What materials would I need to scratchbuild? I am curious about making smaller parts and also for possibly making my own model completely. If you need more clarification, let me know, but I am looking for tips on materials and tools...

Sheet & shapes on styrene Brass wire & shapes... Wire of all types & sizes..... the list is potentially Huge!! it really depends on what you want to build.

Well, first off you'll want to lay in a supply of plastic sheet, rod and strips. Evergreen sells "sampler" packs that contain a variety of sizes. Plastistruct probably does the same. Your local hobby shop or model railroad shop should have racks of sheet, rod, strip and architectural shapes that can get you started. If you get Plastistuct, be aware that they make shapes in styrene and ABS. ABS requires special glue (and CA doesn't work very well on it), so you might want to stick with styrene.

As far as tools go, all you really need to get started is a knife with a No. 11 blade, a mechanical pencil, a good pair of scissors and a steel straightedge. After that, you might want a compass, a hole cutter, a "Chopper" or similar device, a pin vice and a variety of bits, maybe amotor tool. If you want to really go nuts, you could get a milling machine or lathe. It all kind of depends on what you are building. For 99% of my projects -- and some are major conversions -- I do almost all of my work with a No. 11 blade and scissors.

Yeah, well, my original thought was to make a model spaceship (Serenity to be exact), though I would need much practice before I would be able to build that...

Styrene seems like my best bet for most things? Is it moldable, or must you just carve it?

Stryrene is relatively easy to mold over a form by heating it, but if you are just starting out, you might want to stick with flat pieces and angled joints. Or, find something that is already the shape of your base piece and add to it.

Since you mentioned spacecraft, here's a link to an interesting article about scratch building a TIE bomber from the Star Wars flicks. It might give you a good idea of what is involved in a scratch project. http://www.starshipmodeler.com/projects/scrtieb.htm

A point I neglected earlier -- the most important thing to have for scratch building are good scale plans and good detail photos. Study them, then look at them again. Without them, you'll get nowhere fast.


You might also want to get copies of Shep Paine's diorama and building AFV books from Kalmbach. In my opinion, they are two of the absolute best books you can get to learn about scratch-building and conversions. I have read them time and time again and still go back to get tips and inspiration.

Ask Barv! The Master Guru of the Dark Side!

What he builds from flat plastic card and household goods is phenomenal!

YOU called Murdo !!!!!..............
If Dee wants to speak about scratching --------well space ships are a bit "off the wall " for me ----last time I did a "spacy"I got a thump in the ear for cutting off all the plastic knobs in
the house , hoarding biro pens ,plastic straws (ate the big macs)plastic bingo boards and kinder eggs........... :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
Feel free to call Dee ---can only give you a steer in that direction
Plans --what plans --people use plans ---ooooh!!! --where ????

aye
Barv
(GOSMG)
http://www.plastruct.com/
http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/

He doesn't mean a "real one" Steve, just a model... Erik, can you explain it to Bwana.

Oh yeah, well...a spaceship isn't my top priority, just thought it might be a neat application sometime down the road.

But for example, today I wanted to make a crate and canteen for a mini dio. I ended up using toothpicks and clay, respectively. I think for the crate, I could have used styrene strips, but the toothpicks worked out well enough...

The canteen is also satisfactory, but it would have been better in my eyes to have been able to carve it in plastic. If I want to make different little...i dunno..."addons" or "modifications" of that sort (a plastic piece) what would I have a good chance of getting good results with?

Actually, I have a 1/72 Mig-3 that I think could be an interesting opportunity to try and scratchbuild a copy of for practice. What would you suggest for something like that where I would need larger pieces (fuselage/wings)? What do you say, barv? (Since it seems I should be asking you...)

Good as any ---get out the calipers and dividers and off you go ---couple of sheets of plastic and cut away
Here if you want to talk
aye
Barv
(GOSMG )

what plastic do you suggest?

Isn't styrene really thin? Of course, so is most of the plastic for the kit, but then how would I make the contours?

Styrene somes in Mutltple thicknesses Evergreen makes
.005" .010" .020" .030" .040" .050" .060" .080" .100" and a few more IIRC....

Okay, I still have questions...

if I wanted to make things like these...





Would I still use styrene?

If I wanted something that was thicker than .1", how would I make that?
What are my options other than styrene?

Sorry, I just want to make sure I have it right before I get started.

to get thicker stock it can be Laminated together......

Check out

www.evergreenscalemodels.com
www.plastruct.com

Plastruct has other types of plastics availiable as well.

---Iam supposed to be a candidate for a "button -down the back jacket "-----so-o-what you are about to do is at an advanced level -----you are about to enter the reams of tri-dimensional scratch-building
PIC 1......... Looking at what is there -----the best way to make something like this (top pic-right) with compound curves and curves-to flat sides .. ...is to make a former from wood ,and with 0.020"sheet laid over ,use a hair dryer to soften and mold to shape (former should be undersized by thichness of sheet)--looking at pic I assume they are 100mm in length ..
As for the other components --mainly sheet work with strips added -reccesses --cut out shaped holes and back with 0.005"
Pins??--micro rods -or carved strip
PIC 2........Cut sides (0.040")and wrap with 0.010"-or 0.020" strip add angle strip
PIC3.....This requires a bit of patient work with tube and strip--looks like 3mm thick ??--use thick sheet (2 x 0.060"?) laminated --and a steady hand
This is only a suggestion --
Best of luck--but I must say that if you have no experience of this type of work ..DO ..expect to have a few failures ..it comes with the territory
You can always contact me my e-m if further assistance is required
aye
BARV
(GOSMG)