5 Harbor Freight Finds That'll Come In Handy When Building Models

Ah, the humble art of model-making: flexing your patience, creativity, and precision motor skills to render your favorite vintage cars, trains, planes, and giant anime robots at 1/1000 scale. Model building is a classic hobby, providing you with both a stimulating activity to fill your free time with and, once you're finished, a pretty nifty talking point for your living room shelf.

The only thing prospective modelers need to be aware of is that, if you buy your very first kit and bring it home with you, the box it comes in isn't going to have everything you may need. Besides the actual parts of the model in question, you need a very particular array of tools to actually assemble, fasten, and otherwise refine your little creations. Professional-grade modeling tools can be surprisingly expensive, not to mention potentially difficult to find if you don't live near a reputable model store. In such a circumstance, try visiting your local Harbor Freight. While model-building isn't at the forefront of this hardware chain's priorities, there are some excellent finds for your burgeoning model toolbox if you know where to look.

We've selected five products that you may find useful for model-building, each backed up by high user ratings from Harbor Freight customers. More information on our selection methodology will be provided at the bottom of the page.

No matter what kind of model you're making, especially if you're working with metal ones, you will almost definitely need a screwdriver. Metallic models often come with a variety of small screws that need to be twisted into place to hold important parts together. While most households have at least one screwdriver in a junk drawer somewhere, the screws that come with models can vary in shape and size. You'll want a tool that can meet those screws' every requirement.

Pittsburgh's Multi-Bit Precision Screwdriver Set features 34 pieces of precision fastening equipment. Starting with a comfort grip handle with a built-in 5–1/8-inch to 7-inch extension, you can slot in any one of the nickel chrome molybdenum steel bits to fasten any kind of screw you can think of, no matter how big or small. The set also comes with a pocket magnifying glass and an 8-inch flexible extension shaft, all stored alongside the handle and bits in a convenient carrying case.

The Pittsburgh Multi-Bit Precision Screwdriver Set is available at Harbor Freight for $9.99, where it has a user rating of 4.4 out of 5. Users appreciate the value of the set and the sheer breadth of included heads, making it great for jobs ranging from watch repair to toy maintenance.

No matter how good you think your motor skills are, it's surprisingly difficult to keep a grip on tiny, fragile parts. Trying to move your model's screws and small parts around with just your fingers is more likely to result in dropped, lost components and potential pokings than anything productive. If you need to get a grasp on the situation, you need a tool with a firm, precision grip.

Considering the HFT Stainless Steel Tweezers Set includes six kinds of tweezers in various shapes, sizes, and precisions, it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll find the level of grip that you're looking for in at least one of them. These technician-grade tweezers are each constructed of durable stainless steel, ensuring they'll stand up to both wear and time. Each pair of tweezers is built with light tension in mind, allowing you to maintain your hold on small objects without requiring you to squeeze too hard.

The HFT Stainless Steel Tweezers Set is available at Harbor Freight for $6.99, where it has a user rating of 4.7 out of 5. Several users have noted that, in addition to their obvious function of holding things, these tweezers are great for retrieving small objects from hard-to-reach nooks.

Certain kinds of model kits may not always have the parts you need ready to go; you may need to do a bit of carving on flexible materials to create small, soft components yourself. Even if everything is already shaped, it doesn't hurt to be able to make some adjustments for creativity's sake. If you need to slice off some miscellany from your model, do it with a cutting instrument designed especially for the job.

The Gordon Hobby Knife combines comfort with adaptability, featuring a comfortable and convenient rubber handle with a precision grip, ensuring you can hold it carefully for long periods of time. The knurled sleeve and threaded chuck at the tip allow you to easily swap out any of the five included fine-point blade heads, which can be used for cutting and shaping wood, plastic, rubber, foam, and vinyl.

The Gordon Hobby Knife is available at Harbor Freight for $4.99, where it has a user rating of 4.7 out of 5. Users confirm that the knife meets all of its stated features, from its comfortable grip to its cutting acumen. One user made extensive use of this knife for cutting foam for their child's school project, saying it worked far better than the box cutter they were using previously.

If you're working specifically with plastic models, such as those of monsters and machines from franchises like "Godzilla" or "Mobile Suit Gundam," all of the pieces you need will come on a handful of storage runners. To actually get the parts, you need to detach the parts from the runners. Technically, you can do this with your hands by just yanking or twisting the parts off, but if you do this, the parts may have unsightly rip marks or hanging flecks. Instead, try using a precision snipping instrument.

For snipping and snapping needs, try Icon's 6-inch Flush Cut Pliers. While these pliers are designed more with cable, wires, and zip ties in mind, they can make short work of plastic runners as well thanks to their heat-treated steel jaws. Those jaws have a 3/4-inch capacity, ensuring they'll fit over whatever you're looking to snip, cutting through materials cleanly instead of crushing them.

The Icon 6-inch Flush Cut Pliers are available at Harbor Freight for $29.99, where they have a user rating of 4.9 out of 5. Several users have noted that they can snip through hard plastics like zip ties without leaving any sharp edges behind. As an added bonus, the comfortable rubber grip is weathering-resistant and designed to withstand cleaners and solvents.

Precision model work requires a careful, focused eye. Of course, putting your careful, focused eye right up to an unstable chunk of metal isn't really the best idea from a safety perspective. You should keep your handiwork a safe distance from your squishy bits while you work, and to ensure you can still focus on the details, you should employ a magnifying device.

The HFT Fluorescent Magnifying Lamp is the perfect buddy for your burgeoning workshop table. Just clip it to the side of any hard surface, adjust the swing arm for your ideal angle, and flip on the 22-watt fluorescent lamp. Gaze through the 5-inch 1.75x magnifying lens, and you'll see everything you need to without needing to get right up next to it. The swingarm features a spring tension design, ensuring it stays exactly where you want it to, even if you accidentally nudge it, and the lens comes with a flipping dust cover to keep little flecks out of your view.

The HFT Fluorescent Magnifying Lamp is available at Harbor Freight for $39.99, where it has a user rating of 4.6 out of 5. Users enjoy how easy and reliable the lamp is thanks to its firm clamp and strong magnifier, making it great for building models, fixing small electronics, and other precision hobbies.

The preceding products were chosen amongst top-rated items available from Harbor Freight, with preference given to products with at least a 4 out of 5 rating based on at least 100 user reviews.