Hill_Billy_Bub:
I have been wanting to start using plasticard in some of my projects I’m working on but my problem is that my local hobby story doesn’t carry any. I was wondering where you guys get it and where can I buy it online.
Dînadan:
eBay has loads. Various thicknesses, patterns, colours, etc
Abecedar:
Evilbay or an online supplier somewhere near you.
for fun I dialled in hobby supplies online usa and the first one I see is Hobbylinc.com and they do sell it and some is discounted.
Its in a section called plastics and then they call it “Styrene”
cornixt:
Toy train shops usually have it.
Bloodbeard:
I buy all my plasticcard and hobby supplies from Greenstuffworld.com , cheap, great quality and a fair shipping price world wide.
Hill_Billy_Bub:
Thankyou guys hopefully soon I can get some and continue on the projects at work
Kamphre:
Can I ask you how you cut the (thick) plastic card ?
I tried à Box Cutter, but I didn’t cut straight shapes, like squares.
Can you share your techniques, tools or techniques please?
Am I just missing experience?
When I see what Fuggit is doing (curved shapes, fitting perfectly, etc.) it seems doable, but reality is cruel !
Hill_Billy_Bub:
have you tried using a straight edge to use as a guide when cutting with boxcutters. or maybe you can use sheet metal sheers it works for me with the modular movement trays
Fuggit Khan:
Toy train shops usually have it.Yep! That's where I buy almost all of my sheet plastic. Evergreen brand plastic is my favorite, easily found in toy train shops and on Ebay.
cornixt
When I see what Fuggit is doing (curved shapes, fitting perfectly, etc.) it seems doable, but reality is cruel !It's just practice :cheers
Kamphre
I usually use scissors to cut out the shapes, and I always cut them a bit larger than I need, then file the piece down to the proper size.
have you tried using a straight edge to use as a guide when cutting with boxcutters.Yes! Use a metal straight edge ruler for long straight cuts, and don't try to cut through thick plastic in one swipe, make 5-6 cuts to finally cut through the thicker plastic sheets.
Hill_Billy_Bub
:hat off
Jackswift:
I have done a fair amount of work with plasti-card scratchbuilding models. Trying to cut all the way through every piece of card especially if the thickness takes several passes wears on the hands and blades if you are doing a large amount of cutting. The best method I have found is the score and break method. A shallow cut guided by a metal ruler with cork backing to score the sheet works great. You then just flex the card along either side of the line to snap the piece off along the scored line (similar concept to glass cutting). The thicker the card, the deeper the cut needs to be to get a clean snap. With anything sized with a thickness of .02-.04 this works very well. I’ve done it successfully with .06 (1.5mm) though the cuts need to be quite a bit deeper. Any issues with the angle of the break can be worked over quickly with a file to correct. Takes some practice, but really saves the fingers and equipment. Trying to cut all the way through every piece of card wears on the hands if you are doing a large amount of cutting. The score and break method is also much faster.
The exception is that if you are doing very detailed or small work, you will still need to cut all the way through to ensure that your edge angles are exactly what you need them to be.
Re where to get plasticard. I’m not sure the volume you are looking for, but when I was doing the most amount of work with it, I found a plastics manufacturer locally who sells it by the 4’x8’ sheet, and bought several sheets in different thicknesses. If you are using a lot of it for terrain, or large scratchbuild projects, this will save you quite a bit. There is a significant markup on precut sheets by manufacturers such as evergreen, and plastruct. I was even able to rough cut and sell some that I wasn’t using for a little bit of profit. This only makes sense of course if you are needing a large volume. Cheers, JR
Kamphre:
Thanks everyone for your advices.
I already use a metal ruler and the “score and break” technique.
Actually I have no problems with thin plasticard (beyond 2 mm), but for 2 mm I struggle to get a clean cut. It’s too thick for scissors.
I thought that maybe you tried succesfully other tools (dremel, guillotine, a hot blade, etc)…
Fuggit Khan:
but for 2 mm I struggle to get a clean cut. It's too thick for scissors.I use kitchen scissors, the large (and sharp!) scissors that can cut through meat and bone (such as cutting up a chicken). Those scissors can cut through thick plastic no problem :hat off
Kamphre
Jackswift:
Right,… (thick) card. Goes without saying that I should actually read the posts I am replying too.
I have found that a lot of the manufacturers for thicker card (anything over 1mm) tend to make it from sheets of thinner card adhered together. The score and break still works, but only if you are able to score both sheets. I make a knife cut through just over one half of the thickness which usually puts me into the second layer of sheet. This still means multiple passes with the knife, but prevents you from having to make a clean through cut of the entire thickness. Once completed you can still break with success and a fairly straight edge. This works better with 1.5 mm since one of the sheets is only .5 mm and easier to cut through it and into to get into the top of the second sheet. Now that I have stated this, I wonder if a score on both sides would do the same thing. Will have to test that out.
Will also definitely have to try the kitchen scissors recommendation. Thanks for that suggestion.
Cheers,