Hello Everyone,
I’m thinking about buying electric modelling tools for operations like drilling, cutting, grinding, etc… there are so many options online that its confusing to figure which product is good or suitable.
like, i once bought a rotary tool but it was no good.
however, i want to hear from more experienced modelers on what kind of tools you use. which electric tool products do you use for modelling and what is good to purchase?
I have a variable speed dremel tool but even that is really to fast for plastic.
I found out about these tools from another site, ordered one.
Great tool! Variable speed, more adjustable than a Dremel.
Seller very easy to deal with.
Check it out here:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/t-rexxtools/m.html
This is the one I bought:
I have Dremel’s, one rechargable thats pretty light and nimble and lower on the rpm’s and a bigger corded one with all the gizmo’s that come in the kits. They are well made, durable and a wide range of branded and aftermarket bits are out there. Their biggest knock is the speed is sometimes to high for plastic work so keep that in mind. I have one of their engravers also that I have used on round styrene to score and shape for weld beads and that turned out pretty sharp. Can post here as I am on a work computer but I’ll try to upload an example of my results on a M4 in the future. Lot easier that softening with glue and scoring and working it with a blade.
Just a Dremel tool every once in awhile
I had a varible speed Dremel. Hated it.
My Dremel was nearly worthless due to the high rpm required and lack of torque. Easy to burn resin and melt plastic. Very happy to be rid of it.
Currently, I have a MiniCraft UK rotary tool set up and it rocks. The variable speed transformer, hand drill, lathe with the large drill and the sander all work very well. Variable speed and 12 volt DC torque allow outstanding control. It cuts, grinds, drills etc very well at low rpm. Its been bullet-proof for 25 years.
MiniCraft UK is everything good my Dremel wasn’t. After experience, with a good MiniCraft set up one can drop the rpm low enough to shave mold seams off of parts with a good dental bit and not leave scars or marring.
It’s proved invaluable for armor modeling. Wheels have mold seams? Use a cut wheel wheel attachment to clamp the wheel and sand paper to clean up the wheel. Its been used on every model tank I built since the mid 1990’'s. Distributor in the USA seem rare these days so ordering from the UK might be necessary.
The deluxe MiniCraft variable speed Transformer and hand drill.
Lathe & large drill
Sander/grinder - this is used the least of the three.
Also worthwhile for nasty seam sanding & heavy duty clean up the MicroLux mini sander from MicroMark. Has various attachments with sanding pads. Its powerful and works very well. Its not a finesse tool for delicate work in my experience. There’s another version with additional attachments but I forgot the brand name.
I’m sure there are other excellent rotary tools available too.
You meant MicroMark?
I think the other Brand is David Union because they have one similar to the MicroLux. I have the MicroLux also.
I use a Dremel (4000) Rotary Tool with a Dremel (225-01) Flex Shaft Attachment and a Dremel (4486) MultiPro Keyless Chuck. I have a number of drill bits and engraving bits. Though the Dremel is often too fast, I’ve learned to gently touch-down and back-off before things heat up and melt. The MLCS (9080) Billy Pedal Foot Switch is only for ON/OFF, but I find this combination to be extremely useful for most of my model building needs.
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And here’s one of my favorite tricks… Battery Powered G⋅U⋅M Oscillating Sanding Tool with Dremel (DRE 413) 240 grit Fine Sanding Disc.
Cheers!
—mike
Yes, MicroMark. Thank you.
These seem like interesting products, thanks for informing me about Minecraft tools, i will look into them.
i like the looks of the Dremel tools, but I’m concerned about the speed of rotation and friction on plastic.
though i heard there was a device that can help slow down the rotation to stop plastic melting but i forgotten what its called.
nice idea for using electric toothbrush as a grinder though.
The name escapes me too but it acts like a dimmer switch.
I bought a Dremel Minimite years ago, even though I had to buy an adapter to charge it in the UK. The rechargeable Dremel available here at the time had higher speeds but the Minimite is 5000/10000 rpm and 5000 is fine for styrene. Never given me any trouble and still works fine.
High speed is obviously the issue. However, the Dremel is what I have on hand and as mentioned, with care, I’ve managed to use it for many of my tasks.
Regarding a Variable Speed Controller — don’t bother. I tried one and it didn’t work at all with the Dremel 4000.
—mike
I have a Dremel etc but use it on full-scale stuff - the only electric tool I use for plastic modelling is the vacuum cleaner to deal with the aftermath of all that sawing and sanding. Now train modelling is a different story, with rails to cut and metal loco frames to mill…
I have a Proxxon, way better than Dremel,I bought it in the mid 90s and it still goes like the first day,my dad bought the same one with me and same story still goes like new, much more controllable, it is a Luxenburg company produced in Germany (at least my was), it is more expensive but it is worth every penny, I also have the Jig Saw and the Carver that work with the same main adapter
my adapter looks very similar to this one but no dimmer
this is the tool
I also modified an electric toothbrush in the same way as justsendit (Mike) but I also modified a brush head making it a paint stirrer
I was thinking which other power tools I use more or less frequently …
Definitely the one I use most often is the Badger Paint Mixer, I find it awesome, unfortunately without some small modification (rather easy to do with a Dremel or similar) it does not fit into AK, Vallejo or Ammo style droppers bottles, but using MMP, Humbrol and LF for the most part I have no problems at all.
also pretty cheap which is good
The Soldering Iron instead I use it less often, mine is very similar to this one, with 2 settings of 30W or 60W
I was maybe thinking about a little Vortex Lab Mixer,my Robart died after a couple of years, I believe that the motor is not Heavy Duty enough or that the vibrations after a while ruin the mechanism
something like that…
…on the market there are many different Models for different pockets… 
Vicious, That’s a great idea! I’ve been noticing that some of my Vallejo bottles need a bit more stirring lately.
—mike
