Hi everyone,
I have an Academy 1/35 IED humvee guntruck and wanted to build it like the image below:



However, I am having issues with bending the evergreen plastic rods to simulate the bars for the canvas cover(?). What techniques do you use to bend plastic rods without breaking them? I do not want to resort to using metal rods because I want to stay in the same medium for ease of gluing purposes.

Thanks.

James

Well, err, I use wire! Never been able to successfully bend EG rod 90 degrees...


I have used heat - candle flame - to bend sprue 90 degrees, but it is hard to a) get it neat and b) not melt it completely!

Easy, hot water, bend it to where you want it then cool it down with cold water. I've made a quick and dirty jig to hold stuff in place while doing this a few times too

Bend slowly using heat from hour fingers to soften it. Once in the shape you want it, dip in boiling water or hold near a flame to set the plastic into that shape.

Hi James,

I hold the rod with tools (or my fingers) a small distance away from the intended bend area. That way, when you start bending the rod, the plastic normally does not break.

If you try to bend it right at the point where the tool is gripping it (which would be quite normal procedure when bending metal/brass rod) then the plastic almost always breaks.

Sorry, its easier to demonstrate this than write about it, hope this can help :-)

You can also try a drop of glue on the joint. It will soften the plastic so you can bend it. Just have to experiment a bit with quantity of glue and time to wait until it is soft enough.

Whatever you do, don't add glue at the bend! The plastic is stressed at that point, and if you add glue it splits at the corner. Best to make a jig to hold the part and dip it in hot water to set the bend - I boil a kettle and fill a tea mug for this. You need to keep the piece bent until it cools to lock in the new shape.

With this thickness, you should be able to bend it without any heat.. I just bent these 1mm thick Evergreen rods when I read your thread.. you just have to be a little careful and do it slowly, kind of coaxing it into shape



Hisham

Take Gino's advise.slowly use your fingers as heat and bend.
May take a little time,but won't break.
also Hisham.He beat me to the post by seconds.

Tom

You may also use a blow dryer to heat the plastic at the intended bend point. Once bent, submerge it in cold water.

I do a lot of modelling making masters for Resicast, bending plastic rod is a problem, the suggestions offered are very good and work. One method I have used it to make a former, as it will ensure the parts are all the same. You can use a wood or metal "roller" to create the bend. Place the roller at the centre of the bend and carefully roll it on a soft surface....the rubber blade from a window squeegee is a cheap option for this. I appreciate you do not want to use metal, but aluminium tube (smallest diameter) is good as is brass wire....the aluminium tube folds easier if a fine brass rod is inserted, it has the advantage that the ends can be flattened...I use some "Evergreen" channel glued on the ends....superglue or the "Gorilla" glue works well. The channel can then be attached to the model in the conventional way.

George.

WhoooHooo! this is the stuff I love .

...and hope for 7,000 views

(sorry LHS thread ...lol )

Fine timing for this thread as I need some bent plastic rods for a campaign build. Have tried on a 1mm round rod, and it works!

Wow, these are some excellent tips! I definitely need to try all and figure out which works the best for me. Thank you all!

Hello,

Just wanted to share what I was able to do after reading thru this thread:



As I am not that keen on working with wire, this tip surely helped me move on with my current build.

Cheers,

Tat

Another option is plastic coated steel wire. Comes in various sizes and is easy to bend. Used this material for a recent Churchill build to recreate the external fuel pipe.

After making a template using lead wire, I copied the shape with the plastic coated wire...





Gary

anyone ever try using a hair dryer?

The hairdryer doesn't work well since it blows heat in a wide swath and heats the whole rod, turning it into a wet spaghetti noodle. This is not good since you can't really control it and isolate just the place you want to bend. Slight pressure and finger heat are usually sufficient to get any bends you need.

Are you building a jeepny?

If you are doing multiple like your post suggests, then a jig would be best and use the hot water trick. Most reliable, you won't over heat the plastic or catch it on fire and you can always re heat without issue.

Back in the old days when we didn't have brass, carbine fiber or even evergreen to help us out we made everything from spare styrene sprues.

Just like antennas... over a candle flame! Practice makes perfect!




Jeff

You're spot on Biggles2! Trying to do something like this for the Civils campaign:



Cheers,

Tat

Gary, what comes to mind are those multi-colored plastic coated paper clips. I only know of two sizes which are off in terms of scale, and sadly these do not come as long and straight as I would like.

You mention yours come in various sizes, where do you get them -- office, hardware stores? Might try and look if such are available here.

Cheers,

Tat

Plastrut makes it, here is an example on evilbay, I use it all the time

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PLA90101-3-64-Plastic-Coated-Wire-15-Plastruct-Supplies-/350759570320

and

https://www.expotools.com/acatalog/Plastic-Coated-Wire.html

multi coloured are here

http://plastruct.com/?s=wire+coated&post_type=product

First thing, take a scrap piece of sprue , heat it & stretch it to the right diameter you need. Make a bunch in case you mess up.
Next ,measure the distances you need. Grab a piece of pine wood that is a few inches larger then your measurements. Nail down 4 nails , your making a "jig" & will be working with the wood facing flat on the table with 4 nails in a square pattern.You may have to secure the wood to the edge of your work bench with C Clamps to stop it from moving around.
Place the stretched sprue over the top 2 nails...take a heat gun & heat up the corners...slowly bend them around . You want your other 2 nails marked farther then what you actually need. When the top bend is correct..heat the other end & wrap it around the lower nail. After your done both bends & both ends are wrapped on lower nails...cut it to correct length.
Hope you can understand what I mean?
You can try a heat gun or hair dryer because the plastic is going to be thin.
Use Dragon plastic ..seems to be more elastic then say ..ICM's or MiniArts.
PS---Boiling water may also work.