Hi Everyone;
Hey, as you all have read, Well, Maybe. I have been building out of PLASTIC, not P.E. ! the Cranes, Helo Platform, Burnoff tower and all the Piping and Gear on a 1/400 Paper Ship. Yeah, I should've just used the thing as patterns and built the whole thing out of Plastic!
Now, that said and off my chest I have wondered, When YOU do stuff like this for Planes, Cars, and Armor what do you build on? Building in plastic at these scales can be challenging. Why? Well, the little touch of glue on the joint can Bleed down to the building surface.
So, What does one do? There is an old trick us stick and tissue builders did years ago. We covered the patterns and plans with a good quality Waxed paper. So what to do with Plastics? Well there is a couple of surfaces than can work. You'll still have to break them free GENTLY with a razor blade or X-Acto chisel blade.
I personally use two different surfaces. One is a piece of tempered Glass from an old " Ron Popiel" Showtime Rotisserie Oven. The other is a piece of Polished Marble from a Tombstone Carving Company. The third, which I will mention ONLY in passing is a Glass Smooth piece of countertop laminate in Black!
You ask why? Well, the glue will bleed down as usual. But, the pieces will, when left to rest will join well and the one side will always be perfectly flat! This means that your exterior of the piece will always look good. All you have to do is take the finished item and GENTLY rub it with a Extra fine sanding strip ( Beauty Store Type) or a flat piece of 400 grit and the film at the edges will disappear!
So, why Bother? Well, there is more time involved tis true. But You will have parts that YOU made and not something you had to steal from that expensive set of P.E. you don't know why you bought ,or where you got it from, which is a mystery. Like me, Probably for a Ship, Plane or Armor kit you don't even own!
I think sometimes I have gotten them given to me at train shows. You know, " Well, I've got this brass for what I don't know, You want it?" So Build in plastic and extend both your skills AND really learn how to use both a Metric rule and a Magnifier that you wear. Good Luck!