Daddy's got a new knife... And it's hot !

Although a set of nine British Lineinfantrymen are currently in the focus of my efforts, the other 2012 projects aren't forgotten. Especially a new gaming board shall be built this year. I decided to use styrofoam as base material but cutting the 5cm boards (about 2") with a usual knife is really hopeless. Jegsaw works but is kind of makeshift tool for that.
However yesterday I upgraded my arsenal and bought a Proxxon Thermocut hotwire-cutter. It looks like a simple fret saw but it holds an up to 350 °C (about 662 °F) hot wire of hardened stainless steel. It goes through the foamboard like a lightsaber through butter (*insert maculine grunt here*). Or at least it should since I wasn't able to test it yesterday evening...

Here is a picture of my little beauty (official Proxxon product picture):

Isn't it nice?

I've been wanting such a thing since I read of it in a Citadel compendium in the late ninteen-nineties. Back then those tools were both inaccessible and unaffordably for me. But this one seemed a bargain for just around 35 EUR (about GBP 29 or USD 45). When the infantrymen are done (hopefully this weekend) I'll give the thermocutter a try. Those 2" foamboards shall be engraved and ornamented with a nice winding 1" deep river...