Multi Purpose Dowel Tools

While we're on the subject of masking -

Here's some burnishing tools I use to press down and secure the tape edge before spraying.

I wouldn't recommend using your fingernail, You could nick the paint. You'll have more control using the end of the dowel.

Simply run the end in a pencil sharpener then round the tip with sandpaper.

Look at the back end of the dowels, to the right.

The dowel on the left is rounded. I use that ball-end to apply glue, drop by drop, to the top of engine mount centering rings.

Sometimes I want to make a fillet, down inside the body tube after the mount is glued in place.

My fingers aren't long enough to spread out a fillet that far away. With the long dowel I apply one drop of glue, then use the rounded ball end to spread the fillet.

It can take five or six glue drops and fillet smoothings to get the ring of glue all the way around the centering ring / body tube joint.

The other dowel has a short conical shape on the end. That was used to help form the small nozzles on my Zooch Soyuz model. With the nozzles being so small, after gluing the tabs, I'd hold and turn them on that dowel end to give them a rounder shape.