Slaters is mostly useful for vac-formed (embossed) polystyrene sheet for various surfaces, mainly to be applied to the surface of scratch-built architecture and tied to common railway modelling scales (but they do make 1:25th tread plate).
Wills do injection-moulded OO-scale small plastic sheets which are sturdy enough to make into buildings in their own right. The individual packs run out quite pricey but if you are thinking of a large product research the contents of their buildings marked âCraftsmanâs Kitâ; Iâve seen people complain because unlike most of their other building models these do not come as pre-coloured components ready for assembly (painting and weathering optional) but as the same components as in the four-sheet individual packs but in the quantities required to scratch build the illustrated building, for which detailed plans and directions are included. I havenât crunched the numbers exactly but a quick estimate showed massive savings over the individual packs.
I do have a single pack of 0,5 mm Evergreen rod and while comparing it to Plastructs item, I found out that Evergreenâs rod is easier to bend- you only need to apply steady pressure and the rod bends without cracking.
Which is not the case with Plastructs 0,5 mm rod- it cracks when bended over 30 degrees, so for any angle above that one needs heating.
So I only use my Evergreen 0,5 mm rod when I need to bend.
Interesting thing is it seems to be the reverse with their round stock. Plastructâs is nice and round with a very smooth surface finish while Evergreenâs tends to be oval with some roughness to it.
A few years ago, my hobby shop was somewhat low on styrene sheet stock. My way out was buying larger sheets i.e. 1000x600 mm and 2000x1000 mm in an online shop for engineering plastics. For a few euros more they cut them to a pile of smaller sheets. Iâll stick to this way of sourcing sheet.
I bought some styrene square rod from a company called Maquett, it wouldnât stick unless I used the strongest solvent I could find. Itâs was like it didnât soften enough to weld to the kit styrene. Itâs still a brittle join, even now.
Yeah, I had that too with rod from the hobby shop. When asked, the seller assured me that it was PS, however, he couldnât explain why it wasnât glueable with stuff commonly used in the modellerâs workshop.
As to the Evergreen rod being oval; So far I have not found this myself.
The rods and tubes still seem to telescope nicely into each other when making actuating cylinders and concentric cylindrical pieces.
As to Angelâs remark; I too find the Evergreen plastic formulation to be much more pliable, workable and forgiving when bending. For instance I replace all my rearview mirror stalks and fender mount width indicators with thin Evergreen rod. These are much less brittle and will survive a few knocks and bumps rather than the mirror just breaking off.
Sometimes it is wise to hold the part to be bent under hot running water to soften it first. I find with the very thin rod I can just hold it in my mouth for 30 seconds to warm it enough to âtake the bend.â
When making radius bends it is better to bend it around some sort of round mandrel such as a broom handle. Sometimes I will clamp the handle of my x-acto knife in my vice vertically and use that as a form to bend the warmed rod around. Just as with most any real world pipe bending you will have to bend the rod further than desired as there will always be some âspring back.â
Tight bends may require repeating this heating and bending process several times as you progressively âconvinceâ the plastic material to accept this new molecular arrangement.
inspector 172: âWunderbar! We have two volunteers!â And they are both from the same continent. By locking them in the same container we will save on shipping costs. ⌠As you know, shipping is so expensive these days. ⌠The FĂźhrer will be delighted! ⌠Gunter, prepare the rockets for lift-off! ⌠Did someone say âscreams?â
I find that bending Evergreen around a mandrel and dipping it in a freshly-boiled cup of water followed by a cold-water plunge sets the bend nicely! If the bend is tight and the plastic is thick I pre-bend it with a hot dip before fitting it to the mandrel and going for the final bend. I also build jigs for complex shapes, either in wood or in thick Evergreen stock that is unlikely to soften in a quick dip - this can be useful for pipe runs and handrails.
I had the same vision, but then it morphed into a human torpedo with a bubble-top â a prop would fit nicely in the cone 
⌠The Fßhrer will be delighted! ⌠Gunter, prepare the rockets for lift-off! 
⌠Did someone say âscreams?â 
