Shaping Plasticard/sheet styrene?

NikToo · Post by **NikToo** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:22 am

Does anyone know if it's possible to shape Plasticard (sheet styrene), like vinyl? Or is it too rigid?

Thanks,
Nik

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 2:08 am

It isn't that much harder. By shape it, do you mean bend it, curl it, vacuform it, etc?

NikToo · Post by **NikToo** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:00 am

Mr. Badwrench wrote:It isn't that much harder. By shape it, do you mean bend it, curl it, vacuform it, etc?

Just cut it to shape and slightly bend it.

REL · Post by **REL** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:12 am

You can also lightly score it with a X-acto knife and bend it along where you scored it, be careful though or it'll snap in two.

Another trick if you want to bend a piece around the model is to glue one end of it down, then slowly lay it on the model and glue as you go until you get to the other side, if it's a complex curve you can use a hair dryer to soften it a bit.

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:20 am

Like vinyl, styrene comes in many thicknesses. The thickness you want depends on the application. The thinner it is, the easier it bends and shapes, but thin stuff isn't so good for structural applications.

NikToo · Post by **NikToo** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:51 am

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to use it to make the body armor for a 12" Jango fett, made from various bits and pieces. The bits I need to make are the chest, shoulders, leg and foot armor plates.

I did this figure by cutting out the armor bits from the plastic torso of the Marmit figure, so you can see what sort of shaping and bending is needed. Thickness wise I'm thinking of 1-1.5 mm.

And this is the desired result:

Or http://images1.moviemarket.co.uk/librar ... 263310.jpg (why aren't images working?)