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ok.. so i've got some wings i'm trying to fit in a curve to fit on a pauldron. lo ltrying to kitbash some sternguard veterans /w stormbolters. but i cant manage to figure out how to bend these wings without deforming them or snapping them... anyone got a way to soften this plastic up a bit?

You can try heating it in hot (not boiling!) water, much like softening resin.

I'm not sure if it works with plastic, but it could be worth trying.

Seen somebody do a similar thing but involved heating said parts with a lighter then bending them with his fingers.

IIRC he was bending some Tyranid tails.

i did it with a mawlocs tongue to make a couple of them coming out of a mouth. just used a lighter, real quick in the right spot for a second and that plastics going to move. takes some finesse tho.
I don't know what your working with, but can it be carved to fit?

Lighter or apply pressure on the opposite side while using a round edge file.

Using a lighter on stuff that has details, for an example wings that have lots of feathers on them, can deform the detail and make it looks really bad. Tyranid tails for an example have almost no detail, or the whips that some Fantasy orks have, so using a lighter there would be more than ok.

I'd suggest very hot water(not boiling, but close to it). If that doesn't work then I dont know, I've never really had to bend my stuff(no pun intended.).

I'd stay away from using open flames, if I were you. It will heat the piece up, definitely, but the heat is too intense and localized to do much good. By the time the top is nice and pliable, the bottom is likely either saggy goo or on fire. This isn't as much of an issue on thinner pieces, where the heat doesn't have much material to travel though, but that shrinks the window between 'flexible' and 'tiny batch of napalm' in the process. Honestly, it seems like most (certainly not all, but most) of the people I've seen use or recommend the lighter method have better means at their disposal, they simply can't pass up the opportunity to set on fire.

I'd try and heat the piece evenly throughout by submerging it in something - water, salt, sand - that's been heated enough to soften the plastic, but not enough to scorch it. This method allows you a far greater ability to fine-tune the temperature you're working at, as well as guaranteeing (well, there's no helping some people, but within reason ) you won't end up huffing black smoke while your bits lie in puddles on the workbench.

why not heat up sand or something like the people at eye glasses use? Stick the plastic in and bend...becareful it will be hot der lol

Look up salt dipping, that's the technique you are looking for.

Liberame wrote:Look up salt dipping, that's the technique you are looking for.

^

Hot water works for me (I use dressings forceps to hold the pieces in the water - they're about 5" long, so I don't need to get my fingers wet.). 30 seconds and a light bending around a cylinder the right size (like the barrel of an x-acto).