Inexpensive vaccuform machine?

Don , You should try the "RIGID" brand vacuum that fits on ANY five gallon bucket . The power of this vac is just perfect for the use of vacu-forming parts . The thing is , how fast are you from heat gun to vac plate ? That,s the only drawback I can see , but , for those I know that use it , it is more than sufficient .        tankerbuilder

SALVINE - Listen , I just saw a friend of mine do just what you want . He has a frame (simple ) for the sheet plastic .He heats it with a heat gun and then places it on a wooden box he glued to the top of a vacuum that you can get at HOME DEPOT or LOWES for under thirty bucks . This works very well ! Now , as far as your molds , you can use the original part . I used to , on my old  VAC-U-FORM ,  use modeling clay to support it , FLORIST,S  clay works better . (No oil in it that will leach out .) As far as a vacuum baseplate to put your part on ,you can buy a piece of "storm door" plexi and make a "PLATEN" (that,s the official name for the part for the size vacuum box you make. (OH , the vac sits on top of a five gallon bucket !) With your platen that you will drill lots of holes in and put spacers under you will have more than enough "draw" from the machine . Just make sure your part is clean , trimmed of any flash and waxed . The wax will prevent it from sticking to the new part . Do REMEMBER this ,you cannot do parts that tuck under or have any kind of sharp undercut . That is the major limitation of this system . The "platen" can be any from one that does indeed fit the old MATTEL machine or any other size you wish . My new platens are 6x6 , 8x8 and an extra large 16x16 inches square . You can do round if you wish ,Just make sure you drill enough holes for the vacuum to draw real good when you switch it on . You know how a vacuum sounds when you stick the hose on a machine that is turned on to a flat surface or the palm of your hand ? That sound needs to be heard , just not as intense . There you hace it , I wish you luck and happy modeling .       tankerbuilder   P.S. If you can carve well , make your molds from basswood , just make sure the wood is sealed and polished smooth .

Hello,

Here is a link to a vacuform machine that does not cost to much.

http://nautilusmodels.com/vac-u-box.htm

Mark

What thickness are people using for canopies? 10Mil for 1/144 canopies?

Yeah, in 1/144 you'd best break out your 15/0 brush for the canopy lines . Or just buy Minicraft kits, same difference!

Here is the source I use for pre-cut sheets and re-build parts for the Matel unit.

www.gaugepods.com/vacuform          

salvine

I see a couple of these on Ebay. What else is needed to make model parts? Do you need to make a frame to hold the plastic? Also, Can you use the original kit canopy as the mold? That would be nice but seems to easy.

The Mattel machine included a little "tray" that was used to hold the patterns supplied with the machine.  If you made your own patterns you needed a way to fasten them to the tray.  White glue or several other methods worked- you needed something with a temporary bond.

Yes, lots of folks use kit canopies for patterns.

It is a pain to cut sheet styrene to the correct size and punch numerous holes in the blank to fit the Mattel frame.  There have been several sources for pre-sized and pre-punched sheets of clear plastic, but they come and go.  Don't know if any are in business currently. If there are, you should pick up a supply.

What did I miss?

A potato and a paper-clip...

Sure looks like the Mattel machine will work for me. I see now from a you tube video that this should work fine without wrecking the original canopy. I assume I will have to paint on the canopy framework since at 1/144th scale there will be little of this detail that will come out in the part that I make. I think I'll grab one of these. There are also companies out there that sell small sheets of plastic at a pretty reasonable cost as well as rebuild kits.

I see a couple of these on Ebay. What else is needed to make model parts? Do you need to make a frame to hold the plastic? Also, Can you use the original kit canopy as the mold? That would be nice but seems to easy.

DON has given some good advice and the "MATTEL" VAC-U-FORM machine is perfect ! I recently acquired a new one. The thing is ,the machines are rare to non-existant in some areas. The one I found at a flea market last SUNDAYwas still in it,s original box , with ALL  the included parts and pieces . The fact is that after My original machine was stolen in 1978 it has taken ALL these years to find another one . What shocked me was the price . I have seen them on E-BAY at times (again very rare) and for their condition and all ,the prices are too high  .I only  paid,"GASP " $25.00 for this one and it works fine !! You CAN build a homeade one that closely follows the MATTEL design type. It would work !! You can make a simple vacuum frame that attaches to your shop vac. The heating frame can be small enough the fit in a simple temperature controlled toaster oven . There are books on the subject so check them out .      tankerbuilder

You can make one from a bread box, mesh and a few angled pieces of aluminum pretty cheaply.  I describe how I built mine here.

A design of a simple vacuforming machine is described here

Hope it helps, have a nice day

Pawel

don't even need that. Get a "project box" from radio shack, drill holes in the top about 1 cm apart, and cut a hole in the side for a shop vac. for the size you're using, that's all you need. Put the plastic in a frame of metal, and heat it over a toaster. once it sags, slap it on, and turn on the vac.

For something that small I'd try to find a Mattel machine.  Maybe post a "wanted" on eBay or a place like that. The Mattel machines work great for small canopies.

I bought Doug Walsh's book to make a bigger machine, but was a bit disappointed.  I wanted more draw for the bigger parts and was unable to get enough vacuum.

I'll try again if I find a better vacuum source.