometimes debateable.

Above: Superb product photography and elegant packaging gives the customer
a real sense of a expensive quality item. Personally, I would rather they skip the
fancy packaging and marketing costs and pass the savings on to me!

Don't get me wrong, sometimes a tool or accessory comes along that really is either a time saver or which allows you to preform a operation more easily or with greater precision. But it has to be said, there are a few tools out there that are simply designed to lure the unwary or novice building into buying them with promises that simply don't add up.

You have to be very discerning and already fairly experienced in basic techniques before you can fully appreciate the worth of these fancy tools. 

Above: My new - very impressive - DSPIAE nippers...And it's packaging!

Some companies are renowned for their price-gauging (>cough< Games Workshop >cough<) and try to sell tools which have little real innovation or advantage over the bottom of the line alternatives. So you really have to develop a 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' attitude when considering buying some new miracle tool or accessory.

Yes, sometimes these highly advertised whizz-bang items DO offer some advantages over your Pound Land tools or materials BUT you have to ask yourself whether the price difference makes them worth it. Or are you just buying them so you can show off the name/logo in your next YouTube video or social media post?

The Bottom Line

My advice and experience is simple... Always start at the bottom and not at the top!!!

How do you know expensive kit really offers you a value for money advantage if you haven't experienced kit which has produced less than satisfactory results?

I only move on up the price range IF I perceive there is a real advantage to be gotten over the piece of kit that I am currently using. This usually starts with my saying to myself 'this tool would be better if it only <insert advantageous operation here>...' Then I go looking for the kit that DOES offer that advantage.

Simples!

An example: I highlighted a recent extravagance with my purchase of the £40 DSPIAE nippers. For years I have used a bargain basement set of Denash Side-cutting Pliers for snipping model parts from the model sprues/runners which cost just £4, so why do I now pay 10 times the price for a similar tool?

The key difference is that for traditional plastic military model kits your are expected by default to be painting the model once it is built. Therefore, any flaws or marks cause by your clunky cheap nippers are easily repaired and hidden by the proceeding painting process. The cheap nippers are then adequate for the job. 

Gunpla - the making of Japanese Gundam models - on the other hand, involved the making of a model kit that is designed NOT to be painted, the various coloured parts having been moulded in the requisite coloured plastic during the manufacturing process. The kit is built 'out the box' for display with the minimum of additional attention.

In the case of Gunpla any flaws or marks caused during construction - including the separation of the parts from their runners - would be glaringly obvious and spoil an otherwise pristine plastic finish. So, precision nippers which are specifically designed to alleviate stress on the plastic attachment points during the snipping process are an advantage. Therefore they add to the desired - hopefully - flawless plastic surface finish.

Is that worth £40 - I suppose it depends how much you desire a potentially mark free model. (I do.)

Contrary to the 'right tool for the job' attitude above, I do however appreciate finding a cheaper alternative way of doing things... I don't like spending additional cash if I don't have to!

My most recent shopping trip in town illustrates this alternative approach quite nicely...

The above haul of tools and accessories - again, mainly for my forthcoming Gunpla project - represents economy alternative to 'specialist' model making kit. All of the above were purchased on my local Highstreet, mainly from budget cosmetic chains - like Super Drug, Wilkos, Savers and Poundland - or from stationary stores - like The Works.

Here's a simple like for like comparison of the budget kit costs along side some specialist model making alternatives...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Specialist Model Kit | Budget Alternatives

HIQPARTS Scribing Guide Tape (1 roll): £20.64 | Works Dymo Compatible Tape (3 Rolls): £10.50

GUNPRIMER RASER Glass File (Qty. 1): £32.99 | HUPOO Nano Glass Nail Files (Qty. 3): £5.99

BANDAI Spirits Sanding Sticks (Qty: 3): £7.81 | Wilko Emery Boards (Qty: 5): £1

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion... Seek Balance, Young Padawan!

OK, so the above example is deliberately exacerbating the point, but the price savings that can be made by just shopping around are real.  😏

And, seriously, in some cases there are absolutely no difference in quality between some tools and accessories other than a company slapping the 'specialist' label on a pretty box. Again, I reiterate, that if you do not have real experience of a range of available tools and accessories how are you in any position to make qualified judgments about one item being 'better' than another?

So, before you fall for the hype please be sure to check out your local budget and hardware stores and don't just rush to fill someone else's pockets with your money!

Only if you are satisfied that a cheaper option is actually crap then move on up the ladder to something more expensive.

Above: The 'specialist' DSPIAE SS-S02 Hobby 30pc Sanding Sponge Starter Set on the left does
look the business, but costs £12.99 and offers little actual advantage over plain old wet & dry
sheets costing a fraction of the price. Plus the sheets give you far more actual sanding tool!

To this day, despite a plethora of 'specialist' alternatives, I still use good old wet & dry paper from my old fashioned Highstreet hardware store - costing just 49p a sheet - rather than a fancy-nancy 'specialist'  colour coded, high tech and ergonomic sanding sponge from one of the model making manufacturers.

Aside from anything else, I am helping to support a LOCAL business!

</rant>