Supplies, Paints, and Tools for the “Live Build Along” with HO Scale Customs and Jason Jensen Trains.
If you are reading this, you probably plan to follow along with us on the “Facebook Live” Ho Scale Customs and Jason Jensen Trains kit building, step by step “Build Along” and likely already ordered your kit for it!
If you still need to pick up your kit, you can get it here: Pop’s General Store – KC’s Workshop
We are so excited to get building on February 11, 2019. We plan to make this a fun, relaxing way to spend the evenings creating your own miniature structure and will minimize any fears you may have building a wood craftsman kit.
But before you can begin you will need a modeler’s “toolbox” if you will. Supplies, paints, and tools that will be required to complete the structure. This will not be an exhausting list, just the basics to get you started and complete this super cool structure. As you continue to build and your experience and skills improve, you likely will expand your “toolbox” with a multitude of things you can model, paint and weather with. Most of what you will need can be found at a craft store such as Michaels, AC Moore, or Hobby Lobby, some others at stores like Walmart or your local grocery store. Some of it you will probably already have in your home! None of it will put you in bankruptcy, and you will probably think, “That’s it?!!” Many others who are joining us who are experienced modelers will already have everything they need, but they might want to glance through, as your techniques may vary from ours.
Let’s get started.
NECESSARY TOOLS:
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- HOBBY KNIFE: A standard X-Acto #1 knife with a #11 blade is all you will need to do this kit. They are straight handled, uncomplicated, and simple. No need for anything fancy. And they are inexpensive. There are other brands as well that will work fine, but X-acto is tried and true.
- #11 BLADES: for the hobby knife, a few extra blades would be a good idea. You may get some with the knife above. No need to buy the big 15 blade package…….Yet. Not until you start building more kits.
- SINGLE EDGE RAZOR BLADE: they are cheap and you only need 1. You can buy them by the 100s at hardware and craft stores. But you need 1.
- TWEEZERS: one or two (we sometimes lose ours in the mess on top the workbench) S pairs of tweezers with a fine point. The craft stores have some cheap sets of them in the jewelry making section. Or just a single one. Or you might already have some in the house. (Don’t use the one in the first aid kit? Please? It’s a sanitary thing and your family probably won’t appreciate it) But make sure it has a needle nose type point.
- STAINLESS STEEL STRAIGHT EDGE RULER: Try to avoid a ruler with cork on the back side as they make cuts with the hobby knife go askew a fraction or two. Micromark Tools online has the best one which is a model railroading ruler and it has scale markings for HO, O, and N scale on it as well as a five-inch marking for standard measurement and it is about a foot in length. If you are going to get into this, this would be the best route in the future as they cost only about $12.99 and they last for years. However, any straight edge would suffice or this build, including a wood ruler if that is all you have.
- PAIR OF SHARP SCISSORS: craft scissors are perfectly fine. Barber scissors are amazing, Stay away from safety/children’s scissors, unless you enjoy the frustration of cutting and cutting to no avail.
- A STRAIGHT PIN or SEWING NEEDLE: Should cost only pennies, and likely nothing as you will probably have one at home. Some modelers have a ¼ inch pounce wheel for the purpose of nail holes and they can use that, but if you are new, a pin is fine.
- SANDPAPER: 150 to 400 grit is best. Better yet to have several grades. You don’t need a whole big contractor pack of it though (we’re not building kitchen cabinets or sanding down Aunt Myrtle’s grandfather clock), and if you only have one grade, that should be fine. 220 grit is standard. A small wood block to wrap the paper around may also be handy. Something you can fit comfortably in the palm of your hand. But just the paper will work too.
- BOX of ROUND TOOTHPICKS: Grocery Store, they come like 250+ per box and cost less than $1.50. You will use these for all sorts of things! Glue in particular.
- NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS: small ones are great. Also found in jewelry making sections at craft stores. But any needle nose plier found in your basic toolbox/bench will work.
- CLAMPS: some sort of clamps. Small spring clamps are great (Walmart, Harbor Freight), Irwin Quick Clamps are better but not necessary.
- RUBBER BANDS: some decent sized ones are nice to have for things clamps can’t hold.
- WHITE GLUE: Elmer’s or any white PVA glue will work just fine. We will use this for signs on your structure.
- WOOD GLUE: Again, whatever is available is fine. Wood glue is wood glue. Also, a small bottle is all that is needed for this kit. Yellow in color. Tight-bond, Gorilla, Elmer’s, etc.
- CA GLUE, or any Crazy Glue type quick bonding glue works. Locktite makes a good one.
- BLUE PAINTERS TAPE or MASKING TAPE:
- ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL and INDIA INK mix: You don’t need the gallon jug of alcohol, just a standard smaller size. It’s usually cheaper than $2. Buy it in 91% alcohol version, not the 70% as there is too much water in it. Any non-waterproof BLACK India ink found in a craft/art store. Higgins & Speedball are good, but I use the cheaper store brand version and its fine. This is for staining wood and other parts and to mix the formula use this ratio: 1-pint alcohol to 1 ½ teaspoon of India ink. Mix it right in the pint bottle and store it that way. Easy Peezy!
- WEATHERING POWDER/SOFT PASTEL CHALKS: there are weathering powders out there and if you have them great, but we get just as good results using soft pastel chalks that you can find in an art/craft store. Just get the basic color set which usually sells for $6 to $10. (USE STORE COUPONS FOUND ONLINE and get them at half that). The basics you will need color wise are black, white, gray, brown, rust, green, and the other colors that come with it are just bonus (yippee!).
- MAKEUP BRUSHES OR CHEAP ART/CRAFT PAINT BRUSHES: these are used just for weathering with the chalks above.
If you have a wife or girlfriend or you are female (or male?) and wear make-up, you might be able to convince her into doing away with some of her old worn brushes (might have to barter to buy her new ones), or you can go to the craft/art store and get one of the cheaper variety packs of brushes just for weathering. Avoid the cheap ones for kids that all look the same black bristle with no direction. There are some good looking discount brushes out there for like $5 or so. - WEIGHTS: Something with some weight over a ½ pound to 2 pounds. We use hockey pucks…lol. Old trophy bases of marble or granite are good, and you could even use some big old heavy books you probably will never read.
- SPONGE: We prefer the natural sea sponge but they are a bit more costly. However, one or two kitchen sponges with the fine holes or a synthetic sponge works fine too.
HELPFUL BUT NOT NECESSARY TOOLS
- EMORY BOARDS: These are better than sanding sticks at hobby shops. Yes, the same type you use to file your fingernails (don’t bite them, dude). Just the standard pack of emery boards are fine and cost like 2 bucks for six or ten of them. You can cut them with the X-acto knife into strips if you need to get into small areas. You can also get the thicker multi-sided emery boards for like $2 each at Walmart in the cosmetic area.
- NEEDLE FILES: A good item to always have, although not entirely necessary for this build. Just good to have and they can be had cheap at places like Harbor Freight or the hardware store. Just get the smallest size files possible. We aren’t filing steel prison bars here.
PAINTS AND PAINT BRUSHES:
We use acrylic craft paint. For this project and most others, it is all you will need. They have no solvent based fumes to breath in so they are safe, they dry pretty quick, and they are easy to clean from brushes and to thin out for different thicknesses and washes because they are entirely water based and soluble. Better yet they are inexpensive and they do a fantastic job! They price from .75 cents to 1.50 max and if you are paying 1.50 max you are getting hosed. They come in 2-ounce bottles and you can find them in the big box craft stores by the hundreds of about every imaginable color on the spectrum and some we think they just make up! You name it, there is a paint color for it.
Brands we recommend are:
- Folk Art by Plaid
- Americana
- Apple Barrel
- Ceramcoat
- Nicole’s (AC Moore store brand)
- Craftsmart (Michael’s store brand)
- Martha Stewart
- And there could be several more we are forgetting.
But you want to make sure you get the matte paint, not satin and not gloss. At least for this build, maybe you will find an application for it down the road. Eventually, the more you do this you will end up with a plethora of paint bottles and choices and your workshop may end up looking like the craft store itself. But for now, you will need some basics to get started.
- Black or lamp black
- White
- Raw Sienna
- Burnt Sienna
- Burnt Umber
- Silver (metallic works best), Tin or Gun Metal Grey
- Some sort of Dark Brown, like Bark Brown or Rich Chocolate
- A light brown
- Tan
- Khaki
You will also now need to select a few colors for your kits primary colors. One for the main structures walls, another for the trim. This will be your choice and one we will not recommend for you, however, we suggest that you select natural earth tones for most kits. Whites (they come in many cool shades of white) is always a fail-safe wall or trim tones but there are many great color choices. Try to avoid anything vivid or bright like blues, yellows, reds, and stay with pastel softer shades and earthy tones. In the end, however, it is your kit! And that is the beauty of fine-scale modeling is that it is yours and your choice!
1 CAN OF FLAT PRIMER SPRAY PAINT in Gray or Khaki (rust oleum camo in Khaki is a good one) for plastic windows and doors base coat. Make sure it says FLAT or ULTRA FLAT! Shine and gloss are to be avoided in this hobby in most instances. Think Matte!
PAINT BRUSHES: To start you can get some decent brushes at a low cost in the variety packs in the fine art section of the craft stores. Often brushes are on sale. Look for some with small fine points as well, but the key brushes are:
Round, Flat, Liner, and Detail.
Don’t have to buy the most expensive, but go too cheap looking and you will not be satisfied with the results. Avoid any with huge brush heads of more than a ¼ inch
WORKSPACE ITEMS:
You will need a place to build obviously. If you don’t have a workbench, find a place where you have a good flat surface to work from. It doesn’t have to be huge, but some room would help. I know people who build all their stuff on a TV tray and put out amazing work. If you use the family kitchen table, make sure you have plenty of newspaper laid down in a few layers so you don’t have anything soak through and stain the top.
You can’t build properly without some good lighting so whatever you have to do to make it as bright as possible will definitely help. Sometimes a desk lamp or two works in addition to any overhead lighting. On our workbenches, we have lights designed for crafting made by OTT-Lite but they can get a bit pricey. You can find them at the craft stores and JoAnn fabrics for sewing enthusiasts. If you go that route, use your store coupons again and save anywhere from 40 to 60% depending on the store. They have one every day to use for any single item purchase.
CUTTING MAT: It is not required?? But it is smart! When using your X-acto knife you will be cutting through wood and whatever is under that wood is going to show every cut in its surface. The mat avoids this and will save you from grief by others in your home for damaging your furniture. Walmart has the best prices on these found near their sewing and craft area. All sizes, get what works best for you. I have one by Fiskars there that is 17 inches long by 12 inches wide and it cost me about $16. Covers a good section of my bench.
A few old coffee mugs or cups that you can put water in to wash or rinse your brushes.
A ROLL OF PAPER TOWELS: You can and will use them for just about anything. Especially cleaning up but also dry brushing.
NOTE: We will say this over and over again at HO Scale Customs on our Bench Time podcast and Live build nights. EVERY day there is a coupon for Michael’s and A.C. Moore Craft Stores for any one regular priced item per trip, at a savings of 40% to 60% depending on the day. 50% being the most common.
Hobby Lobby has an everyday coupon available for 40% off for any one regular priced item per trip (always 40% there). You can go to their website and sign up for their email coupons and every single morning before you even wake up, there is a coupon waiting for you in the email. You can even show them the email on your mobile phone at the store to save you printing it. So if you are paying full price for anything arts and crafts wise, you are foolishly wasting big money!
In time as you progress with fine scale modeling you will inevitably grow a vast collection of tools, supplies, and equipment you never thought you would need but come to rely on. Whatever you do, the biggest asset you have is your imagination, your patience, and your ability to keep it fun because this hobby is for you and no one else. Do it however you like in your no judgment zone! Enjoy!
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