Tokaji Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 Hey all- I'm looking to make a horde of Card Soldiers (here's an image of what I had in mind: http://images.wikia.com/kingdomhearts/images/e/ed/Card_Soldiers_KHREC.png) as a project, but have never worked with plasticard before. I don't know what a proper thickness to work with would be - they need to be fairly easy to work with but still maintain a tabletop sturdiness. I've heard three different methods of forming/bending the plasticard: heatgun, boiling water, and flames, and have no idea which is best (though I suppose it changes for the thickness and all). Any advice would be fantastic! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harbinger Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 For what you want to do, Id suggest the .8mm thickness. Any smaller and good chance wont hold form with lot handling. The down side of that thickness is tad bit on hard side to simply cut with normal scissors or a exacto blade. It advisable to score them first. As to bending them... heatgun. Easiest and safest way. Open flame is just asking.. no begging for trouble. Boiling while can work... easy to ruin them if not careful not to mention burning yourself accidentally wouldnt be much of a stretch... If you have or know someone with access to a scrollsaw would make this easy project with a heatgun. One piece of wood.. say 2x4, cut the curves making a 2 piece mold, use the heatgun to soften then press the two halves together. Bam.. your done in minutes. Not to mention if have the scrollsaw then dont have to worry about having to scribe the plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaliHaux Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Heat gun, even a hair drier on high heat should handle that unless its really thick stock. Just cut the shapes you want, a solid pair of scissors will do it. You can always glue layers of thinner card together rather than trying to fight trough cutting thicker stock. Anyways- cut your shapes out. Then, to get the wavy curves in them, get a couple of pencils, screw drivers, or whatever you can find thats round and wont melt- put those under the card stock and space them out a bit. When you heat the card up- it will soften and if it doesnt start to droop on. its own you can push it down gently between them. A few practice runs with some scrap pieces should get you the results you need ot get some good wavy cruves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokaji Posted February 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Awesome, thanks for the tips, guys. I'll try it out soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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