Tomio Tsuji’s Blog

In order to produce figures or vehicles with great accuracy or high detail one needs the right equipment. The following is what you need to get when starting off. Dremel 300 Series or similar. A Dremel is like a handheld angle grinder, except it takes many different bits for cutting, polishing, engraving, etcetra. It revs up to 33000 RPM.

These come with the Dremel.

These don’t come with the Dremel. You have to buy them separately. The three on the left inable one to fit bits that have varying stem diametres and are essential. The fourth and last two are for polishing surfaces. The rest are for fine detailed work.

This is a clamp for holding objects while you work on them. It also has an attachment so you can fit the Dremel to the clamp to keep it still instead.

This is a router table for the Dremel. The Dremel fits below the centre, underneath the transparent guard. Good for cutting straight edges.

Steel wire - 0.91 and 1.25 guage. 1.25 is used for joints, 0.91 for fingers. and thin pieces. Some people prefer copper wire as it’s easier to work with.
I prefer the stronger steel.

Putty scraper - used for mixing putty with the hardener.
Mini-pliers for careful bending and cutting.

Modelling Clay - cheap and soft.
Great for quickly making shapes and establishing form, but as it squishes easily, not the perfect solution. However, ideal for creating the wall for mold making.

Pattern Makers Putty - a lot like wax.
Used for capturing the detail off objects but can be used for modelling.
Excellent for establishing scale and shape - better than modelling clay although 3 times the price.
Always have to be careful when shaping as you can flatten details you previously modelled. Sometimes it’s best to stick wire into the object beforehand and hold the object using the wire when the detailing is near complete.
I like this putty a lot but the translucent and bright yellow nature does make it difficult to see the shape of the object at times.
However perfect for scaling and deciding on poses.

Hobby Knife Set.
This is used to carve the modelling putty which I’ll cover in the next post.
Always make sure the blades are as sharp as possible.

Graded sandpaper.
P800 is almost gritless. P320 has grit but won’t stick too much.

Work box for containing bits and pieces. Absolutely vital. More items to be posted shortly.