The Strangest Place You Found Materials

                       The wifes un-mentionables drawer. This was where I came across the gold ribbon I used for the grenade screens on the Tiger.

                                              Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

                       P.S. The drawer was open.

I've found that broken PS3 controllers (don't ask, that level boss had it coming) are a great source for wiring- those vibration motors have the finest copper wiring that I've ever seen.   Ideally perfect for things like interior wiring and aerials.  One broken controller can yield a lot of wire....

I usually dig out the guts of any dead electronic device that I have because there's just so much good stuff in there.

I'm a prolific dumpster-diver too.. They're almost a "on-stop shop" for my diorama materials.. Nothin' "strange" about it at all, lol...

This is easy , a DUMPSTER !! I was taking a shortcut through an alley in SAN FRANCISCO some years back . NINE to be exact.I spotted what seemed an awful large amount of plexi in large and small pieces as well as varying thicknesses . I asked a fellow at a rear door of the closest business if I could have some .He ducked inside and this other fellow comes out ,and asks what I want it for .I explained and he then proceeded to go get his pickup and we loaded ALL the plexi in the DUMPSTER in his truck and took it to my place .He was the manager/owner of a picture/framing specialty shop . He asked if I thought I might need more and I said yes.The last time I went I got a 3/4 ton pickup load . I still have about about a pickup and a half of the stuff .This has supplied framing and keels for a few R.C.models as well as nifty looking stands for the custom models I do for folks . Never be afraid to ask and like me ,you may find a BIG ,FREE bonanza!!!      tankerbuilder

TomZ2

 

Sprue-ce Goose:

 

Do you mean the clear plastic cylindrical container with the large, feric oxide coated aluminum data platters so beloved by Geeks of the era?

I didn't know those still were in use !

 

 

To the best of my knowledge, except for museums, they aren’t — I think there might be a 2314/2319 enshrined in the Smithsonian’s “Information Age” exhibition. I was referring to an incident that happened in 1973.

Take a look at this dinosaur at http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/roger.broughton/museum/DASD/200426.htm

The TRAVEL cases were black, opaque, and resembled nothing so much as an evil curling stone (for Canadian tiddlywinks or Chess on Ice).

Another point: I was a Geek of the era.

Thanks for the reply.

Re: 1973....

just gotta say I am amused by movies of that era which displayed computers so prominently, down to the fonts used in the titles.

The 1974 movie "Three Days of the Condor" is one example which displayed :gee- wiz computer  and telephone switching room technology, now long gone.

Saw it in the theater at the time.

Didn't see it again tilll last year.

I was shocked to realize I'd forgotten the movie was filmed in the World Trade Towers.

In architecture school way back when, I figured out that I could make nice cardstock perforated planking by setting the punch card machine in the computer center on "all holes".

One dead machine later and I was permanently 86'd from the computer science building.

Rite Aid is a great place.

Sprue-ce Goose

Hans von Hammer:

An Iraqi minefield...

 

Are shredded, bloody Iraqi uniforms good source material for kit building?

Only saw those in OUR minefields... Their mine-detectors consisted of the Homers plugging their ears and stomping around on the ground...

Had there been any in THEIR minefield, something would have had to have gone horribly wrong while they were laying them...

Sprue-ce Goose

Do you mean the clear plastic cylindrical container with the large, feric oxide coated aluminum data platters so beloved by Geeks of the era?

I didn't know those still were in use !

To the best of my knowledge, except for museums, they aren’t — I think there might be a 2314/2319 enshrined in the Smithsonian’s “Information Age” exhibition. I was referring to an incident that happened in 1973.

Take a look at this dinosaur at http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/roger.broughton/museum/DASD/200426.htm

The TRAVEL cases were black, opaque, and resembled nothing so much as an evil curling stone (for Canadian tiddlywinks or Chess on Ice).

Another point: I was a Geek of the era.

TomZ2

Hans von Hammer:

An Iraqi minefield...

 

Oh. Come. On! THAT demands an explanation. Or possibly an expiation. GIVE!

Lol.. Nothing all that dangerous.. My section  was riding shotgun with an Engineer Platoon... The Engineers had cleared three lanes through the minefield with the MCLCs ( Mine Clearing Line Charges) and after the ones that didn't blow had been defanged, I was walking through there and saw that there were these little red plastic shipping plugs that were flat rectangles with two legs that the Homers had thrown away when they'd installed the mines... They were perfect for diorama signage...

Pulled the electric motors from a couple of ... "martial aids"... that I found in one of the apartments that was abandoned by a previous tenant... Used 'em in a Doolittle Raiders "Ruptured Duck" B-25 dio...

Being a Gizmologist, I find model "stuff" everywhere I go... 

To get this back on track ,I have found my strangest , but , most useful stuff in the bottom of a table saw . I have large jars of all kinds of sawdust from wood of all types and also from plastic sheet. Sure works great for fillers in different projects . I also hit their sanding table and yes I was and am able to use this stuff on plastics too .    tankerbuilder

TomZ2

 

daddy1:

 

 One more thing, an airport sex shop?????

 

 

Yes, an airport sex shop — Frankfurt Flughafen Geschlechtsgeschäft (Peitsche und Feder? that’s German for ‘Whip & Feather’).

Hey, for REAL fun try this: hand-carrying a mid-1970s era disk pack through customs. The joke? You HAD to have the proper paperwork, specifically a Bill Of Materials for something about the size of a hatbox and as heavy as a bowling ball. [Pronouncing the acronym for ‘Bill Of Materials’ is left as an exercise for the reader.] Not my bad, but it did happen to one of my sadder-but-wiser co-workers. The polizei were not amused.

Ooooooh...

Do you mean the clear plastic cylindrical container with the large, feric oxide coated aluminum data platters so beloved by Geeks of the era?

I didn't know those still were in use !

Congratulations! You win for Strangest and Most Disgusting place!

Manny's gallbladder

daddy1

 One more thing, an airport sex shop?????

Yes, an airport sex shop — Frankfurt Flughafen Geschlechtsgeschäft (Peitsche und Feder? that’s German for ‘Whip & Feather’).

Hey, for REAL fun try this: hand-carrying a mid-1970s era disk pack through customs. The joke? You HAD to have the proper paperwork, specifically a Bill Of Materials for something about the size of a hatbox and as heavy as a bowling ball. [Pronouncing the acronym for ‘Bill Of Materials’ is left as an exercise for the reader.] Not my bad, but it did happen to one of my sadder-but-wiser co-workers. The polizei were not amused.

 At a well known craft store , I found some pink ribbon that had mesh stripes the perfect scale for the screen in the center intake of a 1/48 Hellcat grin. I'm always checking through Michale's different departments with the thought of what can be used for modeling.

I also use make up brushes to apply pigments and pastels . Have a nice broad round one for general dusting and a fine round pointy tip brush for precise dusting as in exhaust stains, etc. Recently ,found an eyeliner brush that's flat and angled at the tip for applying pastels in a precise line. One of these days , I'm going to try using some of the various shades of eye shadow and make up as weathering pigments. 

 If your into model cars, the selection of colors available in nail polish is awesome. Some very wild colors. Also some of the nail decals can make for nice scale graphics. Even some of the nail jewels could be used to represent various lights . Tiny ,teardrop shaped , red and green jewels could make great wingtip nav lights.   

I stole a few strips of the "grass" from my daughters Easter basket for seat belt material. 

The list could go on forever.

 One more thing, an airport sex shop?????

Howard

My gallbladder...

iraqiwildman

 

Hans von Hammer:

 

An Iraqi minefield...

 

 

What part of the dead Haji did you use? I hope it was not his left hand - so unclean.

might depend upon the type of mine....

perhaps the sole of a boot...

perhaps something from shoulders up?....?

Hans von Hammer

An Iraqi minefield...

What part of the dead Haji did you use? I hope it was not his left hand - so unclean.

TomZ2

 

Hans von Hammer:

 

An Iraqi minefield...

 

 

Oh. Come. On! THAT demands an explanation. Or possibly an expiation. GIVE!

looks to me like he did a "Manny" ....

Hans von Hammer

An Iraqi minefield...

Oh. Come. On! THAT demands an explanation. Or possibly an expiation. GIVE!

Hans von Hammer

An Iraqi minefield...

Congratulations! You win for strangest and most dangerous...

Hans von Hammer

An Iraqi minefield...

Are shredded, bloody Iraqi uniforms good source material for kit building?

An Iraqi minefield...

I don't so much think it is 'strange', but I was looking all over town for a good large brush for dusting off the kits, and maybe for weathering too I suppose. Everywhere it was 'you want what for that dambed thing?'. I don't care how rare red sable is.

Finally I ended up in the cosmetics section of my local drug store and wow, look at the size of this thing (make up brush). If this was red sable it would cost me this month's rent. All it cost me was 6 bucks though. Not sure what the bristles are made of, but they are soooo soft. Should have known (I am not included to use make up, so it had not occurred to me).

I also find it comical, that you can either pay a fortune for a puny bottle of paint thinner from the paint rack, or just get some rubbing alcohol at the drug store and buy it by the liter for peanuts.

Plastic containers for .22 LR rim-fire ammo and plastic separators for semi-auto pistol ammo.

The plastic separator grids and boxes were nice for Sci-Fi projects.

Sometimes, the used .22 rim-fire cases were useful, too!

Never did find a use in a plastic model for spent .300 Win Magnum cases.

I used to work at one of the more popular national pet store empires and every week we would get a shipment of live crickets meant to feed the reptiles in the store and sell to customers looking to feed their pets. The little bugs would come in little cardboard boxes and featured a stiff wire mesh along the sides so as to let the crickets breath but not escape. The mesh was stronger than screen, say for a window, and had wider spacing so it made for great chain link fence.

I used to procure a lot from that store. Some aquarium ornaments worked particularly well as features in dioramas, like old Greek or Roman ruins, or their plastic plants, etc.

Every now and then I'd go into my local Sam's Club and make my way to their photo developing area.  I told the nice lady behind the counter that I'm a model builder and the old 35 mm film containers make perfect paint mixing cups.  I asked her if I could have a few and she gave me a plastic shopping bag full of them!!!  Half a year later I went in to get some more and she remembered me.  She gave me some more. 

Eric

Wedding bridal shop.  Bridal veil material makes great cammo netting or diagonal grills for vehicles.

                                                                                                             Pat.