Styrene weapons, a quick how to

[thecoldwarrior]

This is by no means a definitive article. If you have any questions Id be glad to help. I chose a few weapons to give you an idea of how to start them. You can of course add even more detail with green stuff.

First off some of the tools you will need



Most of the tools are basic but notice their are two kinds of cement. On the left is a solvent and on the right is a slower setting version. Both are useful for different reasons. You can use super glue but I would not recommend it for working with styrene.

Their are many shapes and sizes of styrene. Different thicknesses of sheets with and without texture are available. You can also get rods, tubes, squares, rectangles and more. For weapons I look in my scraps bin.







Its really not that hard to make weapons. Just draw the basic shape on some sheet styrene. Here are several examples.



Styrene has a very unique attribute. You dont always have to cut it! If you score a straight line with a hobby blade and then snap it along the line it will pop in two. This is why its know as score and snap.



A pair of finger nail clippers can make short work of most shapes. A hole punch and a leather punch can help make small circles. Once you have the basic shape cut out, bevel the bade edge. Hold the part with some pliers and shape the edge on sandpaper. Use fine sandpaper and make sure to use pliers with out teeth.



For the handles use rods and tubes. Some of the sizes are made to be telescopic. This means for a collar use a larger sized tube over a smaller rod. Rivets are made from an even smaller sized rod. With your blade on the rod, roll it froward on your cutting mat. This will score it. With a little more pressure it will snap off. Place the collar over the rod where you want it. Use the solvent to weld the parts together. This stuff wicks in by capillary action. The more you use the softer the styrene will be and longer it takes to cure. You dont need a lot but you do want to give it enough. What happens is the solvent melts the surface of both pieces and the molecules combine and are joined. The solvent evaporates and the styrene become dry and hard in the new combined shape. This holds much better than super glue. So normally you hold the parts together and wick the solvent into the joint.

When it is not convenient to hold the parts together or you are joining larger plates use the liquid cement for plastic models. This stuff takes longer to cure but I just tack the part in place with this stuff. You can more the part around to line it up for a few seconds. Then I apply the solvent for a better faster bond. You can add details such as nick marks in a weapon to make it look well used. With a Dremel tool you can add a wood grain effect to make shields.

Here is a pic of some finished weapons. If you are interested in working with styrene I suggest you get a variety back of tubes and rods, a variety pack of sheets, a bottle of the solvent and a bottle of the Liquid cement for plastics (make sure it says for styrene or polystyrene on the package).



Im sorry for the sparatic and basic nature of this. It would take literally pages to discuss exactly what to do and the variations possible. This should give you an idea of how this stuff works. If you have a question Ill try to help.

[mrtn]

Nice stuff! I'd say this could use a link in the "useful threads" thread.

[Von Strudel]

Dude, your a hobby hero. If you get a custom title I would seriously suggest you use something like that. Thank you so much for this, I just got some plasticard and this is exactly what I wanted.

[Beastlord Karankawa]

Very nice post! I am very low on my bits weapons and this will help me fill in the gaps quite nicely.

How does it paint? Any issues with spray paint primers?

[snyggejygge]

Good enough article w. some great finishing result.

[khorne worny]

i now know what im using my placycard for next =D thx.

[thecoldwarrior]

Thanx, glad you like!

@ mrtn, fine by me to pin it

@ Von Strudel, Ive had several names before. One that comes to mind that someone dubbed me for my low cost efforts was The Frugal Hobbiest. Ill stick with the coldwarrior. So far only me and a gal over on my space use this as a name, lol.

@ Beastlord Karankawa, Yes! Give them a quick wash in soap water or alcohol and Spray paint them up. In fact you might have a hard time using only acrylics.

@ snyggejygge, Thanx, I did that battle ax back when I first started with styrene.

@ khorne worny, cant wait to see your weapons.

[khorne worny]

mabye but might be a while got other things on but hopefully il get round to it mabye a staff like weapon with blades or most likely a really really point stick lol =D.

[GibbetFish]

Nice tutorial!

[hal]

Just what I was looking for, nice tutorial

[Von Strudel]

Oh no, I just meant like if you reached 2250 posts or whatever, like you could use it instead of "Wargor". Just an idea

[Heldane]

Extremely inspiring, even more so due to the basic nature of the things described (as you chose to put it)

Thanks for this!

[thecoldwarrior]

I happened to be making a long rifle for some Skaven Jezzails so I thought Id add it here. No "how to" though. Just look for basic shapes that have been added to eachother to make the whole.

[Von Strudel]

Thats crazy.

[GibbetFish]

Looks very very cool!

This post has been edited by GibbetFish on Nov 14 2007, 08:09 PM