Products that were not intended to be used in model making but work anyway

[publiusr]

For larger builds...the THERMO KING Roadside Honeycomb Grill from www.pitstoptts.com

Reefer body panels from SB 110, 210, 230, 310, 400...

Good for nacelles…STAPLES SONIX GEL

Amazon.com

 

[Searun]

Coffee stirrers make for great scale wood boards for scale structures.
View attachment 1726884
I bought a box of 1000 of them on Amazon for less than ten bucks. After building the structure to the right in this shot with a bunch of them, the box still looks full. It's the best hobby value purchase I've ever made.

Great photo of your model railroad skill p51. Used to do some of this in my early days with American Flyer. Love your realistic detail work.

Used to live behind the RR tracks as a kid. Lots of steam engines in the switch yard. My brother and I collected coal as a 5 year olds that fell off of tenders. Father used to send the dog out to bring us back.

 

[publiusr]

I wonder if this would would work with foam

Pumpkin Carving With A Pressure Washer? Yep. - Videos from The Weather Channel

Pressure washers are a handy way to clean up storm debris. But this family in Canada had another idea. Giggles and squeals ensued. - Videos from The Weather Channel | weather.com

weather.com

That, shot-peening…might be a way to simulate the weathering of ablatives.

Speaking of heat shields that have conic sections:

A new formula to calculate the strength of thin conical structures

Conical structures can have advantageous applications in a variety of fields, ranging from robotics to civil engineering. Studies have found that conical shells made of liquid crystal elastomer films can be effective lifters; devices that can generate thrust for robots and other vehicles.

phys.org

 

[JediMichael]

I wonder if this would would work with foam

Pumpkin Carving With A Pressure Washer? Yep. - Videos from The Weather Channel

Pressure washers are a handy way to clean up storm debris. But this family in Canada had another idea. Giggles and squeals ensued. - Videos from The Weather Channel | weather.com

weather.com

Hmmmm. Maybe...or just blow it all apart and make a mess.
I used to make things out of styrofoam and used a soldering iron to cut through it fairly easy.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Sculpting - scraping - shaping tools:
A set with several such metal and plastic tools, plus tweezers and some mediocre or special form screwdrivers & other oddments.

Look for "Mobile phone tool kit" on ebay - I got some sets as in the photo a couple of years ago, but checking again they are presently listed as "23 Piece" or "23 in 1" kits, for typically £3.25 UK. Some places want twice or more that for just one of the metal sculpting tools!

The contents seem a bit mixed, another set had four or five of the metal tools.

 

[publiusr]

Just that blue scraper is an impulse deck spine by itself.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Another one that may be useful to some people - "micro size" bowden cable for remote actuation or linking moving parts:

Small PTFE electrical sleeving, plus a thick non-wound guitar string, such as a bass guitar string.

You need either Loctite "All plastics" superglue, for the fibre tip pen of primer/activator, or some SF770 primer - the bulk liquid industrial version.

That stuff allows superglue to bond with PTFE as well as polyethylene etc., so you can glue the ends of the PTFE sleeving in place. I use bits if small brass tube and offcuts to make brackets, to suite where the outer will be attached, then glue it in those,

The sleeving in the photo is 2mm outside diameter and 1mm inside.

For pull-only linkages I've also used similar sleeving with high tensile braided fishing line threaded through it.

 

[publiusr]

I wonder if that could be threaded into nacelles to hold them taut with interior knots

 

[Blitzkreig]

This small metal Ruler. I use the edge of it to just carve styrene. It shapes things like a mini-Rasp. No need to sand. It has the added bonus of leaving a smooth surface. Also, very handy for adding panel lines.

 

[greenmachines]

View attachment 1758735

This small metal Ruler. I use the edge of it to just crave styrene. It shapes things like a mini-Rasp. No need to sand. It has the added bonus of leaving a smooth surface.

I use these rulers for metal stock when making flat parts and formed jewelry that are mainly flat or folded. The back is usually clear of etching.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Windows - Portholes - Lenses etc: Phone camera lens protectors!

These are available in various styles and sizes, with the commonest having an array for the whole camera, but if you search through on eg. Amazon, there are also sets with individual round protectors for each lens.

Some have an outer ring, while others as in the photo below are completely clear - and of course they are optically perfect, unlike moulded windows or lenses.

The listings do not give sizes, but you can look up the size of the phone they are for on eg. gsmarena, and work out the lens size in proportion to the phone width.

The set in the photo have three at around 9.5 - 10mm and one at just under 8mm, with four sets of those as one purchase.

 

[publiusr]

Cheap plastic mechanical pencils have all kinds of parts.

www.plasticade.com has big black wedge products (GEMSTONE VALET SIGNS model 4100) and the C42 Channelizer traffic cone that is in segments.

Programs

A system that allows robots to use tools creatively by leveraging large language models

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Google DeepMind recently developed RoboTool, a system that can broaden the capabilities of robots, allowing them to use tools in more creative ways. This system, introduced in a paper published on the arXiv preprint server, could soon bring a new...

techxplore.com

Machine learning gives users 'superhuman' ability to open and control tools in virtual reality

Researchers have developed a virtual reality application where a range of 3D modeling tools can be opened and controlled using just the movement of a user's hand.

techxplore.com

Lastly:

AI model instantly generates 3D image from 2D sample

In the rapidly emerging world of large-scale computing, it was just a matter of time before a game-changing achievement was poised to shake up the field of 3D visualizations.

techxplore.com

 

[chibobber]

Foil seal from canned nuts. Make great decking material etc. About 5 1/2" in diameter. Thick aluminum.

 

[joberg]

Foil seal from canned nuts. Make great decking material etc. About 5 1/2" in diameter. Thick aluminum.

Yes, those are great; I have a collection of these from coffee cans

 

[greenmachines]

Yes, those are great; I have a collection of these from coffee cans

As do I. I laugh when someone lists the same parts I have. Mine are Planters the small can.

 

[chibobber]

To lazy to read the thread from the beginning.

 

[publiusr]

There is an article at "Pen Boutique" called "Laura's First TWSBI" and nice inks...on called "Diamine Writer's Blood."

The pen is designed to be disassembled and the inks might be good as model paint touch-ups.

Vape container parts come from
www.chubbygorilla.com IIRC.

The BC 5000 by Elf Bar has interesting bits...I don't vape myself, but look at parts like Sternbach looked at markers and sub models.

A company called Love HULTEN has wild atompunk products.

LOVE HULTÉN

Love Hultén

www.lovehulten.com

Odd

This Futuristic Thermostat From the 1950s Had a Setting For Four Different Scents — Paleofuture

I was looking through some old photos of Disneyland’s House of the Future, an attraction that was at the park from 1957 until 1967, when I came across an image I’d never seen before. To anyone here in the 21st century, it’s just a thermostat. And while this version of climate control was certainly

paleofuture.com

Control panel

3D modeling device concept imagines what it’s like to create 3D with 2D tools - Yanko Design

We live in a three-dimensional world, but we see the digital world through flat computer screens. That's why 2D input devices like mice, trackballs, and pens are fine for most creative work that is made to be seen in 2D anyway. With the increase in 3D objects in mixed reality spaces, however...

www.yankodesign.com

For nacelle caps

 

[CosmicQuest]

Big Lots has some interesting things…so does Dollar Tree. They get a lot of cheap GREENBRIER offerings. Today I got:
All star sports. SPORTS DISC 2PC
LIGHT UP TOP
FAVORS/SURPRISES
ROBOT changer
Crafter’s Square chalkboard tags

Cell phone stickers

www.popsockets.com

Use them as pop up turrets for saucer domes

Lastly WWW.FINAL-FACTION.COM toys

DRONE KHARN comes with a greeble….but the COVERT OPS — ALPHA TEAM 1 dragon drone looks like a FASA space station. Lots of greebles.

I definitely second the Final Faction toys. I used a bunch of them on my scratch build.

 

[JimmyB]

Hollow hole punches for leather can be used to punch holes in styrene and also make discs. Punch sets go from 0.5mm upwards. Just put the styrene sheet on a flat piece of wood and use a small hammer to tap the punch.

 

[Iskelderon]

Hollow hole punches for leather can be used to punch holes in styrene and also make discs. Punch sets go from 0.5mm upwards. Just put the styrene sheet on a flat piece of wood and use a small hammer to tap the punch.

Same way people use these, but more versatile, because you can place them anywhere and don't need to change or rotate the tip to switch between sizes
People also use the pliers-type to quickly pump out "rivets" for Steampunk projects.