Simple plasticard question

[vincegamer]

I\'m doing some plasticard work (not real plasticard, but a cut up credit card - still, shouldn\'t make a difference).

My question is this. When you have 2 planes of plastic meet at a right angle, how do you make sure the join is smooth? When painted I would like for there to be no sign of the join at all.

 

[Rodnik]

The \"easiest\" way I\'ve found is to just take a page from the book of drywallers----and putty the joint.

Then just finish the joint with fine grain sandpaper and such---that is, just shape it back to the surfaces.

Kev

 

[Orb]

right; a while ago I scratchbuilt a new turret for a chimera (note to self - post a picture soon)

I discovered (or read about) a neat trick for assembling with plasticard. Use superglue, the really thin stuff if possible, but before it dries, sprinkle some baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) on the superglue...........the glue dries instantly and becomes ROCK hard and acts as a filler, but is still sandable. Then file down with needle files, wet/dry paper, and finally one of those nail buffers or some wire wool.

once it was sanded it was hard to see where the two pieces of plastic ended.

it may help. What I made was a 6 sided structure, but will work equally well on right angles.

 

[Modderrhu]

Brilliant tip, Orb! Superglue\'s strength is in the way it bond to other surfaces, and the bicard provides just that, in copious amounts.

I\'ll be doing that in the future, thanks.

 

[supervike]

And here all along I thought it was just destined to sit half opened, absorbing the smells of my fridge....

Great tip!

 

[Modderrhu]

tip: just because it absorbs the smells in the fridge, it doesn\'t mean that it absorbs the smells from the trousers.

 

[vincegamer]

Are you saying don\'t pour baking powder down your pants? Why didn\'t anyone ever tell me that before

 

[demonherald]

wow I\'ve just tried that out and it is cool..sands down really nicely..

I tend to find on right angles it\'s best to have them slighty over lap at the edges and trim down with a knife ..

It\'s also useful to have something with a right angle to hold it against while gluing.

 

[airhead]

microballoons work better at building fillets.

 

[mickc22]

If you use plastic weld or similar cement it slightly melts both surfaces and \"welds\" them together, filling any gaps in the process
.....it does when I use it, or am I just a bit heavy handed with it

I\'ve used the SG + baking soda on other materials, works brilliantly

 

[Orb]

Demonherald - the overlap tip is a good one, I\'d forgotten that!

Mick - I use plastic weld type sement for most plastic work, but for scratchbuilding the instant fix od the SG + BS is a definate bonus (the idea came from Tony Greenland\'s book on Panzers, but as with most books of this sort, it\'s littered with useful tips................

I guess thats the purpose of microballons isn\'t it? (although I bought mine for snow) I know that baking soda is in more cupboards though......