After returning from our cruise, Sue and I had to remain in quarantine until the results of our PCR tests came back. The negative results came through late on last Tuesday evening, and since then we have been free to go out and about.
One of the places I have since visited was a local branch of THE WORKS, where I bought myself a new ‘toy’, a tool for doing pyrogravure.
This looks a bit like an electric soldering iron, but it is designed to burn marks into wood or other materials. It cost me £10.00 and came with a variety of different, interchangeable tips.
I have a number of 4-inch square plywood tiles that I am planning to use as terrain tiles, and the pyrography tool will enable me to mark terrain feature such as roads and rivers onto the tiles, and I plan to try out my new modelling ‘toy’ as soon as I can.
Although not appropriate to your collections a pyro gravure is very handy in removing plastic ship hulls below the waterline.
ReplyDeleteJim Duncan,
DeleteThat is a very useful tip! Thanks very much for sharing it.
All the best,
Bob
Most interested to read your post. I got a similar one for my daughters over Christmas. I had been wondering if it had wargaming potential…now I know. Looking forward to seeing what you do and I think I will have a go myself…
ReplyDeleteTradgardmastare,
DeleteI hope to explore its potential as a modelling tool over the next few weeks.
All the best,
Bob
I saw this too .. and wondered the how I could use it for my hobby .. and if I did could I risk it falling into the hands of my crafting daughter .. and the house filling with the unpleasant smell of charring wood .. I said "no" .. but will keenly follow your results ;)
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteWell, if I find it useful, you may well have to risk buying one … and keeping out of your daughter’s hands!
All the best,
Bob
I've toyed with buying something similar to remove flash from plastic figures - in particular Spencer Smiths.
ReplyDeleteAt present it involves the use of a scalpel which very quickly becomes too blunt for the task (although remaining more than sharp enough for normal modelling).
I have wondered if those with replaceable ends would work with a knife type end that many have.
I have ended up with an anti-cutting glove to reduce the number of scalpel inflicted injuries but find myself thinking "there must be an easier way". Early pioneers who used plastic figures often employed a needle stuck in a cork and heated in a candle, which made me wonder about these.
Neil
Neil Patterson (Neil),
DeleteI don’t have any plastic figures to experiment with, but I would have thought that if used with care, the heated heads on the tool would have cut off larger bits of flash without too much trouble.
All the best,
Bob