Product Review
If you have more than one workbench for your model railroading, you may soon find those workbenches full of tool racks and other items. I discovered myself doing more than one project at a time and realized I needed a second cutting mat to protect a nice looking workbench I have from Harbor Freight.
I took to the internet to find a cutting mat to suit me. Many of the online reviews I encountered included two objections - buyers often found the mat to be so smelly of chemicals that they would not bring it into the house. A second objection was that the mat would often arrive damaged or with some bend in it that could not be corrected.
So what to do? I visited my local art supply store - in my case Plaza Artist Materials in Fairfax, Virginia. There I found and purchased a Pacific Arc 18 inch by 24 inch cutting mat (GB-1824). If you are a bit fussy about colors, this 3mm thick mat is green on one side and has a similar grid on a black surface on the reverse. It retails for $36.25 but with my loyalty card I snatched it for $ 34.44. Plaza Art has many other cutting mats to suit your size requirement. Though one must pay local sales tax, one added bonus of purchasing locally is that there is no shipping and handling charge. Instant gratification is another plus.
This mat seemed to meet my needs and I started using it immediately with my current project, the re-working of an Fn3 (1:20.3 scale) engine house I will be submitting for AP judging towards the NMRA's MMR program.
An added bonus to a Plaza Art visit, my friend Mark Gionet accompanied me on my recent visit to Plaza and was pleased to be able to find Sculptamold® there - Mark mentioned it can sometimes be hard to find.
Plaza Art www.plazaart.com has 12 stores stretching from Nashville Tennessee to Philadelphia.
Do yourself a favor and purchase a second cutting mat for your shop if you find your first work station a bit cluttered with other projects.
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