Plastic Card Help

[DutyBeforeAll]

Hey I was thinking of using plastic card for tactical arrows for my space marines.

 

What's a good thickness for that, also for leg arrows for Iron Hands.

[Grotsmasha]

Literally as thin as you can find. Like 0.5mm thin. If it's for Shoulder Pads I don't think it would work, legs on the other hand would be fine. You'd be better off using Greenstuff on shoulder pads (or Shapeways...)

 

Cheers,

Joni

[Major_Gilbear]

I find that 0.5mm thick is a good all-round useful thickness, but you can also get 0.25mm thick that's like thick paper - enough to get the relief detail, but not so thick it looks like extra armour. The thinner stuff is also more flexible, but I would use superglue rather than plastic glue to attach it - it can wrinkle or melt through if you're not careful otherwise because it's so thin.

 

Once you get to 1mm thick plasticard or thicker, it becomes very difficult to cut (or score and snap) neatly. So although it's good for scratchbuilding and such, I'd stick with the thinner stuff for what you're after.

 

For greaves or vehicles, using plasticard for these details is a good idea. For the shoulderpads, I'd sculpt them on with a putty like Milliput instead (as you can sand the arrows down afterwards to get them nice and smooth) as the curve of the pad is too tight to get the arrows on neatly with any real consistency (and I know because I've tried!).

[Subtle Discord]

For adding details to man-sized models I found that even O.25mm thick styrene is a bit too tall for my personal taste.

 

In the 'Sculpting CSM Metal Trim' thread, lower down in the PCA section, I show an example of my attempt to add thin styrene bits to form trim details on Marine Powered Armour. For that attempt I'm using 0.13mm thick styrene and I think the height is about right.

 

The down side; getting the bits to stick to the simple curved surfaces was tricky enough to drive me almost crazy. Getting it to cleanly stick to a complex curve like a shoulder pad will be very difficult, if not virtually impossible.

[DutyBeforeAll]

Thanks for the help and for the ideas. I'll probably just order a couple of different thickness sheets and plat around with them.

 

Can someone explain why forge world stopped making an iron hands transfer sheet With squad markings?

[IronDrake28]

There is an Iron Hands transfer sheet on FW and the description says it has squad markings...unless you mean that they are the wrong ones for you?

[DutyBeforeAll]

It seems more for the Horus Heresy than 40k. I looked at it and it didn't seem to have tactical arrows or assault squad crossed arrows.

[nyahoi]

I've a plan whirling around my head for this, but wont be testing it out for a looong time.
My thinking is to make a template out of paper first to figure out the curvature. Cutting out paper bigger than the arrow, and creating folds in the paper until it wraps tightly around the shoulder. Then mark out the arrow shape, cut out the arrow, and flatten the paper again. Finally, make the necessary cuts in the template where the fold lines are. Use this template to create versions of this in 0.13mm plasticard. Then according to my imagination, you 'should' be able to wrap this around the shoulderpad, joining it neatly at the places where you made the cuts. May require some filler like liquid sprue and filing too though. 

[Major_Gilbear]

By all means give it a try and let us know the results. :)

 

I repeatedly tried and failed to get anything neat enough though, and I have been scratch-building with plasticard for about 25 years...

 

The key issue is with the size and shape of the arrows I was after mind you - the double-headed Tactical arrow that the Dark Angels use. Same issues with the four-pointed Assault arrow. However, you may well find the single Tactical arrow and the plain Assault cross easier to achieve!

[nyahoi]

By all means give it a try and let us know the results.

I repeatedly tried and failed to get anything neat enough though, and I have been scratch-building with plasticard for about 25 years...

The key issue is with the size and shape of the arrows I was after mind you - the double-headed Tactical arrow that the Dark Angels use. Same issues with the four-pointed Assault arrow. However, you may well find the single Tactical arrow and the plain Assault cross easier to achieve!

This topic is making me really want to! My hobby time is already cluttered with enough minutia though, like adding magazines to holstered bolt pistols

I think it can definitely be done, its just a case of how much work is involved. It may even be possible without any cuts. Scoring as many lines as necessary on each axis to accommodate the curvature, then filling with liquid-sprue and filing.