Kimi The Builder

By far, one of the toughest premium cutters that I’ve used

After the Review of the Painting Jig that I did a while ago, I realized how important some of the roles that the Plamo tools have in making my experience building kits to be an enjoyable one. Not to mention too on how some of these awesome tools have been instrumental in making sure that my builds to consistently look as good as how I wanted the kit to be.

Plus since as I actually as well enjoy doing reviews on the tools that I use regularly to build some of these excellent Gunplas and Plamos. Which is why I decided to continue doing these Plamo tool review segment, every now and then. 

Today, I will review one of my current workhorse cutter, the Tamiya Craft Tools 123 Sharp Pointed Side Cutter.

For the longest of time, I have been using the cheaper RM 30 cutters which admittedly I thought was ‘good’ enough for my purposes. I always scoff at the thought of spending more than RM 100 because I always thought that you just needed something that works.

But also at the same time, I kept wondering why most of the cut from the cheap cutters that I got looked quite…bad. This persisted up until I decided to change from using a cheap cutter to an expensive one, 4 years ago and the one cutter that I decided upon is this, the Tamiya 123 Side Cutter.

In which managed to immediately change my Gunpla/plamo building world as soon as I started using it and it is as well one that made me never want to revert back to using cheap cutters ever since.

So you may be wondering, how did it come to that.

Well, one of the reasons for this is first, its durability. Because ever since I started using them 4 years ago (this is even before I started with the Blog) I only had to replace them once, due to it being broken after having a nasty fall which rendered it unusable. Compared it to the cheap cutters that I have, which would always eventually need replacing after 3 – 6 months, either breaking down due to the cutter springs being worn off or just the whole thing just disintegrating by itself.

Even though, yes I’m aware of the price difference in between the two, but one has to remember that the Tamiya 123 Side Cutter is made with very fragile materials. Even the current one that I’m currently using I’ve somehow managed to break it as well, but somehow rather I still find myself being able to use it till today.

But regardless, I did manage to get a new one for the purpose of reviewing the cutter and I will pit it against with the older one. To see how much difference these two is when I get the cutter new to its current old iteration.

So I decided to give both of them a try on the MG Gundam NT-1 Ver.2.0. Surprisingly, I do find both cutters to have almost the same results.

Yes obviously with a bit difference here and there of course, with the new cutter having a bit of a smoother cut, while the older one to have slight rougher edges. However, overall you would still see almost the same results here. Which I do admit is a surprise since I was expecting the older cutter to have a much duller and rougher cut on the part. Looking at these results just shows a good proof of the durability of the blades.

Although admittedly when compared this to some of the cut that I’ve seen on other premium cutters, this might not be the cleanest or the most impressive, however at the very least it just has been something that has proven itself here to be one of the most consistent in terms of long term result.

Not to mention here as well is that you can use this cutter on larger scaled kits without the worry of breaking the blades off in pieces. Which I do think is an advantage to those that enjoy working on different scaled gunplas like me.

The second reason is definitely the looks.

Frankly, when I first saw this for the first time, I do admit that I really didn’t get why is this cutter is so expensive. For something that doesn’t even come with a storage cover for the blades, it’s very hard for one to be convinced that this particular set of cutters would set you back around RM 182.13 (or NTD 1350 since I got these through a Taiwanese seller).

However when you pry it out from its packaging, then you start to realize why it is priced as such. The workmanship on the nippers is just simply amazing. From the way the grip cover fits well on the Cutter and looked like the handle cover was apart of the cutter itself, to on how the stamped Tamiya Logo looked on the side of the cutter. All of this combined really makes one feel quite confident that this is the right tool for one to work on their plamo project.

Which brings me to the next bit, on how the whole cutter feels on my hands. When I moved on from using cheap cutters to this, I remembered being insanely impressed by how it feels on my hand. Why? Well because as strange as it may sound, I feel quite comfortable having them on my hand.

Which is quite weird because when one holds the cutter for the first time, the very first thing that they will notice here with this cutter is its weight. But somehow you will not notice the weight that much since Tamiya did manage to weight it perfectly from front to back and what’s more the weight of the Cutter does make of a much more satisfying and comfortable squeeze compared to the cheaper cutters where the squeeze is a bit more uncomfortable and unsatisfying.

So the question remains, is this something that I would recommend? Since this is an expensive cutting tool which does have a very fragile blade, I don’t recommend those that are new to the hobby to start with this, no matter rich you are. You really better off starting with something a bit cheaper to get used to before moving on to this. However, those that have some experience building and as well to those that are seeking to use something that can last them a long time, I would highly recommend them to try this cutter up.

Because if used correctly this might be one of the best tools to those seeking for something that could last them a long time. Especially to those that are thinking of treating this hobby like a long term relationship.

Like me.

With that ends the plamo tool review for the Tamiya Craft Tools 123 Sharp Pointed Side Cutter. What do you think of both the tool and the review for this Tamiya cutter? Do you share the same thoughts with us or do you think that this Tamiya cutter could’ve been better? I love this cutter, it has been one that I would say that has been quite consistent in terms of result, unlike the other cutters that I’ve used.

However, I do admit that I wouldn’t mind giving a chance on other premium cutters that is out there. I do want to experience other premium cutters that are being offered to us gunpla/plamo builders. Maybe I’ll find something to replace my workhorse cutter, during this cutter review journey or maybe will not.

But there is one thing that I know of, that it will be one fun journey indeed.

Anyways, we will be back again with more Let’s Talk Gunpla Segment on the next coming Wednesday and Friday. This coming Monday Kimi will be back again with either a review or an unboxing, So do look forward to that!

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We hope by sharing our love and passion for gunplas here, it’ll inspire you to pick up the hobby or reignite your love for gunpla!

Anyways, we shall see all of you again next week, and we hope that you all have an awesome week and weekend ahead! Have an awesome Gunpla building time there as well and until next time!

Ciao!