Junkbox: Air Compressor
COMPRESSED AIR is a modeler's must. It sprays, dries, dusts, and cleans. What it cleans best is piggy banks. "Hobby" compressors, suitable for airbrushes only, start at around a hundred dollars. Larger units, adaptable to other household chores, quickly jump to three or four times that price. Modelers with a talent for scrounging and a flair for innovation (and that includes all modelers) can assemble a high-pressure, high-volume air delivery system for free out of bits and pieces from the local dump. They might even already be cluttering up the basement workshop! A complete parts list is included as an appendix, but the components fall into three categories:
