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Source of plastic material

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  • Member since
    March 2011
  • From: St Louis, Mo
Source of plastic material
Posted by MSgtMJ62 on Sunday, May 20, 2012 10:17 AM

Just an idea, has anyone else thought of using housing vinyl siding material, and the plastic from those new style plastic fences as a source of material for their models.  These could be cheaper and much more material for the money than buying packages of styrene from hobby stores. 

When last years tornado ravaged our neighborhood area and destroyed alot of houses around us, I saved quiet a few sections of the plastic fencing from a neighbors deck fence.   But hardware stores stock lots of this kind of material.

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Sunday, May 20, 2012 3:14 PM

These could be cheaper and much more material for the money than buying packages of styrene from hobby stores.

I don't buy sheet-styrene from the hobby shop either... Way too expensive..

While I have used vinyl here and there in some past projects, I'd rather use the styrene "For Sale"-type signs from the hardware store for sheet-styrene..  They're cheap, big, and can be laminated easily to increase the thickness... 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Sunday, May 20, 2012 4:27 PM

I hate vinyl as a modeling material.  Harder to glue, and some paints sort of melt the surface so it never dries.  Like the previous poster, I much prefer styrene.  Yeah, the hardware store for sale signs are okay, or if you buy larger sheets, like 18 or 24 inch sheets from a place like Micro Mark it isn't that expensive.  An eighteen inch square of that stuff goes a long way for typical scale models.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Monday, May 21, 2012 12:44 PM

Ditto on the glue and paint-issues with vinyl... 

Dre
  • Member since
    June 2007
  • From: here, not over there
Posted by Dre on Monday, May 21, 2012 1:08 PM

Slightly off topic...  I was wandering a Family Dollar store the other day, looking for cheap modeling supplies and I saw the 'For Sale" signs and thought of you, Hans!  Picked up a couple of small and cheap kitchen strainers for $2, perfect for clumpy paints.

 

back on topic... Doesn't vinyl require a different glue than CA or the tried-n-true Testor's liquid cement?

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Monday, May 21, 2012 2:46 PM

Heh.. Thanks fer th' props..

When you think "cheap", think, "Von Hammer!".. Geeked

On the subject of glue for vinyl, I've used CA and MEK..  Neither give me a result that's perfect, but at least it'll stick...  For now...

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Central USA
Posted by qmiester on Monday, May 21, 2012 4:42 PM

My son once worked at a place that they made signs out of styrene (the kind of signs that you put on the side of your pick up to show your company name).  He was always bringing me plastic sheet from their scrap bins.  They usually had paint on one side but were totally usable with my modeling.  Came in sizes from 4"x4" up to 3'x3' and in thicknesses from.005" up to .125" I've still got several sheets that I still use now and again.  Check your yellow pages for a company that manufacturers plastic signs - you can probably pick up some scrap pieces for next to nothing or even get to raid their scrap pile for nothing. Remember:  Nothing ventured, Nothing gained!

Quincy
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