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I start straight off by saying I have never used Plasticard in my life - ever. I'm wanting some to do a few minor conversions - adding extra armour plates to greaves and such. theproblem is that I have a few questions about the stuff. So I'll just list them here and appeal to the Dakka gods' wisdom:

A) For general conversion work, using flat sheets, what thickness am I needing?

B) As a general overview, what are the different thicknesses usually used for? (Say 0.5mm to 3mm)

C) Can Plasticard be bent releatively well? (Enough to curve around a Terminator's Groin Guard or Greave as extra armour?)

D) For the UK modellers who use Plasticard - Where's the best place to get it?

E) Finally - as a newcomer to using Plasticard, whats the best pack for me to get? (Mixed sheets? Mixed Sheets and Tubes? A general selection bag?)

Any help would be much appreciated in this matter!

PS: Just as a bonus question - I'm gonna get an X-Acto Knife, the Blue 'Gripper' model - is it any good/decent quality?

Never used plasticard either, but would be useful for my current ork project... particularly when i get round to the vehicles!

The knife, Swann & Morton make high quality craft blades in the UK, might be easier to get a good deal than the USA Xacto brand.
http://www.scalpelsandblades.co.uk/
I use these guys for my knife needs.

Keep me posted on those Orks Hairy, they were looking ace last time I checked in. Thanks for the advice on the knifes, but I've found a place on eBay that does X-Acto products very cheap - just out of interest though, which of the Swann and Morton knives have you got? (Just as you can attest to quality)

 Warpig1815 wrote:
I
A) For general conversion work, using flat sheets, what thickness am I needing?
B) As a general overview, what are the different thicknesses usually used for? (Say 0.5mm to 3mm)
C) Can Plasticard be bent releatively well? (Enough to curve around a Terminator's Groin Guard or Greave as extra armour?)
B) For the UK modellers who use Plasticard - Where's the best place to get it?
D) Finally - as a newcomer to using Plasticard, whats the best pack for me to get? (Mixed sheets? Mixed Sheets and Tubes? A general selection bag?)

A+b) 0.5mm is good for bendy stuff. Most of my consructions are from 1mm to 1.5mm though.

B2+C) ??

D) Mixed bags of strip, tube and sheet will let you sort out what your comforable with. Also a good knife and clippers are essential..

 Warpig1815 wrote:
Keep me posted on those Orks Hairy, they were looking ace last time I checked in. Thanks for the advice on the knifes, but I've found a place on eBay that does X-Acto products very cheap - just out of interest though, which of the Swann and Morton knives have you got? (Just as you can attest to quality)

Sure thing, updates slowed a little on the Orks this week, i've been at work and had my daughter etc etc (she's napping right now hehehe) Still plodding along though, working on the Loota's.

The knives I use a few, the blades labeled as A.C.M are craft knives, more durable, thicker metal. Mostle, ACM#2 and ACM#22 blades are the most useful for me.. they fit the medium sized xacto handle. (straight pointed and curved blades - theres an xacto equivalent of these blades)
Most of what S&M do are for surgeons, these will do fine jobs on models, but are a bit flimsy when it comes to chopping plastic... they do great at flesh!!

I have a set of xacto handles, and use the ACM blades in those, and also get packs of 10 disposable surgical scalpels, in 10 and 10a for mold line removal work.

http://www.scalpelsandblades.co.uk/accessory-detail_144_swann-morton-trimaway-knives-product-no-9205-or-1801.php
these red handles ones with a heavy duty blade look decent enough. I've been using actual surgeons ones, with wafer thin blades... had a couple of blades snap uneccessarily I guess.

I would be interested in this too. I've got a stack of 2mm plasticard but I haven't used it out of fear of wasting it.

As for bending plasticard, I've heard that if you put it in warm water for a bit, you'll be able to bend it a bit.

A+B)Thickness of plasticard highly depends on what you have planed.
I used 1 and 2 mm plasticard for scratchbuilding larger stuff like vehicles but also as a base for custom weapons.

if you want to kit out infantery sized models 0,5 and below is probably more usefull. But in general the thinner sheeps can be used to apply structure like layered armor plates or additional details not only for infantery models.

And i use plasticard often for custom bases too. I cut out different styles of tiling and glue it to my bases.

C) You can bent Plasticard. The thinner ones just by gently applying force and then let the glue make the rest. Alternatively you can heat it and bent it much easier.

B2) Don't know suppliers in the UK but i got mine from a miniature hobby web shop where i normally buy my models too. Those 3rd party shopd often have different Hobby supplies.

D) I got my first sheets and rods of Plasticard out of the mixed bags Gale Force 9 sells. Those bagy contain a lot of different sizes including really thin ones below 0,5 mm.

Thought I'd make this the first post I make as I use plasticard a lot.

First off - score and snap is the best way to cut the stuff, unless you want to invest in a dremel mini saw on a flexible shaft, then buy one of the flexible miniature saw attachments. As such, always cut slightly (<1mm) larger than you want and sand down on thicker pieces

Thicknesses
1mm is about the maximum you can easily work with - by which I mean the maximum you can cut through easily, anything wider, while useful, is a pain in the ass to score-n-snap, and wont bend very much before it snaps.

Use 2mm for building the main structural shapes or insides of your projects which you need to be strong.

Use 1mm for outside vehicles on flat facings like armour panels on a tank as its just strong enough but also has a bit of flex, and can be easily cut nice and straight. Unless you are making curves, in which case go thinner.

Use less than 1mm for working on figures, or adding detail to vehicles vehicles - i.e. waist plates on a termi - unless you want a nice big chunky piece for an ork - in which case good look bending it into shape.

Curves:
now this is something I'm experimenting with on my current blasta bomma project - once I get a good method I'll use it to build tau fliers. Ive heard all sorts of rumours - hairdryer/heat gun/immerse in boiling water and Ive found as follows. The basic problem is plasticard has a 'sweet spot temperature for bending - too hot and it warps or even burns, not hot enough and you get no flex.
- Hair dryer - useless - if its thin (0.5, 0.3) it overheats and warps, thicker (1mm> ) plasticard it does nothing too.
- Immerse in boiling water - gives 1mm a little bit off flex, but only for about 5 seconds or less, soon as you pull it into the air it goes rigid again.
- Heat gun - will update
- 'Stick it in the oven' - will update

What I do right now is build a frame, and carefully glue it over, bending it into shape with my hands - this is fine with thin stuff, but the tighter the curve, the more chance you get ugly snaps and not a nice smooth look. use 0.5mm or less basically - this is how I did the sides.

For more complex rounded shapes I build a frame, but rather than bend a solid piece of plasticard over it, I cut lots of small strips, glue them down, and then use miliput to smooth over the whole thing, which I then sand down - this is how I did the nose.


IMAG0513

UK suppliers
Since Modelzone went bust, we in the UK are buggered - you want to buy it your only choice is ebay - no more popping to the shop to pick up one or two strips of the right size tube, L-piece or I-beam. Ebay is ebay - shop around. Unless you live right by a model train shop, in which case try your luck.

I will revise this with illustrations and experiment results by the end of next week

First off - Many thanks Mecha, It's most appreciated that you took your time to put all that down - it's a great help to Plasticard novices like me. Oh, and welcome to DakkaDakka!

@btldoomhammer - Thanks for the heads-up. I'll check out Galeforce 9, (I've been thinking about getting some basing stuff from there anyway) and I guess I'll be needing much thinner sheets than I'd expected judging by your own work.

@Hairy - Cheers for the info. I think I'll stick with X-Acto for the moment (Just because the handles are a bit cheaper), but should I need replacement blades - then it's gonna be S&M's Sheffield Steel all the way

@Sanka - Again, thanks for the info. I hadn't realised that I'd labeled two questions as 'B' - dunno what I was thinking

Thank you to all contributors - this pretty much answers all my questions - although any more comments are welcome

Well you don't necessary need the thinner sheets ( < 0,5) but those allow to add more layers of different shaped details and help for more variation. I still have most of the thinner sheets from my first mixed bag while i had to replace the 0,5 and above sheets. So you don't need them that much. But they are a nice thing to have.

Hey thought I'd pitch in on this aswell
A: I have been building a warhound Titan using amicus of .5 mm .75 and 1mm plasticard

B: depends on what your doing with it best thing to do is experiment and see what works best for you.

C: tried bending it in boiling water and all it did was roll into a scroll shape.

B2: I get my Plastikard from https://slatersplastikard.com very reasonable and have a good range, not sure on their delivery prices or times though as I'm walking distance from them

D: my first purchase from them was a pack of standard size mixed sheets
However they do not do sell rods in sizes worth using

@btldoomhammer - So 0.5mm and below is really just for detailing then? I think my best bet is to see about getting a mixed bag. I do think 0.5 will be useful though - You may remember a thread in which I was trying to make 'Mantilla' styled terminator helmets (You commented on it) and, now I've got the helmets sorted (Or at least I have a viable method which looks quite good), this is the next stage - adding additional armour plating to the greaves and groin guard. The thinner Plasticard will be useful in adding detail to the greaves without bulking them up too much.

@Soitra - I'll take a look into Slaters Plastikard - thanks for contributing

Common thicknesses are 0.25mm, 0.5mm, 1.0mm and 2mm. 3mm is not widely sold but it is useful for baseboards for terrain.

0.25mm is like paper. It can be cut easily with scissors, and you must be careful cementing it because too much cement will dissolve it.

0.5mm can be easily cut with a craft knife -- 2 to 3 passes. 1.0 mm takes more passes of the knife and may be easier to cut using “score and snap”.

2mm is very hard to cut with a knife. In my experience it’s not very useful, because any large structure you want to make with it can probably be more easily made with thinner sheet and bracing, or with 5mm foamcore board.

To put a permanent curve into polystyrene, heat it in boiling water or the steam from a kettle. The melting point is 240 degrees Centigrade, but it softens at about 90 to 100.

I recommend you by several sheets of 0.25, 0.5 and 1mm, and try how you get on with them.

Antics Online and EMA Model Supplies are good places to get plasticard, embossed plasticard and various formed shapes in polystyrene and compatible plastics (ABS, Acrylic).