James River Branch: Tools and Supplies

Tools: Digital Caliper

What's the diameter of that piece of brass rod? How long is that chunk of strip styrene? How wide is the diesel hood—exactly? Which drill bit should I use to make a hole that matches the smoke jack? It's somewhere between difficult and impossible to do this with a ruler, no matter how fine or accurate it may be. And if you're serious about modeling, there's only one tool for the job: a caliper.

At one time, a digital caliper was one of those really special tools you saved up your pennies for, as they were quite expensive. Now you can get them for as little as $20, so there's no excuse to not have one of these invaluable devices. Given that readers are likely working in a small scale, such as Z, it's even more important to own one. I use mine so much that I've already killed two batteries.

Just getting started? I've seen them in home improvement stores, but if you can't seem to find one, there're all over the Internet. Micro-Mark has the model I bought, which cost a whopping $20.