Any ideas to prevent losing small parts?

[Zubie]

Besides sacrificing to the god of shag carpets...

Anyhow, I've just spent way too much time looking for a carefully cut nose of a 1/72 torpedo to replace the head on the Revell 1/79 BB8 when it occurred to me, if I had been working inside a clear plastic bag...a kind of glove box, it might have been ok. The fact of the matter is, I can't say this is workable because I haven't tried it (thus the missing piece).

The thing is one frequently may need to touch up a small piece or snip or sand a tad off and sometimes it's the very pressure you use to hold the thing makes it shoot off like a watermelon pit.

I recall one thing I used to do when snipping small items like antennas and guns off trees was to back it with scotch tape before hand and that worked quite well.

Any other ideas?

[mike robel]

I have done the following:

1. Cut the part in a plastic bag.

2. Tape the part to a piece of masking tape.

3. Cut the part and a portion of the runner (sprue). Use the sprue as a handle to glue the part on. After its attached, snip the runner, and touch up the part. Works for landing gear, antennae, machine gun barrels, landing wheels, and other bothersome parts.

[EVApodman]

Lost parts are the bane of modelers everywhere.