After getting back into armor after almost 30 years, hip-deep in a Dragon Marder II, I had to bail out again when forced to move my elderly mom into our home . . . and into my computer room/model room/man cave. A year and half later, I have my room back, have dragged out all my stuff, and have all the time in the world to resume work on the Marder. Because I’m unemployed. Like so many others. Anyhoo, we all know that indulging this hobby can be, well, costly, and I have found a couple of shortcuts that may save a bit of cash.
At your local Walmart, Home Depot or Ace Hardware, you may find those plastic GARAGE SALE or FOR RENT signs, in 8.5X11 inch sheets in the US. I can’t say what they’re made of, but a couple’ minutes experimentation confirmed that this stuff can be used pretty much like sheet styrene. Very thin and flexible, it scores and breaks like styrene or can be cut with kitchen shears, and liquid cement (I keep some good ol’ Testors on hand at all times) works on it exactly as you would expect on styrene. Not so great for details that require thicker stock, but for small items or fabbing boxes and bins and such, it seems like a perfect item for scratchbuilding. Works with file and sandpaper and takes paint.
Also, for those of you who don’t despise Celluclay, I have gone back to making my own. I use newsprint (our local paper uses veggie-based inks) which I run through our cross-cut shredder. It makes app. 5mm strips, about 30mm long. I dump a few handfulls of shredded newsprint in my blender with enough water to ensure proper action with the rotating blade, and jog it on ‘liquify’ setting. Pour and drain in a collandar, or similar tool, and store in a ziplock bag. What comes out is indistinguishable- to my eye- from the purchased product. Add your favorite water-based glue and you’re in business. Even if it dries a bit, you can re-wet it as long as you haven’t added your adhesive, yet.
Preachin’ to the choir around here about that, Pappy… BTW, the afore-mentioned Ace Hardware sells some signs that are about .040, which is fairly thick as those signs go…
Yeah when I found myself suddenly unemployed (several years ago) I rediscovered my modeling stash and supplies which had been tossed into a store room in our new house. I started cleaning up and organizing and setting up shop once again after a long dry spell from modeling. Once I started poking around I found I needed a few supplies, which to make a long story short I acquired a paint company and have been deep into this hobby and industry ever since.
Yeah, check the “Handicap Parking” signs and the larger “Tennant Parking Only” types… They’re an easy 1/16th inch in thickness… If you need thicker plastic, the CD “Jewel cases” and old cassette-tape cases are a cheap (if not free) source of thick stuff too… A M548 conversion I did from the Tamiya M113 APC many years ago was almost 100% cassette tape-case for the crew compartment and cargo box…
Being clear and brittle though, it takes a “hotter” cement that what I normally use, for the best results… MEK (Methyl-Ethyl Ketone) works REALLY well,
Hmm . . . haven’t tried that stuff [cassette case] in years, mostly because of the glue problem, and I musta missed the thicker signs- most of the ones I’ve looked at are a softer, unsuitable plastic. Next trip to Ace I will check it out. THX!
Yeah, back in the olden days of the late 70s, I had to make do with the PITA method- laboriously shredding newspaper with the scissors. We didn’t have a blender and home office shredders were non-existent. We had them at naval installations, but most of then were the size of a small desk, weighed a ton and you couldn’t get close to one, anyhow. First time I saw Celluclay it was a religious experience. But using the home shredder and blender or smoothie machine pulps the newsprint just fine.
A CAVEAT I shoulda mentioned earlier: TEST A SMALL BATCH TO MAKE SURE THAT ANY INK IN THE NEWSPRINT WON’T STAIN YOUR KITCHEN UTINSILS OR BLENDER. Inks that are of the petroleum, spirit or solvent types may make a serious mess in the kitchen. If your wifie is like mine, she has an extreme shortage of tolerance for such ‘oopsies.’
Old Pappy, good discussion here. As kit prices have gone up, I have re-modeled some kits I built years ago. The build was solid but my weathering skills were in their infancy and I hadn’t discovered Future or a gloss coat prior to decals. I stripped the paint, did some superdetailing or even scratchbuilding, new paint job and decals, and you have a new model to display.
Amen, bunkie. I got back in to it, after almost 30 years, by re-building an old 1/32 Monogram Sherman- nuthin fancy, just cleaning off my weathering and scratchbuilding skills, plus learning to love all the bells and whistles we didn’t have back in the dark ages. PE, aluminum barrels, track links,all that good stuff. It’s a whole new world, but also fun all over again!
I’m 17, and have eben modeling since I was 8. I just mow a few lawns every week (I obviously earn VERY little- usually $40 a week, and that’s only in the summers), and spend LESS THAN 5% of my earnings on models on average. And I buy plenty of AM parts… Friuls, resin interiors… And I have a 20-kit stash (with many accessories), the majority of which I’ve acquired over the last two years. If modeling causes a serious financial dent, then you should either A) Buy fewer models and buy them one at a time as you build them, or B) sacrifice some of your modeling time and get a job (or a better job if you already have one). If I can afford to buy models substantially faster than I can build them, then modeling is not THAT expensive unless you’re stocking your closet. I do, however, understand the value in saving money by using stuff found in places other than the LHS.
Here’s some advice: Make scratch PE parts out of aluminum soda cans. And use mineral spirit oil thinner from the hardware store instead of buying the overpriced little bottles of oil or enamel thinner from the LHS.
Just use MEK (methyl-ethyl-ketone) for cement instead of the ridiculously priced Tamiya, Tenax and Testors cements. Buy it at your local hardware store for about $4.00 a QUART instead of $4.00 for a few ounces of the name brand stuff and it works the same if not better. Our model group has been using MEK for years with no complaints (because that’s basically what the name brand stuff is). Our local hardware stores carry the Sunnyside brand in the yellow, black and white cans. Try it, you’ll like it!
I have a quick question with the Ace signs. Do you think it could be used to scratch-build something like a model railroad boxcar or locomotive? I don’t want to change the subject, but I have been wanting to scratchbuild railroad stuff, and I want to know if it can be done with one of these signs. It’ll help save money on sheet styrene (especially since my hobby shop doesn’t carry a lot of plain styrene. Mainly patterned styrene)
Absolutely… I don’t buy ANY plain ol’ sheet styrene from a Hobby Shop, haven’t in like 25 years… They aren’t big enough, and they cost too much… I still buy the Evergreen strips, styrene-coated wire, and Plastruct structural shapes (Angle iron and I-beams, mostly) though… Note on Plastruct though… That stuff is ABS palstic rather than styrene, and MEK works a helluva lot better that styrene cement on it… Regular liquid model cements don’t work very well on ABS… You CAN buy the special Plastruct cement for their stuff, but it’s WAY over-priced… Like what was posted earlier by Scooter, MEK is CHEAP…
If you’re gonna do RR stuff like boxcars and other rolling stock, you’ll probably need to use both sheet styrene AND Plastuct…
I don’t think so… Acetone is what’s in all the nail-polish removers I ever bought… But MEK will definately romove nail-polish… Skin too, if you ain’t careful… And it’s HIGHLY flamable… Don’t have any “Thermal forming” (read, lit candles) going on near an open container…
Thanks Hans. I’ll remember your warning about the MEK. I want to keep my skin and I’d rather not have any big booms from the stuff.
It may kill my budget, but I rarely scratchbuild with plastruct (or plastic of any kind/brand for that matter) so I may just bite the bullet and buy a small bottle of it. Or, I may just skip the MEK all together, and eather use superglue or epoxy to secure it.
Anyway, Thanks for the tips on scratchbuilding model railroad stuff with the signs.