A special tool
for a specific need ...
by Jack Burgess
T
he proliferation of wood laser-cut craftsman struc-
ture kits over the past couple of decades has probably
resulted in a lot less scratchbuilding in our hobby. But if
you want structures which reflect your particular prototype or
area being modeled, you might eventually need to scratchbuild
at least some of the structures needed for your layout.
I enjoy scratchbuilding and realized that all of the structures
on my layout would need to be scratchbuilt when I picked the
Yosemite Valley Railroad to model 40 years ago. Back then
wood was the preferred material for scratchbuilding both
structures and freight cars.
The articles written by Al Armitage on scratchbuilding with sty-
rene in a 1959
Model Railroader
magazine influenced me. After
unsuccessfully trying some of Al’s suggestions on scribing sheet
styrene to produce V-groove siding, Evergreen Scale Models
came to my rescue with their line of plain and scribed styrene
sheets as well as dimensional strips.
Probably 60% of the 100+ structures and bridges on my
layout were scratchbuilt from styrene. One of the more
Nibblers
The Tool Shed - 1
1. This is my nibbler. If purchased from Radio Shack, it is a
“nibbling tool” but if purchased from Micro-Mark it is a “nib-
bling cutter.” They appear to be identical.
1
time-consuming steps in scratchbuilding any structure is cut-
ting out the window and door openings.
When I started scratchbuilding, the standard approach was
to cut out the sides for the building and then lay out all of the
windows and doors. After deeply scoring all four sides of each
window and door, an “X” was cut across the opening and the
four triangular pieces were carefully pried out.
This approach generally worked but was time-intensive since
you need to cut nearly completely through the wall to be able
to force out the center, especially with the .040” material I use
for all of my styrene buildings. It was also very easy to get out-
side the scribe lines while making deeper cuts, which could
mean the need to scrap the piece and start over.
I can’t remember how I came to purchase a nibbler. I think
it was back in the days when the model railroad magazines
MRH-May 2014
