Household products useful for hobby stuff...

[Christian]

Hi all,

From time to time I have come across some household items that aren't specifically "hobby" products but definitely have their uses. I wanted to put a couple of items out there I think are very useful, and invite you to join in with your own accidental, or otherwise, discoveries.

1. 3 pack of hand brushes - plastic, brass and steel (e.g. Brumby BHB3B in Australia)
While the plastic one is good for stripping off paint from plastic figures, I've found the brass one to be incredibly useful and very effective in removing paint post-Simple Green bath on metal figures. I have not even attempted to use the steel brush on miniatures! But I have used it on styrene and balsa wood to achieve a fine wood grain. The good thing about the brass is that it also buffs the metal slightly, giving it a good surface to then undercoat on. I have seen a few brands, all very cheap. All in all, I think this is a "must buy".

2. Black gesso (e.g. Montmarte in Australia, and other "craft" brands)
I've found black gesso to be really useful for painting just about anything miniature related. It is an excellent water-based undercoat, which you can brush right into difficult surfaces like fur. It is also a terrific "wash", similar to the GW types, but without the magical property of gathering perfectly into cracks. However, mixing with water and with some practice, it has replaced the need for washes for me. It also doesn't dry with the "shine" of GW washes (not a problem for those who varnish), and is easy to go over mistakes if there's a paper towel handy.

So, those are my top two picks for the moment. As I come across others I'll update. If you have something you'd like to share which is unusual in the sense that it isn't already available as a "hobby" product, feel free to add it in here, too.

[Daeothar]

Toothpicks - Very useful during sculpting. There have been times when I had no access / could not locate my sculpting tool, so I turned to toothpicks. They're great, as you can cut and shape (limited) the wood to create the perfect tool for the job at hand.

Also, I use them when glueing two pieces of hard foam together; I stick a length in one side and after applying glue, I press the other side on top. Keeps the two parts from sliding out of alignment and they add strength as well.

And then they're great for a million of uses during terrain building; wood piles, campfires, wooden beams, fences, pallisades, litters, you name it; if there's a length of wooden pole involved in real life, you can use toothpicks for it in 28 (and even 15)mm...

Sanding paper - I've used this to clean sculpting tools, but also to create a concrete/tarmac/asphalt texture on my terrain pieces. Glue it down, spray it black and then paint and drybrush it into the desired colour. It loses much of its abbrasive nature that way, and the endresult looks really convincing...

Clothing pins - I have one in use that has been with me for over 10 years now; my trusty blueheaded pin... I use it for pretty much everything; drilling of gun barrels, opening of clogged paintbottles, marking/guide holeing drill spots, applying superglue or white glue in difficult spaces on miniatures, pressing holes in plasticard and many, many other applications I can't even remember...

Tape - The wide, crimping, paper packaging type. Not masking tape; packaging tape. I've used it to great effect to make tarps (over oil barrels for instance) and all matter of straps and belts on miniatures. Cut to the desired width and apply. It (sort of) sticks of its own, and with the application of some extra (super)glue, it's on there for the duration. It's thinner and more flexible than thin plasticard, which always has the tendency to return to its original shape. And a gun hanging from a belt that is bulging out sideways just looks daft...

[Diceplague]

Broom To clean all the mess I do when flocking 


I´ve tried to make a wash from black gesso but It didn't worked so well Would you mind to explain it better?
 

[DS615]

Broom To clean all the mess I do when flocking 

Get a dustbuster for your own use.
Use it to suck up the stray flock after shaking, and for nothing else.
It allows you to easily collect it all and dump it back in the container.  It works very, very well.

Some have a needle-nose like attachment, which you can use to suck it up off the board without having to dump it.

The hard part is remembering (and getting your Wife to agree) to not use it for anything else.