Scribe-R File

RB Productions

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

Iliad Decals' 1/48 scale ANG Mustangs is available online from Squadron.com

In addition to aircraft decals and accessories, Radu Brinzan of RB Productions also produces a wide variety of modeling tools.  These include scale rulers for measuring, folding tools for photo-etch, and cutting, scribing and riveting tools for plastic and resin.  The range of scribers is particularly impressive, with Radu offering varieties that allow modelers to scribe parallel and angled lines as well as more traditional single lines.

The latest addition to this range is the Scribe-R File, which Radu has designed for freehand scribing of “edge panel lines such as wing edges, fuselage spines etc”, as well as “scribing along a hard edge such as a ruler.”  In order to facilitate these different functions, the Scribe-R File is in fact a package of three differently shaped scribing blades, each designed for accessibility to different parts of a model.

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Like all of Radu’s scribers, these blades are supplied on a photo-etched fret from which they need to be removed and attached to a Swann Morton ACM 1 or equivalent handle (which is not supplied with the file).  For some reason I approached this task as if I was cutting a piece of etched brass from an Eduard fret, but be warned:  the blades are etched stainless steel and require either a very sharp scalpel or mini-razor saw to remove from their attachment points.  It took me several minutes of muttering to work this out (during which I was reminded of the time I had tried to use the stainless steel seat belts in Dragon’s 1/48 Ta 152H kit), but I eventually triumphed and found myself with a blade that fitted snugly into my knife handle.

I tested the blades on a piece of plastic sheet, and compared their work with that of my Olfa P-Cutter, which has long been my favourite scriber.  The Scribe-R File blades were easy to use, both freehand and against a ruler, and left a very fine scribed line with minimal raised edges.  In comparison, the P-Cutter felt like something of a trenching tool, removing a clearly wider and shallower curl of plastic.  The P-Cutter felt slightly easier to control than the Scribe-R File, but that may just have been my lack of familiarity with the latter tool, which certainly had no tendency to wander away from the course I was steering – a godsend when scribing.  And one of the P-Cutter’s main drawbacks is its inability to get into nooks and crannies, something that the different blades of the Scribe-R File has been expressly designed to do.

This is the first scribing tool from RB Productions that I have used, but I suspect it won’t be the last.  The Scribe-R File is easy to use and control, and produces a very fine scribed line that requires a minimal amount of clean up to look excellent.  While the file won’t replace my trusty P-Cutter it will be an important companion tool, especially when it comes to rescribing those pesky lines along wing and stabiliser roots that the P-Cutter just can’t reach.

Very highly recommended.

Thanks to RB Productions for the review sample.

Text and Images Copyright © 2013 by Brad Fallen
This Page Created on 1 April, 2013
Last updated 1 April, 2013

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