Styrene Builders

[Kevin_Mc]

i'm looking at making a rear wing for my Porsche shell - i have seen people build detailed scale engines and interiors out of styrere - what is it, where can i get it, how easily is it cut and shaped and will it be any good once painted and bolted to my shell?

[KEV THE REV]

i'm looking at making a rear wing for my Porsche shell - i have seen people build detailed scale engines and interiors out of styrere - what is it, where can i get it, how easily is it cut and shaped and will it be any good once painted and bolted to my shell?

Hi Kev . Styrene or plastic card as it's sometimes known is a sheet of styrene plastic like a page from a book , available in a variety of thicknesses to suit you need,or can come in various other guises like tube , square section etc .It is very easy to cut and use , all you need are general hobby tools like a knife , files ,scissors, sand paper and it can be bonded with glue or liquid poly.It can be glued, drilled ,folded ,creased ,filled, painted , shaped with heat etc so your wing should be a breeze .I made a wing for a project a while back and I shaped it with a hairdrier around a metal rod for the front shape and flat card for the sides . I use styrene a lot as you probably will once you get going with it .Styrene products are available on-line or in hobby shops .Good luck with the project

[nosthevamp]

i'm looking at making a rear wing for my Porsche shell - i have seen people build detailed scale engines and interiors out of styrere - what is it, where can i get it, how easily is it cut and shaped and will it be any good once painted and bolted to my shell?

I think what you are thinking of is styrene, which is short for polystyrene. This is the stuff that is used to make scale models kits. Some of the larger car models would provide scale interiors or engines for smaller RC cars. It is easy to cut and shape. it is many many years since I have used it but I presume it is still possible to get in sheets, and other models or even the sprues are a sorce of materials.

EDIT

Well it used to be called polystyrene when I used to make models kits back in the 60s and early 70s.

[tonysmini]

Find a model train shop, those guys use it to build all sorts with.

[Kevin_Mc]

thanks for the quick replies guys

Kev, thanks for the info, i'm glad to hear its so easy to work with and your wing looks like it turned out great. I'm glad to hear it comes in so many different forms too.

thanks again. I'll start a project thread and the wing updates will go in there no doubt.

Kevin

[Skottoman]

I just discovered styrene recently, and it is AWESOME!

You can build anything out of it, and the solvent glue is almost instant!

Really great stuff and cheap. I used it for wing endplates, diffuser, spitter, rollcage, dashboard, racing seat and more on my last Porsche build.

Great stuff. I wish I would have discovered it earlier! You should be able to make a wing out of it pretty easily.

Cheers,

Skottoman

[Kevin_Mc]

can you post some pics of what you've done as inspiration please?

I'll probably be looking for advice too!

[Skottoman]

can you post some pics of what you've done as inspiration please?

I'll probably be looking for advice too!

Here's my showroom post of my Porsche with the styrene work...

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...5&sid=22013

Cheers,

Skottoman

[bad andy]

2 manufacturers generally available in the US:

http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/

http://www.plastruct.com/

[Kevin_Mc]

Here's my showroom post of my Porsche with the styrene work...

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...5&sid=22013

Cheers,

Skottoman

i didn't realise that was the Styrene wing you made, it looks great (As do the other parts) i'll be giving it a go soon

[Kevin_Mc]

What thickness of sheeting should I be using for the rear wing? I reckoned 2mm (80 thou) thick would be alright, 1mm is probably too thin but much thicker and it would be hard to shape properly.

[Percymon]

What thickness of sheeting should I be using for the rear wing? I reckoned 2mm (80 thou) thick would be alright, 1mm is probably too thin but much thicker and it would be hard to shape properly.

I think lexan shells are typically 1mm. I first bought 2mm but it look awfully thick and is quite heavy as an a4 sized sheet. I've gone to 1mm now which seems better for weight but I've not started modelling it yet. I did get some 1.6mm square channel which is 1mm internal so using that at joining edges will increase contact area - that's my plan but it could all change lol!!

[Kevin_Mc]

That's good to know, I think I'll go for 1mm sheet then, the thickness (or thin-ness!) will be hidden with the curved edges

Cheers for the advice

[Rob Buckle]

Kevin/Percymon,

Where did you purchase styrene and glue for it from? Also, what about sand paper? What grades did you buy, and from where?

Cheers

[Kevin_Mc]

i haven't got any yet Rob, planning on doing it in the next week or two though as i've been busy with uni. Woud also be interested to know where to purchase the card and the glue

[VagabondStarJXF]

I get my styrene card from either ePay or from HobbyCraft if I'm in that area. The glue I use is EMA plastic weld (I think that's what it's called but I can't find the bottle to verify) which takes a bit of time to dry but when it's completely cured it holds brilliantly. Oh, if only I had finished bulding something to show you how good it works. I keep getting sidetracked! To give you an idea of how strong it can be... I used the stuff to hold a broken vintage Sand Scorcher shell back together. I haven't finished the shell to a point where I could run it so I don't know how it'd fare under running conditions. What I can tell you is that the day after I'd glued the shell together again I realised I'd glued the rear a little out of place so I tried breaking it apart and had to use a lot of force to do so, a load more than I thought I would've had to use. I got the glue through eBay aswell.

[Kevin_Mc]

there's a HobbyCraft about 10 mins drive from me so i'll try there

do you know if you can get the glue there?

[IBIFTKH]

Our local HobbyCraft doesn't stock it (EMA Plastruct Plastic Weld) though you may be luckier. It seems to be more of a model shop/railway shop type of thing or you can get it from fleabay.

Amazingly strong stuff. In my showroom there's a MAN truck that I scratch built using this stuff. That truck has been rolled 25ft+ down a hill without damage!

[Kevin_Mc]

sounds like the stuff to get. eBay it is!