Scratch Building

I got my start scratchbuilding making paper models from plans I got for free on the internet. I just printed them on the appropriate card stock or paper and made them. Then I started printing them on really thin paper and transfering it onto plastic card. Then I started designing my own and making the parts I wanted. Sometimes I go back to cardstock when I need something to curve or bend.

You can get the plastic from most model railroad shops or a good hobby shop. The most common stuff available is made by Evergreen:

http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/

Plastruct is also a good source

http://www.plastruct.com/

Also -- at home depot or a similar place, sometimes you can find flat sheets of styrene that are meant as light covers for big florescent lights. This stuff is nearly as good if you don't need a texture and quite cheap in comparison

EDIT: Added the home depot thing

Michael,scratch building is not has hard as it seems.A lot of the building materals can be found all over the house.A good eye an imagination helps a lot.Things like sewing tread and old wires from electronic gismos can be use as spark plug wires or wires in aircraft cockpits.Cardboard,heavy constrution paper,modeling clay and fabric are all good materals to scratch build with.Plastric cards,rods and tubings can be found in a good hobby shop or on line with Squadron.com or Greatmodels.com.If you get FSM you will find so great srouces for constrution materals and conversion charts,also there are a lot tips on this forum and people to help you.Digger

I'll take a shot. To me, its making what you need/want out of whatever works. Plastic, metal, wood, paper, putty, etc. etc. I usually get these at the local hobby shop. But you can also think "out of the box". Hardware stores, and electronics stores {like R.S.} has all kinds of stuff to help you fabricate whatever you are trying to do. If you have no LHS, FSM magazine is a great place to find places, like Evergreen for styrene plastic.
Blueprints/reference material can be easy or not so easy depending on the subject. I check the library 1st then move on to the modeling books. The web is a help. You can ask the folks here in the forums where to find what your looking for. The ship forum might be able to steer you to ship plans. I usually just scratch build detail parts or to correct flaws. I seem to be doing more as time goes by. Good luck.
Edit : I repeated some of the above due to much slower at typing..

I agree with all of the comments above and would like to add that if you have a extras parts box, things can be made or modified to fit many job discriptions. Every store I go into, I'm constantly looking for things to scratchbuild with. With a ship, you can add all kinds of detail that may not be included in the model. I've learned plenty from FSM and to be honest, it was this site and that magazine that got me started doing my hybrids, which involves a lot of improvising. I've only been scratchbuilding for about 7 or 8 monthes and you can see below what I've been able to accomplish. Your imagination is the limit. Get yourself some plastic and jump on in!
Eddie

i think scratchbuilding is Hardcore! it's just great to think of scratchbuiling a part, do it, then it comes out better than expected! i just love the part where i think of building a part, then think of what would fit it best..really keeps my mind workin'!

P.S. just a thought...the first time i attempted to scratchbuild was when i accidentally broke a part of my model and had to think of someway to replace it

I find myself scratch-building small, lost parts all the time. As frustrating as it is to lose small parts, I enjoy the challenge of having to make one instead of ordering it from the kit maker. However, the thought of actually scratch-building an entire model is still a bit daunting. My hat's off to those that do!

Edited to say: But then again, a few years ago I did scratch build this model for a client from reference pics provided of his sailboat on Lake Michigan:


The only difference was that back then I called it a sculpture

some scratch is ok but when you hear i built this by putting this on this machine or that it gets carried away most of us dont have lathes and drill presses etc bysides this is mdeling not machine shop 101

QUOTE: Originally posted by DURR some scratch is ok but when you hear i built this by putting this on this machine or that it gets carried away most of us dont have lathes and drill presses etc bysides this is mdeling not machine shop 101

DURR, what does it matter how the parts are made? Modelling is the act of creating a model, no matter what the method is or what tools are used.

I'm not much of a scratchbuilder, and I don't own any fancy machines for lathing and drilling, but in my opinion, there is no form of modelling more pure than scratchbuilding. That holds true whether the modeller is using a pocket knife and a block of wood, or a "machine shop," as you put it.

I consider 'scratchbuilding' the same as cooking from 'scratch'. You gather and combine your own ingredients. Some people use hollow plastic Q-tips for exhaust pipes or machine them from metal-it's just about hand-made work-whatever the source. I once used some 1/72 tank bogie wheels for buttons on a Polar Lights "Curly".

I love scratchbuilding, or at least scratching improvements. By far am I any good at this, but I love the look of an unpainted model, with many parts in white styrene, aluminum sheet, and other parts that I built myself from around the house. It just gives it a new dimension of enjoyment.