What do you do with the sprue after completing your kit? I have heard that the steam punk folks use the material for their dioramas of the steam punk not certain of the validity just came to mind. I use some as sprue goo but after a while it piles up. Can it be recycled some way into another project you can only make so many antennas?
These are some ideas I found noodling around the internet.
· Terrain building: Cut up sprue pieces, chips, or dust can be used as filler material.
· Piping: Round sprues can be used for piping.
· Structural components: Rectangular sprue can be used to model structural components like buildings.
· Gold bars: Rectangular sprue cut to about 1 cm pieces with slightly sloped cuts can be used as gold bars.
· Bricks: Straight cuts can be used as bricks.
· Painting handles: Can be used for minis when doing sub-assemblies.
· Rebar: Can be used as bits of rebar.
· Plastic rods: Hot-pulling scrap styrene model sprue over an open flame can be used to make plastic rods of various thicknesses.
· Rubble: Can be ground up in a meat grinder.
· Drainpipes: Can be used to add realism to buildings.
The ideas you’ve come up with are all valid.Now here’s one I bet you didn’t think of. I have done a 72" long ship .I framed and keeled her with sprue. Yup, I built the keel and all the frames using sprue. Just like a wood model. I sheeted her with sheet plastic cut into panels much like the welded steel panels on real ships. I R.C.d her.
She is now a display piece in an attorney’s office. What was she?Well , Oh, okay. A modern Twin engined Sport Fishing boat, much like you used to see in Florida when i was a kid. Outriggers and all.
I save a couple of pieces for tests for paiint compatibiliy, but trash the rest. However, I havestarted using the method of not cutting pieces off until I am ready for the piece.
There is a member here, his forum handle is capt-fue. He takes sprues, melts them over low heat, and forms them into blanks for sculpting. He sculpts figures from these blanks, mostly all American soldiers from different periods. If you do a search on his name, you should be able to find his posts and see his work.
You could also reach out to him and see if he’d like any leftover sprues for his work.
Have you ever thought? Take for instance the “Shell Welder” kit. Oh ,not the greatest ship kit by a long shot! But, it is a Tanker. So carefully carve off the pipes on deck and replace with the right sized sprue. Looks one hundred percent bettter!
I have also stretched it just a little to save money,instead of buying ready made Rods from Evergreen, using the stretched to the right size for piping on the deck of REVELL’s T-2 tanker kit.It also can be used to make cargo booms etc. on larger scale ships and for the round tubing on larger non-flying models of the early Pipers and Stinsons, Beechcraft etc!
But if you don’t want to bother with that Save your empty glue bottles, Grind up some colored sprue, Green, Red etc. And Voila! you’ve got colored Sprue Glue!
That’s a good idea too. I have a high school neighbor who makes art out of sprue from her brothers models. She collects some from me from time to time. Her Mother makes Tooth-pick holders and other table tools out of it too!
All her Brother(he’s fifteen) wants to talk about if Football and the Basketball "SPURS " team. He just builds models, he says, cause people give them to him as gifts and he doesn’t want to hurt their feelings.
The Husband and Dad was killed in action, another Fallujah victim like my Brothers. They are not close but visitable from time to time. I helped Mom get the V.A. to provide a color-guard for his funeral.
He was the only “Heavy” modeler in this neighborhood besides me.You should see his Armor collection. Mom keeps them all over the house, to remember him by!
I mostly use sprues to make sprue goo, but when I have pices 2-1/2" or longer I make them into stirring sticks for paint. They last a long time and can be wiped clean using Q-tips and mineral spirits.