Hi Veterans!
Why not Suggest must have Tools for Model making and maintainance

and please catagorize in Cutting tools for Balsa, Ply, Coro , foam, Thermocole etc...
Cutting tools for aluminium carbonfiber rod for fuse.
bending tools, glueing and fixing tools
machine maintainance tools

Please make a list so beginers like me can try to collect gradually and benefit.

Hi Ashok,
I will list all the tools and equipment I aquired since 2001 to date.I am an Electrics only Modeller.I am a MARUTI 800 type modeller and not a SUV or Sedan type modeller . I had imported all these things from TOWER HOBBIES during the early years mostly.I aquired the flightline equipment over the years. All these tools are for building balsa and ply wood model planes primerily and may also be used for other building materials.Many of the tools can be replaced by other things locally available. I tried that in the begining but with experience I learned that Custom designed tools for modelling always work best than improvised tools. The choice is yours. I live in a small town in the countryside of the state of Andhra Pradesh.When I started in this hobby in 2001 I was 41 yrs old. In those days there were no online hobby shops in India and the only shop I know which deals in RC Modelling goods was India Hobby Center located on mount road,in Chennai.Now I think it is called Emerald Hobby Center. I specifically went to Chennai to buy RCM goods and visited that shop. But the prices are astronomical and also they have no kits.Only some 3 or 4 used planes are all that were available at that time. Also he quoted Rs.45,000/- for a FUTABA 6XAS radio system. He had only one radio in stock.I silently returned home with my tail between my legs Then did some searching on internet and selected TOWER HOBBIES as my supplier and placed my first order. I was rather apprehensive about customs duty and the condition of goods after shipping.
But the order came through without any damage or missing items. Since then I purchased 12 model plane kits and all my modelling tools and equipment from Tower Hobbies and I never lost anything in shipping.not even a rubber band or T-pin. And the MOST AMAZING THING is I was never asked to pay any customs duty in all these years.

However today you need not import from international RC suppliers because there are several on-line indian shops now in India and Local Hobby Shops too offering everything required for RC Modeller at decent prices (with one or two exceptions from my view point) .Also in some cases products are cheaper in India than in  International shops. The only items not available in India are Model Plane Kits. Here only ARFs are available. Whenever possible it ia always best to buy from LHS because apart from the product you also get something priceless. Good advice because most of the hobbyshop owners are themselves experienced RC Modellers generally.They would be more than glad to help you start in this hobby in the right direction and continue in the hobby.
What I have in my hobbyroom are listed below:
  1. Hobby Knife Handle and a good supply of #11 hobby knife blades.
  2. Xacto Hobby Knife Kit with assorted blades.
  3. Single Edge Blades.
  4. Cutting Mat
  5. Razor Saw Kit with medium,Fine and Super Fine Blades.
  6. T-Pin Pusher and a good supply of assorted T-Pins
  7. Small Pliers and Wire Cutter.
  8. Small nose Plier
  9. Small Goldsmith File Set.
10. Clamps, Rubber Bands, Cloathes clips etc to hold things together while building.
11. Assorted Screw Drivers set.
12. Pocket Drill
13. Small Power Drill ( preferably cordless).
14. Assorted Drill Bits
15. Tap Handle with required Size Tap ( Mainly to cut threads for wing mounting bolts properly )
16. 12". 24" and 36" long Straightedge/Metal Rulers.
17. Sanding Bars and assorted Sand Papers.
18. Hinge Slot Marking and Slot Cutter Kit. ( while not a must have Great Planes Slot Machine hinge slottingtool   
                                                             is desirable )
19. Z bend Plier
20. Groove Tube Grooving tool
21. Great Planes 4-in-1 tool is real handy for installing Clevices, Ball links and Wing Bolts
22. A small Calipers
23. DREMEL Variable Speed MOTO TOOL with assorted tool tips kit ( A Must Have IMHO for any Hobby WorkShop)
24. Sealing Iron
25. Heat Gun/Hair Dryer.
26. Curved Tip Canopy Scissors.
27. A High Quality 50/60 Watt Soldering Iron and leadfree Silver solder.
28. Butane gas hobby torch/ Good Cigarette Lighter.
29. Builders Triangles Set
30. T-Square.
31. Great Planes C.G.Machine Airplane Balancer.
32. ACCU-THROW Control Surface Diflection Meter.
33. Razor Plane for carving wing tips and such.

Well those are the tools I use in building Balsa Model Airplanes.

However if you want to go the SPAD way to build with Coroplast.,. all the tools you would most probably need  are
  1. Hobby knife with #11 hobby blades.
  2. Sigle edge razor blades.
  3. Super fine toothed razor saw
  4. Straightede and Builders triangles
  5. Fibreglass tape

These are tools only. Apart from these you need building supplyes like Glues , masking tapes etc to finish the models Air frame. Then the next phase starts.

Some others..

• Allen keys of various sizes, especially small ones (1.5mm, 2mm etc)

If you are into helis, you will also need...

• Ball link pliers
• Pitch Guage

Oh Nice man, a very exaustive list.
Hey any one else

Thats an exhaustive list and I believe there is more.. But if we were to have the most essential list what would it be?
And to be more specific:
* most need tools and aids on the building table
* most need tools and gadgets in the field.

Anwar pls move if it needs to be a new thread. Should be an interesting one.

I think this thread started with tools for "making and maintenance". That is why the "regular on-the-field" stuff was kept out this particular discussion.

This are being discussed in other threads though, like http://www.rcindia.org/beginners-zone/ultimate-beginner-combo/ for glow/nitro flying.

The most basic minimum required tools with which you build a model plane are
1. Hobby Knife and #11 hobby blades.
2. Razor Saw/ Hacksaw Blade.
3. Straightedge/Metal Ruler.
4. Flat and Philips headed Screw Drivers.
5. Nose Plier cum Wire Cutter
6. Covering Tools.( Sealing Iron/Household Clothes Iron with temperature control and a     Heat Gun/Hair Dryer.).
7. Sanding Bars
Apart from the Tools other Supplies would be needed like
1. CA Glues- Thin CA, Thick CA and Medium CA.[ For Foam Models use Foam Safe CA]
2. Epoxy Glues - 5 Minute Epoxy and 30 Minute Epoxy.
with these you could build a Kit or an ARF kit.
I fly only Electric Planes and also use the following Equipment:
1.Digital Tachometer.
2.WATTS UP Digital Wattmeter.
3.Digital Kitchen Weighing Scale. ( 5 Kg capacity  with 1 gram increments ).
4.Digital Multimeter.
5.Motor Thrust Measuring Stand.
6.Battery Chargers. I use DURATRAX (1-8 cell) Digital Peak Charger for Ni-Cd/Ni-mH batterypacks. And a B-6 Charger, Discharger which can also charge and/or discharge,Cycle all types of rechargeable batteries like Ni-Cd,Ni-mH,Lead Acid, Li-po, Li-Ion and Li-Fe batteries.
7. A 15 Volt @ 5 Amp DC SMPS for the battery chargers.

AND My Radio Systems are:1. Hitec Neon-3 SS FM 3 Channel,72 MHz Transmitter Upgraded with a 3-position 4th channel Switch. and ,
2. Hitec PRISM 7X transmitter with SPECTRA synthesized RF module which enables me to use any of the 50 channels on 72 MHz frequency.
All my Rxs are 8 ch DC, 4 ch mini full range and 5 Ch micro Full range SC . All are Hitech.
And I am using HS-422, HS-81, HS-55 Hitec Servos.and Hobbico CS-35 High Torque mini Servos.
Now I have 11 planes and I fitted each plane with its own Rx and Servos on Different Frequencies in the 72 MHz frequency band. Thats all.

Also THE MOST ESSENCIAL THING needed when building is PATIENCE. Don't try to build in a hurry. Always take your time and build it true and straight. It saves a lot of grief later on the field. Don't ask me how I learned that.

Wow.. I just searched our forum for some tool kit pics or any suggestions & I came up with this wonderful thread with a lot of information..

A huge list  Planning to buy a nice tool-kit with all the tools of course but won't require much since am only into electric's like Mr.Rao...

Going to build my first spad in some days, finally  ..

Any more additions anyone ?

cheers

atul g.

Was wondering what a Control Surface Deflection Meter is..
Found this simple DIY..

diy control surface deflection meter
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Can we manage to cut the wood with a hacksaw if we don't have cnc machiners nearby?