Pens from $2 stores. Brilliant. They invariably pull apart, give up some cool scratchbuilding parts and the manufacturers seem to bring out a whole new range (shapes etc) every other month. Well worth looking for.
Oh yes. Great resource for scratchbuilding things. I used parts of a biro (ball pen) for my EGGZtravaganze entry. It made a very great "cannon".
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http://www.andersdenkend.com/zwischenraum/Modellbau/Modellbau_SMA_EGGstravaganza_Contest_03.jpg
Me too, for an ion cannon a while back. I used the tip of a dollar store marker and some pen parts. They were the write part for the job.
http://girvanmedia.com/atat/ion/01.jpg
http://girvanmedia.com/atat/ion/03.jpg
http://girvanmedia.com/atat/ion/09.jpg
Plastic packers that chippys use for packing out door frames they come in all shapes and sizes and have nice receses in them, you can buy a mixed bag from builders merchants for about £ 3 or £4 quid. They come in depths of 1mm to 10mm. Grate for detailing the sides of scatch built star ships. Also false nails are great for armor plates on mecha, still not found anywhere that sells fake toe nails ( do they even exist ?) about 49p here in the UK.
UPVC window sills out of a skip and plastic gas pipe for flues, great for the base of scratch built starships and free from your local building site skip
I always found it hard to get a hold of certain SM supplies such as Brass sheets and styrene but I recently found a great online store with a lot of useful stuff:
If you go to plastruct's site, they have a very nice list of shops in europe that sell their stuff.
Most of these shops sell other supplies like K&S, styrene profiles and sheet, balsa etc. as well.
And always check the 1 EUR or 99 ct shops around you, since they may just have, what you are looking for. They often have things, where you didn't know that you are looking for them, as well.
I've seen a japanese guy using a plastic coat hanger from such a cheapo store, to make round curves for his pipes with it. Generally a great Idea.
Just back from The New Zealand Boatshow. Scored a dozen styrene key ring floats. Perfect for fuel tanks, bases for AG units etc. And they are give-aways! Even better.
So true! They can also be used for ammo belts in 1/48th or 1/72nd scale, depending on the size of the cable ties. We use them in the theater I belong to, to dress stage light cords (ie, to tie them up out of the line of sight). When we strike the lights after a show, I collect a bunch of the spent ties.
An example of their application: in Monogram's 1/48 B-17 or B-24, you can use a piece for the ammo feed chutes in the waist compartment. Or they can be used as the chutes in the wings for a P-51, P-47, or F4F and F6F.
Let's repeat the scratchbuilder's motto: "Never throw anything out!"