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I am currently developing a tyranid genestealer cult and I really need some cheap material to make the throne.
I have all the bitz needed for it, but I tried to use evergreen plasticard. Now, this stuff I boaght was exeptionlly tough and I do not know wheather it was a mistake, a certain brand of the stuff, my equipment or my own personal strength. I was using kitchen scissors that got two fairly small chunks of the stuff and then the handle snapped off, rendering it useless. Now, I know that you will suggest a craft knife, but there is no way my parents will let me get them.


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Any cheap suggestions for plasticard replacements would be fine, as well as some thing to moddel the growths that will be sproutingg from the chair.

A plastic cutting scribe is actually fairly dull. They look like a blade, but have a square edge in order to score the plastic. You should be able to find one in the same locales that you can pick up craft knifes and what not. That and a steel straight edge, and you can get clean cuts on fairly thick plastic.

Be sure to get a hobby one as opposed to an industrial one. The ones which are made for cutting stuff like acrylic glazing material and other thick plastics are a bit too chunky for precise work.

After that - keep in mind that it comes in different thicknesses. The thinnest plasticard is thinner than a sheet of paper, while the thickest that you can get from hobby suppliers is a couple of mm thick. If you want to use scissors to cut it - get the thinner material and just laminate it up after you cut it to size/shape.

As far as different sources - a lot of the plastic signs are made of styrene. Things like "No Trespassing" and "For Sale" signs, as well as some signs used for in store displays. You can often get the in store display signs for free whenever the sale or whatever is done. The For Sale signs can be picked up relatively cheap - though those prices vary some and it may not end up being cheaper than plasticard.

Industrial plastic suppliers will be much cheaper (I get most my sheet plastics from US Plastics) - though since you mentioned having to deal with parental approval...buying a 4x8 sheet of plastic is probably right out.

For modeling growths and what not - you are generally best off to use putties. Apoxie Scuplt, Green Stuff, Milliput and other two part putties are ideally suited for various organic shapes and general sculpting. It isn't too expensive and you can pick up the basic skills fairly quickly. You can also use heat setting polymer clays like FIMO, Sculpey and Kato. They are cured in the oven and are pretty easy to work with lots of different physical properties, both as putty and when cured. Keep in mind though that since it has to cure in the oven - you can have issues with a lot of plasticards as they can loose their structural capacity when heated in an oven (the heat used to cure most isn't enough to actually burn the plastic...but it will turn it into taffy).

Since you are looking at doing a tyranid throne - you might consider making the entire thing out of a putty. Depending on you artistic bent - it may be faster and easier than mocking up a shape with plasticard and then sculpting details over the top.

With the clays and putties that have to harden in the oven you can still use those with other materials. Some of the best CSM and daemons I've ever seen had big teeth made from those putties and were then stuck to the models using greenstuff. That can apply to many other details that need to be particularly straight, rigid, etc. Those clays are SUPER easy to work with with barehands and a toothpick or two. no tools needed, although alot of times they'll come with a little plastic shaping tool.