I recently purchased (15) 12x24" peices of smooth white styrene. For about thirty dollars.
I was wondering, evergreen makes the molded “steel” lines and “wood grain” and “tile” and all of that.
How can i do this with my smooth styrene???
Thanks!!!
Raptor55 [:)]
Raptor55 these effects are faily simple to achieve.
Steel siding can be accomplished by ‘scoring’ the styrene with knife, I usually use a boxcutter with a steel rule and just enough pressure to score and not cut.
Tile can be done the same way as the steel,
If you want ribbed steel you will need to glue thin strips of styrene on for the ridges, this is fairly inexpensive to buy
Wood grain can be achieved several ways, drag the teeth of a razor saw or hacksaw blade along the styrene several times creating scratches, use fine sand paper to remove the debris and also add finer detail.
or: use rough sand paper to create the scratches in the styrene and fine to finish it off.
There are those that will say that you cant see wood grain in HO scale, but I dont listen and I like the effect of the added texture, an india ink wash will bring out this detail after painting.
Also check out HMinky’s web site for the wood grain effect there is a step by step there, as well as other good info.
Have fun & be safe,
Karl.
wow cool
thanks for posting the tips on detail
I for one like to learn of the styreen tips
K
I do have a hooked shaped scriber, but I’m curious.
Since Metro’s thread was deleted, can some of you guys list your methods when working with styrene, especially with cutting?
I’ve found that cutting the skirts off of the Walthers Budds is more challenging than I realized. Once the knife or needle gets out of the groove, it’s not going down the rest of the line and winds up skipping over the corrugation.
I"ve seen wide jawed, thin edged cutters at tool dealers and was considering buying one.
Okay, I’ll bite…
When scoring styrene I use a steel straightedge without any backing (you don’t want the blade wandering under it). While holding the straightedge firmly make a number of passes, starting with light pressure, and gradually increase with each pass. If you’re uncomfortable cutting near your fingers, you can use C clamps to hold the styrene and rule, which will also keep everything from shifting. I’ve found that a box cutter with a fresh blade is easier to control than an X-Acto. When the score is deep enough, give the plastic a good crack over a sharp-edged table.
As with anything, your confidence will increase with practice, so you’ll develop a feel for it. The frustrating thing is that if the blade does wander while scoring, it will want to follow that course no matter what, but I’ve usually been able to correct those mistakes with the stability of a larger blade. I’ve tried several scoring tools, but for me nothing beats the nice VEE cut that a knife gives you.
Hope this helps.
Thanks SteamFreak.
I have used the method that you’ve outlined for cutting off Rivorossi skirts. Well, it seems that this is still the best method. I was just hoping to find a way that was a bit faster.
Looks like what I’ll have to wind up doing is disassembling the cars and cut the skirts from behind. This way I wont’ have to worry about the blade or point skipping up or down corrugated lines. The use of a straightedge is definitly a good idea.
Peace.
That’s the method for cutting sheet styrene like Evergreen on a flat surface; cutting away the skirts on a coach is a lot more ticklish. I would use an X-Acto saw, or a low speed cutoff wheel, then sand it even. You don’t have enough material to grasp to get enough leverage for the scoring method, so it probably won’t break evenly. Messing up a sheet of styrene is one thing, ruining a coach is quite another.
Yes, you’re right on the mark. Cutting skirts seems simple yet, it’s quite a challenge.
It’s a bit frustrating that Walthers SCL 52 seat coaches come with skirts, while the Amtrak version doesn’t. SCL had removed most skirting from their Budd cars so I wish Walthers produced their SCL coaches without the skirts as well. But as in all hobbies, it’s always something.[swg]