This morning on “FoxnFriends” there was a company carving pumpkins using hand and battery operated power tools. No idea of the strength, but looked like some ideas that could be used for modeling, especially carving plaster and foam. Check out this saw -
http://www.pumpkinmasters.com/power_saw.asp
Might want to look around at the other stuff on the site. Lots of little tool and light ideas.