Modelling Naval Ships in Small Scales E-Book

Mike McCabe

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 286

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

This book provides a wealth of practical guidance on building and painting realistic model naval ships aimed at those who are new to this hobby through to the experienced modeller. An in-depth look at the creation of four models is included: the Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring (Dragon), the pre-war aircraft carrier USS Wasp (Aoshima), the River-class frigate HMS Nadder (Starling Models) and the 'pocket battleship' Admiral Graf Spee (Academy). With a focus on the popular kit scales of 1/700 and 1/350 in the waterline style, this book demonstrates the techniques used in building model ships, from the basic to the more complex, larger-scale models requiring many differing skills. There are chapters on the fundamentals such as building resin kits, painting and weathering, rigging and creating a water effect. It provides guidance on more advanced techniques such as the use of photo-etched parts and creating rough-water effects. Finally, it is packed with helpful tips and finishing touches, such as making flags and how to take professional-standard photographs of your completed model.

Leseprobe

MODELLING

NAVAL SHIPS

IN SMALL SCALES

MODELLING

NAVAL SHIPS

IN SMALL SCALES

Mike McCabe

First published in 2021 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

[email protected]

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2021

© Mike McCabe 2021

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 851 1

Dedication and AcknowledgementsThis book is dedicated to the two most important women in my life: my wife Jill, for her support and patience during its writing; and my sister Ceri, who passed away as it was nearing completion. Thanks also to friends who both helped out and provided moral support, particularly Malcolm Finch, Paul Rowlands and Barry Spencer; but also many more with whom I have talked about modelling over the years, who have shared tips and provided inspiration to me to keep trying to do better.

Cover design by Blue Sunflower Creative

Contents

Introduction

1Where Do I Start?

2Tools and Equipment

3First Steps: Building a Plastic Kit out of the Box

4Taking it Further: Improving a Plastic Kit

5Starting with Resin

6Building a Resin Model Kit

7Painting and Weathering

8Masts and Rigging

9Water Bases

10Advanced Building: Admiral Graf Spee

11Display and Photography

Index

Introduction

Ships are one of the very oldest forms of transport, so of course ship models have been around for a very long time. They are the classic model, having style, grace and presence so perfect as a centrepiece. Where there is a history of ship building, museums hold builders’ models made by craftsmen and apprentices to show their skills and those of the ship workers, and the pride that has been taken in them is there for all to see. At home, a ship model makes a fine display piece for friends and family to admire the skill of the maker. Ships are individuals, they have names, histories and stories. They are entwined with the lives of the crew and passengers, and for many they have been home.

There are many reasons to want to build model ships: to remember a career at sea, a relation who served, to recall history, or simply the pleasure of building a beautiful and intricate model. Whatever the reason, model ships of all types are a challenge for the modeller as they demand a range of skills: accuracy in building, neatness in painting, a steady hand for rigging, and an artist’s eye for creating realistic water. For such large vessels to be a reasonably sized model they are often by necessity built in much smaller scales than other types of model. Photoetched parts to produce very fine detail are common and require some delicacy, while resin kits are a common choice rather than rare diversion. Building ship models is probably the most difficult of all types of modelling, but it is also the most rewarding.

In recent years there has been a great increase in the number and variety of kits and accessories available, along with the number of companies producing them. The rise of 3D design and printing has helped to fuel this, and with greater availability of subjects comes an increase in interest. Although ships still form a relatively small proportion of the completed models seen at local and national shows, this is certainly increasing and the number willing to try their hand is undoubtedly growing. For those brought up for many years on the limited range on offer from brands such as Airfix, Revell and Heller, to see a French pre-dreadnought battleship or an Italian heavy cruiser available as a kit from mainstream plastic kit manufacturers is quite remarkable.

Over the length of time ships have been built they have been put to a countless variety of uses. Modelling them varies widely in scale, function and materials, and they may be static models or designed to be able to float and operated by radio control. Such a wide range of model styles would be impossible to cover in one book, and that is not the aim. This book concentrates on plastic and resin kits in the most common scales of 1/700 and 1/350, and by personal preference in a waterline style with a seascape base. This is not to say that many of the techniques do not apply to larger and smaller scales and other styles of model: they most certainly do.

Similarly, building ship models encompasses a great number of skills and techniques that it is not possible to cover in one volume. Here the most commonly used will be described as they relate to the subjects being built. No doubt you will have your own views on some of the techniques and will prefer to do some things differently; developing your own methods and personal style is a great thing, as it will bring an individuality to your finished models. Do not be afraid to experiment, and to adapt a model to your own particular needs and abilities.

The modelling hobby as a whole has seen a boom in the numbers of painting and weathering products available. Partly this is due to the much greater number of kits and accessories now available, which has led the focus of the modeller away from scratch building their own parts or even complete models, and more towards painting and finishing. A downside to this is that this great variety of paints, washes and powders can become confusing, especially when so many magazines and websites appear devoted to promoting one brand or another as though no model can be considered complete without them.

The techniques shown in this book do at times recommend products, but bear in mind that on the whole these are all basically well known and used types: oil-based enamels and artist oils, water-based acrylics, pastels for powders. In fact the majority of weathering products are formulations of these basic materials, and thinned, mixed or ground ready for use. For that reason this book will show how to use the types of material, since understanding how they work will then leave the choice of personal brand preference to the modeller.

Hopefully this book will act as part guide, part inspiration to you as modeller to use some of the techniques yourself and to develop your own. There is no substitute for trying, learning, then mastering new skills and gaining confidence in your modelling. Building model ships is challenging, addictive, fascinating, so let us dive into this hugely enjoyable hobby.

Chapter One

Where Do I Start?

THE SCALE QUESTION

Early Days: 1/600 Scale

For most of us in the UK the first ship model we built was probably from the Airfix range of 1/600 scale kits dating back to the early 1960s. Still popular with many modellers in this country, it has unfortunately been rather left behind as the most commonly used scale for ship models. As a result very few new kits have been issued in 1/600 since the early 1980s; nevertheless the nostalgia value of building something with the wonderful Airfix Roy Cross box art still holds a strong appeal for many who also prefer the slightly larger size of parts over the much more common smaller ship 1/700 scale. This was the chosen scale for a series of kits produced by four Japanese companies in the 1970s, who joined forces with the aim of between them making a kit of every World War II Imperial Japanese Navy ship available.

Why 1/700 was chosen isn’t particularly clear, but as a result of the number of kits released and the improvement in quality of most of these over the older Airfix catalogue, this gradually became the standard for smaller scale. For those with limited room for display it is an ideal size, since it provides a good compromise between the amount of shelf space required and the level of detail that can be packed into a model. An average battleship model in 1/700 would be around 25–30cm in length.

1/700 Scale

As the standard scale for ships, there is a huge choice in 1/700, covering just about every period and type. Of course the incredible variety of ships built over the centuries means that there is still a great number of vessels for which there is nothing currently available in kit form. If you are looking for anything from a World War II battleship to a Finnish coastal defence ship or a Peruvian monitor, then 1/700 scale is for you, although the larger scales are quickly catching up in terms of the number of subjects available. Despite the increase in popularity of larger models, a trend generally reflected across the modelling world as a whole, there are no signs that 1/700 as the standard scale for ships is likely to change at any time in the near future.

Just a tiny part of the massive range of subjects available in 1/700 scale. Many subjects previously only available in resin are now being produced in injection plastic because Chinese manufacturers such as Trumpeter and Flyhawk have started to release kits.

1/350 Scale

For many of us, advancing years means that eyesight becomes less sharp and hands rather less steady, so something a little larger is less of a challenge. Not too long after releasing their range of 1/700 kits, Tamiya of Japan brought out a number of battleship kits twice the size, in 1/350 scale. For a number of years it seemed as though this was not to be very popular with modellers, as the number of plastic kits added to these first few releases was a long time coming. But this has all changed within the last couple of decades, as the scale has seen a surge in popularity, initially mainly by resin producers, but then taken up largely by the Chinese company Trumpeter, which at the time of writing has released almost 100 kits in 1/350 scale.

The larger scale 1/350 is becoming more popular, both leading to and being driven by a lot of new releases in injection plastic. Hobby Boss in particular has some very interesting and unusual kits in their continually expanding range.

Other manufacturers have followed this lead, and the larger, more impressive size of these models, combined with the increase in subject examples and the availability of accessories, means that this is now the scale of choice for a large proportion of ship modellers. The downside is, of course, that the increased size of a 1/350 model requires four times the shelf space than a 1/700 model does, since it is twice the length and twice the width. Often people say that it is easier to build in 1/350 as the parts are much larger, although one thing to consider is that as the scale is larger, so detail that would be hinted at or missed off altogether in 1/700 may need to be included in 1/350. Small details such as handwheels, hatch covers and cable reels could all be omitted from a smaller-scale model without drawing any attention, but if not included in a larger scale might lead to a model starting to look a little bare. Of course it is the level of complexity of subject that makes ships such a fascinating topic to model.

1/200 Scale

The year 2009 saw the release by Trumpeter of the first in a range of 1/200 scale ships, a development very much in line with the generally increased size of model kits. This certainly makes for large and impressive models: a 1/200 model of HMS Hood is over 1.3 metres in length, with a corresponding increase in the level of detail. This does come at some cost, of course, especially if aftermarket photo-etched brass and resin upgrade sets are to be added. If the space is available to store such a museum-sized model, it would be sure to make a very impressive centrepiece. Although this would seem to be an ideal scale for smaller subjects, giving a very good balance between size and level of detail, kit releases at least so far have concentrated on battleship-sized models; it would therefore be good to see this scale develop with some less space-demanding models becoming available.

Other Scales

There are, of course, a great many other kits available in a myriad of scales: 1/400 is the European equivalent of 1/600 in the UK, and the French company Heller continues to produce kits in this scale, as do a few other plastic and resin companies. For those wanting something smaller, 1/1200 is popular with collectors, and this is mostly concentrated on merchant shipping, with some very nicely detailed models available. Rather than list everything available, for the purposes of this book we will concentrate on the two most popular scales of 1/700 and 1/350, as this is where the majority of ship modellers will be working.

THREE METHODS OF KIT PRODUCTION

Injection Plastic Kits

By far the most common and familiar to most modellers is the injection plastic kit. These may be anything from a large manufacturer such as Tamiya of Japan producing thousands of kits of a release in a single production run, down to small companies where a limited run of a few hundred is made. Simply put, injection kits are made by first creating a mould: this is usually metal, and is either machined or created by using electrical discharge to create the desired shapes, although increasingly this is being done by using 3D printed polymers designed by CAD (computer-aided design). Plastic beads are then heated and injected into the mould under pressure to produce the kit parts, once these are sufficiently cooled. This process produces parts attached to a plastic framework, the ‘sprue’, from which the parts need to be cut.

A typical modern injection plastic kit, in this case the Trumpeter 1/700 model of the Slava-class cruiser Moskva.

The process of manufacturing the mould is the most expensive part of this process and can cost many thousands of pounds, although the sprue of kit parts itself will cost just a few pence. For this reason injection plastic kits require a very significant start-up cost, even for limited run items. Advances in moulding technology since the turn of the century have led to what is known as ‘slide moulding’: this allows moulds to be built in many parts, which then slide together to form the complete mould, rather than being a simple sandwich of two halves. This means that more complex shapes can be produced and in much greater levels of detail. The Chinese company Flyhawk has proved the most successful at exploiting this method, and produces some very high quality kits with a level of detail not previously seen in injection moulding.

An example of the level of detail that can be achieved with modern slide-moulding technology; this is from the kit for the Flyhawk 1/700 model of HMS Aurora.

The advantages of injection-moulded kits are simply that there are many more of them, and they are cheaper on the whole than resin alternatives. Initially in terms of our focus on scales, as most of the early kits came from Japanese manufacturers, there was not surprisingly a concentration on Imperial Japanese Navy subjects from World War II. A few Royal Navy, US Navy and German Kriegsmarine kits came along later. Since 2005 there has been a significant expansion of choice, especially from the Chinese company Trumpeter and their sister Hobby Boss, who have taken on some very interesting and totally unexpected subjects. That it is now possible to have a 1/350 French pre-dreadnought battleship in injection plastic is something that even ten years ago would have seemed like wish-listing in the extreme, but with three such kits released in 2017 it is surely a sign that interest in ship modelling is growing.

Resin Kits

The second most common method for making kits is resin casting. This process involves creating a master pattern either by hand or, more commonly these days, by CAD design, then 3D printing. This is then used as the basis for casting the kit parts. The parts are put into a mould of silicon RTV (room temperature vulcanization) rubber, with a hardening agent that causes the liquid rubber to harden over a period of hours to produce a stiff yet still flexible mould that is capable of picking up extremely fine detail. A two-part epoxy resin is then poured into the mould, often with a dye to give a grey finish; this is then usually placed in a vacuum chamber to ensure that air is forced out of the mould, and the resin occupies the spaces to create an exact likeness.

Some resin kits from a variety of manufacturers in both 1/700 and 1/350 scale.

This is, of course, a much simplified version of the process, but the basic principle applies regardless of the techniques and equipment used. On the whole, resin casting is carried out by smaller companies with much shorter production runs, as each mould will generally last for only twenty-five to thirty copies of a kit before requiring replacement.

Resin kits are normally more expensive than plastic due to the cost of making the master pattern, which has to be spread over a far shorter production run, and the relatively much higher cost of materials per kit compared to injection plastic processes. Where this has been produced by CAD and 3D printing, design time is the most costly part of the process. As a means of creating kits of more unusual subjects, resin is far more common as a medium for ship modelling than, say, aircraft or armour, and it is well worthwhile learning the slightly different techniques for building a resin model, as it will open up a huge range of possibilities.

Most modern resin kits are more complete than their plastic counterparts; etched brass is almost standard, with turned brass, especially for the larger scale, becoming increasingly common. Detail is also often superior, although injection-plastic techniques employed by some companies are starting to approach even the quality of the best resin kits. More commonly the reason modellers give for not wanting to work with resin is the cost, and the fear that their skills will not be up to the task and they will have wasted money on a kit they have not been able to complete. However, there are very many small kits in resin that make ideal subjects to learn the basic techniques and overcome those fears. The better resin kits are, if anything, easier to build than plastic kits, since CAD design allows for an excellent fit of parts and the best castings need very little in the way of cleaning up. Once you take the plunge and start building in resin, there is a world of possibility in front of you.

3D Printing

A few short years ago this summary on how kits are produced would have stopped at the first two sections, but as ever technology is advancing, and we are now only at the start of the potential revolution in the hobby that 3D design and printing is likely to bring. Put very simply, 3D printing or ‘additive manufacturing’ (AM) is the process where a design is made on a computer using CAD software, then downloaded to a printer which, using a plastic polymer, gradually builds up layers to create the finished object. Both the type of material used and the quality of the printer, in terms of the fineness of the printed layer, will determine the eventual quality of the finished object.

Cheaper machines will produce a coarse and grainy product with visible lines, particularly on rounded surfaces, while the hard nature of the material means that these are very difficult to sand and remove. In contrast, a high quality machine will produce an object with very little visible deformation. Towards the end of the 2010s the production of such high quality end-products requires a considerable outlay, although this is a rapidly developing technology – perhaps we will see a high quality 3D printer as an everyday object within the next decade.

Producing a high quality original as far as possible free of obvious printing lines is not cheap, so this is generally used as the basis for resin casting once it is cleaned up. At present this is the main use of 3D printing, other than for some small accessories. Where it is used through market places such as Shapeways for kits, they are generally very expensive and not in my experience very high quality, although this is improving and will no doubt become considerably better in future. It is certainly interesting to wonder where this technology will lead us, as it has the potential to completely change so many aspects of our lives.

ACCESSORIES

Photoetched Brass

The development of parts made from photoetched brass is a revelation to many modellers in terms of the level of intricacy and detail it can bring to a model. Previously some method of replicating open platform supports, lattice towers and the like with sprue or painting techniques was the only way to achieve this. With photoetch, fine details can be added to bring the necessary complexity to the model, and using it will allow a level of finesse not easily available through any other means.

It could be argued with some justification that especially in small scales, items such as railings are overscale. However, missing these details off entirely can make the model look over-simplified, so it is a matter of individual choice whether to include them or not. For myself, the attraction for building ship models is the visual complexity of the subject, so adding photoetched details greatly increases this and makes the model look ‘busy’ and more like the real thing.

Possibly more than any other type of modelling, the use of photoetch as required has become the standard for ship models; some plastic kits will include a small fret for parts such as cranes and catapults, which have an open lattice structure. Although it may seem difficult and demanding at first, it is well worth learning to work with photoetched parts and gaining confidence in their regular use, as it will bring a great improvement in the quality of the finished model.

Photoetched parts – or just ‘etch’, as it is more commonly known – is usually made from thin sheets of brass of 0.1mm thickness as standard, though sometimes the slightly stiffer nickel silver or much harder stainless steel is also used. Thicker materials may be used as needed, particularly for larger scales and larger parts, where both the increased strength and scale thickness are an advantage. As with 3D-printed parts, CAD is also used to create the design, although previously this was done laboriously by hand. This is then printed on to a negative sheet for both sides of the design, and treated with acid to remove the areas of metal not required.

Etched brass from the Flyhawk 1/350 upgrade set for the Academy model of HMS Warspite. Cranes are a good example of where etched brass is a superior choice for finely detailed parts.

The end product is a thin sheet with the parts marked out (the fret) and connected to the framework with small tags. These parts are then cut away from the framework and either used as they are if needed flat, or bent into three-dimensional shapes. A huge variety of etched brass sets can be found: some are of the generic type of individual sets of railings, doors, cable reels and similar, while others are tailored to individual kits to provide all the parts needed to upgrade the basic offering.

Aftermarket Resin

‘Aftermarket’ is the term used to describe any accessory made to add detail to a basic kit, whether etched brass, resin, wooden decks or any such improvement in detail. A number of companies specialize in producing these parts, with resin being the most commonly used, alongside etched brass. These mainly feature details that are not well realized in plastic kits, especially weapons and mounts, boats, aircraft, anchors, winches and many others commonly found in aftermarket sets.

Aftermarket AA weapons in 1/350 scale from the Veteran range; these include resin, photoetch and turned brass barrels for a very detailed result.

Aftermarket sets are a small and inexpensive way to improve a basic kit, although the more involved sets that include resin, etched brass and turned brass parts are of course a little more expensive. Some excellent detail parts are made by 3D printing, where the small size of many of these makes it cost effective to produce sets directly produced by this method.

Wooden Decks

Another relatively new accessory is in the form of laser-cut wooden decks. Very thin sheets of wood are cut by laser to fit a particular kit accurately and so give the impression of a wooden deck. These are backed by adhesive so they can be placed directly on to the kit deck, often accompanied by an identically cut masking sheet that can be used to paint the rest of the model once the deck is attached. The idea of wooden decks is that the natural colour and grain of the material will replicate the wooden deck sections on the model without the need to paint. Of course the grain of the wood is 1:1 scale, whilst due to the type of wood used, the colour tends towards yellow, whereas ship decks, which are normally made of teak, fade towards a mid-grey colour.

A replacement wooden deck; this is for the Flyhawk 1/700 model of the German battlecruiser Derfflinger.

Finally there is the issue that even for the thinnest of wooden decks, there will be a step between planked and steel areas on the model due to the thickness of the material; also some height of the superstructures and deck fittings will be lost for the same reason. However, a lot of modellers do enjoy using these, and as with everything in modelling and life, it is a matter of opinion and personal taste.

Turned Brass and Other Accessories

One relatively inexpensive way of improving any warship model is to use turned-metal gun barrels. Weapons are always a feature of any military model, and this is no less true for model warships. Due to the limitations of injection plastic and resin casting, there are often imperfections on kit barrels due to seam lines, offsetting on both sides, or a bend in the plastic that is difficult to correct. Turned brass is commonly used for smaller barrels, along with aluminium for 1/350 scale replacements. Metal cut by computer-controlled lathes has the advantage of being able to reproduce a perfectly round cross-section, with the details of flared and hollowed-out muzzles helping to make such a difference in detail.

Turned brass barrels compared to the plastic version; notice that the plastic part has a seam, and often the plastic part is offset.

Many options for turned brass barrels are available, including for light anti-aircraft weapons, and full sets to cover all the varying calibres required on specific ship models. Another very useful accessory along the same lines is turned-brass tapered masts; we shall see the advantage of these in the rigging chapter.

To make a full list of the huge variety of aftermarket details available would be difficult, but looking through the items offered by any specialist ship-model retailer will bring up scale chain, crew figures, aircraft weapons, rigging material, decals, paper flags and much more. It is a good bet that if you can think of something that would enhance your model, so has somebody else already, and you will be able to find it somewhere. If not, then get in touch with one of them to suggest it.

Upgrade Sets

For many of the more popular kits, complete upgrade sets are available that will include at least one, but more often more, of the types of aftermarket parts mentioned. Some of these are extremely complex and quite expensive, usually costing more than the kit they are intended to detail. They do, however, provide a package that will go a very long way towards allowing the modeller to produce a highly detailed model of their chosen subject. Commonly one of these sets will include etched brass, resin replacement parts and turned brass barrels and other details, with wooden decks becoming more frequent. Unless you have a large spares box with a lot of etched brass frets and resin replacements, these can prove to be quite a cost-effective way of getting all the parts needed to bring your model to another level.

Upgrade set; this is the Flyhawk 1/350 set for the Academy model of HMS Warspite.

WATERLINE AND FULL HULL

Simply put, most 1/700 kits come as waterline kits, and most 1/350 kits have a full hull option. The choice of which to model is, of course, entirely up to the individual, although if you prefer full hull and want to model in 1/700, you will find your choices limited unless you are prepared to make the part of the hull under the waterline yourself. All is not lost, though, as many of the later Trumpeter releases do indeed have a full hull option. It is, of course, much simpler in 1/350 to remove the lower hull to make a waterline model. As someone who likes the challenge of making a realistic seabase, and as I like to make a ship in its natural element, I prefer waterline, so the models in this book will be built in that way. Largely, though, it is a matter of whether the modeller prefers to build a waterline model with weathering and perhaps crew on a seabase, or a museum-type build to show the lines of the ship and keep the build as clean as possible.

Putting it all together results in an impressive model, such as this 1/350 model of HMS Sheffield built from a resin kit with some extras.

Both styles can produce very fine models, and neither should be considered to take precedence over the other, although personally I find that a model built with weathering, figures or in action and then placed full hull on a pedestal just does not look right. An advantage for the waterline builder in possession of a kit that is full hull is that a little of the lower hull can be shown on the seabase. This can make for a very nice effect, showing the ship pitching and rolling in heavier seas, greatly adding to the realism of the finished model.

Chapter Two

Tools and Equipment

Starting to build model ships does not need any great outlay, as modelling can begin with a small set of tools. As with other types of modelling, requirements are for cutting, filling, sanding and gluing, although with much of the work involving small and delicate parts, some optical assistance is likely to be needed for many modellers. Painting will be covered in a separate chapter, so the equipment relating to that will be explored in full later in the book.

CUTTING TOOLS

Cutting tools are needed to remove parts from the kit sprues, for altering details and to scrape away seam marks. For larger parts sprue cutters are very useful: these are spring-loaded tools with the cutting edge along one side so you can get close in to the part. There are many makes of these; those made by Tamiya are well made and popular, and will last a very long time if used properly. Don’t be tempted to cut metal rod or other hard items with these as it will damage the cutting edges.

Cutting tools: a basic set including scalpels, sprue cutter and nail scissors – the latter with curved blades is very useful for trimming photoetch.

For cutting small parts from sprues and resin runners a scalpel is the best tool. Swann Morton make many types of blade with a slim metal handle that fits all of these. For general use a No. 11 blade is ideal: this is a long, triangular blade that comes to a point and is excellent for cutting away small parts and for general use. The flat edge of the blade is very useful for scraping away seam lines and unwanted plastic. For cutting etched brass parts and plastic card, a round-edged No. 10 blade is best as it will not dig into the area to be cut in the same way as a pointed blade.

Care needs to be taken with all blade edges, of course, but particularly with scalpel blades, which are extremely sharp. They are also thin and can be quite brittle, so care is needed when cutting thick plastic in case the blade shatters. It is best to cut out thicker parts in sections rather than trying to force the blade through in one go. Change the blades regularly as a sharp blade is actually safer than a blunt one – the temptation when using a blunt blade is to force the cut, making it much more likely that it will slip and cause injury. It is cheaper in the longer term to buy blades in bulk; packs of 100 Swann Morton blades can be bought at around £10, so a fresh blade is always on hand.

Scalpel blades are much cheaper when bought in bulk; keep an old blade for applying filler to small areas and similar jobs.