Crocstiks - Crocodile Sticks
Painting can be quite messy if you ain't got something to hold on to your model piece other than your fingers.
Some people use mini clips to hold their pieces up and carefully balance them on the table after painting while others attach a ball of blue-tac to the end of a satay stick(skewer).
For a more permanant and convenient solution, I've devised myself the crocstiks (crocodile sticks).
Materials used:
- crocodile clips
- satay sticks(skewers)
- galvanised wire
1. Fit your skewer on the crocodile clip and wrap the two cripping claws around the stick using a pair of tweezers. Then, with the hole available at the bottom of the crocodile clip, drill a small hole thru the skewer.
2. Thread your wire thru the hole from the bottom of the crocodile clip. From the top end of the wire, make a 90 degree bend using a short segment on the wire. Then rotate the short segment towards the inside of the crocodile clip.
3. Coil the wire around the crocodile clip. The coils would hold the skewer together with the crocodile clip while the wire thru the crocodile clip and skewer would prevent the skewer from slipping out of the crocodile clip.
4. Completed.
Advantages:
- crocstiks are reusable.
- crocstiks are easy to handle.
- crocstiks can easily be stuck onto a block of styrofoam after/while painting.
- if paint starts to build up on the crocstiks, they can be easily cleaned by dipping them into a cup of thinner and stirring them around until the paint comes off.
Some people use mini clips to hold their pieces up and carefully balance them on the table after painting while others attach a ball of blue-tac to the end of a satay stick(skewer).
For a more permanant and convenient solution, I've devised myself the crocstiks (crocodile sticks).
Materials used:
- crocodile clips
- satay sticks(skewers)
- galvanised wire
1. Fit your skewer on the crocodile clip and wrap the two cripping claws around the stick using a pair of tweezers. Then, with the hole available at the bottom of the crocodile clip, drill a small hole thru the skewer.
2. Thread your wire thru the hole from the bottom of the crocodile clip. From the top end of the wire, make a 90 degree bend using a short segment on the wire. Then rotate the short segment towards the inside of the crocodile clip.
3. Coil the wire around the crocodile clip. The coils would hold the skewer together with the crocodile clip while the wire thru the crocodile clip and skewer would prevent the skewer from slipping out of the crocodile clip.
4. Completed.
Advantages:
- crocstiks are reusable.
- crocstiks are easy to handle.
- crocstiks can easily be stuck onto a block of styrofoam after/while painting.
- if paint starts to build up on the crocstiks, they can be easily cleaned by dipping them into a cup of thinner and stirring them around until the paint comes off.
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