Toolkit

Here's a run down of my toolkit, which may be of interest to other modellers:

This assumes that you will be making up plastic, white metal and brass/nickel silver kits.

The core set

Sharp craft knife with spare blades.
Needle files – I also use nail files (easy to get from Boots etc) as they are less aggressive than needle files for some applications
Brush for flux and mek pak application (mine are different colours for each)
Small screwdrivers – for screwing and the removal of solder from flat surfaces
Fibreglass scratch brush
Set of micro drills and pin chuck
Steel rule
Set square
25W (or more) soldering iron, I also have a temperature controlled iron for low melt applications (white metal kits)
Small hacksaw with fine teeth
Tweezers (I use reverse and normal varieties)
Xuron tin snips (photo etch shears)
Xuron track cutting snips
Pliers – long nosed are the best – make sure you don’t get the ones with teeth inside!
Tabletop vice with smooth jaws
Tabletop lamp or very high watt bulb in room

Very useful but not entirely essential

Dental picks
Digital calliper for accurate measurement of gaps and thicknesses
Mini drill with cutting discs and other attachments
Other saws such as a piercing saw etc
Set of taper taps (10,12 and 14 BA I use most frequently)
Set of cutting broaches
A selection of nut drivers and spanners

Things I have yet to purchase, but which I expect to be useful

Airbrush
Taper reamer – expensive but performs better than broaches do in some situations

Have I missed any?

Colin