"Styrene sheets and Air drying modelling clay" Topic

Hi

I'm about to embark on a project to create some model buildings for the battle of Aspern Essling during the Napoleonic wars.

I have cut out the walls of the building using styrene sheets and was planning on covering the outside with Das modelling clay to texture the surface. My question is will the clay stick to the styrene and if so what preparation would I need to do if any to the styrene.

Thanks in advance.
Gav

I would lightly sand the outside walls with fine sandpaper to rough up the surface. DAS should stick to it but I've never used it like this in the past. Good luck & post your results.

Dale

I would use a coarse grade of sandpaper because you want to give the smooth plastic as much "tooth" as possible for the clay to grab onto.

Dave
Stone Mountain Miniatures

I'm not sure it will stick to it, permanently.

You need to score the surface with a scalpel, a cross hatching sort of pattern will do to really roughen it up and give a good key. You'll need to glue the DAS to the surface. I glue DAS to card with PVA and it bonds really well. I would think it would work on styrene sheet as well.

If PVA doesn't stick you just need to find another glue that will bond.

Jaycor,

I would suggest an alternative option and I apologise that it's not directly answering your question. Of course I'm not exactly sure what you are trying to model but if it's texture for something like a wattle and daub finish or a stucco or even stone finish I have worked successfully with foam board and stippling on pre-mixed woodworking putty. It's likely cheaper and easier.

Also you can mix some white glue into the clay to make it hold better..

I use Loc-Tite household adhesive on the surface of the clay that will attach to wherever it goes. As the clay dries, it moves around. We can see this at the macro level in shrinkage and cracking. But it also happens a lot more at the micro, invisible to the nekkid eye level. The glue should have enough plasticity to keep the clay held to the surface.

Clay will crack and flake off plastic. If you are looking
for a stucco appearance, try caulk. Nowadays you can get it in tubes that you hand squeeze, rather than the big inserts for caulk "guns".

After your sanding the plastic step, brush on a coat of either Elmer's white Glue or tacky glue; then apply the Das clay, with quick scribbed lines on the side of the clay which is being attached to the plastic surface.

I would recommend against using styrene; foamcore (with the paper pulled off and the stonework scribed into the foam) thin strips of wood, thin sections of blueboard (lightly sanded and coated with a good wood glue) just about anything would be better.

I have had some luck drawing the stonework onto the blueboard with a ball point pen
link

looks like this when you are done

It's nice to see TMPers being so very helpful. I am not even involved in this and I am impressed. You are a great bunch of guys!

Tom

No it will not. After a while it will crack and break off.
A better way is to use thick card stock for scales smaller than 28mm like they use in matting frames and silicone caulk mixed with sand for texture. For 28mm+ use the cheap foam core board from the dollar store. If you want some photos of how I have done it email me @ markcramer74@yahoo.com

Das is self-supporting, why not just use it? Roll out a consistent thickness, and use your styrene pieces as cutting guides. Use tooth picks to attach adjoining walls, and reinforce with hot glue after everything dries/hardens.

I'm going to offer something completely different…

Find a texture you like/need, in a PDF file, or an image file. Print it on full-sheet label paper. Cut to size, peel and stick to styrene sheet, cardboard, or 1/4-inch plywood; assemble using appropriate tools: scissors, saws, wood glue, etc.

This will give a great appearance, with minimal effort, and cost. Here are some medieval castle wall sections done by applying printed label paper to 3mm thick cardboard.

Link1

Castle Walls, Towers, and the Siege Tower are 3mm cardboard clad with label paper printouts.

Link2

Another view, different angle. The Battering Ram was made using the same techniques. On the edges of the Siege Towers, I painted the exposed cardboard gray, rather than black, though there are a couple of spots colored with black.

Link3

The Gatehouse was made using the same techniques. The merlons are the same: cardboard is covered with the wrap-around printed label paper, then the merlons are cut-out. The edges are blacked with a Sharpie marker, or acrylic paint is used. Edging colors depend upon the object and the materials it represents. If oin doubt, use black -- if you don't like it, change it… Cheers!

Wow! Those look great.

Thanks.

I prefer the foamcore. Cardboard with stickers just look too 2d for my tastes. Good in a pinch but if you are going to all the trouble on your figs in the first place, one might as well give the terrain the same level of attention. It's not like I play with cutout paper 2d figs either. The joy is as much in the making as in the playing.

Thanks Guys

Quite a few useful tips.

The opinion seems split between preparation first sanding/gluing the styrene and it not working due to cracking or not sticking.

This is my first attempt at scratch building in a long time. The scale is 15mm and I plan on building several village houses and intend to play about with different materials such as styrene, card and foamcore in an attempt to learn more about their properties, pros and cons.

I'll let you know how I get on.
Regards
Gav

Cover the front Surface with doublesided tape then add the clay. Same method was used to create the buildings for the croeburn 1813 dio
link

I have not had good luck with applying clay to a plastic form. The clay dries and shrinks and eventually falls off.

I second the idea of using caulk -- especially if it's the kind that stays flexible even after drying.