I have done my reading and sourced everything I have been advised to buy in respect to model building. My question is, what little tools and tricks do you in the profession use that my university wont have advised I buy.
Metal shear is the greatest thing ever if you have to cut multiple strips of chipboard. Set the fence and crank em out.
Glue is a little vague. Get good glues. You'll want ones with some flex, ones that set quickly, and ones that have no flex. Use the right ones at the right times.
Metal cutting straight edge. DO NOT CUT AGAINST YOUR TRIANGULAR SCALES.
Your supplies will vary depending on your design, the materials you choose to use to represent it, and how you want to fasten the materials together. A bunch of my studio mates chose to solder models with a small soldering iron while in another studio, people made models out of cast concrete with wooden molds. Just be prepared to buy/borrow/beg for what you need as you go along.
Know what glues are best for what materials and how they work. (Spent a very unfortunate few days trying to remove polycyanoacrylate off some plexi before finding out that that type of glue burns plastic therefore, I had just wasted time and had to start over.) Sometimes you want an epoxy, and sometimes simple wood glue works the best. It just depends on what you want to do.
Make friends with the people who work in the model shop. If they're nice, they'll help you troubleshoot and show you how to use the equipment without losing fingers.
Olfa is >>>> xacto they last many more cuts, will save you $ + time in the long run - small and box cutter size
Solid metal ruler over wood or plastic is more durable, can be used as cutting edge (choose one side for straight edge one side for measuring/drawing as will still get nicked)
Masking or painters tape to hold things while glue sets
Plastruct with brush for bonding acrylic with no fog
Olfa curved chopper (forget the name) for cutting acrylic when you can't use / wait for laser cutter
Plastruct scalies
Museum board - nicer than chip easier to work with/thinner than foamcore, sturdier than Bristol
Pencils
Erasers
Tweezers for small interiors stuff / when your fingers are covered in glue
Also helps that it isn't Joe's first post, and he was responsive when asked for clarification.
Aug 24, 17 2:41 pm ·
·
joeuk
Thank you. I really appreciate that. I am an old man to this in a lot of ways, back to uni at 37 years old. I apologise if a few of my questions sometimes seem silly questions, but as
the saying goes...
spaghetti, different thicknesses - makes for great window mullions or those spatial frames facades. And wire for soldering, wire frames are great structural models.
Is this a professional environment or a school? I wasn't clear after reading your post.
Aug 24, 17 3:12 pm ·
·
archanonymous
Ok - he is asking about things he should buy that the university wont have - got it. You should buy your own 3D printer. They are only $500 or so and having it on your desk and available to use anytime is a huge advantage.
If your school has a wood shop, don't bother with buying the basswood sticks. Buy a poplar (or similar UK available species) board and plane it down to the thickness of the width of the basswood sticks you intend to use. Use the band saw with a rip fence to make your own sticks. You'll save a good bit of money over buying them. The faces won't be as smooth, but you can always hit those with some sandpaper if that bothers you.
My undergrad wood shop had a full metal & weld shop too. Several of my models had welded or bent plate components just because I could. Loved it and got so proficient that I would just weld in a T-shirt like a boss
.
Tacky glue, or fabric glue. It is the secret to great models with no glue residue. It's similar in appearance to Elmers. Let it dry for a bit and you can use your fingers or a stick to apply to your materials. If you use too much it easily rubs away and it drys clear. Doesn't work for acrylic but it's the best for wood, paper or chipboard.
Keep away from Zap a Gap or glues that require an accelerator.
There is one last MAJOR thing your university won't have advised you and no one on this forum did either.
No one makes models in the professional world. I've been working 7 years and I've never even seen a model.
Aug 27, 17 5:01 pm ·
·
Non Sequitur
I've built models early in my career and I know a few offices
who still do, although they likely get outsourced.
Aug 27, 17 6:36 pm ·
·
randomised
I'm sorry, you must have a really boring job if you haven't even seen a model in 7 years. In all offices I have worked so far we made models, study models, models to discuss pricing, models for meetings with structural engineers, presentation models, whatever, but we outsourced as well, the really tricky stuff like resin or concrete, check out madebymistake.nl for example, but having seen no models in 7 years as an architect, damn...
Aug 28, 17 1:36 am ·
·
flatroof
Usually the stars and big name firms have the cash flow to stick interns into their "model shops" to keep them occupied and out of the way.
Aug 28, 17 11:36 am ·
·
archi_dude
Hmm that's crazy to me. I literally have never seen a physical model since I left school. My first job had holograms in the lobby but that''s as close as I've seen.
2nd the tacky glue recommendation. Also, a safety ruler might be helpful; mine certainly saved my fingers a few times.
Aug 27, 17 10:44 pm ·
·
randomised
I once cut my thumb quite deep while cutting a sheet of metal at home, the day before we were supposed to get safety instructions for working in the university model shop. I showed up with my hand in bandages and was the perfect example of what not to do, so I second that safety ruler.
+1 one on the machinist angles, I actually had 6 by the end of school, 3 different "L"-shaped sizes and 3 different rectangular sizes. Those were easily my favourite tools, kept everything nice and square!
Otherwise, my big recommendation is to make friends with your woodshop technicians, and learn to use the planar + jointer correctly immediately. They seem a bit intimidating at first because of the size/noise, but man once you know the advantages of them you can make some incredible objects.
Aug 29, 17 9:20 am ·
·
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What am I missing please?
I have done my reading and sourced everything I have been advised to buy in respect to model building. My question is, what little tools and tricks do you in the profession use that my university wont have advised I buy.
Thank you.
Don't know what your uni advised so don't know what's missing
Fair point, but assume the basics.
Healing Matt
Pens
Knifes
Rulers
Squares
Foam board
Glue
Sticky spots
I'm looking for the "ooooooooooo, I didnt think of that" responses from people who work day in\out with these things.
mini clamps
bandaids
A Chopper/Saw block for cutting basswood strips cleanly/at angles. One of the hand cutters is good too, but can leave unclean edges.
Also patience.
Metal shear is the greatest thing ever if you have to cut multiple strips of chipboard. Set the fence and crank em out.
Glue is a little vague. Get good glues. You'll want ones with some flex, ones that set quickly, and ones that have no flex. Use the right ones at the right times.
Metal cutting straight edge. DO NOT CUT AGAINST YOUR TRIANGULAR SCALES.
A little miter box and saw
Dremel tool
Spray mount
If you go to architecture school, you can get one. Your mom might even buy it for you.
Your supplies will vary depending on your design, the materials you choose to use to represent it, and how you want to fasten the materials together. A bunch of my studio mates chose to solder models with a small soldering iron while in another studio, people made models out of cast concrete with wooden molds. Just be prepared to buy/borrow/beg for what you need as you go along.
Know what glues are best for what materials and how they work. (Spent a very unfortunate few days trying to remove polycyanoacrylate off some plexi before finding out that that type of glue burns plastic therefore, I had just wasted time and had to start over.) Sometimes you want an epoxy, and sometimes simple wood glue works the best. It just depends on what you want to do.
Make friends with the people who work in the model shop. If they're nice, they'll help you troubleshoot and show you how to use the equipment without losing fingers.
Solid metal ruler over wood or plastic is more durable, can be used as cutting edge (choose one side for straight edge one side for measuring/drawing as will still get nicked)
Masking or painters tape to hold things while glue sets
Plastruct with brush for bonding acrylic with no fog
Olfa curved chopper (forget the name) for cutting acrylic when you can't use / wait for laser cutter
Plastruct scalies
Museum board - nicer than chip easier to work with/thinner than foamcore, sturdier than Bristol
Pencils
Erasers
Tweezers for small interiors stuff / when your fingers are covered in glue
Colored pencils optional
ditto "The Chopper" and mini clamps
Machinist blocks (aka 1-2-3 blocks), good for holding things in place at right angles while glue sets.
"Kicker" for "super" glue (cyanoacrylate accelerator), sometimes waiting for glue to set just isn't in the schedule.
This website has come in handy at times as well ... http://www.thistothat.com/
And people say we're not helpful...
It just requires the right questions and attitude.
Good luck Joe.
Also helps that it isn't Joe's first post, and he was responsive when asked for clarification.
Thank you. I really appreciate that. I am an old man to this in a lot of ways, back to uni at 37 years old. I apologise if a few of my questions sometimes seem silly questions, but as the saying goes...
Deal!
Plastic Syringes (non medical). Hard to get but if you clean it well and keep the needle filled with water, you can reuse indefinitely.
This is to help apply minimal strips of glue.
they sell small plastic containers in model making shops with a syringe - also used with acetone to bond plexiglass edges.
spaghetti, different thicknesses - makes for great window mullions or those spatial frames facades. And wire for soldering, wire frames are great structural models.
I always wanted a small table saw, like this one, but could never really justify needing one.
Is this a professional environment or a school? I wasn't clear after reading your post.
Ok - he is asking about things he should buy that the university wont have - got it. You should buy your own 3D printer. They are only $500 or so and having it on your desk and available to use anytime is a huge advantage.
Thank you for all the help and advice. All of this real world experience, it would be a shame to not ask. Thank you.
If your school has a wood shop, don't bother with buying the basswood sticks. Buy a poplar (or similar UK available species) board and plane it down to the thickness of the width of the basswood sticks you intend to use. Use the band saw with a rip fence to make your own sticks. You'll save a good bit of money over buying them. The faces won't be as smooth, but you can always hit those with some sandpaper if that bothers you.
Great, thank you.
What you are missing is learning by experience. Turn off your laptop and go build a model.
Amen!
I agree. Nothing beats doing it. I can't wait to get started.
.
I still have my studio box with supplies inside plus other stuff I've curated over the years. Buy stuff as you need it.
And learn how to weld, makes for killer models:
source: https://archinect.com/news/bus...
My undergrad wood shop had a full metal & weld shop too. Several of my models had welded or bent plate components just because I could. Loved it and got so proficient that I would just weld in a T-shirt like a boss .
That's pretty awesome, I never did unfortunately.
Tacky glue, or fabric glue. It is the secret to great models with no glue residue. It's similar in appearance to Elmers. Let it dry for a bit and you can use your fingers or a stick to apply to your materials. If you use too much it easily rubs away and it drys clear. Doesn't work for acrylic but it's the best for wood, paper or chipboard.
Keep away from Zap a Gap or glues that require an accelerator.
that's really fantasic and helpful
There is one last MAJOR thing your university won't have advised you and no one on this forum did either.
No one makes models in the professional world. I've been working 7 years and I've never even seen a model.
I've built models early in my career and I know a few offices who still do, although they likely get outsourced.
I'm sorry, you must have a really boring job if you haven't even seen a model in 7 years. In all offices I have worked so far we made models, study models, models to discuss pricing, models for meetings with structural engineers, presentation models, whatever, but we outsourced as well, the really tricky stuff like resin or concrete, check out madebymistake.nl for example, but having seen no models in 7 years as an architect, damn...
Usually the stars and big name firms have the cash flow to stick interns into their "model shops" to keep them occupied and out of the way.
Hmm that's crazy to me. I literally have never seen a physical model since I left school. My first job had holograms in the lobby but that''s as close as I've seen.
2nd the tacky glue recommendation. Also, a safety ruler might be helpful; mine certainly saved my fingers a few times.
I once cut my thumb quite deep while cutting a sheet of metal at home, the day before we were supposed to get safety instructions for working in the university model shop. I showed up with my hand in bandages and was the perfect example of what not to do, so I second that safety ruler.
A lot of useful help and advice. Thank you all.
I kept a Risk board in my studio locker for a few semesters. Helped with long work sessions.
+1 one on the machinist angles, I actually had 6 by the end of school, 3 different "L"-shaped sizes and 3 different rectangular sizes. Those were easily my favourite tools, kept everything nice and square!
Otherwise, my big recommendation is to make friends with your woodshop technicians, and learn to use the planar + jointer correctly immediately. They seem a bit intimidating at first because of the size/noise, but man once you know the advantages of them you can make some incredible objects.
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