Neil,
I never tried presses, but I tried punching larger circles by using short sections of copper tube. These can be made sharper with a dremel - or similar tool.
Instead of using a press, I place the plastic sheet over a hard rubber or nylon mat, place the copper "punch set" on top... and bang a hammer on it. After a number of punches, the tool gets deformed, though.
It sounds a bit barbaric, but it works.

Another inexpensive trick I learned was to use Liquid paper pens (not the bottle) for filling seam lines in small areas. It dries quicker than putty and it also sands easy. One tube can last a good while.

Interesting suggestion lady, never tried the liquid paper 'thing'. But have been hearing about it on the DG's. Question; Does the liquid paper shrink? And do you need to apply multiple coats of the stuff. It just seems like awfully thin stuff to me :-)

Tread.

I haven't seen ant srinkage on the plane I used it on. The desicion to use more than one coat depends on how deep and/or wide the seam line is. I had to play around with it on a kit to see how much to use.

Hi,
[quote]Do you have a favorite tool that always makes the job a little easier?
To replace tie-down points for equipment on modern US vehicles, I've inserted a 6in. length of
1/16th in. square brass tubing into a wooden file handle. Press into very fine guage wire solder,
lift and trim. What's left looks very much like a piece of steel rod with a dot of weld on each end.
Its companion tool looks much like the first, exept the end of the brass tube is ground on both
sides to a point in the center( / ). Dipping the points into thin super-glue and applying to the model leaves you with two dots of glue the perfect distance apart. Their easy, inexpensive, uniform and very realistic. You can accually see light underneath them. TRY IT !!! :-)

I'm facing a similar challenge in making tiny webbing buckles in 1/35. Tonight, I'm going to try filing a bit of brass into a tiny square around which I can form the really thin wire I'm using. Last night I tried making the buckles by hand using tweezers -- it was too slow! After making the square buckles, I'll mash them slightly flat using a pair of flat-jawed pliers.

-Neil

wow this is old but i thought it would be cool to bring it up again i like tooth picks to mix and apply paint and super glue.

Tim