August 26, 2009

UMM Scribing Tool from Unique Master Models-USA

I purchased the JLC saw a few years ago after seeing it at the Atlanta IPMS Nationals. At first I didn’t see anything but a razor sharp instrument that would take my finger off, and I ribbed my friends who had bought it that it was a waste of money. Of course, once I bought one, I was forced to admit I was WAY WRONG! The little saw turned out to be one of my favorite and most used tools! Even after I broke a blade I found use for the broken off bits of blade by chucking them into an xacto knife. I was sold on John’s tools.

So, when we got to Nationals this year in Columbus, his booth was on the upper list of booths to hit. I wasn’t going to be wrong again! I wanted a UMM-USA scriber!! I soon found the booth and the usual friendly John Vojtech. They had a scriber and their riveter tools lying out with some kit parts to try them on, so I wasted no time in picking up and playing with the scriber! I pulled the scriber, I pushed it, I laid it flat like a knife, I scraped with it, I drilled rivet holes with it, and with every line I made I knew this tool would be one I’d use on every part to clean up seam lines. It almost replaces the xacto knife in the uses I can see me using it in. Made from hardened tool steel it’s sure to last a lifetime with few to no sharpenings over that lifetime. The packaging shows several shots of suggested uses for the tool, but I’m sure there will end up being more.

Upon getting home and doing some testing on resin I can report that this tool is resin friendly. It takes a little more muscle to pull it through it, but it makes beautiful curly cues of resin as perfect as if it were scribing styrene. That’s the secret to this tool, unlike virtually all of the other scribers sold, this one actually removes the material as it scribes and leaves you with a clean, ready to paint panel line. The harder you push down, the wider the line it makes. Going around curves is not difficult and made easier by the fact that it’s so sharp that usually only one pull across the surface is necessary. The hard part will be holding the ruler, not the scriber!

 

So Peacekeepers, if you don’t have this tool, consider it vital and add it to your tool kit IMMEDIATELY! Chancellor’s orders! In fact, buy all of his tools; they’re all the best of their kind you’ll ever use.