Working on the Airfix 1/24th Mosquito has driven me mad. I have never seen so many ejector pin markings - all in horrible spots.
The straw that broke the camels back was the interior of the crew access door. This is going to be modeled open, so these NINE ejector pin marks had to go.
I filled the holes with punched styrene disks before making the required tool.
THE TOOL
It's a simple enough idea. You take the head of an electric toothbrush that works with a rotating action and make an old head into a sander.
I didn't want to have to run to the store to grab some dowel. I dug into the Mosquito's box and found some sprues of different diameters. I chose a medium diameter piece (I have to cover a lot of area, but I also have to get into some tight areas).
Using a miter box I cut the sprue at right angles, both ends so I ended up with a small cylinder.
Then I used my Right Sander to true up both ends as best I could.
I grabbed some sand paper and some sheet styrene, cut it to the width of the plastic dowel.
I glued them together - I thought the sandpaper might be hard to punch with a punch and die set without the more substantial backing. It turned out this was unnecessary.
I LOVE sticky-tack. I use it to hold everything small. P/E, plastic - you name it. I put a tiny blob on the end of my smallest burnisher and I can place parts at will. Here it is here. (It's the same idea as the RB sticky pencil)
You can see the sanding disk and its styrene backing.
because the disk was the exact same size as the dowel, and it had to be quick and neat, I used more sticky-tack to hold the dowel up and in place. A drop of CA and then place the sanding disk. A second or two and the bond with the glue is stronger than the sticky tack and you can pull the tool away without shifting your piece.
I rested the burnisher on top (with the other end elevated so the tool was flat) to press the disk down on the dowel as the glue dried. It's easiest to use if right angles are maintained.
Now we take an old toothbrush head. I have an Oral-B and it works perfectly for this. Surprisingly I discovered that you can't cut the bristles off with a hand saw, I had to use a cutting wheel on a dremel. The face was then sanded flat.
Et Voila! A battery operated orbital sander the perfect size for ejector pin marks. You can make as many as you have spare heads - and when the sandpaper wears out, you can simply glue a new disk overtop.
I've been meaning to make this for eons. I'm glad I have it now.
If you don't have a brush, pick up a used one off of Kijiji - you're not going to be putting it in your mouth so who cares?
