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I have em. I know you have em. Anyone who plays miniature games has them. The Sprue.
Your collection of them rises with each pack of models bought, cluttering up space and just being generally annoying.
How do you deal with these, Dakka? What models have you modified just using the sprue plastic? Have you built buildings from them? What use can they serve other than just cluttering up my closet in stacks? I've decided to try and deal with this problem by using plasticard and cardboard from the boxes, and the sprue plastic, to make some sort of building. Maybe even a tank. Any ideas?

That would likely work for some Ork tank, or maybe something Nurglesque.

The hard cardboard edges could go well with the long lines of sprue plastic. We'll have to see it of course.

I have tried to make scenic bases from them, but since then I've found much better methods. So right now, I'm back to having no use for the sprue. Maybe I could use one as a core bit, and sculpt something around it... that would probably work.

you can cut the sprues in little rectangle bits and make a brick building from it my friend did it once he said its one of the coolest buildings ever and it took him about 20 hours of work, plus paint time.

Deathmachine wrote:you can cut the sprues in little rectangle bits and make a brick building from it my friend did it once he said its one of the coolest buildings ever and it took him about 20 hours of work, plus paint time.

That is a really great idea. I too am curious what people do with the spruces after modeling.

The great thing about sprues is that they can look like structural metal beams or bricks depending on how you cut them. The important thing to remember is to cut them and assemble them creatively so they don't LOOK like sprues. Cut angled beams. Cut notches in them with an exacto so they look "designed".

With the expert use of a lighter, you can warm it up at junctures and do bends (I do not condone this action if you are not an adult and/or a stoopid person that will burn your house down).

Also, glue two together to get a diamond-esque shaped beam.

Please post pictures of progress,would love to see.

I've got a scratchbuilt Ork warbuggy that uses lots of sprue as the framework for the Skorcha mount and for some of the supports for the bodywork...

I've also chopped lots up into practically milled little bits, (I wish I had a real plastic milling machine, it'd be excellent) to use as rubble for ruins and scenery... but to be honest, I still have loads and loads of the damn stuff... I wish GW would let you take all the sprues back... they must be able to recycle them to make new plastics? Most of mine end up being launched binwards.

I just take everything off them and stick the scrap sprue in the recycling bin.

But GW stores should have a bin for returned sprues, with some sort of incentive. Maybe a discount for every kilo of plastic you return?
I mean, it's polystyrene. Thermoplastic. They just need to crunch it up and stick it back into the moulding machines, or send it back to where they get the stuff from.

As for pewter, I just want to be able to cast my own parts. This gamesday has landed me with a useless fantasy miniature from my goodybag, and the raffle on the coach landed me with a slightly less useless box of chaos ogres.
If I could drop this crap into a crucible and melt them down into something USEFUL, I'd be grateful.

I mean, now I'm stuck with the task of converting these ogres into more ogryns to go with the bone 'ead I won LAST year.

I clear off all the bits and then chuck 'em.

You can make chevaux de frise, Czech hedgehogs, and other obstacles out of them.

I like melting them...

If i saved these they would soon overrun my life. I keep a dozen bars or so for mixing acrylic, epoxy, just a free stir-stick, but the rest get tossed.
I've seen things made from them and it always makes me think 'hey look- sprues'. so no, not real interested in making anything from them. But in my younger, poorer, less picky days, I made a Bretonian Army banner with a big cross on top- the cross was the inner '+' sprue from 4square 20mm bases.
http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb16/LaughingFerretStudio/Very%20Old%20Stuff/Fantasy/?action=view¤t=KnightBSB3.jpg

I made a couple of walkers out of spare tank marine torsos and sprues, about ten years ago. I may still have a bit of one of them... hmm

Terrain, terrain framing, junk piles for difficult/impossible terrain, even bridges...

Other than that I usually use a few snipped off piece for filling in gaps when I'm out of putty or the green stuff.

Recently thought of using some of mine for a gargant project.

I going to try mulching them up in a food processor (or something similar) then use the result as a basing material.

Maybe even grade it through a sieve???

Ive used a sprue bit as the start for a sonic blaster. I cut and filed it so it didnt have the leaning sides. Will definately do that again.

WIP


PIP


And my 7 year old son has started his own little scratch building project where we are gluing spruebits together to build the frame for a small robot. I think itll turn out pretty ok so when I have time I might use the same frame building idea to sculpt over for a obliterator or something.

Stacking small identical sprues on top of one another makes really simple industrial roof ducts/vents/crates.
The pic below shows kinda shows the type of thing?!?!
I'll dig one out and take photos.

Im sure this could be done with larger sprues too!

I often use sprue offcuts for internal structural support in larger models. I don't often use it for visible bits as in my opinion it's far too immediately recognizable as such.

But that stacked sprue vent idea is really slick, I'll have to try it now!

Old pieces of sprue can also be used a "structural"
elements in larger builds, holding pieces of plasticard together on a scratch-built tank for example. Usually the best place for sprue plastic is in the trash though.

Cheers Teek
I can't remember who it was but someone here made necromunda style barricades out of sprues and posted a How 2???

Anyone got a better memory than me?(I've tried searching a bit)

I use them for tank traps and for sign posts for objectives.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/205838.page#250619

Found it!!!

You mean the leftover empty prue, just the plastic with no bits? One time I cut it up and used it for rubble with a building. That was a long time ago. Now I just throw it all away. I cut all the bits off and store it in one of the those things with like 50 small drawers that mechanics use for washers and bolts etc...

I've used them for patches in crummy Guard vehicles I bought cheap off of EBay (once had to break the tread off of the rest of the body so the bleeding thing would work).

I've also scratch built a Hellhound turret using the Chimera parts, bits of sprue and flamethrowing looking bits.

I use sprue extensively as bracing for my scratchbuilds and conversions. It's "free" and effective.

I warm up my sprues and stick them in green stuff press molds, it works reasonably well but i admit its more fun with the glowy green sprues from the new markers and templates. Also this totally is not my own idea, i saw it done right here on dakka and figured it was a good to make small parts for conversions. I first used it to make a set of 10 noise marines with 9 sonic blasters without having to buy 8 boxes of emperors children just for the sonic blasters. But now i also use it to make copies of ork glyph plates and other bits like that where you need alot of.