RedgrassGames Precision Nippers Review

Last Updated on April 23, 2021 by FauxHammer

Still using a Stanley knife to take your components off their sprues, and your fingerprints off your fingers? Well, cast them aside, because RedgrassGames have got you covered with some smashing nippers. Come and see what we think of them in our RedgrassGames Precision Nippers Review.

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The Best Sprue Cutters for Miniatures & Models

This article is part of our series looking into the best Sprue Cutters for Miniatures & Models.

To see our up-to-date list of the best Sprue Cutters for your miniatures, just click the image above.

RedgrassGames Nippers Review – Summary

Sharp, clean and easy to use, RedgrassGames’ Precision Nippers should be your go-to for all your sprue-related cutting – but they are not cheap.

RedgrassGames Precision Nippers Review – Introduction

I won’t deny it, I did have a bit of an existential crisis when faced with writing this review. I spent a good while sitting at my desk, nippers in hand, nip-nip-nipping away at the air and thinking to myself: “What the hell am I supposed to write about these?”

But then, when I started writing, a number of things surprised me. The first was that this is what my life has come to; the second is that I astounded myself with just how passionate my opinions have been about these and all other nippers I’ve ever used.

Much like brushes, nippers are one of those things the hobbyist gets used to using, and doesn’t realise just how much they’re missing out on until they try something else new and better. Before beginning this review, my go-to had been a pair of nippers I had received with my Mortal Realms magazine (you know the sort, the ones in the Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar Paints and Tools kits). They did everything I needed them to: I could hold them, they were easy to use, and they were perfectly adequate for getting whatever component it was I wanted off whatever sprue it was I happened to be holding.

But that was it. They were adequate.

Much like your first set of brushes, your first pair of nippers will be adequate. They’ll get the job done. They won’t do it poorly, they won’t do it well, but they’ll do it. A bit like you at work.

It’s easy to forget that there are better things out there than the sort of okay-ish thing you’ve settled for, and RedgrassGames prove that with these nippers.

RedgrassGames Precision Nippers Review – Design

Lightweight, durable and ergonomic to a fault, RedgrassGames’ nippers are as easy to hold as they are sturdy.

They’ve a nice narrow tip to them, too, which will make it easy getting them into all those small gaps between sprue gates. They operate with very little pressure, so you won’t be straining your hand when using these.

Made from steel, the blades on these nippers are seriously sharp, so watch your fingers around them. Also, the nippers are designed with a clever couple of screws, which prevents the blades from closing too far and ensuring that the blade does not become blunt from wear or overuse.

RedgrassGames Precision Nippers Review – Testing

In order to see what the big deal was with these nippers, I decided to cut through the thick outer-edge of a sprue sheet I had lying around.

With my old cheap (okay, free) nippers, this would’ve been a bit of an ask, and would’ve resulted in me gurning away as the nippers slowly chewed through the outer-edge of the sprue, leaving behind a twisted and gnarled edge that would require a great deal of filing in order to make it smooth.

Once again, we all get to enjoy some pictures featuring FauxHammer’s beautiful hands (because, as only those close to him know, he’s the only person with enough hands to simultaneously hold a sprue steady, operate a pair of nippers, and use a camera. He’s a bit like the geek equivalent of the goddess Durga).

As you can see form the above image, the nippers put very little pressure on the sprue during the cut, as there’s almost no bending or contortion on the plastic.

RedgrassGames’ nippers scythed through the sprue edge like a Tyranid mandible through exposed human flesh with little to no squeeze from the user. The resulting cut was completely flat – no pinched, crushed, or rough edge at all. Given that it’s unlikely you’re going to be cutting through anything anywhere near as thick as a sprue edge, this’ll leave your sprue gates quaking in terror – and you with less time filing on your hands.

Unsurprisingly, then, these nippers have absolutely no issues removing components from sprues. The sharp and fine point on the nippers enables you to get in good and close to your components, and the blades are so sharp and fine that the sprue can provide no resistance whatsoever.

The only worry I did have was that on the off chance I hadn’t quite lined up the RedgrassGames nippers properly, they would take no prisoners slicing through actual parts, because, damn, these things are sharp, and when squeezing them you can feel next to no resistance in your hand, so there’s no warning you might be pinching a bit of an arm or a sticking-out leg. RGG’s nippers will just take it clean off.

So, they’re easy to hold, they cut like a dream, and can even be useful getting rid of some of the most awkward unwanted plastic nodules on your figures. Win, win, win.

Will RedgrassGames Precision Nippers Review improve my Hobby?

As with all hobby tools, there’s far more to improving your hobby than just buying the best equipment. Building and painting isn’t like your favourite RPG, where you can just equip a higher-statted weapon and hey presto, you’re better. If it were that simple, we’d all just buy some Windsor and Newton Series 7s, a £500 airbrush, and settle in to using Golden Demons as common currency.

Practice is important, though good gear does make practising easier – and there’s no doubt about it, RedgrassGaming’s nippers are good gear. They cut plastic like a hot knife through butter, and with little to no strain on your hand or the sprue. Those thin parts that risk snapping with even the smallest bit of pressure are safe with RedgrassGames’ nippers. Their fine edges and small tip also make cutting those awkward bits pushed really close to their gates much easier.

RedgrassGames Precision Nippers Review – Price and Availability

Ah, right. So, this is where things get a little awkward.

RedgrassGames’ nippers are £27/$35 (USD)/€30.

You will have had one of two reactions to this: you’re either a new to middling hobbyist and your mouth has dropped open and your eyes have popped out of your head, or you’re a super-experienced hobbyist laughing at how cheap these are whilst toting a pair of God Hand SNP-120s which you’ve re-mortgaged your house to buy (and which proudly hold the number-one spot on our Best Sprue Cutters for Miniatures and Models list).

Justifying that a pair of nippers are worth £30 is, for me, as the son of a Yorkshireman, not something I do easily (for international readers, Yorkshire folk are notoriously tight-fisted and close-lipped regarding their cash – Smaug was probably a Yorkshireman).

If, like me, you’re also a mediocre painter and a reasonably unpractised hobbyist, this kind of price will have you reeling. At the same price as a box of miniatures or a heap of paints, £30 on some nippers may well come at the price of a few weekends of happy hobbying.

Nippers are not the kind of thing a new or more inexperienced hobbyist will be willing to shell out serious money for, so judging a fair price herein becomes very difficult. For further reference, Citadel’s fine detail cutters circulate the £21/$27/€23 mark, which, in my now evident ignorance, I had always thought seemed a little steep for some hardcore scissors.

I’ve never thought of myself as much of a serious hobbyist before the last few weeks, when I’ve been producing content for this website, and prior to this, I’d been using some Citadel-branded nippers that came free in an issue of Mortal Realms, and I had never had a complaint about them. But there is a serious, marked difference between RedgrassGames’ nippers and the run-of-the-mill alternative.

If you’re new to the hobby, a very relaxed hobbyist, or just don’t give that much of a toss about mould lines and so-on, then the cutting-from-the-sprue bit of the process is probably not something you’re really all that concerned about. The joy of the hobby is, for you, probably located in sticking together, painting of, and playing the game with your miniatures. As such, these aren’t something you’ll be looking to purchase, and you’ll probably be happy making do with whatever you’ve currently got.

But these are an investment. If you want to make sure your figures are as good as they could be, you’re going to need every bit of help you can get, and that first step – getting your plastic off the sprue – is something so critically overlooked by many, particularly beginners chopping around their sprues with a Stanley knife they’ve found in the back of a drawer (not to mention these are also a whole lot safer safer).

So yes, whilst they are on the expensive side, RedgrassGames’ nippers represent an important transition in your life as a hobbyist. They’re for people who want to step up, who want to get better, who want to make every effort to get their figures looking as good as possible.

And they won’t let you down.

RedgrassGames Precision Nippers Review – Final Thoughts

Wow.

RedgrassGames’ nippers have changed my life. Well-made? Yeah. Stunningly good? Oh, yeah. Expensive? Bloody hell, just a bit.

If you’re anything short of a semi-serious hobbyist, the price of RedgrassGames’ nippers are going to seem steep – after all, you could spend this kind of money on a box of miniatures – but if you are beginning to get serious with your hobby, and want to take the next step down the long road towards miniature perfection, RedgrassGames’ nippers are a must-have, because they’re really, really, really damn good.

Please Note: This site uses affiliate links. Our Affiliate Partners are shown below
(Affiliate links will result in compensation to the site on qualifying purchases)

Click this link & buy your hobby stuff from Element Games for the UK & Europe to support FauxHammer.com – Use Code “FAUX2768” at the checkout for double reward points.

Our Affiliates / Hobby Stores

• UK: Element Games, The Outpost, Wayland Games, Mighty Lancer, Goblin Gaming, Forbidden Planet, Model Scenery Supplies, eBay, Amazon
• US/Canada: MTechCave, GameKastle, eBay (US), eBay (CA), Amazon
• Germany: Taschengelddieb
• Europe: eBay (DE), eBay (FR), eBay (ES), eBay (IT), Amazon
• Australia: eBay, Amazon
• Global: RedGrass Games, Warcolours

• 3D Printers: Phrozen 3D, Elegoo, Anycubic

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Summary

Reviewer

Rob Hebblethwaite

Review Date

Reviewed Item

RedgrassGames Snippers

Author Rating

4