Couple Questions About Styrene Sizes

[TorqueWrench08]

Im just getting into the 'custom' modeling instead of straight outta the box builds and would like to make frames/chassis'

That being said my main question is what size styrene should I use?I build 1:24 & 1:25 models...

How about sheets-what thickness is easy to work with and will do the job for most applications...

That closest thing to a hobby shop I have locally is a "Micheal's" which is still 30ish miles away(I live in the boonies-read as B.F.E.) so most if not all of my purchases will be made online. Knowing that, what's a good/cheap supplier.

Is one brand without a doubt better than others?

On a side not, whats a good filler for for grafting pieces together where seams appear or for giving a smooth contour between to perpendicular pieces?

Any help is appreciated.TIA

Edited August 14, 2010 by TorqueWrench08

[impcon]

Welcome to Hooterville location - 65 miles from nowhere - population........ uh..... lets see.. too peeple an myi nayburs ol' hownd dog died last week - Billy Bob's missus had a yung 'un.... OK.. jus' a sekund - gonna do mi guzzinta's heer.. I dunno.. sumthin' like 32 peeple. Seriously, I can relate. For yours tryly, it's a three hour plus round trip to the nearest hobby shop or Micheals.. so I just wait, write down what I'd like to have - I say that because the hobby shops don't carry a whole lot of specialty stuff like photo etch kits. resin accessories... so all that stuff has to come to me by mail. Yeah - I know the frustration and the apprehension of buying stuff online. I would MUCH rather touch and see the stuff before making a decision. Heck, there are not even any real model shows near us at all. There used to be one in Surrey ( B.C. - part of the Vancouver area ) and though it is five hours away, I would happily go but last I heard, it had folded. I don't even know anyone else in my area who builds. It sure is lonely out here......

[Agent G]

Do you have a home improvement store anywhere nearby? Plastic "for sale" signs are styrene and are cheap compared to speciality sheets. As far as putty I'd recommend any two part catalyzed putty like Bondo. Pick some up at Wally World. You do have a Wal Mart in the stix right?

G

[LDO]

As far as suppliers go, I can't help you. I get all my styrene from my local hobby shop. If you want to mail-order from them, I can PM you the name and phone number.

For what thickness to use, it comes down to ease of use/strength vs. scale appearance. If it's a street rod with boxed frame rails, I would say go with solid strip. It will be strongest and it is consistently sized for the whole length. If you cut frame rails from sheet, it's very easy to have one end turn out taller than the other.

If the frame rails will not be boxed, I'd say glue up a C-section at the exposed ends of the rails only, like the front of a '32 Ford. Let the hidden parts remain solid (boxed). If you don't turn it over or put it on jack stands with mirrors under it, your secret is safe. That's a trick I learned from Gerald Wingrove's books.

For glue, I just love Weld-On 3. It makes a weld joint and dries fairly quickly. I used Testors liquid cement for years until someone told me that Weld-On dries so much faster. Testors can remain tacky after days or even weeks when doing things like laminating plastic.

For filler, I like 2-part catalyzed putty. My favorite is Evercoat Eurosoft glazing putty. It sands and feathers beautifully. You may find it sticks better to primer than bare plastic.

YMMV

Edited August 14, 2010 by LDO

[TorqueWrench08]

@impcon - lol glad to hear Im not the only one but 3+ hours to anything is a bit more than my reach.

@AgentG - Thanks for the tip on the 'for sale' signs and Ive actually got a gallon of Bondo about 3ft from where I sit now.Will have to experiment with mixtures for something that requires so little when compared to a 1:1.No trouble bonding/adhering to the styrene?

@LDO - Sheets would be used to cover large areas or to fab parts such as fuel cells.Solid strip sounds like what Im after for my framing work- just wondered about a general size that works well to scale for 1:24 & 1:25...?Is this the Weld-on you speak of?Fair price?

Any others care to comment/suggest sizes?

[LDO]

@LDO - Sheets would be used to cover large areas or to fab parts such as fuel cells.Solid strip sounds like what Im after for my framing work- just wondered about a general size that works well to scale for 1:24 & 1:25...?Is this the Weld-on you speak of?Fair price?

For fuel cells and other "boxes", I would use .040" minimum. There's nothing wrong with using .060". Thin stuff like .020" or .030" can easily bow inward and also be difficult to glue. (Use a section of quarter round rod at seams for more surface area). For really big boxes like a 1/24 box truck, I used .100" and laminated some .040" to it. I'm sure others will say it was overkill, but I do not want it to bow inwards. It doesn't open, so I don't care about scale thickness. I also added braces.

For frame rails, I don't know what size strip would be best. You need to know the size of the real one, then divide by 24 or 25 and get the closest size.

[Eric Stone]

A nice pair of digital calipers from Harbor Freight or somewhere similar will help a TON when you start into the measure twice and cut once routine. If you're ordering styrene online, you oughta just get a little bit of everything, since you're paying for shipping anyway. Order more of the stuff you use up the fastest, and don't order more stuff that you haven't run out of yet. I bet you'll find a use for each size of stuff you get.

[whale392]

When determining the needed size/thickness for any project, keep in mind that every .040" thickness in scale is roughly one inch in 1:1. That in itself will give you a good estimate as to 'how thick/what size will I need' when you go to get styrene sizes.

[Art Anderson]

Im just getting into the 'custom' modeling instead of straight outta the box builds and would like to make frames/chassis'

That being said my main question is what size styrene should I use?I build 1:24 & 1:25 models...

How about sheets-what thickness is easy to work with and will do the job for most applications...

That closest thing to a hobby shop I have locally is a "Micheal's" which is still 30ish miles away(I live in the boonies-read as B.F.E.) so most if not all of my purchases will be made online. Knowing that, what's a good/cheap supplier.

Is one brand without a doubt better than others?

On a side not, whats a good filler for for grafting pieces together where seams appear or for giving a smooth contour between to perpendicular pieces?

Any help is appreciated.TIA

As far as brands of styrene stock go, there really are only two out there in any general variety of sizes: Evergreen (pretty much the grandaddy of the field--a ton of sizes and shapes, been in business for better than 40 years), and Plastruct, who brought out their line of styrene strips,shapes and sheets about 10 yrs ago. (Be careful about Plastruct, as they still make their line of ABS shapes, not nearly as extensive, and ABS doesn't glue easily to styrene).

A Google Search for both brands should turn up listings of every size and shape each company makes, so that's worth doing, printing off for easy reference.

As for sizes, how high is up? I say that, because there are so many different dimensions, particularly thicknesses, that you will encounter over time. My best advice is: Get some sort of box (I have a couple of clear plastic boxes with hinged lids and long troughs in them which are perfect for keeping my stock of Evergreen handy at all times, and sorted out to some extent. Next thing, consider that Evergreen (in particular) isn't all that expensive, so if you order some from somewhere, I'd advise picking up complimenting dimensions of the stuff along with what you need at the time. Saves money on shipping, and eventually you will have a stash that will allow you to just jump right into a project regardless of the time of day or day or night of the week.

As for measurements (sizes), Evergreen styrene comes in thicknesses (strips) all the way from .005" to .250", in both thickness and widths. Consider using metrics for measuring and figuring, particularly if you are working with a 1/25 scale project, as metric measure fits right in: One inch equals 25.4mm, and for our purposes, I'd drop the 4/10mm and go straight 25mm to the inch, just because you'll not likely be able to divide .4mm by 25 and be able to see it. So, 1mm can be said to be a 1/25 scale inch. If you prefer English (American) measuring, well that's easy too! .040" is one inch in 1/25 scale, and with both, even fractions of an inch in scale can be achieved. I suggest a digital calipers which you can get for not a lot of money, as that tool can give you readouts in both English and Metric.

A good small pocket calculator will also help when you are figuring out just what size something should be.

Others have mentioned glues so I won't, except to say that the only liquid cement at my bench is WeldOn #3

Art

[Agent G]

Evercoat is the one I couldn't think of, but Bondo will do just fine. No real worries about adhesion, though I'd "scuff up" the plastic a bit with a fine sand paper first just because.

G

[DrewCfromSC]

As for measurements (sizes), Evergreen styrene comes in thicknesses (strips) all the way from .005" to .250", in both thickness and widths. Consider using metrics for measuring and figuring, particularly if you are working with a 1/25 scale project, as metric measure fits right in: One inch equals 25.4mm, and for our purposes, I'd drop the 4/10mm and go straight 25mm to the inch, just because you'll not likely be able to divide .4mm by 25 and be able to see it. So, 1mm can be said to be a 1/25 scale inch. If you prefer English (American) measuring, well that's easy too! .040" is one inch in 1/25 scale, and with both, even fractions of an inch in scale can be achieved. I suggest a digital calipers which you can get for not a lot of money, as that tool can give you readouts in both English and Metric.

A good small pocket calculator will also help when you are figuring out just what size something should be.

Others have mentioned glues so I won't, except to say that the only liquid cement at my bench is WeldOn #3

Art

[MikeMc]

To start out get the "odds and ends" assortments....all sorts of goodies, get the round one also!!

I also recomend Tenax cement.....

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXF884&P=ML

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXF734&P=ML

[Art Anderson]

As for measurements (sizes), Evergreen styrene comes in thicknesses (strips) all the way from .005" to .250", in both thickness and widths. Consider using metrics for measuring and figuring, particularly if you are working with a 1/25 scale project, as metric measure fits right in: One inch equals 25.4mm, and for our purposes, I'd drop the 4/10mm and go straight 25mm to the inch, just because you'll not likely be able to divide .4mm by 25 and be able to see it. So, 1mm can be said to be a 1/25 scale inch. If you prefer English (American) measuring, well that's easy too! .040" is one inch in 1/25 scale, and with both, even fractions of an inch in scale can be achieved. I suggest a digital calipers which you can get for not a lot of money, as that tool can give you readouts in both English and Metric.

A good small pocket calculator will also help when you are figuring out just what size something should be.

Others have mentioned glues so I won't, except to say that the only liquid cement at my bench is WeldOn #3

Art

This is great stuff here! Thank you. Seems like their would be a chart avalible from somewhere for converting sizes to scales. Like 1 5/8" rollbar sizes in real life to 1/25 scale. Thanks for posting!

Drew

[TorqueWrench08]

Art, thanks for the detailed explanation.Using it I made a quick reference chart in Excel.Please feel free to double check my work and make any suggestions.I took a screen shot to post but have the Excel save if you or anyone else could use it.All calculations can be adjusted or extended quickly beyond what I did here.

Hopefully this will help zwitterman and I, maybe others as well.

[lordairgtar]

Nice chart...very helpful indeed.

[DrewCfromSC]

Art, thanks for the detailed explanation.Using it I made a quick reference chart in Excel.Please feel free to double check my work and make any suggestions.I took a screen shot to post but have the Excel save if you or anyone else could use it.All calculations can be adjusted or extended quickly beyond what I did here.

Hopefully this will help zwitterman and I, maybe others as well.

You did! Thank you so much!

Drew C. from S.C.

[TorqueWrench08]

Glad to have been able to help a couple others out.

[Brett Barrow]

Took this from Drew Hierwarter's "Working With Styrene" article from the Oct '05 issue of That Other Magazine - hope it might be of some help

SCALE EQUIVALENTS

These are the most common sizes of styrene rod and strip that I use, and their nearest equivalents in 1/25 scale

.030" x .030" strip = ¾ " x ¾ "

.040 x .040 strip = 1 x 1

.020 rod = ½

.047 rod = 1¼

.062 rod = 1½

.080 rod = 2

.100 rod = 2½