Model Expo Waterline Marker Tool for Hobby Model Ships - Model Shipways

I am building a model of the Roter Sand lighthouse, a structure covered in steel panels, and needed something to scribe level lines to glue down styrene strips for the panel seams. This was inexpensive and I put it together in about 20 minutes, using a ruler, pencil and super glue to tack parts in place followed by a fillet of wood glue for strength. It works perfectly for my needs though on mine the square wooden tabs that hold the pencil were slightly undersized but using a flat head screwdriver I reamed them out ever so slightly and burnished it, it now holds a standard wooden pencil securely but without needing force, and it works perfectly for what I need. I suspect i will be reaching for this tool whenever I need to mark a waterline or panel line on a model.

Bolt and wing it not included

Been with Model Expo for decades. Great products, great support, even after they closed their storefront stores. This is a MUST HAVE product for establishing a waterline on your model. I’ve always built mine up from scrap wood but with the price so low, I just decided to reward myself. For those buyers that have never worked with laser cut wood before, you need to understand what happens during the process and what you must do before working with laser cut pieces. Model Expo has ALWAYS put words about this in their product Construction instructions but not this time and it’s a shame. So here goes - for those not aware.When the laser cuts the wood, it burns top to bottom through the piece. Two things happen - the cut on top will be WIDER than the cut on the bottom and the dark brown burnt wood you see contains a lot of oils. Since the cut is wider on one end than the other, the edge of the wood is NOT perpendicular and needs to be squared off. If you assemble the pieces without sanding, they will be difficult to glue because of the oils AND they won’t be squared off due to the angle left during the cutting process.This is a great tool and easy to assemble BUT you’ll have to sand / square each edge to be glued so it’ll fit together and stay together.Last point - the pencil provided is about 3-4” long. It’s also too big for the provided holes. Instead of opening / widening the pencil holes, I’d recommend 1) getting a longer standard #2 pencil and cutting off the eraser end then, 2) chuck it up in a drill and using sandpaper - sand it down so it fits in the provided holes. My problem was that when I used the provided short pencil, it couldn’t reach the hull when I went around the ends and corners of the mounting base. Using a longer pencil sanded to the correct diameter to fit allowed me to reach the hull easily from all points around the base.In summary - sand and square edges of parts to be glued so they’ll adhere and the edges will match well, toss the short pencil and sand / insert a regular length pencil without enlarging the provided holes.It’s a great tool, expect to spend an hour or so assembling it. Done correctly, it’ll be a favorite for sure. I hope Model Expo puts these edging / sanding tips in their instructions. They put them in all their ship / plane product instructions.

Took about an hour to sand and glue up. Works great. For $10.00 sure saved a lot of piecing together scrapes from my woodpile.

very useful, but overpriced

Very low quality. Needs work to correct Inaccurate laser cut.

Coupled with my building stand, draws perfect waterlines around boat.

The wing nut supplied was to big for the bolt that came with it.No problem. LOWES is close by.It is junk. Wood pieces were cut out of square.