4x8 polystyrene sheets

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I found a place in Maryland that has 4x8 styrene sheets at a reasonable price.

http://www.harborsales.net/fullsheetlookup.cfm?cat=Plastic%20Sheets#productview

Just a thought
Harold

2

Good find Harold,

Here’s one I’ve used at times before for work related projects, but it never occured to me to pass it along to my fellow modelers. There is a large variety of different polymer types, and even large sheets of foam-cor. US plastics is the company.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/category.asp?catalog_name=USPlastic&Category_Name=62&Page=1

HD

3

Here’s a thought:

I’d like to get a sheet or two of this stuff, and others probably would too. I’ve looked all over and can’t seem to find it locally. It is probably more economical to order (and ship) many sheets at once, so if there is anyone else in the general area of Pittsburgh who’d like to order some, we should get together and make one order to save some money.

Anyone interested?

Ray

4

I ordered 2 sheets of styrene (.030 maybe?) which were 6 feet by 2 1/2 feet, as I recall. I got them from US Plastics. I thought I’d only need one, but I bought 2 just in case, since the shipping was a significant fraction of the total costs.

I’ve almost gone through that first sheet, and I have a lot more projects planned, so now I’m glad I bought 2. The price is so much better than getting little pieces from Evergreen. I find myself using it for all sorts of things - like backing and sides for hydrocal castings.

US Plastics shipped the order promptly (it comes rolled up, in case you’re wondering) and I even got a follow-up e-mail to ask if I was satisfied with the product and shipping.

5

I’d be interested but I don’t have a clue what to get. I’ll take suggestions.

6

Buying Styrene sheets in 4’x8’ offers considreable savings. Typically you can buy a 4x8 sheet for less than a 24"x32" sheet will cost at the local hobby/craft store.
Look in the yellow pages under plastics, commercial. Two of the national companies which have offices in almost all major cities are Allied plastics, (alliedplastics.com) and Laird plastice (lairdplastics.com). These guys will take a non-account “cash” order. They may have a minimum order however.
These companies also custom cut in large runs and may have “drop” pieces of styrene at considerable savings. Ask about this also. These drop pieces are plenty big enough for modeling.
The price of Styrene plastic is going up monthly since it is directly tied to the price of oil (like everything else). However, a 4x8 sheet of .020 styrene should cost about $4.00 (or less). So you can see the savings.