Styrene plastic rod

Who has some round styrene plastic rod about the thickness of a pencil? I need about a foot of it.

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I prefer Evergreen products for that sort of thing. In the United States, Scale Hobbyist prices are very good. If you need it more quickly, Hobby Lobby and Hobby Town often carry some Evergreen stuff but the selection varies widely from store to store. I cannot remember if Michaels carries it.

Plastruct is the other major brand for stock styrene. Just be warned that some of the oddball shapes offered by Plastruct, like I-Beams, are a different plastic formulation, probably ABS or something close to it.

Thin black Evergreen sheet plastic is awesome for fixing all sorts of model sins.

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Michael’s does not stock Evergreen. I would try Hobby Lobby and Hobbytown USA if they’re local. Scalehobbyist has the best prices, cheap shipping and usually ships in a day or two. Beware: Plastruct is ABS plastic and does not work with styrene glues.

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Do you want solid rod, or tubing? And does it have to be glue-compatible with styrene plastic? :thinking:
:grinning_face: :canada:
If worst comes to worst, you could wrap some thin sheet styrene (Evergreen) around a pencil, hold it tight with elastics, and slather liberally with glue. Let it sit overnight to cure. Hide the seam on the bottom side when placing it.

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Don’t discount unlikely sources. Many years ago I built a model of a Greco/ Roman-era agora in 25 mm scale. I needed a lot of tubing to make pillars of surrounding buildings. I was stumped until I found lengths of grooved plastic tubing which were sleeves to slide over wooden bird cage perches, in a pet store. I used some suitable plastic buttons for the pedestals and tops. They weren’t 100%, but they looked the part for a dio/display.
:grinning_face: :canada:

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That used to be true, but all of the products of theirs I’ve purchased in the past several years are styrene. They do still have ABS products, but the rod will be styrene.

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I would like to see that done.

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If nobody makes what you need, sounds like solid rod, there may be an industrial supplier. Problem is you’ll end up with extra. I have that with clear acrylic rod about 1/4 diameter for flight stands. Had to get 10 which is more than i need but at least i have it.

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Currently Scale Hobbiest (my go to) only has square rod not round.

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Yes to both questions.

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I am using it for a stand to hold a sub.

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Which sub? How big? I’m not using the Revell 1/72 Gato stand.

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USS Gato 1/200th scale by Riich.

It is about 19 inches long.

The mounting pins were too small. I knew they would break and they did not disappoint. I am going to use some 1/4th rod and I feel secure that will not break and still be in scale to a proper mount.

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Yeah, the Revell stand would be far too large.

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According to the computer, a typical wooden pencil is 7.1mm in diameter.

The largest Evergreen solid rod stock Scale Hobbyist currently carries in stock is 0.125" / 3.2mm so that is way too small

However, if a tube will do, Evergreen .281" / 7.14mm tube stock is available.

If a tube is not strong enough, there are options. One is to telescope tubes. In my opinion, a much stronger option is to stuff a metal rod into the plastic tube. I sometimes do this when building spaceship spines.

Inside diameter on a .281 tube is .225. 1/4" K & S aluminum rod is .25" so just a little bigger than desired. 3/16" K&S rod is .187 so a bit smaller than desired.

5/16" K & S aluminum rod is 7.93mm so just a little bigger than a pencil but a possible one piece solution.

If cutting aluminum rod is a problem, K & S brass tubing is another possibility.

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What type of stand are you aiming for?
Cradle style or just two cylinders (pedestals) jammed into the keel from below?

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I built that 15 - 20 years ago for my son as an elementary school project - OK…he cheated! :disappointed_face: Construction was foam-board faced with stone-pattern printed paper, with Evergreen tiled roof styrene sheet. People were 1/72 Roman-Greek civilians by Hat. As far as I know, the display was kept at school, and probably got destroyed long ago!
:grinning_face: :canada:

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I’ve used brass lamp riser such as these for ship stands. You have to supply your own wood base, and any hardware:

:grinning_face: :canada:

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Pedestal stand. Hobby link carries a 1/4th inch Plastruct poly styrene rod.

The plan is to drill out the original pedestals and then have the rod extend down until it touches the desktop at the bottom of the stand. Then drill out the old pedestals in the hull and extend the rod up into the hull until it hits the bottom of the upper deck. With some glue and support plastic in the stand, it should withstand a small depth charge.

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If you glue with epoxi or some other “sticks to everything”-glue you
could use a metal pipe/rod or even a wood dowel?

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