Excellent Instructional Video, always hated the sanding, worried and have cut into the form, but now with this knowledge, I'm going to finish a Kit I started decades ago, the plastic is still in good condition - Thanks Again !!!
Gotta try one again. Built a tank kit, think it was a French S35, Somua 1l72. Some really off the wall lits available. Very tempting. Want a Mojave kit, I remember one they used at NASNO in the sixties/seventies for crash crew training. Still have a landing gear part I've saved all these years...
Sept. 21, 2020---Thanks for the video. Got a 1/35 scale vaccuform kit by Phoenix titled The Modern Highway Bridge, which you can build as a 2 or 4 lane bridge w/supporting pillars. Spent a LONG time looking for one, finally getting mine from Aliexpress for $60, though don't remember if that included shipping or not. In any case, haven't seen one being offered in several years, no matter where I look online.....they all say out of stock. They also offered a freeway onramp, which I am sorry to say, didn't buy. The only other road vaccuform is like a city street some where in the Middle East. As for me, I have NO intention of building it to use in a diorama. Instead, assemble all the parts, prime 'em to make sure there's no bad seams, then buy A LOT of silicone so I can cast and make my own molds. Then make as many copies of them as I want, using plaster of paris.
I normally get a small marker pen such as a black CD pen and go around all the parts, then score around these parts with a sharp blade then just snap them away from the plastic ready for sanding
A bit different than i do it, but at least you took the time to show others here on TH-cam, and that is commendable. Are you going to show how you cut wings, and thin trailing edges?
Sorry but this is 'not' the way to build vac forms ! you are making hard work of a very simple task,get yourself a Olfa P-Cutter 450 Tungsten steel blade,draw inside the part where the form terminates with a broad marker pen,take the P-Cutter and start your first drag across the plastic,do this four more times and then you will feel the blades resistance as it attempts to break through,at this point 'stop' ! take the part in your hand and bend carefully at right angles the part will release itself beautifully from the membrane no tears to worry about as the cutter is consistant,next use a broad Permagrit sander to finish off the part down to the correct depth checking all the time with the drawing,to hold the part for sanding attach a small piece of aluminium T-Bar to the part with tiny pieces of Tessa tape this grips really well even with the sanding strokes,you can use a piece of wet and dry paper stuck down to a piece of glass sheet to rub the parts gently after cutting but rub evenly and gently to get a good mating surface.I love vac form models and have built a few hundred models from these cottage industry kits,my methods were gleaned from the masters such as Mr Sutcliffe of Contrail and that clever chap John Adams at the much missed Aeroclub models and are time proven,please if you are going to do instructional videos then lets get the process right from the start ! model building is never a chore if done correctly.
Excellent Instructional Video, always hated the sanding, worried and have cut into the form, but now with this knowledge, I'm going to finish a Kit I started decades ago, the plastic is still in good condition - Thanks Again !!!
Thank you this was so helpful I am considering getting a model which is vacuformed and had no clue how to cut out the parts
Thank you for this how-to, it will be very usefull since my next project will be the contrail 1/72 handley page heyford as my first vac-form kit.
I have never dared do a vacform kit, even tho I have been modelling since the 1970s. Do they make them still?
Gotta try one again. Built a tank kit, think it was a French S35, Somua 1l72. Some really off the wall lits available. Very tempting. Want a Mojave kit, I remember one they used at NASNO in the sixties/seventies for crash crew training. Still have a landing gear part I've saved all these years...
Sept. 21, 2020---Thanks for the video. Got a 1/35 scale vaccuform kit by Phoenix titled The Modern Highway Bridge, which you can build as a 2 or 4 lane bridge w/supporting pillars. Spent a LONG time looking for one, finally getting mine from Aliexpress for $60, though don't remember if that included shipping or not. In any case, haven't seen one being offered in several years, no matter where I look online.....they all say out of stock. They also offered a freeway onramp, which I am sorry to say, didn't buy. The only other road vaccuform is like a city street some where in the Middle East.
As for me, I have NO intention of building it to use in a diorama. Instead, assemble all the parts, prime 'em to make sure there's no bad seams, then buy A LOT of silicone so I can cast and make my own molds. Then make as many copies of them as I want, using plaster of paris.
I normally get a small marker pen such as a black CD pen and go around all the parts, then score around these parts with a sharp blade then just snap them away from the plastic ready for sanding
A bit different than i do it, but at least you took the time to show others here on TH-cam, and that is commendable. Are you going to show how you cut wings, and thin trailing edges?
Sorry but this is 'not' the way to build vac forms ! you are making hard work of a very simple task,get yourself a Olfa P-Cutter 450 Tungsten steel blade,draw inside the part where the form terminates with a broad marker pen,take the P-Cutter and start your first drag across the plastic,do this four more times and then you will feel the blades resistance as it attempts to break through,at this point 'stop' ! take the part in your hand and bend carefully at right angles the part will release itself beautifully from the membrane no tears to worry about as the cutter is consistant,next use a broad Permagrit sander to finish off the part down to the correct depth checking all the time with the drawing,to hold the part for sanding attach a small piece of aluminium T-Bar to the part with tiny pieces of Tessa tape this grips really well even with the sanding strokes,you can use a piece of wet and dry paper stuck down to a piece of glass sheet to rub the parts gently after cutting but rub evenly and gently to get a good mating surface.I love vac form models and have built a few hundred models from these cottage industry kits,my methods were gleaned from the masters such as Mr Sutcliffe of Contrail and that clever chap John Adams at the much missed Aeroclub models and are time proven,please if you are going to do instructional videos then lets get the process right from the start ! model building is never a chore if done correctly.
What do you use for glueing?
Gave up watching having to pause continually.
You only give about 3 seconds to read a 10-second caption. This is useless.
Try pressing "pause".