When we think about the hobby we often think about the models needed to create our armies and the paints we are using to make them ready for the tabletop – but how much thought do we give to our tools that we use for building them? Every single kit that you pick up needs to be prepared and assembled, but do you think about if your tools are up to scratch to make them look their best?

Many people just make do with a cheap pair of sprue clippers even though these can potentially damage components and cause you to spend far longer cleaning up the parts. On the other extreme, people spend £40+ on imported Japanese nippers designed to remove coloured parts from Gundam kits without leaving any damage or discoloration from tension and pressure on the frames.

Thanks to Redgrass Games we have been able to try out two cutters that sit inside these extremes. The Redgrass Sprue Cutters and the Redgrass Precision Nippers – both of which fulfill different roles in the wide world of sprue cutting! Massive thanks to Redgrass for sending over free review copies for us to try out. If you would like to support the site then why not order your hobby tools through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself money too?

Before we get started on the Redgrass tools, I just wanted to mention what I currently use as so to act as a comparison for these new ones. My go to pair of cutters is currently a Tamiya 74123 Sharp Pointed Side Cutters – These I have been using for around a year now and they are excellent quality, able to cut through plastic effortlessly (And its worth noting that these are designed for plastic only – you shouldnt be cutting resin or metal with these). The quality however comes with a price tag with an RRP of £36.99 (Or £33.29 from Element)

As you can see these cut really nicely leaving minimal cleanup.

I also have an old pair of GW clippers that I think cost around £20 – these are my ones that i use for clipping resin and metal, they are well past their best with a busted spring and chipped blades, but I’m happy to use them on things I dont want to cut with my nice pair

Finally I also have a cheap free set of GW clippers that came with the Stormbringer series – they are not the cleanest cut and you’ll deffo need to clean parts up, but they are quick and dirty and get the job done! So let’s take a look at Redgrass’ offerings:

Redgrass Sprue Cutters

The first of the two clippers sent to us were the Redgrass Sprue Cutters – these are branded as versatile and durable clippers designed to last for the long haul.

Able to cut plastic and resin, I was keep to see how these performed – they are priced quite a bit cheaper than my Tamiya cutters and they are more in line with those available from Games Workshop. They don’t promise super close precision cuts like the other pair we will be looking at, but their selling point is that they are hardy and cut clean even when used to cut non plastics. From a cost point of view these retail at £28.99 (Or £26.09 from Element) which puts them a little under the RRP of the new Games Workshop cutters (I’ve not used the new ones, but the previous model was my go to work horse until the spring stopped working after a couple of years of use)

These clippers surprised me – I was expecting them to butcher pieces off the sprue due to their cheaper price tag compared to the Tamiya cutters and Redgrass Precision Nippers, but they actually cut really nicely – the cut wasnt quite as close as on those more expensive clippers, but it left a very neat nub that was easy to remove with a knife and clean off. I’ve been sitting on this review for just over a month as I’d heard some horror stories about some cheaper clippers not being quite so good over time, and wanted to give them a proper field test to make sure they lived up to their claim to be durable, and I have to say despite us building a lot of kits here in the Sprues & Brews studio they are still holding up well.

One big advantage with these is their ability to also cut resin (I’ve not cut any metal with them yet – but suspect they would also do well at clipping away thinner parts and flash from the mould) – whenever working on resin kits I always tended to use cheaper clippers that I didn’t care about, but the problem with that is that they often do not clean very nicely and can cause strain to the parts. With the Redgrass Sprue Cutters I was able to remove components from gates with some greater precision than previously and was less likely to damage the parts in the process. Again – these don’t cut quite as close as other clippers – but they still do a great job and are a nice sturdy workhorse to keep in your hobby tool bag for day to day use.

The are also priced well at £28.99 – while this is a little more expensive than some budget clippers I’ve picked up for £15 from Hobbycraft, they have lasted considerably longer and give a much better cut. I’ve picked up some clippers in the past that I’ve binned within the month due to just not being up to scratch at the job of cutting out delicate components.

If you want a set of clippers that performs well but is hardy enough to put up with the punishment of building an army of kits then these are well worth picking up. Likewise if you have a precision pair of cutters and want something that will do a decent job on resin then these make a great backup.

Redgrass Precision Nippers

The second set of clippers that Redgrass sent us are the RGG Precision Nippers – These are the Redgrass equivalent to the Japanese precision cutters such as the Tamiya set that I use (A lot of people also swear by Godhand cutters – though I have never used these myself so I can’t compare how these perform compared to them).

Out of the two cutters it was these that I was most excited to try (Even if the standard Sprue Cutters pleasantly surprised me with just how well they cut) as I was used to an excellent cutting experience with the Tamiya set.

Cost wise these retail at £35.99 (or £32.39 from Element) which undercuts the Tamiya set by £1 placing these two clippers very much in direct competition.

So they big questions are “How well do they cut” and “Are they better than Tamiya?”

Well, these clippers cut really well – just like with the Tamiya pair they cut through plastic like a hit knife through butter. It is worth noting that these have a much smaller head and cutting surface compared to other clippers – so while they are very sharp, you don’t really want to be cutting through massive chunks of plastic with them otherwise you might damage the blade – cutting at the connection point on a straight surface and they leave no blemishes and actually left a cleaner cut than my trust Tamiya pair. Because of the smaller head i did find them a little harder when cutting on rounder surfaces (If you look at the image of the cut part, the lower section of the leg does have some sprue nub remaining, though it was still a clean cut and really easy to finish off)

The handles on these clippers are also bigger than both on the Tamiya and on the standard Redgrass sprue cutters, with the Precision Nippers having both longer handles and the textured covering of them running further up. This makes them very comfortable to hold for extended hobby sessions and I didn’t suffer from the cramp I sometimes get from the Tamiya set made for the Japanese market. Now this is down to personal preference – as someone with big hands the Redgrass pair suited me better – your millage may vary if you have smaller hands.

The only thing that detracted from my experience with the precision nippers probably sounds odd, but its a lack of “snap”. My Tamiya clippers have a satisfying audible snap when they cut – whether this is the tension in the spring, or just the way they cut through the plastic, but the Redgrass Precision Nippers felt a little more “spongy” as they cut through the plastic because of how sharp the knife is. This is most likely beneficial to your models as the “snap” will be the resistance of the piece before it is cut of the sprue, but with the Redgrass ones gliding through it didn’t always feel like I had cut the piece.

Again, this one is super subjective and no doubt I’ll get used to the sensation of cutting with them over the Tamiya pair, but I have to admit I did miss the satisfying snap of it!

Minor niggles about the size of the head and the “snap” aside, these are excellent cutters and rightfully belong in that premium cutter bracket. If you are serious about painting models and want them to have the best finish you can get then I highly recommend picking up a pair of these to make sure your model assembly is as neat as possible. A lot of people talk about the importance of cleaning mouldlines – but making sure your cuts are neat and without damage to the model is just as important, and Redgrass have done a fantastic job of offering a set of clippers that are up to that job.

The Redgrass Sprue Cutters and Redgrass Precision Nippers are both available to buy now.

Redgrass Games sent Sprues and Brews free copies for review purposes.