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Tools and Bench

Three tiers of tools and bench kit, from a first glued-together kit to a dedicated airbrushing setup, with a plain glossary of hobby terms below. Nothing here is a recommendation of one brand over another; the named products are simply what the UK market prices below are checked against.

Note: Prices are UK ranges as of Nov 2026 and will change.

Starter

Enough to build, glue, prime and paint a first kit without buying anything twice.

Frame cutter £8 to £11
A basic plastic-handled sprue cutter for popping parts off the frame cleanly.
Craft knife £6 to £10
A Swann-Morton scalpel handle and No.11 blade, for trimming flash and tidying mould lines.
Abrasives £2.69 to £2.99
Fine-grit sanding sticks for smoothing seams and primer before paint.
Extra Thin glue £4 to £5
A thin, fast-wicking plastic cement that runs into closed seams by capillary action.
Primer £11 to £12.25
An aerosol primer that gives paint something to key into and shows up surface flaws before the top coat.
Starter brushes £12 to £15
A small set of synthetic brushes in a few sizes, enough for base coats and simple detail.
Vallejo paints about £2.65 to £2.95 each
Acrylic paints in dropper bottles, the standard starting palette for plastic kits and miniatures. Eight-colour sets run £18 to £24.
A3 cutting mat £7
A self-healing mat to protect the bench when cutting sprues or card.

Mid tier

Closer, more controlled work: sharper cutters, better light and magnification, and a first airbrush.

Tamiya 74035 cutters £31 to £35
Precision side cutters with a fine point, for closer cuts than a basic frame cutter.
MAG Lamp S £40
A clamp-on magnifier lamp for close work on small parts.
OptiVISOR £50 to £80
A headband magnifier that keeps both hands free for close detail work.
Iwata Neo CN airbrush £75 to £90
An entry dual-action airbrush for thinned acrylics and basic coverage.
Entry compressor price varies
Runs an entry airbrush. Prices move around enough that there is no settled range to quote yet; check current listings.

Serious bench

A dedicated bench: professional-grade airbrushing and lighting built to run for hours.

Magnificent Pro lamp £95
A brighter, higher-spec magnifier lamp for long sessions at the bench.
H&S Infinity CRplus £207 to £248
A Harder & Steenbeck dual-nozzle professional airbrush that covers both fine detail and broader coverage.
Compressor £329 to £385
A quiet, tank-equipped compressor built for sustained airbrush sessions. Sparmax TC-620X runs £329 to £342; Iwata Smart Jet Pro runs £329 to £385.

Price sources, checked Nov 2026: Cosplayer World, Hobby Games, Battleground Gaming, Army Painter UK, Hobby Workshop, Modelsport/eModels, Woodley RC, Brooks Models, Prestige Blades, Scale Model Scenery, Artway, eModels, Model Shop Leeds, The Model Workshop, Harburn Hobbies, RC Model Shop Direct, Howes, Scale Model Shop, Element Games, Wonderland Models, Hobbycraft, Armitage Tools, Viking Optical, Cooksongold, Spray Guns Direct, Northern Caravans, Angling.Pro, GraphicAir, Graphics Direct, Everything Airbrush, Specialist Crafts.

Glossary

Airbrush
A tool that atomises thinned paint with compressed air, giving a smooth, even coat and making graduated effects such as camouflage or colour fades far easier than a brush.
Base coat
The first even layer of colour over primer, which later shading and highlights build on.
Brick separator
A small moulded tool used to prise apart two tightly stuck brick plates, without the slipping risk of a knife or screwdriver.
Cement vs CA glue
Plastic cement is a solvent that softens and fuses polystyrene plastic into a single joint; cyanoacrylate (CA, or superglue) cures fast by reacting with moisture and bonds most materials, including resin, metal and dissimilar plastics, but does not chemically weld plastic the way cement does.
Chipping
Weathering that imitates paint worn or chipped away to show metal or primer underneath.
Clutch power
How firmly Lego elements grip one another.
Contrast paint
A one-coat paint that shades as it settles, darker in recesses and lighter on raised areas, applied over a light primer.
Decal
A printed marking on a clear carrier film, usually waterslide: soaked in water and slid off its backing onto the model.
Decal setting solution
A liquid applied under or over a decal to improve adhesion and soften the film so it conforms to detail, for example Micro Set and Micro Sol.
Display case
A case, usually clear acrylic or glass, used to protect a finished model from dust and handling while it is on show.
Dry fit
Fitting parts together without glue to check alignment and spot gaps before committing.
Drybrushing
Wiping most paint off a brush, then flicking it lightly over raised detail so only edges catch colour.
Edge highlight
A fine line of lighter colour along a raised edge to make it read from a distance.
Element ID
The number Lego uses for a specific part in a specific colour, listed in the inventory at the back of instructions.
Flash
Thin, unwanted webs of material that leak between mould halves, most common on metal and resin casts. Trimmed off during prep.
Gate
The small channel joining a part to the sprue. Cutting through the gate a little away from the part, then trimming the stub, avoids marks on the part.
Glaze
A very thin, mostly transparent layer of paint that tints the colour underneath without covering it.
Greebling
Adding small surface detail parts to break up flat areas and suggest machinery, common in sci-fi Lego and kit builds.
Heroic scale
Miniature sculpting style that exaggerates heads, hands and weapons so figures read well on the table. Also used loosely for 32mm figures.
Hobby knife
A knife with a thin, replaceable blade, used for trimming flash and mould lines, scraping seams and fine cutting across plastic, resin and card.
Illegal connection
A Lego building technique that stresses or deforms parts, which Lego's own designers avoid in official sets.
Kitbash
Combining parts from different kits to make something the box did not offer.
Layering
Painting successively lighter tones on smaller areas to build up highlights.
Lighting kit
A set of small lights and wiring run through a model to light windows, engines or display scenes, usually fitted before the model is closed up.
MDF terrain
Laser-cut medium-density fibreboard kits that slot and glue together into buildings and scenery.
MOC
My Own Creation: a Lego model designed by the builder rather than from a set.
Mould line
A thin raised ridge left where the halves of a mould met. Usually scraped off with the back of a hobby knife blade before priming.
Panel line
A recessed line on a kit surface representing a join between panels on the real subject, often picked out with a wash.
Pigment
Fine weathering powder used for dust, mud and rust effects.
Pin vice
A small hand drill that holds fine drill bits, used for pinning and drilling out barrels.
Pinning
Drilling both faces of a joint and gluing in a short wire or rod so the joint resists sideways force. Used for heavy metal and resin parts.
Primer
A base coat applied before paint, usually from a spray can or an airbrush, giving an even surface that paint keys to better than bare plastic, resin or metal.
Push-fit
Parts designed to hold together by friction alone, without glue. Common in starter sets.
Putty
A filler used to fill gaps and seams between parts before painting. It cures hard enough to sand smooth, unlike paint-on fillers.
Sanding sticks
Abrasive sticks or blocks, usually sold in a range of grits, used to smooth mould lines, seams and cured filler ahead of priming.
Scale
The size ratio of a model to the real thing, such as 1:72, or for figures a height in millimetres such as 28mm.
Seam line
The visible join where two halves of a part meet after gluing. Filled and sanded if it should not be there on the real subject.
Side cutters
Small cutters with flat-ground blades on one side, used to clip parts away from a plastic sprue cleanly, with less stress on the part than scissors or a knife.
Silvering
A frosted, shiny look around a decal caused by air trapped under its clear film, usually from applying it to a matt surface.
SNOT
Studs Not On Top: Lego building techniques that turn studs sideways or upside down.
Sorting trays
Shallow trays or tubs used to sort parts by colour, size or build step before or during a build, so you are never searching a single loose pile.
Sprue
The frame of plastic that injection-moulded parts are attached to when they come out of the mould. Also called a runner or a frame.
Static grass
Short flock fibres that stand upright when applied, used for realistic grass on bases and terrain.
STL file
A 3D model file format used to print terrain or miniatures on a home 3D printer.
Varnish
A clear protective coat in gloss, satin or matt. Gloss goes under decals and washes; matt or satin is usually the final coat.
Wash
A thinned paint or dedicated wash product that flows into recesses and panel lines by capillary action, adding shade and depth without recolouring the flat surfaces.
Wet palette
A palette with a damp sponge and a thin membrane under the paint, keeping acrylic paint workable for far longer during a painting session than a dry palette.