"Exactly What is Plasticard or Plastic Card?" Topic

I see on a lot of terrain site that many modelers outside the USA use something they call "plasticard" or plastic card.
Exactly what is the US equivalant of that? And where do you get it? Who makes it? It's not sheet styrene is it?

It's not sheet styrene is it?

Yes, that's exactly what it is.

If you go to your friendly D-I-Y / Home Improvement store, the "For Sale" and "Beware of Dog" signs are made of it.

I've taken to buying it that way, because a tiny packet at the FLGS is marked up far too high.

An enterprising pal of mine went out "Mining white gold" the night of the local elections an hour after the polls closed, and snagged himself a mess of corrugated plastic and plasticard which he is now delightedly carving into terrain.

Vote Early, Vote Often!

It'a just a matter of thickness. Walmart has a goodly supply, and occasionally they go on clearance for some reason.

I use Evergreen styrene sheets all the time link I call 'em plasticard, from something I read a long time ago. It could just as well be called platic styrene sheets. Kind of like Kleenex and tissue paper, I suppose. Dean

Bill, think the card you get at the hotel in the form of a room key. They use it for sign making. You can get it on Ebay or at many other places cheaper. Think the plastic used for the Garage Sale signs and that would be really thin plasticard. The hotel key is really thick. This has tons of uses and everyone should have it. You can make any base out of it and FOW guys use it for cheap bases as well.

Tony

Added to glossary

If you go to your friendly D-I-Y / Home Improvement store, the "For Sale" and "Beware of Dog" signs are made of it.

Some of them are, some are made of vinyl sheet instead.

I picked up a 4'x8' sheet of 1mm styrene for about US$15, check the phone book for places that do thermoform casting. I got mine from a place that made plastic covers for basement windows.

Yah – the signs are hit and miss…just sort of depends. Styrene is pretty common for the cheapest ones. A lot of the corrugated are polypropylene (Coroplast is the trade name for it). Some are PVC.

While you might be able to save a couple bucks by using recycled signs or buying new signs – I prefer to just get the sheets and know for sure what I am working with. Check the yellow pages for a local source (in addition to the thermoforming groups…a lot of printers keep sheets in stock as well). One of the other names that it goes by is HIPS (high impact polystyrene) – so when asking around, keep that name handy as well. Some of the people on the other end of the line may not know it by the term you are using at first.

Normally I just buy it from an online supplier. US Plastics right now – though there are a lot of different companies to choose from. Check them out and double check pricing. For around $50 USD I can get a few full sheets in different thicknesses shipped to my door. Until you get over 1 mm or so – you can roll it up and ship it UPS easily enough.

Plasticard (actually Slaters Plastikard) has, like Hoover & Vacumn cleaners, become synomous with sheet styrene.

Another good tip is to save the plastic rectangular fasteners from loaves of bread, bagels, etc. These are a good thickness for making bases, hatches and other smaller detail parts, and you get one free with every loaf of bread!

Likewise save the clear blister packs your carded minis come in. Great for thinner plastic details, as well as broken bits of window glass, etc.

"Another good tip is to save the plastic rectangular fasteners from loaves of bread, bagels, etc. These are a good thickness for making bases, hatches and other smaller detail parts, and you get one free with every loaf of bread!"

And as such things get stuck in dolphin blow-holes you can smugly help 'Save the Planet".

link