You can tell when you are holding this tool that you are handling a quality tool. The blade is elliptical in shape and VERY sharp. It is protected by a flexible tip. The whole tool measures 5 inches in length with the blade making up 2mm of that.

The tool comes in a small vinyl pouch which protects the tool and you. The handle is plastic and feels good in the hand. The blade is made up of hardened steel with an elliptical shaped tip. It is good for cutting and scraping. Other possible uses are removing pin marks, making grooved lines, etching a louver into plastic, creating small vents, opening small intakes, etc. For figure modelers, this tool is great for sculpting folds into clothing. I’m sure there are other uses that I didn’t think of.

Finding the center of a project can be frustrating, to say the least. You could eyeball it, but let’s face it, I’ve never had great luck at it. Enter this cool tool from 3D Peco and UMM-USA.

This tool is easy to use. Simply slide the item onto the apex of the tool. Make a line. Rotate the part or the tool and make another line. Repeat as necessary. Where they all meet is the exact center. Then just drill your hole. Simple and easy to do.

This is another tool which I didn’t realize I needed until I got it. There are various sizes available. If you scratch build, this is an essential tool. You won’t figure out how you lived without it once you use it.

Highly recommended

Thanks to UMM-USA and IPMS/USA for the review copy. You can obtain yours directly from UMM-USA. Let them know you saw it on the IPMS/USA website.

ICM has an expansive line of these acrylic sets and I was anxious to try them out. To see how they apply and what sheen they have as they dry, I pulled out a Saber-Tooth Tiger to paint for my son’s D&D games. Getting started I applied a dab of paint to a strip of white Styrene to determine how the colors would dry. Everything matched the color swatch on the box except the light flesh. It was definitely lighter than the swatch. For the tiger, I darkened it up with the deep brown for several layers. I also struggled to create pink. Originally given the pig on the box, I thought this would be possible. However, I couldn’t get this color with the orange. I intended to use it for the inside of the tiger’s jaws. Doing a figure gave me the opportunity to try a few different styles of paint application. Straight out of the bottle the paint fills the brush and applies smoothly. I didn't have any issues with the paint drying too quickly or globbing up along the edge of the brush strokes.

Another in ICM’s range of paint sets, this time for use with any WWII US armoured vehicles.

The set contains the following 12ml paint pots; I have listed what I believe to be their intended uses, with designations from Specification 3-1 1943:

• 1041 Buff – Sand No.306 or Earth Yellow No.305
• 1027 Gun Metal Metallic – tracks
• 1071 Camouflage Green – Light Green No.321
• 1072 US Dark Green – Olive Drab No.319
• 2005 Black Primer – Black No.10
• 1001 White – White No.11

The back of the box has a couple of drawings showing suggested uses for each colour.

I came back to the hobby during COVID. One thing I hated, and still hate doing is sanding putty.I am just not that good at it. I am always looking for something to help me. The UMM-USA series of sanding bars are one solution to a gritty problem.

The bars come in various sizes; fine, small, medium, large, extra-large and extra-extra-large. I reviewed the Extra-Large version. They come as a six-sided polished aluminum bar, with the ends being pointed.

My initial take on the block was one of curiosity, a large flat good for sanding large flat surfaces, or so I thought; something most aircraft and ship models do not have. I then took a closer look and realized that the angled/pointed ends would be great for small tight surfaces, or if a very narrow area needed to be sanded, which is how I have been using it. Ironically, my son printed a sandbag wall and used the long flat bottom to clean it up.