So I've got some "paper craft" templates for a few IG vehicles, and today I'm going to buy some plasticard and have a crack at using the templates to make some. Probably start simple with a Cyclops.

Any hints for working with plasticard, cutting it and sticking it together etc?

Score and snap anything over 0.5mm thickness (easier than trying to cut through it) and finish cuts with sandpaper.
Needed tools: Hobby Knife (x-acto or equivalent. FRESH SHARP blades to suit. STEEL straightedge rule - rubber backed is good, otherwise blu-tak works).

I apply a bead around the inside of a joint (strip styrene) to reinforce it if it's a long or large piece. (If I want a 90* corner, then one side will have the strip mounted a sheet's thickness down from the edge. When I glue that other piece on, it is now resting on both the other sheet AND the beading.)

Liquid Polystyrene cement applied with a brush for joining it.

So you put some re-enforcement along the insides of 90 degree joins for extra strength?

Couldn't get any plasticard around town, so it'll be trying out some balsa wood today, or maybe even just going with the full paper model for lulz. Cheers for the advice!

So I did a Cyclops with balsa, my brother in law a Centaur with balsa and foamcore. They've come up pretty great all things considered, but of course it's like comparing a childs clay figure to an actual wargaming figurine. Total respect for anyone who actually plasticards vehicles that look like the real deal.

Yeah, I like my stuff to hold together.

Learned most of my plasticarding from a pro-modelmaker (SFX).
Also learned where to cut corners and where not to.

As I said, the extra beading helps with 90* corners and if you have to fill the gap afterwards, gives you a set depth so you don't waste the putty.

Mousemuffins and a bunch of other people on here can also be of help - of course, most of us are over on the EASTern side of the country.

Chromedog has got most of it covered. I always cut ever so slightly larger than required, then sand to the correct size.


I second the use of brush on stuff. Until recently I'd always used Revell Contacta Professional because I figured the needle gave better precision for application. But it actually doesn't, because it's so hard to control the flow. I usually had to apply the cement and then wipe off the excess (but not too much otherwise it wouldn't bond properly). A few months back I picked up a bottle of Tamiya Cement that was going cheap at Toyworld and can safely say I haven't picked up the Contacta since! Brushing on I've found to be far more controllable, except for maybe super tiny parts (like rivets) where there is a chance of flooding the part with the brush.

I do occasionally alternatively use super glue for gluing my styrene. Generally when I'm in a rush and don't want to have to wait a while for styrene cement to cure. It can also provide a stronger bond when there is a very small surface area joining.

As you've discovered, balsa wood and foamcore are poor substitutes for styrene

I'll have to take a picture of the Centaur my brother in law put together yesterday and painted today. It looks bloody awesome consider the time and cost, and is fine for "tabletop distance" look. Of course you always need to have some spare real bitz to make it look the deal. I could see the appeal in using balsa or foamcore for the "bulk", with plasticard over top for the details. It blows my mind when people make such perfect and small styrene 3D "box" elements of their vehicles.

I use both the Contacta pro and the same stuff in a bottle with a dedicated brush for it, Mango
The jar stuff is most often used for thinning my Squadron putty (toluene is the active solvent in both and it makes it similar to liquid GS in consistency - only it sets a lot harder). The contacta in the bottle is used for model assembly (figures and bits - I've got the control of flow adequately that I don't often have to mop up excess.

Chromedog, your Contacta application technique must be superior to mine!
While I am used to using the Contacta (including all of its quirks, especially unclogging the needle), I just found switching to the brush on cement to be much quicker and easier. As I said, I still use the Contacta for very fine parts (like when doing BFG scratchbuilds or rivets) where the part would otherwise disappear into the brush!

PlasmaDavid: we need to see pics!

Either way, there is certainly a fine art to building things in styrene. Despite the amount I do, I still feel that my skills pale in comparison to many out there (such as Blackadder, with his Warlord Titan scratchbuild in Modelling Diaries).

Shall get a pic!

We've all seen Tinners over on the Warseer Treadhead Thread right? (if you like Imperium vehicles and stuff and haven't checked out the Treadhead Thread, prepare to lose 500+ thread pages of your life)

Could be, could be.

IT took me many years to learn it. Mainly it's just allowing the capillary action to draw it from the needle, rather than squeezing it out.

As for clearing the needle. 8a fuse wire does the trick for me (for those old enough to remember this stuff, or live in houses that still use them over circuit breakers, this is the stuff used for the lighting circuits, NOT the gpo and certainly not for the heavy usage stuff like cookers). I don't currently live in a house with fuses, but the coil of wire I got 10 or so years ago (previous house that did) gets no other use since I moved.

I'm about to start some scratchbuilding. Plan is to use foamcore for inner surfaces which are not visible (so it can be pinned for strength) and use plasticard for outer surfaces.

Have a look at http://ultrawerke.blogspot.com.au/ - the guys a gun and I learnt heaps from reading over this stuff (unsuprisingly he's Spanish as so many of the best AFV modelers seem to be these days).

Must be all the free time and lack of money from being unemployed.... *poor joke at expense of spanish economy*

whew, I thought you were tossing a poor joke at my expense.
(I got made redundant 6 years ago and then moved to an area with an even higher unemployment rate and got married. I'm now a house-hubby so lots of free time and a very understanding wife (secure job).)

My hobby had been my stress relief during her ankle reconstruction phase (both the 18 months following the injury while she waited for the authorisation for surgery (work incident) and the 9 months and more following the surgery and her recuperation).

hehe, I tease my Greek GF about buying her an island for her birthday.

It is strange though how the Spanish painters took right over in scale modelling/painting. Mig Jimenez work and dvd's/books etc are amazing.

I use light gauge (non-wound), used guitar strings


Looks pretty much what one would expect from the term "balsa wood Leman Russ"
For the best results though (as has already been mentioned) skinning the balsa frame in thin styrene would give the best results. It would also take a lot longer though, and I get the impression that this wasn't exactly your mate's life work



I laughed

Reminds me of the advert on a train in Europe: "Most Germans own a second property: it's called Greece"

I use a paper guilliton to cut up to 1.2 mm thickness ...to clear the needle on the glue bottle I apply heat in the form of a lighter flame for a few seconds.