"Scratch Building Tool Information" Topic

Many years ago, I used to enjoy building my own wargaming structures. I built Rorke's Drift, a large Sudan fort, many Sudan and SYW buildings, all in 25mm. They were very simply made and would not hold a candle to what we do now. I want to try building some structures again. However, I know I don't have the proper tools. I have some exacto knives, a small metal mitre box, and lots of boxes filled with construction materials I've picked up over the years. I want to build some 25mm Sudan/India buildings, small outposts/forts, 28mm Russian/Central Asian Russian Civil War structures and maybe some 15mm Sudan items. I need to know what tools do I need. The more specific, the better as I am dunce when it comes to tools. I am thinking of using balsa wood, MDF, floor cork, etc. Can you help me out? Thanks a lot! Hal Thinglum

Professional model builders use mat board, like for mounting pictures with.

Sturdy, cuts easily, and is a cinch to glue.

Cut at 45 degrees, or slightly more on the diagonal to get seamless edges.

Replace knife blades regularly.

Hal,
30+ years ago, I did a lot of building with matte board, after reading Otto Schmidt's articles in The Courier. Then the Major General sold me on Foam Core and I haven't looked back since. You need plenty of x-acto blades and wood glue.

I prefer to use box cutter knives over x-acto blades. They are easy to cut square edges at right angles and when they get a bit blunt just snap the blade off to give you a new edge.

Hi,
I'd second the recommendations for using foam core for your building walls. It's fairly cheap and easy to find and easy to work with as long as you use a sharp blade.
For cutting use a snap-off blade box cutter because it's much easier to keep the blade at 90 degrees to the surface of the foam core. Use a steel rule made for paper craft for cutting. It has an indentation for your fingers which helps keep it firmly against the surface of the foam core and keeps your fingertips safer than they would be with an ordinary steel rule. This is a good example of one: link
You can also get various specialist tools for foamcore. a good company for this is Foamwerks. See their website at link for details. I use their rabbet cutter and it works very well.
There are various video tutorials for using Foamwerks tools e.g. this one at YouTube link

A Proxxxon Hot wire cutter, they make hand-held ones one a table top one set up like a jig saw, cuts all sorts of foam. I find endless uses for it

Yep, get yourself some Legos too. They are great for making sure that the corners on balsa (or foam, or cork) walls stay perpendicular with each other until the glue sets.

I've even fitted my corner Legos with magnets, so that the walls can be supported from both the inside and the outside until the adhesive hardens.

I also use straight pins to make sure joints don't move in the meantime. Just make sure to remove the pins before the glue is fully hardened. :)

link
link

Dan
PS. Make sure to buy your blades online in bulk. The last thing you need is a semi-dull blade when you're trying to make neat straight cuts. So replace your blades often and always dispose of them properly and safely. I put them in an empty 20-oz Coca Cola bottle which is now half full.