RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters Review

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Are you still cutting your sprues up with the same old clippers and nippers? Is it time for a change? Look no further than RedGrass Games, who have just released a new set of Sprue Cutters. Read our review of RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters to see if they can truly cut the mustard.

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RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters Review – Summary

There’s no doubt that these are some of the best Sprue Cutters on the market – they cut clean with sharp efficiency, and really not hard to recommend – but they don’t come cheap.

RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters Review – Introduction

We’ve covered a lot of RedGrass Games products before, most of them being wet palettes, so naturally you’d associate their name with wet palettes – but they do offer other hobby products. Nippers and cutters being chief among them – in fact, the main man Rob has already reviewed their Precision Nippers a couple years back, and owning a pair myself, they are an absolute delight and still hold up.

So these new Sprue Cutters have a lot to look up to. No pressure.

RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters Review – Design

We might as well dive right in. Here’s what they look like.

Here they are with the cap on, for health and safety reasons. No poking any eyes out with this rubber hood on – though my cutters were rather greasy for whatever reason, but easy to clean off.

But health and safety is for dweebs, so let’s get this thing naked.

Ok, so they don’t drastically reinvent the wheel here with its shape, but why fix something that ain’t broke? My first impressions were they were lightweight and fit comfortably between my fingers and thumb. They’re also springy, to abet in the cutting process. They also appear to be quite durable, as dropping them on a tiled kitchen floor didn’t make a dent in it.

Looking up close, you can see the blades are rather narrow – much more so than the precision nippers. This really helps when trying to cut as close to the model part as possible, but doing so in a way that won’t leave any damage to the part. They quite happily will slip into really small gaps in the sprue too – although, as stated on the back of the packet, you mustn’t cut at the tips of the blade, but rather close to the middle.

You don’t need much pressure at all when cutting with these, and don’t cause any discomfort in your hand. They are sharp however, as one would expect, so don’t run with them or through anyone with them.

RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters Review – Testing

While we’re here, we might as well demonstrate how they cut, and the result they produce.

Naturally, being a big Tyranid fan, I’d thought I’d build up one of the new kits (the new non-derpy Biovore) with these cutters and see how they fare against my usual set of nippers.

As you can see above, Tyranid parts can often be quite awkward, due to the long and sharp shapes that they are also rather smooth. They don’t leave a lot of big gaps on the sprue as a result, and this where a good pair of cutters comes in to pry them free. Worse for me is that the sprue gates have to be on the silky smooth carapace – meaning I’ll have to do a fair bit of clean-up once extracted.

The RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters fit in these awkward gaps like a glove. There’s no better way of putting it. Their lengthy blades are certainly to thank for this.

Here’s the leg cut out, and you can see on the upper part of the carapace, the sprue gate. The actual model part has not been scratched or otherwise affected by the removal from the sprue. From here, I can file down the clump with an exacto-knife.

I can, however, have cut even closer to the part – but I chose not in this case, as it was on a bit of a concaving slope, and was concerned that it would have been damaged. But on a rounded part, like a Space Marine shoulder pad, I can’t see this being a problem.

After that, I tried just cutting into the sprue frame to see what kind of lean cut we might get.

The Cutters gave little pressure on the plastic and didn’t warp it at all.

I cut a little chunk on the frame, and you can see how clean that cut. To use an old cliche, it’s like knife through butter. It’s like a Genestealer through ceramite. Or like Fulgrim through Ferrus Manus’ neck.

Now, these cutters also cut through resin – unfortunately, all my resin kits are built, so I couldn’t test or demonstrate with a resin sprue. But with the ease that it goes through plastic, I cannot see it faltering with a resin chunk.

Will RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters improve my Hobby?

I mean, yeah.

That’s an easy one. It beats the Citadel and Army Painter ones by a country mile, and feels like it will last much longer. It fits comfortably in my hand, and cuts with such ease that you won’t feel any resistance from the sprue. Even the thinnest of parts feel safe when against these cutters.

However, if you already own the RedGrass Games Precision Nippers, this is where you might want to reconsider if you need to get these ones as well. I adore the Precision Nippers, and prefer them (but not by much) over the Sprue Cutters. These feel more industrial, whereas the Precision Nippers give a cut that I observe as cleaner, and well, more precise.

But if you possess none of that, then this is a solid choice.

RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters Review – Price and Availability

Ok, this is the part where you’ll start counting pennies.

You can get the Sprue Cutters directly from RedGrass Games for GBP £28.99/ USD $39.99/ EUR €32.99.

Some experienced hobbyists out there might be like ‘eh’, but I’m sure there are beginner hobbyists that will be screaming ‘That price, in this economy?’. For me, these cutters straddle the line between the cheap Citadel ones (which still feels steep) and the indomitable DSPIAE ST-A Nippers, which cost a bit more.

But I’m not going to sugarcoat – yes, that is a lot of money for a small tool. It is best, however, to see them as a long term investment into your hobby – these may last you years, and the high quality of them cannot be brought into disrepute. As a veteran serious hobbyist, I’m very happy to have these in my hobby cup.

RedGrass Games Sprue Cutters Review – Final Thoughts

Pros	Cons
Very ergonomic and easy to use Cut very cleanly and allows for precise cuts Very sharp Durable	Expensive If you have the RGG Precision Nippers, these may be not needed?

All in all, what’s there more to say about cutters, other than they cut really well? Once you’ve cut your teeth on basic cheap cutters, you’ll never want to go back again once you’ve experienced these cutters.

I’d happily recommend these for the serious hobbyist, as the price may be less of an issue for you (though do correct me if I’m wrong), but if you’re a starter, these are still some of the best cutters you’ll ever use, so only you can determine if it’s worth shelling out the 30 quid. But you won’t regret it.

However, as someone who also owns the RedGrass Games Precision Nippers, I did find myself preferring them over these ones, but that shouldn’t take any from the top quality of these cutters. Had I not owned the nippers, these cutters would have been a game-changer for me, as someone who is a scrub who cheaps out where possible and still uses cheap old cutters (at least before I got the RGG nippers).

Irrespective of that, these are excellent sprue cutters, and worthy of a spot in your tool collection.

★★★★