Below I’ve listed some of my favorite hobby resources. These are tools and material that I use in my hobby and find helpful. While some of the posts contain affiliate links to Amazon (where I make a tiny little bit of money), I only recommended it because I use it and would recommend it to a friend or family.

Building

The Mighty XActo knife! This is a staple of any hobbyist’s toolbox, but there are a ton of other helpful blades you should check out as well.

Flush Cutters. Another staple, these are the quickest, and safest way to remove bits from the sprue or make significant alterations to pieces.

Jeweler’s Files. These are small files that work great for smoothing out rough edges or removing mold lines. A set contains a bunch of different shapes, but the small rectangle one is my go-to.

Silicon Shaper. Even if all the sculpting you do is filling gaps, a silicon shaper will pay itself back in reduced frustration the first time you use it. Due to the silicon tip, green stuff doesn’t stick to it while it is stiff enough to push the putty into position.

Painting

Flow Aid – I love using flow aid medium to make my washes and improve the flow of regular acrylic paint. Checkout out the post, then grab it at Amazon.

Airbrush Medium. Another staple for when I mix colors or thin paints, this reduces the opacity of the paint slightly while thinning it down for easier painting.

WarColours Paintbrushes. Neo sent me a set of these brushes when I did a paint review for the Golden D6. I love their brushes so much that I have gone back and bought more. They are fantastic quality for a great price.

Wet Palette. This is one of those tools that changed how I paint. Having the paint stay usable for longer has also reduced my paint cost as I waste much less paint.

Blogging

Canva. This is the free tool I use to create the different blog graphics I use throughout the site. It makes combining images and text super easy for anyone who is not a graphic designer.

Grammarly. I have never been a strong writer or speller. In fact, I hated English class above everything but chemistry (yes, I was the guy who loved math). Fortunately, Grammarly is my super spell checker that also helps with grammar and word choice. They have a free service, but I have been writing so much (and need the help) that I pay for the ‘pro’ version and don’t regret it.

Buffer. I write many of my blog posts in advance; I also broadcast each post via social media. To do these in advance, I use Buffer which allows me to schedule social media posts. I also use it to share blog posts from other hobbyists, but in a spread out, drip format that allows for an active feed.

Trello. I started using this tool to organize my Closet of Doom and see what projects I had in each stage. I’ve grown to use it to keep track of my blogging as well. I create a big backlog of post ideas and can schedule out when I want to get some of them posted.

Organization

Plastic Parts Organizers. I have about a dozen of these from different manufacturers, but they all serve as my bits bins. Each one has bits from different armies so I can quickly find heads, arms, or details. Larger bins hold spare parts from tanks, scenery, or monsters.

Nail Polish Shelving. These plastic shelves are the perfect size to organize paints up on the wall. By storing the paints within view, I can quickly look at other colors while keeping them off my desk.

Photography

Foldio 2 Lightbox. I needed a lightbox to take pictures of my miniatures that could fold up and store. The Foldio is perfect for this as well as providing a great LED light.

GIMP. This is the Open Source software that I use to edit my pictures. It’s a lot like Photoshop, but without the price tag.

Input

So what have you used that you have found invaluable and would recommend I try? I am always looking for new tools, techniques, and methods, so suggestions and opinions are always welcome.