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So, I've got a project coming up and I'm looking for a bit of advice. I'd like to do trash cans (think the kind of can Oscar the Grouch lives in) but don't know how to replicate them. (The can has to be hollow and open.) I'd also like to be able to include a lid with it, just to provide a visual reference to what it is.

I'm ALSO looking for a way to create an effect like broken glass, specifically the kind you see littering the ground in urban wastelands. This was just an idea to show detritus. Any others might be appreciated too, like cans, bottles, or other junk.

Anyone got any ideas?

Cans are easy - just a little bit of aluminum or brass tubing with some greenstuff shoved in the ends. Bottles likewise, except that you'll have to greenstuff the neck on one side. Discarded newspaper will also be easy - just mix some GS, and smooth it out to be very, very thin, and let it almost cure before cutting it into squares and then wadding or crinkling them up.

The trash can is going to be difficult. Not because an open-ended slightly tapered cylinder is going to be, but because you're going to want to have some detail on that can. Perhaps you'd be better off looking for something from a model train kit. On the plus side, a dumpster would be pretty easy to make out of plasticard.

For glass, I'd try and get some clear sand of some sort to sprinkle onto the base. You can actually buy just straight-up crushed glass, but finding a grain size might be difficult.

It also might not look very much like glass. You might be able to wing it (paint a few specific dots of sand on your base white and then carefully apply gloss to just those grains?) but I don't know if it will worth that well. I think you're going to run into problems with this being in miniature - anything of the correct scale is going to be much too small to see, and anything big enough to see is going to be of the wrong scale.

I think instead I'd focus on plate glass. It shouldn't be too difficult to find some thin, clear plastic that will suffice (if only you could buy 40k stuff in blister packs still), where you just cut it in little jagged pieces with an x-acto knife.

Another good piece of junk to have is plastic bags. These would be pretty easy to make using a method similar to the newspaper.

In the past I have used microscope slide covers for broken (and unbroken) glass. Cheap, and being glass, it looks the part. If you are careful how and where you apply it, it is pretty safe. If not, it is razor sharp broken glass...so be careful where you grab your terrain to pick it up and move it.

With enough effort, you can use clear plastic too. Takes a bit of time to cut it into believable broken glass shards, but it does not pose significant hazards once applied. Works really well for representing laminated and bullet proof glass though.

Sharp silica sand works the part for broken tempered glass, it shatters into thousands of small bits when broken, and the cubic nature of the silica crystal is almost perfect.

The last thing I have used has been mica flakes. Lost of variations, but the mostly clear variety is a pretty good stand in for broken glass at this scale. You can get a big bottle for $5 or so, and either sort out the sizes or just shake it where you want like you might apply flock.

Cans have been covered, though for additional detailing you can use a tube cutter to score rings on the surface.

Bottles...normally I will use model train bottles. Easy to source and much faster than sculpting uniform bottles by hand. Many come in clear plastic too...so that is a plus. If you want to make your own, turn them. When I cant find a bottle size I need or shape I want, Ill chuck a stick of clear acrylic in my bench lathe and make them. Very fast and your bottle will be round with fewer hassles. Even without a lathe, you can fake it using a variable speed drill. Works for lightbulbs too.

For hollow barrels get to an office supply store. Look at the ferrules on wood pencils, there is a lot of variation between brands and some are good stand in for garbage cans. If you cant find anything there, you can make your own. Using a wooden dowel that is the right diameter, put a slight taper to it. Find a bit of soft metal tubing that has an ID just about the same as your dowel. Mark reference lines so you know where the dowel stops and slide it over the tapered end of the dowel. Use a sharp metal chisel to tap your corrugations. Gently at fist, one tap, rotate, tap, rotate. You will slowly shape the taper with the grooves, but if you try to go too fast or hit it too hard you will just deform it or split the tubing.

After shaping, cut the tapered off the bit of tube and use putty to create a bottom. Putty handles work well, but you can use wire too. For the top, get the next size up tube and cut a thin ring off. Make a top out of plasticard and use putty to contour it, sculpt handle or use metal strap.

For the master level of garbage cans, sculpt a master and create a mold for the outside of the can. Cast the mold in a low melt metal like CerroSafe. Use an electroplating kit to build up several layers of plating on the cerrometal casting. After 5 or 6 layers of plating, heat the plated casting to melt out the cerrometal. You will be left with a very thin metal garbage can. Usually that is a technique I reserve for very high end custom fine scale models, but with enough layers the plating will actually stand up to casual use.

There are retail options as well, but almost all those are either solid casts or the side walls are way to thick.

For other debris, scrap bits of metal, wire, wire insulation, plasticard off cuts, putty, miscast resin, spare parts from model kits... I keep a bin on my work bench for all those little scraps. If I need something specific, I can fish it out. If I need random trash, I scoop it up and apply like flocking.

Hmmm. Green stuff might be a problem for me. I suck at it. Still, some good ideas here.

I know this sounds silly, but toothpaste caps can make great garbage cans. If I'm remembering right there was a product called the heroclix outdoor adventure pack that had a mini dumpster, mailbox, streetlamp ect that you might be able to make simple molds of.

 Boggy Man wrote:
I know this sounds silly, but toothpaste caps can make great garbage cans. If I'm remembering right there was a product called the heroclix outdoor adventure pack that had a mini dumpster, mailbox, streetlamp ect that you might be able to make simple molds of.

That mold idea is actually a really, really good one. We have a very large Clix player base at our local store, so that could work out in my favor. Thanks!

For broken glass you could try using the bits of super glue that set around the nozzle, that often has quite glassy look, and is the right shape from smashed bottles. Might be easy to synthesize too.

How about red glass? I have a completely different idea I've been mulling over for a while now, and this seems like a similar enough topic to bring it up in.

Perspex sheet?

I've found that the cases the CDs come in also make a good broken glass substitute, should also be easy to find it in different colors.

^ That. Just take a hammer to an old CD jewel case. Do NOT use real crushed glass. For glass shards, just cut up plastic clam shell packaging, such as what many miniatures are packaged in.

Wouldn't just some clear glitter work for shattered safety glass. It doesn't always have to be shards.

You could try throwing a drop of red paint into super glue, then spread it out messily over something that you can scrape after it dries to get scraps of red glue-shards.

I would never use GS for something like simulating paper, too valuable to me and hard to get :p I would personally use just some tissue paper soaked in pva and painted appropriately. Remember, newspaper is kinda stiff at our scale, but when you go down in scale it should seem more crumpled. Too stiff and it doesn't look realistic. Also, remember it will be out in the open, so it will probably get hit by rain, especially if explosions throw dust up into the air.

Glass, I'd just get bits of clear, thin plastic like what you get in a clamshell and pop that in a blender. Remember not to put thick bits of plastic in there, just the thin, sheet like sections. No bends either!

Have a look on this site they have some good trashy stuff

http://www.accurate-armour.com/ShowProduct.cfm?manufacturer=0&category=4&subcategory=276&product=2168

Hmm. Clamshell plastic in a blender sounds good.

Unfortunately, I can't visit Accurate Armour. Their site is blocked in Opera.

For broken glass I might try tiny craft beads.

I know lego makes a small trash can. not sure if it is the right size though.

HOWEVER

You could use coffee creamer containers

When I was a little kid I used to put Elmer's glue on top of my pencil case until it dries, and them peel it off. When done thick enough it would peel away in a large piece much like soft plastic.

Using the same principle, you could make a large piece of glue and then just tear it into pieces as needed.

 Desubot wrote:
I know lego makes a small trash can. not sure if it is the right size though.

HOWEVER

You could use coffee creamer containers

That's perfect! I think those would be JUST the right size, although I will have to check. Good call!