What's your most useful hobby item?

[Leon]

What's the one item on your painting desk which you come back to over and over again?  A handy pair of clippers, a little stirring stick, or an old plastic tub for holding stuff?

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Scalpel, 10a blade, number 2 & number 00 brush, super glue, bottom half of a tub of aftereight mint sticks with all my brushes in, ipod! 

[Steve J]

God that's a tricky one . Given that model making is my trade as it were, I have so many indispensable tools, but the one constant on my painting table is an old saucer that I use for mixing paint on etc.

[Hertsblue]

Miniature curved needle-nosed pliers - ideal for straightening out bent bases and other small parts. With their associated miniature side-cutting snips for cleaning off casting debris.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

The major one I dont have - MONEY 

IanS

(and just a minor Shout  )

[Techno]

Self made mini 'dental tools'.....Swann Morton eye surgery scalpel blades + handle....Wax carver five....Colour shapers.....Green Stuff/ Pro Create/ Magic Sculp....Blah, blah, blah....
But the one particular item I'd be completely lost without...whether for making the wee chaps, or trying to paint them, would be my Optivisor.
Cheers - Phil. (Please sir, Ian's being loud again !) 

[goat major]

Yep optivisor for me

[Nico]

The one dental tool/sculpting tool I possess.

[Dickie255]

Optivisor! Me too! I wouldn't be able to get a paint brush near a figure without one and a couple of trays or desk tidy 'things' to house all the paints, brushes, glues etc

[fred.]

The main 3 are scalpel, needle file and super glue. I only discovered needle files a few years ago and they make life so much easier.

A good light is very important - took some figures away with me last holiday, and couldn't paint them as all the lights in the holiday cottage were very low energy.

[nikharwood]

Great question...mine would have to be:

• my painting station / board: portable and solid: made from at least 50p's worth of offcuts from B&Q + 10p's worth of No Nails c.2000 
• CDs - my preferred mixing palette: free & easily stored - and labelled for future reference
• my hardback booky-wook: for notes as I go or referring to research
• laptop / netbook / tablet: for 'live' research / music / video / totty inspiration

Oh - and some knives & brushes & stuff 

[Bernie]

Army Painter: Gives character to my simple block colour painting

Good variety of flock for basing as probably spend as much time doing the bases as the figures

Bernie

[Luddite]

Hmm...good question.

Actually i don't have anything like that.  The 'tools' seem to get used up fairly often, or are entirely functional.

I suppose i do have a small purple plastic cup that i use for brush water.  It came out of a camping canteen set from my feral days back in the 1990's.

[sultanbev]

The metal spatula I never returned to science class when I left school. Lost my 10p deposit 30 years ago. Great for opening Humbrol tins, stirring paint and basetex 

[Chad]

Another vote for Optivisor.

Chad