Product Review: Mr Hobby (GSI Creos Corporation) Products:=20 Item GT34 - Mr. Almighty Clips II; price US$31.99 Item GT52 - Gtool Set; price US$8.99 Item GT46P - Gtool Accessory; price US$3.99 (Available from Sun Coast Comics, 5509 Roosevelt Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 322=
44 or atDisadvantages: a bit pricey
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for anyone using an airbrush or painting figures/small deta= ils with a hand brush
Anyone who has ever used an airbrush knows that it is very hard to paint s= ome parts due to their small size and nearly nonexistent weight. As a resul= t we all try to use some =93Third Hand=94 clamps which are generally too sh= ort or something we really don=92t want to coat with paint, or tweezers, wi= re or even masking tape to hold them. The results vary from modeler to mode= ler but generally it is messy or annoying if the parts take off in mid pain= ting session for parts unknown or are sacrificed to the =93Carpet Monster= =94.=20
While at the 2012 IPMS USA Nationals, I chanced upon a vendor who was sell= ing Japanime kits as well as paints and tools. He had this on display and i= t immediately struck me as a great idea, so I picked up three of the items.= =20
Set GT34 or the Mr Almighty Clips II is a set of six wire-mounted alligato= r clips which are mounted on two shafts that are connected to a solid steel= base for stability. The shafts are mounted in rotating mounts so that they= may be placed at any angle to each other, and the clip bases are slipped o= nto them =96 anywhere from one to six can be mounted on a single shaft.=20
The clips are connected to the shaft by a plastic clip unit at one end and= a length of flexible plastic-coated copper wire approximately 150mm (6") l= ong. The alligator clips are also plastic - something related to the Delrin= type used for gears and bogies in model railroad locomotives, so paint wil= l not adhere well to them. As a result they are quite capable of holding it= ems as large as tank lower hulls or model car bodies in place for painting = with minimal movement at low air pressures used for air brushing.=20
Set GT52 is an add-on set for the Mr Almighty Clips II and provides four w= ide clamps, four clamp mounts, and four additional shaft attachment clips a= nd extension wires. This permits thin sheets or thin plastic parts (or etch= ed brass) to be held firmly and safely for painting.=20
Set GT46P is a small amount of Blu-Tack material which is supposed to be u= sed with add-on set GT46, which provides six pads, six wires and six shaft = clips. However, it will work using the attachment mounts for the wide clips= provided in set GT52 so you may not need them.=20
The directions (other than basic monkey-see-monkey-do picture types) are a= ll in Japanese so any other useful hints are alas lost in translation. Some= appear to be the usual boilerplate about =93not for use by children under = age X=94 and =93paint in a well ventilated area=94.=20
Overall this is a well designed and constructed accessory and one which wi= ll be quite useful for painting small items such as machine guns and other = last-minute assembly items for my armor projects, but it is suitable for an= y modeling genre.=20
Cookie Sewell