Your Tousle of Tools

And so what tools do you need to do all of this? There's not a single good answer to that question.

If you read the above paragraphs well enough, you will make sure to add sandpaper with different grains, an X-acto knife, sculpey, instant glue, clippers, the necessary paint and a set of brushes to your tool set.

Except for those I'm using woodcarving tools to do the necessary sculpting that comes with customizing.

But I'm certainly not saying that you need to use the same stuff. If you venture into your dad's garage, I'm sure you'll find the necessary items for your own customizing endeavours.

If that doesn't help, then try to visit a "do-it-yourself"-shop. They usually have plenty of good materials around that could serve as customizing tools. It will all depend on what exactly you want to achieve and how you think to do it, but make sure you don’t spend too much on fancy materials and tools: customizing is also about finding cheap alternatives and being creative. If you think different, head for the model-building toy shops immediately. You'll usually find specialised materials for this kind of hobby … for equally specialised prices.

Even so, a special word needs to be said about the dremel. A dremel is a small apparatus that allows using different heads for sanding away smaller and bigger chunks of any material; think of it as a dentist drill of sorts. As such, a dremel is an extremely handy tool for customizing, but again, it is not an absolute prerequisite. You can easily do without. Considering that it'll cost you easily 30 EUR or more is then probably another good argument not to go buy one right away. Only buy a dremel when you're very serious about customizing.

Table of Contents

• An Introduction to Customizing
• What are Customs?
• Paint and Painting Techniques
• Swapping Heads and Limbs
• Sculpey and Sandpaper
• Your Tousle of Tools
• Pursuing Movie Accuracy