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Hello everyone , I am wanting to do a fair bit of conversions on my upcoming ork army , i have seen some great conversions in the gallery and i would like to know what size plasticard i would need to use for fine detailed work for example a scratchbuilt powerclaw or iron jaw , things like that , also i looked at some plasticard rod for like rivets or gun barrols , could you guys give me some pointers on what sizes and possuble where to purchase it ? 4

Thanks in advance

~UnDeAd~

Any decent model store that deals in model railway should have styrene sheet and rod. EVERGREEN is a common maker (white and green display).

1-1.5mm sheet will do fine for the blades of a klaw, as well as the "body" of it. Evergreen lists this stuff as "060" (for 1.5mm) and "040" for 1mm sheet.

Rod and tube comes in a variety of sizes and shapes. For rivets, it depends on what size you want them to be, so use a diameter of the size you want. 1mm rod yields large headed rivets for 40k scale.

I primarily use .020" and .040" plasticard, although something a tad thicker would be best for larger forms, like the hulls of scratchbuilt vehicles (a distinct likelihood, if starting an Ork army, so bear that in mind if making an online order or a long trip, to save on shipping/travel costs). .020" is plenty thin to allow for rather tight curves without needing to use heat, but .040" gives the feel of thicker steel plate, which makes for better looking iron gobs, in my opinion.

When buying rod and tube, look for compatible sizes that can nest inside each other (sometimes listed on the website), which will allow you to make pistons and reinforced gun barrels quickly and easily. It's well worth the research, as the packs I got are slightly mismatched and, while I can make visually passable pistons, it's a pain to get them aligned and glued properly, as the rod only contacts a small portion of the tube.

Evergreen and Plastruct are the two most common manufacturers (the former only uses inch (decimal) thickness designations, while the latter gives both inches and mm), so look for the green and orange displays, respectively, if going to a physical store. Both also sell shapes other than flat sheet, tube, and rod, which are worth checking out. Corrugated sheets are great for adding Orky plates of scrap, H- and/or I-beams are great for terrain and vehicle work, hex rod slices make convincing bolt heads and nuts (add a small slice of round rod on top for the protruding bolt shaft) and I'm positively kicking myself for not getting some angled strips for making brackets and capping joins.

All the advice above is good. One additional idea. If you want plascard that bends into curves well or you have areas to cover that are already surrounded sturdy parts of a model (ex, putting a roof on a cab or making a garage door), then all you need is thin plascard. Various hardware stores (I get mine at Harbor Freight) carry $.99 signs made of plascard. They usually say things like "for sale" or "for rent" and are usually about 9"x11".

I've had really good luck with these. The cut and glue easily and the price is certainly right!

In my experience 0.5mm and 1mm are the most useful sizes. 0.25mm cuts like paper and can be used for surface decoration but it is so thin it can melt by the action of the cement. 2mm is difficult to cut. Score and snap works for straight lines but not curves.

These guys do an excellent range of plastic sheet and accessories.

http://www.ema-models.co.uk/index.php/

Thanks for the help guys , think i will take a look at evergreen , and possibly plastruct , also thanks for the link KilKrazy i will be sure to take a look.

Thanks ~UnDeAd~

Actually, some hobby shops will sell a mixed-bag of stuff, rods pipes, tubes, I-bars L-bars as well as plasticard so thick a power fist won't blast through it.

I think if you are working on Orky, you'd need a mixed bag.

Just one more note, I checked and the cheap sign plascard is 0.5 mm thick.

I just finished using it to build a roof and dump bed for a sci-fi dump truck.

oadie wrote:

Evergreen and Plastruct are the two most common manufacturers (the former only uses inch (decimal) thickness designations, while the latter gives both inches and mm), so look for the green and orange displays, respectively, if going to a physical store.

Really?
My Evergreen packaging lists both.

" 080 Rod " (catalog 212)
"(2.0mm) "

The packs of sheet are the same.