Along with his range of PK Tinyland detailing sets, Peter Kormos also produces a number of useful photo-etched tools for modellers.

PKTT0001 and PKTT0002 Flexible Rulers
While normal rulers from DIY and art shops are obviously perfectly good in terms of accuracy for taking measurements from drawings, once you get near the model you realise just how clumsy they are. It's here that PK Tinylands flexible ruler will be very handy when trying to measure directly or scribe on a model's uneven surfaces - and, importantly, it'll hold its shape rather than springing straight like a piece of flexible film.

The ruler is available as either metric or imperial, and each is made from .2mm etched brass, so it's easy to bend to the required shape and get into quite tight areas. Obviously, if you flex it too forcefully it will eventually split - but, so long as you are reasonably careful, it straightens out again neatly and should serve you well for years.

Traditional measurements are marked along one edge, while a pattern of dots (in 1/2 mm steps on the metric ruler) on the other edge looks as though it's designed for marking the position of rivets - a neat idea.

The rulers are priced as follows:
PKTT0001 - Metric - 5.00 Euros
PKTT0002 - Inches - 4.10 Euros

PKTT0003 - Navigation light making tool
Don't let the rather plain appearance of this strip of perforated metal put you off - it actually offers a quick and simple way of moulding miniature lamp covers in a variety of shapes and sizes.

The perforations are arranged in fours sets of four holes - circular, oval and two different tear-drop shapes. The idea is very simple; just lay the strip over, say, a couple of pieces of thick card that are arranged to leave a space under the holes (you could also mount the strip permanently with a piece of square stock glued along each edge). Then take some clear styrene stock (handles of old toothbrushes are a useful source of transparent coloured plastic) and heat it carefully over a flame. Once it's good and soft, plunge mould it into one of the holes and it will produce a corresponding-shaped "nipple" on the end of the piece of stock. Let it cool and trim it off to position on your model as a navigation lamp cover. (In larger scales, the tiny circular holes would also be perfect for making indicator lamps for instrument panels etc.)

The navigation light making tool costs just 0.4 Euros

PKTT0004 and PKTT0005 Riveting Strips
Carefully done rivets on the surface of a kit can really improve its appearance. Miniature pounce wheels traditionally provide a relatively straightforward way of quite quickly adding lines of embossed dots, but sometimes there's no alternative but to mark each rivet individually for precision and accuracy. For such instances a guide is essential to achieve consistent spacing, and this becomes even more crucial where close parallel rows of rivets are used for extra strength on the full-sized subject (often on wing spars and load-bearing fuselage frames).

PK Tinyland's template strip is made of thin brass, so it's nice and flexible to get into tight areas, and has three rows of holes - one of which is offset for 45 degrees spacing.

The strip is available in two scales, PKTT0004 - 1:48 and PKTT0005 - 1:32, both priced at 1.30 Euros.

Conclusion

Peter's specialist tools are well designed and should prove to be very useful to superdetailers and scratchbuilders alike. They definitely warrant a place in any well-equiped modelling tool kit.

Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on AEROSCALE.