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Made in us
Battlefortress Driver with Krusha Wheel






Trying to work more with plasticard, and I can do basic shapes pretty well, and make them battleworn, but I have no idea how people do curves. Do you get really thin plasticard and secure it around round objects till it holds that shape? Like If I wanted to make things like ork shoulderpads with rounded plasticard. Youtube dosent really have any video tutorials that I have found helpful.

warhammer 40k mmo. If I can drive an ork trukk into the back of a space marine dread and explode in a fireball of epic, I can die happy!

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Dakka Veteran






Mostly just bending with your fingers if it's thin, wrapping it works if it's really tightly secured, but usually I think people hold their card/styrene tube under a heat lamp so it gets malleable and you can easily bend it into shape.

Maybe a hairdryer? I heard steaming it works.

EDIT: Salt dipping. http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/112647-technique-salt-dipping/

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/06/15 03:41:16


 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut






You will want to add heat for complex curves. For simple curves that will have something to glue to...you can just glue it to it:

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?304880-Tommygun-Ironworks&p=6364591&viewfull=1#post6364591

Sources of heat for bending plastic card are pretty varied - though I have to say, the salt method is over complicated and doesn't really provide any real benefit over, say, a thermostat or your eyeball with the things we deal with.

Most the time for small items that will be free formed, I just use an alcohol lamp. Heat the section to be bent, bend it over a form of some kind (various metal bits, ball bearings, tubes, metal miniatures...) and press on. By the time they managed to fill up their pan with salt - I would be done. You can free form pretty complex curves by heating and pulling over different objects, but keep in mind that when HIPS is at the slump state it is 300-350 degrees F. If you are working with small pieces, make sure you have some tweezers or other tools to keep your fingers safe. If you are working with large pieces and larger sources of heat (like for free forming vehicles...say something like an Eldar Tank) you will want a pair of heat resistant gloves. I like Ironclad HeatWorx. They are cheap, provide a fair level of thermal protection and unlike my gauntlets I still have tactile feedback and pretty good dexterity.
   
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Regular Dakkanaut





Sean and the rest have given you all great tips, so I'll keep my contribution brief.

If your project is extensive and you don't mind tossing $20 into a solution, it may benefit you to use a heat gun with a stand like this one:

http://www.parts-express.com/ecg-hg-300d-mini-heat-gun--360-386?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla

Just wrap and hold the plasticard around a cylinder a little smaller than you want, and apply the heat. Heat gloves mentioned already are very, very nice to have for this.

I've heard of some folks using a kettle on a stove, but I don't see how that is a safe practice.

   
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Jealous that Horus is Warmaster






I use a lighter...health & safety be damned.
Takes a bit of practice

   
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Mekboy Hammerin' Somethin'





Papua New Guinea

If you want to make semi-circular curves, like an ork shoulder pad as with your example, then the easiest solution is to use plasticard tube and cut it in half.

To shape plasticard sheet I have used an ordinary light bulb many times. You can touch the plasticard to the bulb but I find the heat makes the plasticard floppy very quickly so I usually hold it just slightly above the bulb. It also cools very quickly so you have to be quick and have your former very close by so you can quickly drape the floppy plasticard onto it and make your shape. Practice is required!

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I've just used boiling water in the past, it starts curving on it's own in the pot.
   
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Newcastle, OZ

^This. Hot water.

I form the curve I want, dunk it for 30 seconds, and then dunk it in cold water to set the curve. I built a chariot body for my HE army (I wanted it big enough to physically handle a separately based model apart from the driver).
This is the chariot with scratchbuilt body. It's made from 1mm sheet styrene (Evergreen calls this size 0040 - .040 of an inch).).
It will snap before it forms the curve unless you apply heat.



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