Model Forum / General / Models / December 2005

Tool/Accessory Review: The Small Shop "Nutter"Punch Set; Full Basic
Set Price £65.00; extra 6 x 6 inch foil sheets £3.50 each

Advantages: amazing tool to get rivets and nut-and-bolt assemblies to
look "right"; very flexible and useful system

Disadvantages: High price (see text); does not work well with styrene
plastic (also see text)

Rating: Highly Recommended

Recommendation: for all modelers who do scratchbuilding or
super-detailing involving scale rivets or nuts and bolts

   One of the biggest pains in modeling fine details is doing either
rivet heads or nuts and bolts, as they are tedious to make and
difficult to install - the term "herding cats" is a close
approximation of what it takes to do it right. Over the years, many
modelers I know have used punch-and-die sets, microrod cut "salami
style" or pressing in from the back of thin styrene with a sharp
object. None of them really is a perfect way to get the domed, rounded
shape of a rivet, and while hex nuts are not hard nut-and-bolt
combinations were usually limited to two sizes from Grandt Line.

   I used to think the term "Nutter" was a British term equivalent to
"nut job" or "head case" until Alasdair Johnston of the Small
Shop EU sent me word that no, this was going to be their next tool. My
review sample arrived yesterday, and always looking for a better and
easier way to do detailing, I was quite eager to open it up.

   What came in the package - sturdily packed inside a freezer-type
sandwich keeper - was a strip of plastic, a sheet of foil, a small
tool with screws, seven plastic knobs, seven machine tool heads, a
black machine handle, and two tubes for storage and directions.

   Preparation of the tool itself was simple. It comes with seven
heads
of varying sizes and shapes: 0.5mm, 0.75mm and 1mm (scale 3/4", 1" and
1 1/4" sizes): domed rivet shapers; 0.5mm, 0.75mm and 1 mm nut and bolt
set shapers, and one spare small nut-and-bolt head. This is due to the
fact that the "bolt threads" are 0.2mm (scale 3/8") in diameter,
and as the shapers are all milled out of brass, soft and fragile.

   Each shaper (probe) is to be kept in the white plastic knobs (tip
protector), and are inserted after being screwed into the handle. This
is for protection when stored, but once the shaper is forced into the
knob it is not hard to remove and to reinstall the

   The long strip of plastic (a soft vinyl-like material) is referred
to
as the "dome sheet" and it serves to both permit shaping a domed
rivet and also capturing them when they pop free of the foil sheet. The
foil sheet is two layers of what appears to be aluminum over lead, so
you do not have to ever touch lead foil.

   The "tool head" or anvil is a tool similar to the 4" size "Hold
and Fold from Small Shop but with a soft rubber floor and an E-shaped
tool head to clamp down on the work surface.

   To use the tool is quite simple. Pick a suitable shaper and screw
it
into the handle, then remove the protector. Open the two screws on the
tool head and insert first the "dome sheet" and then a strip of
foil until they are even with the edge of the rubber surface, then
tighten the screws down. Next, holding the tool absolutely vertical,
punch out the necessary number of rivets or bolts. Use firm, steady
pressure, not a quick jab like a nurse giving a flu shot!

   Don't worry about the rivets or bolts, as they will be embedded in
the "dome sheet" (which is what it is for.) Once done, unclamp the
foil and dome sheet and pull them out. Remove the foil and, being
careful on your breathing, flex the "dome sheet" to remove the
resulting rivets.

   The Small Shop recommends that modelers do NOT use ACC glues to
attach
the rivets, but rather "Johnsons' Kleer" (US read Future)
acryllic floor wax and two paint brushes. One brush puts on the
Kleer/Future and the other is used - damp - to pick up the rivet or
bolt and place it on the Kleer/Future while wet. When the wax dries, a
second coat is used to seal the rivets in place. As a result, as long
as an overcoat or another coat of paint is applied, you can add rivets
or bolts to models at any time as they do not require a "clean smooth
surface" to adhere to.

   There are other options given in the directions, such as how to
make
flat 0.2mm rivets as well as some nuts. More shapers are to follow next
year for fully domed (hemispherical) rivets and square bolts, leaves,
etc.

   As I had mentioned this tool to other modelers, their first
question
to me was, "well, does it work on plastic?" The answer: not quite.
First off, it will not penetrate plastic as it does with the special
foil. Second, it will not produce a clean part which can be removed
with a razor blade. And third, the nut and bolt shapers will not work
at all with plastic, plus you run the risk of breaking the delicate
tips off them.

   However, IF CAREFUL it can be used to produce strips of rivets
using
0.005" or 0.010" sheet plastic for applique detailing. I tried it with
both the rubber portion of the tool head and the "dome sheet" in
place and found that you can do this with the "dome sheet" and some
care. Note that these will be the embossed variety and will have to be
handled gently to avoid pressing them back in!

   Overall this appears to be a useful if expensive tool from the
Small
Shop EU, and one that with care will last a very long while. Due to the
size of the rivets produced you can get a LOT out of one sheet of foil,
and the shapers if kept with their tip protectors are likely to last a
lifetime.

   Thanks to Alasdair Johnston of the Small Shop EU for the review
sample.

   The Small Shop EU, 4 Woodpecker Meadow, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8
4GB,
England; telephone 01747 825 646 or 07752 258946 (24 hour);
http://www/smallshopeu.com.

Note - inches are in 1/35 scale

Cookie Sewell