Well I figured it was about time I posted pics of my pack. It’s not finished yet, but dang close. It’s 100% scratch built out of styrene. This is my first project working with styrene and I love it. Amazing stuff. But enough yappin’ here are the pics…
Hey Pete, how did you cut the styrene so perfectly like that? What tools did you use? I have styrene myself but i’m finding it a little hard to use, maybe that’s because I SUCK at doing all this. Let me know!
Yup, what Roboprop said. I just used a matte knife and a metal straight edge. Score and snap. The thing is that with everything there is always a little clean up to do with edges and such, but that is a part of the process. It takes time to finish it just right. Again that’s the thing taking that extra 5 min or so on a peice will make all the difference. And yes, it is 100% scratch built. Except for the metal bits which were beautifully crafted by the very tallented Namebrand. They cost a bit more then some of the recent offerings from others, but worth every penny. I’m glad everyone likes it. Thanks for the encouraging words, it helps justify the last few months of working on this sucker.
Well, here are a couple of pics of the progress I made this weekend. Had I not run out of black paint last night it would most likely be finished. Of course I still have to complete the particle thrower.
There are two ways to obtain styrene, and this being my first time using the stuff ended up doing it the expensive way. D’Oh!!
I got mine at my local hobby shop. The brand is Evergreen and I used 3 main thicknesses, 1/8", 1/16" and 1/32". The cost of this is approx. $10 for an 8"X20" sheet. I used many many sheets and paid way too much.
What I should have done (and recommend you try) is go to a local palstics fabricator/ distributer (get out your yellow pages and start calling around) where you can get a 4’X8’ sheet for about $40. There is no specific brand to look for there, just sheet styrene.
Pete, i’m still amazed at your incredible use of the score and snap technique, especially this being your first time working with the stuff, I mean, WOW!! I’m currently working on a proton pack with styrene but my snaps are so ugly! Sometime I just cut straight through the sheet with the utility knife to not have that. Do you sand your edges perfectly like that? What do you do, I REALLY need some help i’m starting to actually feel a little bit discouraged. Anything and everything will help!! Thanks!
Hmmm…GBFreek, believe it or not you may be scoring on the wrong side. Styrene actually has a prefered side to be scored and snapped from.
Usually it doesn’t make that much of a difference though. So, based on the results you say you’re getting I don’t know that this info will be much help.
Also, I find the thicker the sheet, the uglier the edges get when you do snap them, so some sanding is required. Another thing you try is running your x-acto knife along the edges like a cabinet scraper and that’ll help clean them up.
Yeah, i’ve noticed that snapping TOWARDS the cut makes the snap uglier, so I try to bend it both ways and let it do it’s own breaking, and it usually is better. I’m getting better at it and am also sanding now, which helps alot, but I KNOW i’m going to have to fill in some gaps, I think there’s no way around that, unless the cut itself is absolutely flawless the first time, which for me, scoring and snapping isn’t the way to go. I MIGHT be getting a band saw soon, and when I visited PropFan’s shop once, he had a cheap little one but the greatest looking ppack boxes! I was astonished at his proficient parts actually, I think his small part casts are perfect!! I’ll post pics later but anyways, thanks for the tips, keep ‘em comin’!!