Scaling actors when placing them in the scene

I have a newb question: Is there a way to scale a thin actor in the scene (by manually using the mouse in the editor when placing it, not in "code/script") without it instantly defaulting to a minimum thickness? I have some very skinny platforms and when I grab a corner to manipulate it, it suddenly gets thicker. What am I missing? Also anyway to zoom the editor view in? Thanks!

Comments
Another is to manually go into the actors width and hight settings and putting in the size you'd like it to be.