introduction

Knock out pins. You know what I’m talking about. Those little nubs of plastic we find in or on our models that cause us grief because they need to be removed. Whether raised or sunken, they are a pain in the behind to deal with. Well, not anymore. I received some new tools from Maus Werx (MW) in Colorado Springs to take for a test drive. They are designed to make removing these trouble spots easier. I’m all about easier when it comes to my models and I’m sure a lot of you are too.

in use

My test subject was Trumpeter’s 1/32 scale P-40. There were plenty of knock out marks in the interior of the fuselage that I could test these new tools on.

The tools come five to a pack and are about 2” long. Diameter of the sanding head is 1/8” and made from wet/dry sandpaper. The packaging recommends using water with these sanding discs so I did as recommended. The back of the packaging lists the grit of each tool. Each stick is color coded to help in referencing them later. The grits are 220, 330, 400, 600 and finally 1500. My victim never had a chance. After using the 220 grit disc the knock out mark was all but gone. I continued with the remainder of my sanding sticks using a little water with each one, and finally wiping the area down with a piece of flannel shirt….don’t tell my wife.

The sanding sticks performed as advertised and the offending knock out mark was gone in under a minute leaving a fresh surface to work with. The heads on the sanding discs are round which work well for the more accessible areas, but what about marks in tighter areas? Not to worry, MW has a set of sanding sticks with this in mind. The heads are tear drop shaped to allow better access into a corner with the pointed end of the sanding pad.

conclusion

Whether you choose the round or tear dropped shapes you will find the sanding heads are angled which allow for them to be used easier and prevent gouging the plastic. I was very pleased with how they performed and would recommend these to anybody who hates dealing with knock out marks or small sanding tasks. Thanks to Maus Werx for the review sample.