I’ve recently discovered a part of the Swann-Morton range that I didn’t know existed and has the potential to make some modelling tasks so much easier.
In my current project to build a model of a BR Diagram 1/107 mineral wagon, I used a conventional Swann Morton No. 10A scalpel blade to remove moulded plastic grab handle details as part of replacing them with brass ones. This job needs care and patience – not least because the details to be removed were in an awkward place and I wanted to avoid damage to the rest of the moulding.
Mindful of this for future projects (including one to build a BR Diagram 1/504 brake van using the old Airfix kit as a starting point) where there will be a lot of unwanted moulded detail to remove, I started wondering if there was an alternative tool for the job that would make it easier and quicker to achieve a neat result. Initially, I looked for specific modelling chisels and I found ones that were no longer in production, ones that were too big or ones that were too expensive. Eventually, though, I stumbled upon the solution almost by accident…
It turns out that Swann Morton does indeed make chisel blades but the reason I’d never found them is that they are not designed to fit the usual No. 3 scalpel handle. Instead, hidden away in another part of the company’s range, are two chisel blades: the SM61 and the SM62, which are both designed for podiatry/chiropody applications. The only difference between these two products is the width of the blade: I’ve acquired some SM62s and the blade is 3mm wide; at a guess, it looks like the SM61’s blade is 2mm wide.
The important thing for us modellers to note, is that each blade comes in two variants – the standard, if you will, vanilla version and a single bevel version. It’s the latter that we’ll probably find most useful in that it replicates the traditional chisel tool design with a flat underside. The product names for the single bevel variants are SM61/SB and SM62/SB. The blades themselves are relatively inexpensive (I got a pack of five to experiment with from ScaleModelShop for under £7) and there are other sources that sell them in larger packs of 25 blades which can work out to a lower unit cost.
The main financial outlay is that you will need specific handle for these blades (for example, the SF1, though there are other compatible handles in the range with different designs and/or handle lengths – the SF2, SF13, SF23, SF3 and SF4). Now you may already have a suitable handle in your toolbox or, if not, I recommend a bit of Internet shopping around to get the best price.
If you use these blades exclusively for removing unwanted parted of plastic mouldings, I suspect that they’ll stay sharp for a long time and represent excellent value for money. It occurs to me that they may also be suitable for efficient removal of photo-etched brass parts from their frets but that’s a tougher job and I would expect it to blunt the blades far more quickly. If you’ve got experience of using these blades or other fine modelling chisels, I’d be interested in your comments.
Every Wagon Tells A Story 