Metal Working ToolsIf you are a scratch builder then you will undoubtedly have to do some metal work. For sport models, metal work is usually limited to fabricating landing gear, soldering various fittings and bending brass fuel lines. For scale aircraft models, any number of fittings may need to be fabricated in your shop. A bench vise is sufficient for bending dural aluminum gear. If it does not have smooth jaws you can pad the jaws with scrap hardwood or aluminum. If you are bending music wire gear then the bench vise is not a good idea.  | Music wire is tempered and will crack if the bend radius is too sharp. For that reason I recommend using a dedicated wire bender. I use the K & S Mighty and Mini wire benders and have had good success with both of them. Wire benders have two steel dowel pins — one holds the wire in place and the wire is bent around the second. The K & S models come with a bending lever. |
I use a moto-tool with an emery cut-off wheel to cut music wire. Do not attempt to use side cutters to cut music wire. The wire is too hard and will ruin the cutters. A scroll saw with a fine metal cutting blade and plenty of oil will cut aluminum plate. I normally draw the cut lines on the aluminum with a Sharpie fine point marker and then put a piece of clear packing tape over the line. The packing tape becomes a lubricant and protects the line. My soldering iron is a 25-watt model that has performed very well. It is nothing fancy. I think I paid about $15 for it many years ago and it is never given me any problems. A heavier duty iron with a bigger tip is better when soldering larger areas such as wire wrapped landing gears. The problem most people run into with their soldering irons is that they do not tin the tip properly. You need a wet sponge to wipe the tip on while you are soldering. Melt some solder on the iron tip after the iron is hot to put a shiny plating on it. If the tip will not take the solder then it is not clean. Wipe tip on the wet sponge and try again. Repeat until the tip will take the solder. For particularly stubborn tips I dip the hot iron in a tin of paste flux and let it sizzle for a few seconds. A small butane torch is good for times when the joint to be soldered is too big for an iron. The trick to soldering is to two-fold: The metal being soldered must be cleaned. Use fine steel wool or very fine wet or dry sandpaper to remove tarnish and give the metal a little "tooth." Heat the work, not the solder.
The solder will flow beautifully when the metal is hot enough. Do not heat the work any longer than necessary. Get it heated quickly, apply some flux, apply the solder and then let it cool. Allow soldered joints to cool naturally. Do not cool solder joints by dipping them in water.A solder joint that is cooled too quickly will crack. | 
I use the Coverite 21st Century iron to apply heat-sealed coverings. I thought it was an excellent tool until I dropped it and the handle shattered like glass. It's the most brittle plastic I've ever seen. The shoe was always loose in the handle and there's no way to tighten it. Frankly, I've never found a covering iron that I thought was of very high quality.