How to work with plasticard.

[Guest]

So I have spent quite a bit of time working on my Space Wolves army. However, there are somethings I want to be able to build for the army with plasticard. Only problem is, I have never done so before. I have done relatively simple things like extend the barrel on boltguns and make weapon sights. 

 

I want to be able to make what is depicted above here. I like the straightened wings on the Stormraven and want to repeat it on my Stormeagle. The etchings in the tail fin, the layering of the plasticard, and the construction of things like vents are all things that I know I need to know how to do. So, how do I do it, what tools do I need, and what techniques should I use? Because eventually, I want to be able to build a Space Wolves tank like this for Apocalypse games...

http://media.moddb.com/images/groups/1/3/2074/Fatboy2.png

Edited January 13, 2018 by 40K Destiny

[Zigmunth]

What can I say? Youtube is your friend in need - watch others work with plasticard. Have patience and practice the :cuss out of it! Nothing comes straight away - unless you do Orks ;) - for other easthetically pleasing races you need skill.

[Guest]

What can I say? Youtube is your friend in need - watch others work with plasticard. Have patience and practice the out of it! Nothing comes straight away - unless you do Orks - for other easthetically pleasing races you need skill.

Thanks. I'll go check it out. Looks like the long road is the only road in this case.

[Subtle Discord]

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Give me some time to hobby a bit (I only get the weekends right now) and I'll be happy to write up a small wall-o'-text to give you a brief primer on what essentials you'll want/need if you're really serious about getting into scratch building with styrene. And trust me, you're serious if you really want to turn that 3D model into something real, even if you change the style significantly and use GW parts as a base that will be an ambitious build, but completely attainable if you're willing to put in the effort.

 

However, that first bit of advice is spot on, before you start making anything you'll want to read and watch videos on process and technique. Lots of reading and video watching (you'll likely find more written sources given the long history of scratch building) on the process and technique. Don't just look at gaming hobbyists who scratch build, look to any resource such as model railroaders, military model builders, Gundam modelers, architectural modelers, prototype makers, etc.

[Guest]

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Give me some time to hobby a bit (I only get the weekends right now) and I'll be happy to write up a small wall-o'-text to give you a brief primer on what essentials you'll want/need if you're really serious about getting into scratch building with styrene. And trust me, you're serious if you really want to turn that 3D model into something real, even if you change the style significantly and use GW parts as a base that will be an ambitious build, but completely attainable if you're willing to put in the effort.

 

However, that first bit of advice is spot on, before you start making anything you'll want to read and watch videos on process and technique. Lots of reading and video watching (you'll likely find more written sources given the long history of scratch building) on the process and technique. Don't just look at gaming hobbyists who scratch build, look to any resource such as model railroaders, military model builders, Gundam modelers, architectural modelers, prototype makers, etc.

Thank you. I eagerly await the wall-o'-text, as while I have started slowly figuring out where to start with some videos, considering your WIP page that I check now and then I have a bit more faith in you not leading me astray.  

[Dark Bjoern]

Take a look here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/331396-db-goes-armies-on-parade/

I build my own Plasma Obliterator from scratch. You will need a steel ruler, a sharp knife and a steady hand.

[Kalamadea]

I don't think they survived the board moves, but Barphoranges used to post all his scratch-builds here like his Warhound Titan, and one of the things I'll always be grateful for is that he mentioned his source of cheap plasticard: comic book dividers. You can no longer use the Ultra-Pro ones, they switched from polystyrene to polypropelene a few years back and polypropelene does NOT work at all. I bought some off these off ebay just last week and they'll last me a long while, they have a whole bunch of different sizes and thicknesses. When looking at plasticard sizes i find it easier to think in milimeters: .040 plasticard is 1mm thick, the .030 is about 3/4 of 1mm thick, .020 is half a millimeter thick etc.

 

For tools, the main thing is just a pencil, a steel ruler and a sharp hobby knife. Different drill bits and punches and scribers can be great, but 99.9% of what you'll be doing with plasticard is scoring a line with your hobby knife with the steel ruler as a guide to keep it straight, then snapping the plasticard along the score. You don't need to cut all the way through plasticard, just score it and bend it and it breaks cleanly along the scored line. You'll also need some glue, the thin liquid cement is best. Tamiya is great, I personally use and recommend Plastruct Bondene or Plastic Weld for smaller parts and for large parts use the good old Testors cement in the orange tubes. You also want some files or sand paper, some different grits from 150 to 600 glued to those large craft popsicle sticks work great and is pretty cheap.

 

Plastruct and Evergreen are the main 2 producers of shaped styrene, they both make a crazy amount of different textured plasticard, tubes, "I" beams, "H" beams, "L" beams and others. It's usually better to go to a hobby shop that carries those products so you can see them in person and get what you need instead of ordering online. Don't buy their basic sheet styrene, it's a lot more expensive than the comic book dividers

[Guest]

I don't think they survived the board moves, but Barphoranges used to post all his scratch-builds here like his Warhound Titan, and one of the things I'll always be grateful for is that he mentioned his source of cheap plasticard: comic book dividers. You can no longer use the Ultra-Pro ones, they switched from polystyrene to polypropelene a few years back and polypropelene does NOT work at all. I bought some off these off ebay just last week and they'll last me a long while, they have a whole bunch of different sizes and thicknesses. When looking at plasticard sizes i find it easier to think in milimeters: .040 plasticard is 1mm thick, the .030 is about 3/4 of 1mm thick, .020 is half a millimeter thick etc.

 

For tools, the main thing is just a pencil, a steel ruler and a sharp hobby knife. Different drill bits and punches and scribers can be great, but 99.9% of what you'll be doing with plasticard is scoring a line with your hobby knife with the steel ruler as a guide to keep it straight, then snapping the plasticard along the score. You don't need to cut all the way through plasticard, just score it and bend it and it breaks cleanly along the scored line. You'll also need some glue, the thin liquid cement is best. Tamiya is great, I personally use and recommend Plastruct Bondene or Plastic Weld for smaller parts and for large parts use the good old Testors cement in the orange tubes. You also want some files or sand paper, some different grits from 150 to 600 glued to those large craft popsicle sticks work great and is pretty cheap.

 

Plastruct and Evergreen are the main 2 producers of shaped styrene, they both make a crazy amount of different textured plasticard, tubes, "I" beams, "H" beams, "L" beams and others. It's usually better to go to a hobby shop that carries those products so you can see them in person and get what you need instead of ordering online. Don't buy their basic sheet styrene, it's a lot more expensive than the comic book dividers

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/7b/7bab45c9ab597e3821e31af7f1ae73601963a0cc1ea904487cb9e387a15e04db.jpg

I now have a list to work with. Thank you, Kalamadea.

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Ok, time to ramble a wall-o’-text on the subject of scratch building with styrene. As this statement alludes, this is just a quick primer to get you started and can’t hope to cover everything, but it should get you going in the right direction. As always, these are my opinions and by no means gospel, but I do have hundreds (maybe even thousands by this point) of model making hours under my belt at this point, but because of college most of it is in the product design realm. Many of the models I created were of high enough quality that they were purchased or ‘adopted’ by my school or the companies we were designing for during the program. I must have been doing something right, I guess.
 
As mentioned by others, the basics are really basic; a good sharp blade (I prefer standard #11 blades), a good stainless steel ruler, a cutting matt, some thin solvent glue (I prefer Tamiya Extra Thin), a pin vice/drill with bits, lots of plastic, some sandpaper, and a plan of some sort. Many people will draw directly onto the plastic to work out the plan and if that works for you, go for it. It will require some level of drafting skill since how accurate your plan is will ultimately determine how accurate the parts you make will be.  I prefer to work with a plan created in CAD software of some kind, and it can be very basic, as it just needs to be able create sharp and accurate flat shapes that you can use as a guide. A good source can be found in paper vehicle plans that cover practically any Warhammer 40k vehicle you can think of, but they might take a bit of searching to find something specific. The plan, no matter how you go about creating it, will generally determine how successful the final execution will be. Even with a good plan expect to make many mistakes and/or poor executions that will require more than one build. Just how particular you are and what level of execution you’re happy with is completely personal, but there is real truth in the idea that if you build something twice (or more) the later versions will invariably be better quality. Getting good takes practice, plain and simple.
 
Before I talk more about the basic tools with a little more depth I do want to mention three tools that will cost a little bit but return major dividends if you’re really serious about doing a lot of scratch building. First is two tools that I think should be paired together; these are the Chop-It and the Sand-It from Micromark. They are drop dead simple and probably a few dollars more than they deserve to be considering their straightforward nature and construction, but they are both unbelievably useful during the scratch building process. Cutting multiples of the same length? Check. Creating clean true edges? Check. Creating accurate angles repeatedly? Check. If you do lots of building these will save you hours very quickly. The other really useful tool I would suggest as a close second is a Micro Punch Set, also from Micromark. Again, is a little expensive considering how straightforward it is, but it’s simply the best way to punch out small disks of whatever thickness you want. Cutting rod into thin disks of equal thickness is simply torture compared to using this punch. Perfect for rivets, gauges and dials, lenses, and you can stack disks to make a perfect mounting point for pipes and hoses or just as detailing. None of these tools are a ‘need’ for someone on a tight budget, but they really are three tools that I have used countless times building many models and I’m always thankful I have them. Low tech and reliable, every time.
 
The Blade: Always use a sharp blade – you’re more likely to cut yourself with a dull blade. I use #11 blades and buy them in bulk (100 at a time) to save in the long run; small packs cost waaay too much per blade if you do the math. As you work with a fresh blade the tip will usually break quite soon, I find that it’s still good to use after one break most times, but if it breaks a second time it’s usually done. You can use a blade until it’s dull without it breaking a second time so don’t use that as the only guide, if you’re noticing it’s getting stiffer/harder to cut, change the blade. If precision is critical, when the cutting feels strange, change the blade. Pay attention as you cut and you can feel when a fresh blade is cutting cleanly (Yes ‘feel’ – it sounds a bit cheesy, but it’s true), pay attention to that feeling (or the feeling of using any tool that is working 100% properly) and if it noticeably changes, change your blade.
 
Yes, you can score the styrene with a cut and then bend-and-snap along the score and it will produce a surprisingly good edge. However, this will only work with simple shapes and anything with complex shapes will require that you cut the entire shape free from the sheet. Anything 0.5mm and lower will be easy to cut in one of two passes with a sharp blade. 0.75mm to 2mm will become noticeably harder to cut, and anything over 2mm can be cut but it will take quite some time. On any thick material make serval cuts to slowing work your way through the material; don’t force it or strain or you’re asking to cut yourself. Pay attention to the corners they will be more stubborn and need few extra cuts with a bit of extra force; flip the styrene over and look for the spots where it’s not quite free. Take your time and show some care and you can cut very complex shapes out of rather thick materials, but it takes time and effort.
 
The Ruler: Do not use wood or plastic rulers; again, you’re asking for a nasty cut sooner-or-later if you do. It’s an absolutely simple tool but it’s also completely critical to the process. Get at least a larger 12” and a smaller 6” both in stainless steel. For my smaller ruler, I prefer one that is narrow (~1cm) and has no cork or non-slip backing so it rests directly on the material as I cut. It requires more force to keep it true as you cut but more accurate cuts are possible with it sitting right on the surface of the styrene. Not all rulers are created equal and some low-cost ones will feel ‘rough’ or ‘gritty’ as you use them and it makes it hard to pay attention to the blade.
 
Cutting Matt: Any good green (usually) self-healing cutting matt is a must. Large if you have space, small if you need to pack up and move. They’re not really cheap not also not really expensive if you consider that one will last decades if you don’t abuse it; they don’t like excessive heat or prolonged exposer to moisture and can warp in some cases.
 
Thin Solvent Glue: I swear by Tamiya Extra Thin. I’ve used so many glues and solvents and it’s just the perfect blend of ‘heat’ (read: how aggressively it melts plastic), thin consistency perfect for super clean joins, and fast dry time because it evaporates very fast. That is key as one of the critical hints about scratch building with styrene; simply wait for the damn glue to dry before you start working on the parts in any serious way. Trying to rush the process is how you get poor results as the not-quite-dry part shifts or doesn’t clean up neatly. Extra Thin helps by drying quickly compared to other products. It’s very possible to use only this glue for entire builds but it can also be useful to get some thicker general purpose glue for jobs where that’s a benefit. Again, Tamiya makes a great range of solvent glue and most come with a brush built into the cap, so yeah, I like Tamiya.
 
Pin Vice/Drill: If you’re building models I’m assuming you have one or know what they are. Accurate holes exactly where you need/want them, ‘nuff said? Get one that can handle a good range of bits and be sure to get extra drill bits, especially for any very fine bits which tend to get broken quite easily. Drill bits are cutting tools and they do dull. If a drill bit is tearing a hole and not cutting a hole, or takes considerable effort to bore into the material, replace it.
 
Sandpaper: At the very minimum you’ll need a range of sandpaper. Sometimes you want the quick-but-dirty work of some 80-to-100 grit paper, sometimes you’ll need a more subtle 300-400, and to put the final buff on a part you’ll likely need some 600. Anything beyond that clogs so quickly with very little improvement in the result, that I’ve never seen the need for 1,000 or 1,200 grit paper. Don’t hesitate to make thin sanding sticks, large sanding blocks, and large flat sanding pads useful for various jobs. You can also invest in some good files if you’ll be shaping styrene regularly; good files will give more control and can get into fine details that a sanding sticks may struggle with. Pre-made sanding sticks are also something that isn’t ‘must have’ since you can always make your own, but it’s just so much easier to take one out of a pack then to have to make them one-by-one. I like Alpha Abrasives for their wide variety of fine model making tools. I highly recommend the Abrasive Cleaning Disc to extend the life of your sandpaper and effortlessly clean clogged files. Mine has lasted close to 20 years and save me tones in rejuvenated sandpaper that it can easily unclog.
 
Lots of Plastic: Just how much of a selection of plastic you’ll need is very subjective and will likely be restrained by budget. Many packs of strips, rods, and tubes will last a long time if you don’t use it too often to build up a collection over time. You’ll learn what you use a lot of and what gets used fast, because when you do start to use something a lot it can get consumed by a project very quickly. To start you ‘need’ a section of sheet in various thickness so you can layer as you build, starting with thicker material for structure and thinner material layered up to create detail. Consider a good amount of 1mm sheet as general purpose for structure, and some 0.5mm and 0.25mm for layering. But more selection will naturally give more options and it’s not a bad thing to have some 0.4mm and some 0.75mm to give some options. It all really depends on what you prefer and how much you’ll make use of each thickness when you work on any project. Again, get some basics and collect a broader range over time.
 
Rod, tube, and strip plastic will be much more subjective and really depends on what you’re going to making. Some thinner rods like 0.5mm to 1.5mm will be good to make rivets and thin pipes, and hoses. Heavier rod will all depend on the project. Tube is something that when you want to add that round vent, or a pillar, or some telescoping hydraulic ram, or a similar detail, it’s really useful. But again it’s something that you’ll have to choose based on your project. Any of the other shapes (‘H’ Beam, ‘C’ Beam, ‘I’ Beams, Triangles, Half and Quarter Round, Hex, etc.) all have their uses but they tend to be somewhat specialized; want to make your own bolts heads, Hex is for you; want to make ammo shells in a clip, Half Round is really useful; need to make something that assembles with a tongue-and-groove; ‘C’ or ‘I’ Beam might do the trick. All the shapes are very situational and that all depends on how useful it’ll be to you.
 
Once you’ve got the tools, try to make some (or several) small and modest projects and get used to the process before you dive into doing something large and/or ambitious. If you hit snags or don’t know how to proceed, look it up and do some more research. Many times you can find something in another hobby about something that is sorta’ like what you’re doing that you can use as a guide. Look for videos and tutorials from any source for information on the process and building methods. Any technique can be taken and applied to your project if it makes sense. The subject matter is moot when you’re interested in technique. Remember to break more complex projects down into simpler steps. Start with structure, get it right, then add a base layer of detail to clean things up and refine the surface, and then add the final layer/s to complete the look. Finish with all the tiny details like rivets and delicate trim.
 
Getting really good takes practice. Every time you make something you’ll gain more finesse and a better understanding of the process. As you get good at basic things you’ll be able to start trying more challenging techniques. Hit a wall? Do some research and give it a try, or two, or several. Somethings may well come quickly while you struggle with other processes (I still can’t heat bend rod/tube how I’d like to be able to – I need more practice) and it’s simply a matter of giving it a try and learn from each effort.
 
I hope that helps some. Someday I want to start doing how-to content again and see if I can create a modern gamer scratch building and converting tutorial series that can look at all of the many little techniques and processes that can be used to create, well, anything. But that’s going to have to wait a while as I get some other things sorted out.
 
As always with me, comments, questions, and general musing are always welcome. Scratch building is a huge subject that really does come down to hands-on practice most of the time, but I’m happy to help give some perspective on the process if possible. If you got this far, *Hands you a cookie* thanks for sticking around, I just got you to read 2,400 works.
 
Edit: Grammar and links are good, m'kay?

Edited January 17, 2018 by Subtle Discord

[Guest]

Ok, time to ramble a wall-o’-text on the subject of scratch building with styrene.

 

[snip]

*Eats cookie* I should have saved the Mr. Burns meme for this... in all seriousness thought thank you. I have made a couple of grenade launchers, weapon sights, and swords out of plasticard, but now I know what I need to do to go beyond that. 

Edited January 17, 2018 by Major_Gilbear
No need to quote the wall-o-text

[Subtle Discord]

What, no meme?! *Subtle violently flips the table in front of him and storms out of the room* ;)

 

Hey, no problem at all. Welcome to the community that is the B&C, it's just that kind of place. I've found that the communication here really is on a different level than many/most places on the interweb that focus on tabletop gaming. For my part, I'm happy to return the favor and speak in depth on subjects I have experience with when I have the time to do so. Videos and tutorials are amazing and go a long way to filling in the gaps on a subject, but they don't lend themselves that well to asking a specific question about something and getting a direct answer from someone who can speak from experience.

 

I forgot to add, I also have a large post called 'On the Subject of Tools' that you may find useful. It overlaps with many things I wrote about here but it also provides images you can use for reference and talks about a few other tools and items you may find useful. Please forgive my poor choice of font for the numbering, it's a rather old post that I have plans to refresh and update at some point in the future.

 

Good luck and happy building. Just remember that you only get better at something by getting past your reservations and giving it a try. Just be realistic as you start and don't be surprised when it takes a few tries to get a new technique right. In turn, once you get the idea of how to pull something off you'll have another skill you can use for future projects.