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Tools and Materials

Removing raised and other unwanted details, and replacing banners, etc. not only requires patience, a very steady hand, and plenty of practice, but some tools and materials, plus replacement parts too, to help make the job a little easier. So this section covers the tools and materials I mainly use to assist in the process of modifying my miniatures.      

Tools

The tools I most prefer to use are shown in Figure 1 below. I use a MiniCraft power tool (1a) and a variety of milling bits (2) to remove most of the unwanted raised plastic detail, such as the shields from the horse barding and harness. The variable power control (1b) allows me to remove the detail without melting holes in the plastic, which is what happens if you use a milling bit at too high a speed; believe me I know from personal experience!

As an alternative to the power tool and milling bits, the unwanted raised details can be removed with the craft knife (3) and a variety of blades, which incidentally should be as sharp as possible to help remove the unwanted plastic cleanly and easily. The two blades on the left are called ‘chisel ended’ blades and are probably the most useful for shaving away unwanted plastic details.

I use a variety of needle files (4) to remove any vestiges of the raised details not removed by the milling bits or craft knife. The fine grade Wet & Dry paper (5) is used to remove any scratches left by the needle files on the surface of the plastic.

The pin vices (6) - or ‘Hobby Drills’ as GW likes to call them - are used with a variety of very small drill bits (7) for delicate, fine drilling work, such as boring a hole through a miniature’s hand. The pin vices could also be used as an alternative to the MiniCraft power tool. However, their use would be limited to only those milling bits that taper to a point, like the ones along the lower row of bits, due to the way a pin vice works.

The side cutters (8) are used to cut lengths of soft wire, such as copper wire from domestic electrical cable, while the needle-nosed pliers (9) are used to cut harder types of wire, e.g. brass and ‘piano’ wire.

NB: Never use side cutters or GW cutters to cut hardened wire, because the wire will permanently damage the cutting edges of these tools. Always use a pair of pliers that have hardened cutting edges or, better still, use a hacksaw to cut through brass and ‘piano’ wire. 

The ‘duck billed’ or square-nosed pliers (10) are used for straightening out kinks and bends in lengths of soft, copper wire when making banner staffs. The jaws of these particular pliers do not have a serrated surface and so will not leave indentation marks on the surface of the wire.

The mini utility knife (11) and steel ruler (12) are used for cutting out banners and standards from lead or aluminium foil. The utility knife is also useful for removing the outer layers of insulation from domestic electrical cable and copper wire when making banner staffs.

Something about the ‘Citadel Hobby Drill’ that may not be known to most people (including the staff of the GW store from where I purchased mine) is that the ‘collet’ – that’s the part that holds the drill bit – is reversible.

The three parts that comprise the GW Hobby Drill are shown in Figure 1a above. The collet has two ends: one that is used to grip very fine drill bits (at the top in the picture), and the other end to hold slightly larger (medium-sized) drill bits.

If the fine drill bit end is pushed into the body / handle (as shown by the arrow), then the other end of the collet, that is squeezed closed by the chuck as it is screwed in towards the handle, will grip medium sized drill bits. However, for very fine (thin) drill bits, push the medium drill bit end into the body / handle of the Hobby Drill, as shown by the lower arrow in Figure 1a, and then tighten up the chuck. 

Materials

The materials I generally use when I’m either making banners and standards or modifying my miniatures are shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 below.

In Figure 2, domestic electrical cable (1) provides a good source of soft, copper wire of various sizes, which can be easily stripped out of the insulation, and then cut into any desired lengths (F in Figure 4) for making banner staffs.

For filling gaps and repairing any damage caused by the removal of unwanted raised detail, two-part epoxy putties such as Green Stuff (2) and Milliput (3) are excellent products. And superglue (4) is very useful for securing banners and standards made from lead or aluminium foil (Figure 3) to wire banner staffs (G in Figure 4).

Lead, or sometimes aluminium, foil (Figure 3) is used to seal wine bottles that are traditionally stoppered only with cork. This foil is a very versatile and malleable material from which to make banners and standards. The foil can be removed either all in one piece (a), by carefully twisting and sliding it off the top of the bottle, or it can be sliced carefully from top to bottom and then peeled off. An ordinary craft or utility knife, or even a small pair of scissors, can be used to cut the foil. Once the seal has been removed from the wine bottle, slice away the cap from the top (c) to leave either a sleeve or sheet of foil (b) – depending on the method used to remove the foil from the wine bottle. Incidentally, larger sheets of aluminium foil can be obtained by using pie dishes or some types of take-away or ready-meal containers. This aluminium foil is thicker than the type used for wine bottles, but it can still be cut easily using a sharp craft knife or scissors.

Whatever type of foil you use, it can be flattened (d) and most of the creases removed by placing the foil onto a firm, flat surface, such as a cutting mat, and then using a firm but gentle and continuous downward pressure, dragging the edge of a steel ruler or the round metal handle of a craft knife across the surface of the foil.        

Figure 4 shows a variety of wire types used to make a staff (G) for banners and standards. Paperclips (A), crochet needles (D) and copper wire from domestic electrical cable (F) are all made from soft, malleable wire that can be bent and cut easily with side cutters or GW cutters. Hardened wire, such as brass wire (B), ‘piano’ wire spears (C) and piano wire (E) are all fairly rigid and therefore not easily bent or cut. Hardened wire should only be cut using a pair of pliers or sawn with a hacksaw while the wire is clamped in a bench vice.