"Styrene laser cut building detail packs" Topic

So I've been playing with styrene and the laser cutter. This stuff cuts odd… It tends to melt but I found a way to make that an advantage. I don't like MDF buildings. They are to flat and hard to paint the details. They are cheap.

So CorSec always does things a little off center :) I like it that way.

Styrene is cheap and cuts faster then wood. You can't make buildings out of it but I have been able to get some cool looking pieces cut that could easily pimp out any generic building or box into a nice tabletop piece.

Styrene is messy. The edges will need cleaned and maybe some mild sanding. I have not been sanding them. The small melted ridge helps keep you painting inside the lines :) and take a dry brush nicely. It also takes washes very well. (unlike mdf) So the problems with cutting styrene become advantages.

Current plan is to offer 8" by 6" blocks that have enough stuff to do one building.

1x large vehicle door
3x small doors
1 or 2 x double door
4x small window
2 x large window
and several vents/ other stuff. That should fit. I'll adjust the numbers as try the layout. Still working on the design for the first set.

Here is the first set so far.

(Edit: I did a quick wash on these parts so you can see the details)

I also have a single door but it is just one half the double. Working on the vehicle door now.

I'm not going to cut all the way through the material. So it will kinda act as a sprue. just snap off the pieces and clean the edges.

I also did a bunch of upgrades to some game crafters stuff I had laying around from another failed project. This pattern is a bit intense and took a while in the machine but it paints up nice. Still working on the weathering.

What's the last pic of? Corridor wall? I like it!

Dan

Yah it's a space corridor wall with the styrene glued to it. I have a room as well. I didn't get far on it yet. I need to get some touch up paint. I decided to just use the grey primer but I don't have that color and I need to work on fixing some serious screw ups :)

Looks good.

Beware the fumes, which are apparently toxic.

Those are looking nice.

If you need some inspiration and what can be done with sheet styrene (plasticard) check out the Infinity Official Forums. There are some amazing buildings there made with only Sheet Styrene.

If you could figure out a way to do your designs onto sheets for full walls/roofs/floors plus the extra bits, I bet you could make a killing on some cheaper than MDF buildings.

Pre-cut parts like this will certainly make cheaper foamboard building better looking for those of us with nota lot of time to invest in making terrain.

Styrene isn't toxic. It is an irritant. The machine has a ventilation system. It puts off the same stuff that wire cutting foam does. same material. foam is just expanded (less dense).

Now PVC that is toxic :) puts off chlorine gas when cut. any plastic with a C in it is BAD.

First vehicle door.

still on the fence about it. I might need to widen the frame. also not sure the windows fit with the rest of the set.

Awesome! I assume all prototypes will soon be in my workshop for 'professional' assembly :) :) :)

I've got a pile of prototypes that you'll probably get :)

I had a similar idea and have been selling kits for more than a year.

You're right, styrene cuts 'odd'

link

Oh yah I remember seeing your stuff a while back. It's a cool kit.

I have not figured out how to adjust it on my laser but I found a forum that said something about lowering the frequency to get better cuts. I assume that means it melts less because there is more cool down time between laser blasts.

Not sure if I'm going to mess with it. I think the slight melting affect actually adds to the product.

What type do you use, always leery on plastics.

Just did a set of spider webs for by sister in law in Task Board.

Styrene is styrene. Not much different about the various brands. This is stuff I bought a long time ago. I once had visions of building an R2-D2. I tried to find the source again but no luck yet. I have about 50 1' by 1' sections of it.

If you want to check your plastic then follow these guys' methods.

link

Short story: Heat a thin wire in a torch. gather small amount of material from unknown material using the hot wire. put the wire back in the flame. Green flame = chlorine.

A sheet of Etched bits would be just fine from my point of view, in the a quick trace with a carbide tipped scribe should be enough to separate the bits.

I for one prefer styrene to pretty much any other material.

Well, glad to hear it works.

I read that on a laser cutting website, so perhaps they didn't want to mention it just melts, and the gas it gives off is irritating to the eyes/nose.

How "clean" are etched lines? i.e is there a ridge on either side?

Not that a ridge would be a deal breaker, in fact I could see some benefits to it.

It's not smooth. laser cut mdf is almost smooth to the touch with a small indentation. the Styrene has ridges. I'm working on finding the best balance between speed and power to get good results.

So far the etched lines have small ridges and the cut edges have slightly slanted edges. Both are looking like advantages.

The doors/accessories looks great up close and personal!

Brian

I just did a test run for a production sheet. 6" by 4" of parts. enough to do a few buildings.

4 x single door
2x double door
1 x vehicle door
4 x large window
6 x medium window
7 x small window
6 x small rectangle vents
6 x large rectangle vents
5 x large hex vent
9 x small hex vent

It warped in cutting. So I'll have to figure that out. Not a really big deal as most of them will be glued flat but it throws the focus and position of the laser off a bit.

Here are some shots in action. This is the transmitter building for comm station alpha 19.

The tower is done. Here is a shot of the assembly.

I'm still sourcing material but I think we are going to move forward with this set and I already have the inspiration for the next set.

Looks good…

For my taste there could be fewer screw holes on the windows/vents. But that is just my personal taste, not any sort of deal breaker.

Really like the doors.

The plan is to do several sets. This one is more industrial. I'm working on some more that will be a bit less harsh. I planned this set for the Comm tower build. I've also got an entire light industrial board in the works.

I hope to get some that are a but more elegant and have a few more curves. I'd like to have 6 or so sets so people can mix and match or select from the different styles to work with whatever your tying to build.

Looking good!

I want, I want, I want.

one thing tho- are ladders a possibility?

I've been thinking about ladders. I even started to look up typical ladder sizes so I could scale it down. They will be very flimsy but should hold up nice if you just glue them to the side of a building.

I started the next set. I did the vehicle door first. I'm going to try and keep a theme to each set.

Reminds me of something from Star Wars-

"Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!"

Any chance you could scale this project up for use with 28mm? I'm looking at having to build up a good bit of terrain with a friend for playing Infinity.
This type of accessory would make putting together some semi-detailed foamboard/sheet styrene buildings very easy.

I can probably push it into 28mm eventually. I need to work out my styrene supplier first. The larger vehicle doors might not make it into those packs. I'd have to run some test.

Driving around today I had some more ideas. I'm going to try and do electrical panels and computer consoles. Interior stuff and exterior. Like meters and breaker panels.

I need to rewatch the prequels again. I kinda remember the scene your talking about but someone "borrowed" my star wars dvds. this door is inspired by a concept drawing of some garage I found.