Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Modelling Supplies

I do a bit of hobbying with plastic models, as you can tell if you followed my Instagram Page, and I've been asked on occasion (and recently) by folks wanting to know what supplies you need to start assembling models. Rather than continue to answer these questions anew each time they're posed, I'm putting together my list here as a handy reference.

The list isn't long. It basically comes down to clippers, knife, glue. All the links below are affiliate links so I might get a little kickback from Amazon if you use them, but it won't cost you anything extra.

The clippers are used for separating parts from the sprue.  They shouldn't be very large, and need to be of the style where the side with the cutting edge is flat, so you can get as close to the part as possible. You should be doing two cuts when you remove parts from the sprue.  The first cut is on the vents, close to the sprue and away from the actual part you are trying to separate.  Clippers put some force on the plastic, and if your first cut is too close to the part you could warp, stress, or otherwise damage the part. The second cut is to get most of the rest of the sprue off your part. You can spend twenty dollars or more on clippers, but a seven dollar set will suffice.  The GodHand brand is widely viewed as the cadillac of clippers.


For a knife you don't need to be fancy. Your run of the mill X-Acto knife is going to work just fine. You'll use the knife for cleaning the last little bits of sprue off your parts, and also for scraping along any mold lines left over from the manufacturing process.  Some people buy files or special tools just for removing mold lines, but I've been using an X-Acto blade for that purpose for decades and it's worked just fine.


Last up is glue. When you're working with plastic models you want plastic cement not super glue.  Super glue will hold things together but is likely to break if it gets a hard jolt (like if you drop it). Plastic cement lightly melts the two plastic pieces and when it dries the two pieces have essentially become one. Plus it has the added benefit that it won't glue your fingers together. You do still have to be careful not to get it on parts of the model you don't want since it can melt fine details. Lately I've been using Citadel Plastic Glue (expensive) and ModelMaster Plastic Cement (cheaper but smells like weird bananas) and both seem to work equally well.  Some people like Tamiya brand since the bottles come with a brush in the tip that makes getting the glue where you want it easier, and doesn't get clogged like the other bottles.


You'll need paints and brushes when you get to painting your models.  Any search for model painting starter kit will find a host of possibilities. I don't have any direct experience with any of them, but be on the lookout for something with a couple brushes, colors that will work for what you're painting, and some kind of wash or shade color.

You could also just go the Contrast Paint route. Check out the below video for some enlightenment on what that entails.



Saturday, February 1, 2020

Book Review: Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Prince of Thorns is a story featuring a wholly unlikable character with few redeeming qualities.  Even as a product of adversity, Jorg is hard to identify or commiserate with.  He's a character who knows he is doing wrong, and delights in it. He turns away from humanity and remorse at almost every turn.
The saving grace for this book is Mark Lawrence's beautiful writing and the fascinating world he has constructed. I only wish that he had chosen to provide the reader with a better guide to that world.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Book Review: Sand - Hugh Howey

Hugh Howey’s Sand is a slow burn through a post-apocalyptic wasteland.  It shows us that the author has many different visions of the future to share with us. It’s a story about family, loss and abandonment and how the different ways people handle adversity. Read it if you like Dune, Mad Max or Snow Crash.



I read the Kindle In Motion version of Wool three years ago, and haven't gone back to Hugh Howey until now. That mistake is on me. I found Sand at the Seattle Public Library and grabbed it to tide me over until some of my book holds came in.

What a great ride this was. What a unique vision of the future. Some authors engage in world building, giving greater importance to the world they are building than the characters that inhabit them. But Hugh Howey treats the world right and the authors with respect.  We experience the world through the eyes of the characters and the world slowly constructs itself around them as the bits of information assemble themselves.

★★★★☆ I highly recommend this book. You won't be disappointed.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Constellar Privacy Policy

Constellar makes use of Google Analytics.  The data allows us to determine how our user base plays the app and tune difficulties.  You can fully anonymize your data in Constellar in the iOS settings menu for the application.

For more information about Google Analytics and its privacy policy visit Google here.