Does anyone know how to bend/curve/ mold styrene with out it snapping? or are there any ideas as to a material that I should use to make a really slick model out of( I want to model seemless transitions like floor-to wall-to ceiling etc.)
creating curves with styrene is best done with a hot wire. However, it can be quite easy to make mistakes. Alternatively you can use a saw or cerrated knife to approximate your curve and then hone it with sandpaper, which works quickly and can create a surprsingly smooth finish.
it's not impossible to bend much. hold a blowdryer up to a piece of the stuff for a minute, then try bending it. jigs = formwork so that your bend will be accurate. good luck.
using bondo as a fill on styrene is great for creating smooth transitions at the corners. but don't use the pink stuff that you buy at auto parts shops because it's a pain in the ass to paint. i found some white bondo through a local modelmaker.
it all depends on exactly what you are doing of course, but in the past I have broken the interior into sections and made wooden models of these sections then vacuum formed them with a thin plastic. This makes you interior 'skin'.
After that I glued the vacuum formed plastic sections together and filled in the gaps with some of the filler metioned above. With a little sanding and a lot of patience you can get organic forms with seamless joints in this way.
Remember to allow overlaps on each part for gluing them together.
The beauty of this method is, while the wooden forms take a long time to make (depending on the complexity of the shape of xourse), you have the option of vac forming an endless supply of parts from the same form.
I know this is long-winded and may not be relevant to you but just in case...
Working with styrene
Does anyone know how to bend/curve/ mold styrene with out it snapping? or are there any ideas as to a material that I should use to make a really slick model out of( I want to model seemless transitions like floor-to wall-to ceiling etc.)
jigs and gentle heat.
jigs?
creating curves with styrene is best done with a hot wire. However, it can be quite easy to make mistakes. Alternatively you can use a saw or cerrated knife to approximate your curve and then hone it with sandpaper, which works quickly and can create a surprsingly smooth finish.
Impossible to bend much.
it's not impossible to bend much. hold a blowdryer up to a piece of the stuff for a minute, then try bending it. jigs = formwork so that your bend will be accurate. good luck.
using bondo as a fill on styrene is great for creating smooth transitions at the corners. but don't use the pink stuff that you buy at auto parts shops because it's a pain in the ass to paint. i found some white bondo through a local modelmaker.
it all depends on exactly what you are doing of course, but in the past I have broken the interior into sections and made wooden models of these sections then vacuum formed them with a thin plastic. This makes you interior 'skin'.
After that I glued the vacuum formed plastic sections together and filled in the gaps with some of the filler metioned above. With a little sanding and a lot of patience you can get organic forms with seamless joints in this way.
Remember to allow overlaps on each part for gluing them together.
The beauty of this method is, while the wooden forms take a long time to make (depending on the complexity of the shape of xourse), you have the option of vac forming an endless supply of parts from the same form.
I know this is long-winded and may not be relevant to you but just in case...
thanks guys this stuff is great
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