Well thank you Matt, it is indeed a good detour from the winter woes. Sometimes I get into a groove and other times I stall and just sit thinking about the next step. The process seems to be what drives me mostly, trying the new thing or streamlining a technique here or there. I do bog down quite often as the monotonous nature of the choices I make tend to slow my will…
I used to be able to sit for countless hours at the bench cutting, shaping, adjusting and glueing all the tiny little pieces of cork onto my last project. This time I seem to be struggling with it a bit. Cardboard is definitely much more difficult to work with than the cork, it might be why I’ve spent a considerable chunk of time getting better at scribing the foamcore boards and building more with that instead
Hopefully getting back to work next week will help me to focus more. It’s been a long winter in my neck of the woods and a couple more months lay ahead.
Yep Dave, real winter here too in Connecticut. We’re sitting under 20" of new snow and 3° F actual temperature. Makes for good staying inside bench time.
Wow! Yeah that’s real winter all right! We haven’t had 20 inches all winter this year, and the temps are heading up again this week after a slight drop last weekend. The polar vortex that has hit the east side of the continent brings chinook weather our way. I’m well over winter as a concept now anyway so it’s fine by me. Stay warm man. It won’t be long till spring actually starts.
A little bit of carving and shaping of the diorama’s edge on this side, careful knife work and a coat or two of PVA mixed with Createx 4050 clear as a binder and sealer prior to any painting.
No modeling done today… had a small electrical fire in the light I use for illumination of my area. I will be moving my build to my daughter’s room this weekend until I get back to work next week. I’ll replace the light after payday. My kid lives a couple hours away with her mom, so she won’t even notice the added mess on her desk area:joy:
I’ve been interested in the newer medium of foam for buildings and base making etc etc for awhile now. While the old styrofoam was often used for model railroad construction and for the substrate in diorama building, it was very messy to work with. It also wasn’t very good for details as the cell structure was very large and almost porous in nature. The new types of XPS foams are much nicer for using as they have a very closed cell structure, and can be cheaply purchased in large volumes at your local hardware store.
While hobby shops sell usable, precut pieces at a huge markup; convenience has its price naturally… I have always tried to limit costs as much as I could. The problem with this method is that while a 4X8 sheet of XPS insulation may only cost a few bucks, you still have to be able to cut it down to make use of it.
While this is doable, it requires a hot wire cutter to make it easy and efficient. And for the most part these are not cheap. Prices vary according to brand and size and location of course And can be several hundred dollars for a higher quality table top version down to a few tens of dollars for a handheld device.
Weighing the pros and cons of these options I long ago decided that if I was ever going to get one, it would be a tabletop machine; and preferably a decent one with some versatility built in. Proxxon is the market king in this domain as far as I could gather but cost prohibitive for my financial position. I did look at some other less expensive options but thought that the old adage might apply.
Buy the best, cry once. Buy junk, cry all the time. I even considered building my own version. It doesn’t appear to be rocket science afterall…
And so I kinda resigned myself to it being a maybe one day thing. And today, today turned out to be the day!
I have been looking at FB marketplace and Kijiji off and on over the past year hoping a Proxxon would come available… but alas no luck. Today though I came across this one in the closest city to me; the city of Red Deer. A guy on Kijiji has it listed at just 75$ and I was going into the city for another reason anyways. It felt almost like Christmas time again!!!
Doing some work with the cutter today. Getting to know how it works. How slowly I need to move the foam through the wire to keep everything smooth and consistent in thickness. Jigs will no doubt become my friend over the coming weeks and months… I’ve seen them in videos and they seem to really be a good tool for the new tool.
Had to bring it back upstairs cause the pieces I have cut were too long for the short amount of space I had in my daughter’s desk area. Thankfully it only weighs about two pounds or so, not like some of my other machines I’ve had over the years. Did I mention that I’m really beginning to love XPS foam… yep.
Your timing is perfect. I’ve been wrestling with a Proxon foam cutting table thing for a couple of years now. More specifically, the guide “arm”. It will not lock into place. I’m going to have to look into purchacing one of these I think. An aside note, I have a close friend who lives in Innisfail. Nice place…in the summer.
Hey yeah, I think I may have won a small lottery lol. The small clamps I’m using seem to hold it ok, but I’ll probably replace them with a couple knobs on wing nuts. I think Proxxon is the cream of the crop on the Interwebs but this Yaetek model seems to do the trick so far. I’m definitely happy at the moment anyways. I’m kinda partial to Sundre over Innisfail; the golf course is nicer imho…
Well, I haven’t really been getting anything done on my latest diorama lately; but I am planning on doing some work on it this weekend. In the meantime though I have been fairly busy with getting used to my foam cutter… and I may just be setting myself up with a potential money making opportunity as a result. I’d be interested in knowing about anyone else’s ventures into aftermarket accessories who might have insight into the process and pros and cons etc…
I’ve been sorting out how to get consistent and uniform pieces of foam in ready to use sizes and thicknesses. I am also working on a process for more efficient detailing of said foam. YouTube can be a rabbit hole of lost time if you’re not careful; but also a good source of information and inspiration if you are disciplined.
Most of these sheets are in the 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick range, but I’ve built a taller fence out of foamcore board that allows me to get into the 1/8 to 1/16 type range and still have consistency in the cut. Having many different thickness choices is a key factor if I end up making a small business venture… higher profit margins per investment dollar. That’s a good thing right???
I’m using seem to hold it ok, but I’ll probably replace them with a couple knobs on wing nuts. I think Proxxon is the cream of the crop on the Interwebs but this Yaetek model seems to do the trick so far. I’m definitely happy at the moment anyways. I’m kinda partial to Sundre over Innisfail; the golf course is nicer imho…
