I need some help in choosing the correct bending tool for 1/35 armor PE parts. The canditates are two: SMS003 PE Bending Tool 4" Mk IV RTH and SMS004 PE Bending Tool 5.5" (5 Speed) of the small shop brand. I have read the reviews concerning the above but i cannot figure out which is the most preferable for the job in 1/35 scale? Can the 5.5" as well as the 4" in that scale or it more suitable for smaller parts? Thank you in advance. Looking forward to your replies

I bought MM brand.
This one

The blades supplied with the tool are made of plastic and they start chipping off soon. Make sure you are getting something which comes with metal blades. Apart from that this tool serves the purpose. I use a home made stainless steel blade now.
Wait for others to share their experience before putting down your money.
Not cheap for what what you get in the pack

I have the Small Shop 4" and it is a great tool. It works great for most items. The ONLY issue I have found so far are the long fenders. It did not work well when I tried to bend the fenders for my KV-2. But for everything else it works great. And the fact that the head is rotatable is great.

I highly recommend the Small Shop, and if you plan on larger items, like fenders, you might want to look at the 5.5".

Τhank you very much for your quick replies. I will use it for PE parts of 1/35 modern armor such as mraps, strykers, humvees, merkavas and other. I also have seen the SMS002 PE Bending Tool The "BUG" of the same brand but it seems too small for this scale (1/35) or am i wrong?

Can't go wrong with The Small Shop Hold N Fold series, the original PE bender!!

The 5.5 can do everything that the 4" can do, its just bigger, as well on the back side of the top piece you will notice items cut into the tool head. These are set up so if you build alot of Shermans, then you can form the headlight protective shields using those indentations, I believe there is also a set of PzIV (maybe PzIII also) and Tiger cut into the tool head as well.

That being said, the 4" one will probably do 90% of what most people need to do, just the 5.5 is a little longer if you have longer pieces you need to bend.

I can understand that the 5.5" is for longer items so i guess i will not need it, since i am talking for small and medium lenght pieces. But when talking about comparing SMS003 4" Mk IV and SMS002 The "BUG" RTH which is the most suitable for the work needed? Because i believe that the "BUG" seems to be to small for 1/35 PE parts or am i wrong ?

I'm using a tool I picked up from one of the club members here who didn't use it anymore. I have no idea what brand it is. The base only measures 2"x2 1/2" and it has a 4 sided metal head on it. I primarily build 1/35 stuff and it will do 95% of anything I work on. The only problem I run into is when a piece is over 2" long, which isn't too often.

The Bug is really designed for 1/72 PE, but can be used for 1/35, you can just do more with the 4" one, and the difference in price between them, isn't that much.

Thank you all for your useful answers and advice!

I use The Bug about 95% of the time for 1:35 scale, great for the very small items as well as boxes and such up to 2" long. Very easy to handle and doesn't take up much work space so it's always handy. Anything longer than 2" I'll use the 5-speed...pretty much only fenders.

Small Shop's 4 inch Hold n Fold. Been using it for years. Can't go wrong.

Mike

I agree with Mike .. the 4in Hold and fold is the great little tool ,,i built the Lion Roar M2 half track conversion using that and The Small Shop PE part rolling set .
Brilliant on the medium and small parts ,,would highly recommend this item for sure ,in fact both

Phill

Love my Small Shop BUG.....if I had the money, I would have purchased the 4" though. Just for the extra versatility in large projects.