Materials , Hmmmmm;

Hallo TB!

Why did you have to use the word "lessons"? I find it annoying. Wouldn't "editorials" be so much better here?

As for materials I like to have a lot of them, but when building I usually wait for a problem/challenge to form itself, and then I try to find a fittling material, as a solution. In the time it takes me to get the necessary stuff, I can always find something else to work on - like another part of the model, or another model.

Also, the material talk wouldn't be complete without a call to never throw anything away, as a modeller can always make use of it - some sunny day.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

No problems here,TB is just good old "Old School".He can give me lessons anytime he wants.   

Tojo 72 -Thank You ,Sir !

Pawel ;

 I did call them Lessons dint I ? My Bad LOL.LOL.

i don't use evergreen that often as i get a sheet of .040" 48"x96" from a plastic wholesaler cheaper then the same size evergreen & cut them into 12"x12" which would last me for years. i still have some left from my sample bundle that i got in the early 80's. 

TB, you forgot the wood.  That is the only thing I don't get at the hobby shop.  I usually get it at Menards.

woodworkerssource.com

The local Home Depot has a good selection of 1x various widths of a pretty broad range of species. I bought 5 lf of 1x3 red oak over the weekend for $ 10. 

You can see my little table saw over in my post in "saws".

It's not really up for cutting thick pieces of oak, but it sure handles basswood and cherry.

On the subject of sheet plastic, I tried the tip of using those "FOR SALE" signs. A lot of negatives. The ones I tried had a pebbly surface. Very fine but not at all what I needed. The graphics were some kind of printed material that had thickness and was darn near impossible to hide with primer. And it ran close to $ 10/ sf. which was no deal.

Having big sheets of styrene is very helpful.

Here in Poland those signs are made from some plastic different than styrene - which is bad because the plastic glue doesn't melt them, you have to glue them with CA. As GMorrison mentioned, the print on one side is thick and resistant (very important for a good quality sign!). Because of that I only used the sign material for internal structure bracing. Lots of cheap styrene sheet - that's definitely good thing to have. One source for me, although not big pieces, are food packaging, disposable trays, sushi and ice cream containers - those have some good, thin sheet (0,2 - 0,5mm).

Good luck with your modelling projects!

Paweł

Hi Don . 

Actually I did not mention it on purpose . Wood is where I started .I think most of our generation did .So I accepted that as a given .T.B.    Don , I recently got some nice model railroad items for our museum .From of all places MENARDS!!

In what kind of shops can I (hopefulyl) get strip and sheet plastic? And what tools do you use, to cut those?

hobby shops, plastic wholesalers. can cut using hobby & utility knives.

Thanks!. Not here in Jamaica. :-) No such shops.

What are the sizes for sheet plastic? I might have to order online, and get some people to bring it for me to jamaica, or by mail.

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=22883&catid=715

https://evergreenscalemodels.com/

https://plastruct.com/

Hirnsausen

In what kind of shops can I (hopefulyl) get strip and sheet plastic? And what tools do you use, to cut those?

 

For straight lines I score with an X-acto knife, then bend along scribe line till it breaks.  For curved cuts I use a good pair of scissors.  I have used tinsnips for really thick sheets, though I have a bandsaw that I ordinarily use for 1/8 and thicker.

 I have delt with the three sources ddp mentioned, had good luck with all three.  I find a good supply of plastruct and evergreen at my local hobby shop, so only order from those rarely.

Hi Fellow :

 Listen , You can mail order Evergreen sheet and strip Plastic and one of their catalogues .Their ad is in FSM . Also consider Plastruct . That is a good brand , but specify their Styrene products .They mostly produce in another type . The same with knives Blades etc . Do yoy have hardware stores there ?I don't remember seeing any there ! T.B.

Very warm thanks to all answerers here!

Your answers do help me a lot, I am going to order online the plastic items. I hope to find some good scissors here in Jamaica, and yes, we have here a number of hardware shops. They might not have the same product bandwidth as in First World countries, but I surely can get knifes there.

Can styrene be used to buld room walls and be glued together with plastic glue? Can enamel paint be used on styrene? Or is ABS better? No experience yet with scratch-building...

This all is for my ship, I want to add scatch-built elements to it:
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/181201.aspx

Hi !

 First off , if you use styrene sheet you most certainly can use styrene glue for every part of it .Parts of different material can be assembled with super Glue in it's many forms .I would recommend if you are just starting out to use the little containers of " Gel " type super Glue .It works great !

  There are many brands of styrene glue .If you can't find them then M.E.K. can be used , but use in a well ventilated room and use sparingly on the joints . T.B.

No styrene glues here in Jamaica. I would have to import that glue (takes 1 to 2 months each time and is incredibly expensive). Can plastic model glue be used?

styrene plastic is of the same type of plastic that is used to make all of our model kits. i use regular Testors red & white color tube plastic glue for both model kits & scratch built ships with no problems. check this link. https://www.sunwardhobbies.ca/cement-for-plastics-models-testors-3501/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8e6L5f674AIVQh1pCh075gXAEAQYASABEgJBm_D_BwE

 what size room walls are you talking about?

It is for an N scale (1/160) ship cabin. The walls would be 1.5cm (15mm) tall, and just a few centimenters long.

it will work depending on the sheet plastic's thickness. i usually use .040"(1mm) plastic in my modelling projects like in this link http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=165105

my superstructures for my big 1/144 scale warships use that same plastic thickness without a builtin support frame. my biggest 1/144 warship is HMS Warspite with a length of about 52" with a balsa frame skinned with .040"(1mm) plastic plates.

Hi;

 An " N " scale ship cabin ? That is very easily done with nothing but Testors or Tamiya glue ( Liquid Styrene Cement ) .That bottle will last you a long time too ! T.B.

Thanks everyone!

What are testors?

Online (on Ebay) I see polystyrene sheets with 1 mm thickness, and something called copolyester and also vinyl, all in white or clear. Can they be glued to each other? And how transparent are those clear sheets?

Testors is a company that makes glue, paint, other things for building/finishing models & also manufactures some models.

https://www.testors.com/

polystyrene or what we call styreneis what you want. have to use a different type of glue to glue those different type of materials together like gorilla glue or crazy glue. stay away from vinyl as not what you want to use.

Thanks! I just watched some reviews of the Gorilla Glue, I might buy it.