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So i have recently taken the step to working with plasticard on a defiler conversion and am not liking how it is working out.

I am working with thicker plasticard, so that may complicate things, but i have tried to exacto it (brand new blade) and used a jewelers saw with it. The lines never really come out exactly how I want them. I have been alternating between pencil guidlines and felt pen ones.

my latest disaster was trying to duplicate one half of the head peice for use on the other side, and it turned out horrible.

the next think I am going to try is printing out the designs and then using a glue stick to attach them to the plasticard.

Does anyone have any good tips for cutting good lines.

5mm plasti is a pain in the ass to cut, yet its sturdy.
You may want to vary the thickness used in certain areas.

For titan parts 5mm is great as its stable and does not need to be cut to a detailed design.

for smaller projects i would use 2-3mm plasticard, as it can be cut using a craft blade, its somewhat flexible to an extent, and you can cut it with ease, meaning sticking to planned lines is alot easier.

put it in the freezer, give it a good, deep score, and it should snap apart quite cleanly...

Buy a nice metal ruler, line it up, score along the ruler, snap crackle pop. You have a perfect line.

Remember not to use to much force when scoring the plastic as this can make your scalpel to veer off.

Use many gentle cuts rather than a few heavy one and take times. Excessive force on a blade makes it difficult to control and leads to nasty accidents.

JD21290 wrote:5mm plasti is a pain in the ass to cut, yet its sturdy.
You may want to vary the thickness used in certain areas.

For titan parts 5mm is great as its stable and does not need to be cut to a detailed design.

for smaller projects i would use 2-3mm plasticard, as it can be cut using a craft blade, its somewhat flexible to an extent, and you can cut it with ease, meaning sticking to planned lines is alot easier.

5mm? please tell me theres a decimal point you missed there?


For cutting it, as mentioned, you want to score it. Ideally half its thickness at least, I dont use the edge of a blade to do most scoring. I actually tend to use my older blades- and I use the backwards.

Yes, backwards. the square ended corners are generally just about perfect for it. As someone mentioned- use a straight edge to score along, make numerous light passes. This means if you stray off the line once its no biggie- most of the passes will be on the line. get a good groove formed. And then using the ruler or corner of your desk/table, give it a snap. It should break pretty clean right along the line you scored. Until you get the hang of it, go just a tad bigger than you need. You can sand/file down any excess much easier than you can fill in gaps from it being too short.

Practice on your scrap pieces, and dont get frustrated when its not perfect the first time ya try it, like most modeling techniques it has a learning curve

Cut it a bit outside of your line and then trim the last part with a file or a smaler knife

And btw, i mostly use a scissor to cut plasticard. Its easier, faster and strait lines are very easie to do. (even the thicker one)
If you can cut paper you can cut this to.

No decimal
For making titans its great due to a high strength and sturdy structure (my lazyness so i didnt have to make so many supporting struts for it)
But for anything smaller than a battlewagon its not much use.

i am using .06" plasticard, about 1.5 millimeters i think, I have thought about using a straight edge, but since i am cutting small curved parts, that wont work.

What do you guys do when you need multiple copies of the same piece?

tylermenz wrote:i am using .06" plasticard, about 1.5 millimeters i think, I have thought about using a straight edge, but since i am cutting small curved parts, that wont work.

What do you guys do when you need multiple copies of the same piece?

Make the first one, use it as a template. Or if its really curved, I'll sculpt it. If I need more than a couple of them, I make a mold and cast up copies of the first one

But, general scratch builds are about patience, and sometimes repetition.

Another trick that may help, use multiple layers of really thin card. I've used some thats about like construction paper, you can cut the curves on it with decent scissors, then glue the layers together as needed.

For marking out -
cover the area you're going to cut with permanent marker.
use a sharp point like pin held in a pin vice to lightly scratch on the shape.
This will give a much finer mark out.
Also follow the lightly scoring method.
Use a cutting mat.
Use a nail emery board to sand down the edges.
If duplicating, vice all the copies together and sand as one.