Fine cutting tool?

[CathyA]

I finished a lovely puzzle of Nesting Loons, only to find 2 pieces were missing. I am very careful not lose pieces around the house. I talked to the company and they said they didn't have any anymore. I would have to buy a new one from some other source (about $16-22) and just hope the pieces would fit........which was only a 20% chance. But if they didn't fit....I could put the whole puzzle together again. I dont' think so.
So.....I'm making my own pieces. I took pics of things and they didn't match at all. Then I thought......hey....I can cut the image on the box up. So that's what I've been practicing doing. But the pieces are small and have lots of turns. I can use sharp scissors for some of it, but the rest is too small. I have a cheap xacto knife, but it's not strong enough.

Is there anything else that would work better? Maybe there is a stronger Xacto knife/blade out there? haha......I'll probably end up spending more than the cost of a new puzzle......but I sure don't want to put a new one together again.

Any thoughts? I'll have only one chance to get these 2 pieces right, since they'll be the ones that match the best.
Thanks.

[JaneV2.0]

Make several copies of the cover picture. You should be able to cut matching pieces easily from the copy paper, then paste them on cardboard or foamcore that more or less fits. With several copies, you have a margin for error. It sounds like the cutting process has already begun though...

[CathyA]

Thanks Jane. That's what I initially did, but the colors were off. The only other thing I could think of was to actually use part of the picture on the box, which matched pretty well. The hard part is cutting such small pieces out with all their heads/arms, etc.
I'm probably getting a little OCD about this......but it took me so long to put together, I want it to look right. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I can divide my attentions from this to trying to get my KitchenAid mixer put back together right. I get a little crazy every Fall. :~) (At least that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it). lol!
Thanks again Jane!

[JaneV2.0]

Dremel?

[SteveinMN]

There are heavier-duty X-acto knives, like these (http://xacto.com/products/cutting-solutions/knives/detail/X3206). Maybe box cutters and some sharp blades?

As for the color shift, maybe take a digital photo of the cover so you can then bump up, say, red values or whatever? You'd have to print it on a good paper (maybe take it to a developer like Walgreens or a local photo store) but that might give you some room to manuever.

[CathyA]

Thanks Jane and Steve. You know, Just a little while ago I thought "why didn't I think to use our box cutter???". I picked up a heavier duty blade today to go on my Xacto knife. I have to be careful not to spend too much money on this stuff. Chances are (hopefully) this will be the last time I'll need to make my own puzzle pieces.

We have an Epsom Picture Mate printer, but the pics didn't match at all and I don't want to spend much more money on this. The box image is a near match, so I'll go with that for now. Fortunately, at least one of the missing pieces is in a straw/grassy area so I think I can fudge it a bit. The other one is an area of water, which might be a little trickier. I just have GOT to stop thinking just because I've spent 4-6 weeks, hours every day putting a puzzle together, that I have to glue and keep it. But I'm not there yet! I have some really beautiful puzzles. ......So many puzzles, so few walls. haha