Im building my pack as we speak out of a Studio Creations shell. I was wondering if anyone had the dementions for the plates that go around the cyclotron. The studio creations shell has the correct fascets but would look alot better if I added the plates to it. Also what would you recommend to use to make them out of? Thanks!!
Any ideas on the best material to use that will take to painting well and be pretty easy to glue to the shell?
Styrene would be your best option.
Do they carry it at like lowes or menards? I’ve not seen it at my local ace.
^that doesn’t really help him^
Short answer, no. “Hardware” stores won’t have styrene.
HOWEVER
You can buy plastic “for sale” signs from those places that are just as good. They are made from ABS which is just styrene with a slightly different formula. You want the large 20x30 signs, not the little “sheet of paper” size signs. It should be about 1/8" thick. You also don’t want the corugated signs, it has to be solid. One sign should be about $8-$10 and be more than enough plastic for what you need.
Your other option is to find a local hobby shop, they should have styrene sheet. Otherwise find a local plastic supplier.
Thanks so much for your info. I do have a hobby shop need by. I’ll try there first.
yeah the brands are Plastruct or evergreen.
I struck out on the styrere. Hobby Lobby didnt have it and all i could find as far as signs go was the thin small ones. What I did find at Lowes was plastic sheets for like replacing glass in windows. It was the right thickness just clear. i figure with some sanding it should take to paint pretty well and im gonna use a resin epoxy to stick them to the shell. Thanks for the help guys!!!
Home Depot carries the larger signs. (Lowe’s here does not.)
Try them.
You are talking about plexiglass. The problem with working with it is it is VERY brittle, and can easily snap in half while you are cutting it. Also, if you try a jigsaw on it, as the blade heats up, it will melt. You can do some things with it, but it is not my preference of choice at all for most things.
Plus the signs are MUCH lighter and cheaper than plexi.
I bought a special cutter for it. Its a clear acrylic sheet, though not very big. I purchased two small ones to cut up and use because i figured it would be easier than trying to cut a large sheet. As I understand it the cutter scores the plastic and then you snap it off, which should be fine for what I need. They were only like $1.69 per sheet anyhow so if it dont work im not out very much.
You can probably cut it with a dremel circular saw, but scoring and snapping doesn’t work too well for non rectangular shapes. Where did you locate it at at Lowe’s? I’m always looking for new build materials, and it might come in handy for a future project. (Sometimes they also do have leftover sheets of plexiglass at reduced prices as well, BTW.)
All I need it for is rectangular shapes so that works out for me lol. I found it in isle 15 as long as they are the same. I asked for the for sale signs and thats where they pointed me. They had it in all size sheets and thicknesses. The ones I bought were about 12x10 inches. I could have bought a bigger one but i didnt want more than I needed.
If you are not in a hurry to build your pack (but then again, who really isn’t?) I would really recommend going to yardsales, looking through free boxes, and keeping an open mind about what could be used to build this type of stuff. For this very application, I am using 1/8th" thick laminate wood samples that I got for free at a yard sale. They may be a little heavier than plastic, but the price sure was great!
Similarly, I actually found my accurate Dale ph-25 ON ACCIDENT just because I was patient.
Anyway, sounds like you made some good finds. Is there a brand name on the tool you bought to cut the sheet acrylic?