Miniature Creations In Wood

Work Area

The work area required is minimal, 1 foot square space is all you need, often my kitchen table, hotel room or my living room.  I even did some parts in a hotel bar while traveling. I carry a plastic placemat with my basic tools and materials in a cigar box, at home I use a wooden tray on which is mounted my vise. I can use it anywhere with the basic complement of tools. My wood workshop power tools are only used to make special parts such as wheels,  pistons cylinders and others such as the excavator boom arms.

Materials

Most materials are available in local hobby and craft stores.

Some material can be used as substitutes and they are found everywhere and often easy to find and cheap. Here are a few examples:

1. Wood coffee stir sticks are generally 1/16" X 1/4".
2. Wood popsicle sticks are 1/16" X  
   3/8".
3. Wood tongue depressors are 1/16" X 5/8".
4. Regular round toothpicks are 3/32" dia. beveled ends.
5. Mint flavored toothpicks are 5/64" dia. beveled ends ( perfect for tracks and ornaments).
6. Scented cedar strips sold in 1 foot length to hang in the closets are 5/16" or 3/8" thick. These are great for very small parts.

In many cases the bevel end toothpicks are great when assembling items such as tracks for your dozer or mirror frames.

Some materials on the list may have been combined to facilitate the purchase. An example is a 1/16" X 2" X 24" to make 4 of 1/16"X 1" X 8".

These are not shown as combined parts on the list, study the plan and the list before you start.

Smaller pieces are often the cut out scrap from bigger pieces such as head lights and mirrors, don't discard the cut outs until you are finished.

I   try to create the plans to suit  materials that are readily available everywhere.

Some parts such as engine blocks can be made out of a single large piece of wood such as 2 X 4 , if you have the required power tools, these are not specified and left up to you. Adjust the list of materials accordingly.