I was looking through my scratch built stash earlier and realized that I needed to re order more stock … Its been a bit since my last big order. ( Im actually a little shocked at how much my orders were.)
Well anyway it appears that evergreen has stopped carrying some of the strip and rod stock so a partial order for them and then a partial order from Plastruct.
The big question is why do they not offer free or at least reduced shipping for larger orders? The second question I have always wondered is why do they not show scales and measurement’s that are not rail related …ie 1/35 or 1/72 and so forth .
Lastly is there a alternative to either of the stated companies?
Could look at brass perhaps 
for larger scales wouldn’t you just select the larger tubes, I beams and square stock then figure out the length you need to cut to work within your scale?
I do the math and have certain ones I work with all the time. I have considered brass as a alternative . brass would give me the option of being able to dapple
Myself I’ve generally gotten mixed bags to mess with I’ve just started dabbling in altering some projects for say fighting zombies and my scratch and base building skills are just starting as I figure if I have space for my ideas usually my ideas generally out grow what I realistically have space for. I’ve decided to work with smaller bases to use all the stuff I was preparing to put into a zombie attacking a camp with a repurposed vehicles and weapons.
Partial answer to the scales question.
Some profiles can be scaled, such as material for the sides of a standard shipping container.
A profile such as a H-beam can have any scale, only the size matters.
Railroad rails are often listed as weight per length so a 200 pound rail in H0 gauge
could be used as a 100 pound rail in gauge 0
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As for alternatives, you may consider ABS plastic. It is not compatible with styrene unless you use CA, but it has its own specific glue if you work only with it, and from what I have heard it’s quite similar to styrene.
I have seen it from J’s works and Green Stuff World, probably others sell it in different shapes as well.
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Thats a great idea
ABS and Styrene can be glued with solvent cement, although the joint is less strong. I have built good structures using Plastruct ABS and Evergreen Styrene combined. The Plastruct standard solvent works.
I think that both companies consider model railroaders and architectural modelers to be “core” customers. I think that speaks to why they both produce and scale their products to those potential buyers.
Like you, though, I much prefer simply giving us the nominal dimensions of the stock rather than any “scale dimensions.” Fortunately, it does seem that both companies now sell their products with both nominal and scale dimensions listed.
(Also, I prefer the nominal dimensions given in metric rather than imperial which both companies are finally doing, too.)
Unfortunately, I don’t know of any other manufacturers of scale model sized styrene stock products that are widely available in the US.
In so far as the shipping costs for bulk (or especially for small) orders, I generally try to get my local hobby shop to special order styrene stock for me. Local sales tax tagged on to the purchase is always less expensive than postage or shipping direct (or even from another vendor, like Walthers.
I’ll search the Evergreen and Plastruct websites for product numbers, write it all down, then take the list to my LHS for them to special order for me. I’ll gladly pay the retail price + sales tax; the LHS makes the retail sale; and the LHS gloms the order into their normal restock orders, so it doesn’t cost them anything extra.
This usually takes a couple of weeks, but it helps to keep the LHS in business, and the demonstrated demand means that they usually keep their own Evergreen and Plastruct stocking levels up. That means that if I get caught short on some particular size, often as not, I’ll find what I need in their store.
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Yea i agree . Metric is preferred for the measurement. I dont mind doing the scale conversion to find the stock I want. It would just be nice if we didnt have to do that.
I consider my order fairly substantial , it was 250.0 from one and 100.0 from the other.
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C’mon there a Shakespeare like iambic pentameter rhythm to saying Imperial measures like 2’ 3 47/64 " vs 70.4 cm
Wink
Shakespeare and inches:
Please connect the following four measurements (in inches) to four of Shakespeares plays correctly.
- 2 inches
- 4 inches
- 6 inches
- 8 inches
I’m terrible with literature:)The only ones I recall don’t fit any of the choices!
“Every inch a king” William Shakespeare, King Lear
“Away you three-inch fool!” William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
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One of them is one of the four, but not quite the correct reason
Honestly I was just fussing about the way they do their measurements it’s not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Now that we’re turning the classic literature the humor on this one should be wide open I can hardly wait