Stainless Scale 150mm G22C

Mineshima Stainless Scale 150mm G22C, a stainless steel ruler

A stainless steel ruler 150 mm long from the Japanese brand Mineshima, which specializes in tools for building plastic models. The English word scale here means the graduation, that is a ruler, not the scale of a model. It is not a part or an accessory for a kit but a tool for the modeling bench.

Use

• measuring parts, profiles and plastic sheet during modifications and conversions
• measuring out and scribing the spacing of rivets and panel lines
• guiding a knife when cutting plastic, paper and thin sheet
• measuring brass profiles, wire and tube before a cut
• checking that glued assemblies are flat and square

Who it is for

For anyone who scribes panel lines, builds their own parts from plastic sheet or works with photo-etched parts and needs to measure short distances precisely. The short length fits in the hand and on the bench next to a kit in progress, and the stainless edge stands up to the guiding of a knife far better than a plastic ruler, whose edge the blade nicks after a few cuts so that the line then breaks. In conversions and in building your own parts half a millimeter is moreover the deciding difference, so a metal graduation with sharp divisions does more work than a tape measure or a paper ruler. The same range also includes a longer 300 mm version for large sheets and fuselage halves.

The stainless edge is sharp, so hold the ruler clear of the line of the cut when guiding a knife. Always cut on a mat, never on the bench top, and guide the knife away from you. A knife, a mat and other tools are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.