Using plasticard

[daboarder]

Hi guys,

Im currently working on some zombie terminators to go with my lord (Abaddon). Thing is I want them to have ore heresy style shoulder pads, for the lord I've used the greaves from the plastic dreadnought kit and I bout some plastic card in order to replicate them, thing is I'm having trouble "bending" the card and getting it to stay in shape, I've tried boiling water but that didn't work, can anyone out there give me some suggestions or definite information on how to heat it up enough to bend it.

cheers

[fuzzbuket]

bending it usually is quite tricky, most people (FTW's ron) i think use cardstock (cereal boxes) buy ive found for the thinner bits bend it: hold it in place then a layer of spuer glue on the inside, unorthodox but sometimes works!

-fuzz

[Lane]

Heat - bend over a form - let cool

[Arien]

To elaborate on Lane's perfect explanation. You need to bring the plasticard to a temperature where it will easily bend (the use of boiling water for example), then you need to bend the plasticard into shape and clamp it into place, the use of a "form" (a hard material with the right shape for the plasticard to be bent over) is preferrable, then clamp onto it. Then you should leave the plasticard to cool for a fairly long period, allowing the material to cool in the new shape will "set" the bent shape, and therefore it should hold.

You can obviously reinforce this with super glue on the inside as it would hold if the plasticard wasn't holding the shape properly (plasticard isn't strong enough to pull glue apart when trying to return to it's original shape).

So to summarise, Heat - Bend over a Form - Clamp in place - Let cool (the longer the better)

[daboarder]

Thank you guys, do you have any idea on what to use to heat it, the boiling water hasn't worked so far.

[Firebird]

Boiling water works it just takes a min or too, and in order for rapid cooling a bath of ice water

[RebelGrot]

Also depends on how thick your plasticard is. The thinner stuff you can probably dunk in a bowl of water boiled in a kettle and leave for a couple of minutes. If it's thicker you might have to actually boil it - i.e put it in a small pan and bubble away.

Alternatively a friend of mine bakes his and gets some great results with thicker grades. Just keep the oven temperature relatively low and watch it. Don't walk away because you'll come back to a scorched piece that's no use.

I'd recommend playing around with boiling it first though as it's generally going to be more safe.

[Laban Den]

You could try a Hot Air gun, like those used to strip paint. But becareful they are quite powerful, and hot plastic can burn.