Scribing planking on plasticard

[BangRoad]

Hi all, 

 

I need your help and suggestions please...

what is the best method for scribing relief into plasticard?  I am trying to scribe neat planking and each result I get is atrocious.  A sharp knife blade doesn’t seem to give me a deep enough effect.  I’ve tried needle files and the like and end up with dreadful looking wavy lines.  I know there will be some expert examples out there.  Any help appreciated please!!

 

[sir douglas]

many use a scrawker, which is a hook shaped blade if you run that along a ruler it makes straight and clean grooves

[Nickey Line]

Scraperboard tools work too, available from your local art shop.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

A knife blade is definitely not going to be the best way of doing planking, a knife is for cutting

My way is to make a line with a scriber, lightly at first and getting deeper, then depending on whether the line needs to be parallel as in floor-boarding or tapered as in weatherboarding, use a scrawker with a suitable profile for the former and a scraperboard blade for the latter.

 

Mike.

[Kylestrome]

And for the OP, who may not know what a 'skrawker' is:

https://eileensemporium.com/index.php?option=com_hikashop&ctrl=product&task=show&name=plastic-cutter-scrawker&cid=1622&Itemid=189&category_pathway=1063

 

David

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

This is where it gets confusing to some, me included.

My interpretation FWIW;

A scrawker is a hook ended implement with the same outline as above, but with a flat profile which gouges out a parallel trench in the plastic sheet.

The item depicted is an acrylic cutter which seems to have morphed into a more general plastic sheet cutter, erroneously called, IMHO, a scrawker.

Two different tools.

 

Mike.

[Greengiant]

I use an Olfa laminate cutter which perfect for this job, basically it cuts out a shallow ‘V’ in the plastic.

 

Martin

[doilum]

My weapon of choice for all plastikard work is an Exacto#2. For scribing planks I use the backside of the blade.

[Phil Parker]

Olfa cutter for me. In fact I use it for all sorts of jobs as my blog can attest: https://philsworkbench.blogspot.com/search?q=olfa

[SP Steve]

On 05/01/2020 at 16:05, BangRoad said:

What is the best method for scribing relief into plasticard?  I am trying to scribe neat planking and each result I get is atrocious.  A sharp knife blade doesn’t seem to give me a deep enough effect.  I’ve tried needle files and the like and end up with dreadful looking wavy lines.  I know there will be some expert examples out there.  Any help appreciated please!!

 

 

I'm hardly an expert but my preferred tool for carrying out such a task is a T-Pin. These are used when sewing tough materials together and can be sourced from many on-line sewing outlets (around the £3.00 mark for fifty).

 

My process is to scribe the first line, place a steel rule over it and then place a metal section equal in width to your required plank size against it before scribing the second plank and repeating as necessary (for added 'squareness' an engineers square can be used in lieu of the steel rule but I tend to cut the finished piece down to size).

 

The beauty of this method is that by varying the width of the metal section then differing plank widths can be achieved which are parallel to one another. After I've completed the piece I then run a used stanley knife blade parallel to the lines and at 45 degrees to remove the 'lips' thrown up during the scribing process.

 

I used to try and measure / mark out plank widths but the results I achieved never looked convincing considering the amount of effort involved in doing so.

 

Shown below is a replacement end I've done (for a LNER grain van) using this method - the camera is a little cruel but it looks reasonable at normal viewing distance.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by SP Steve

[sharris]

I use a Tamiya scriber - mine's an earlier version of this one

 

https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/74091scriber2/index.htm

 

Similar to the ones Kylestrome and Phil suggested.

Edited January 6, 2020 by sharris

[tom q vaxy]

depending on scale, several tools & methods available. using a cutter above is more for construction than the cosmetic of showing individual boards and would certainly require a deft touch to do so, but it is very obtainable.

 

https://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/1999/11/stuff_eng_tech_scribing.htm

 

 

 

 

[BangRoad]

16 hours ago, SP Steve said:

 

I'm hardly an expert but my preferred tool for carrying out such a task is a T-Pin. These are used when sewing tough materials together and can be sourced from many on-line sewing outlets (around the £3.00 mark for fifty).

 

My process is to scribe the first line, place a steel rule over it and then place a metal section equal in width to your required plank size against it before scribing the second plank and repeating as necessary (for added 'squareness' an engineers square can be used in lieu of the steel rule but I tend to cut the finished piece down to size).

 

The beauty of this method is that by varying the width of the metal section then differing plank widths can be achieved which are parallel to one another. After I've completed the piece I then run a used stanley knife blade parallel to the lines and at 45 degrees to remove the 'lips' thrown up during the scribing process.

 

I used to try and measure / mark out plank widths but the results I achieved never looked convincing considering the amount of effort involved in doing so.

 

Shown below is a replacement end I've done (for a LNER grain van) using this method - the camera is a little cruel but it looks reasonable at normal viewing distance.

 

Exactly what I was trying to achieve.  Have been down the route of marking out lines for plank widths but end up binning my efforts.  This is simple but looks brilliantly even!  

[Les Bird]

Personally I would avoid the hassle and buy planked Plastikard from Slaters

[ROSSPOP]

11 hours ago, sharris said:

I use a Tamiya scriber - mine's an earlier version of this one

 

https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/74091scriber2/index.htm

 

Similar to the ones Kylestrome and Phil suggested.

 The best scribing tool you will ever need...even comes with a spare blade inside the handle......

[DCB]

Watch your fingers if using a ruler as a guide for a knife blade.  I Araldited a piece of about 6mm X 6mm brass right angle to the edge of a plastic ruler as a more positive guide after a stanley knife  slipped and cut two of my fingers quite deeply

[sharris]

9 minutes ago, DavidCBroad said:

after a stanley knife  slipped and cut two of my fingers quite deeply

 

If you're using enough pressure to do that much damage to yourself, you're probably not scribing.

 

You might want to invest in a non-slip metal rule.

 

[Tim V]

1 hour ago, Les Bird said:

Personally I would avoid the hassle and buy planked Plastikard from Slaters

Evergreen scribed planking is a whole lot better - more stable.

https://eileensemporium.com/index.php?option=com_hikashop&ctrl=category&task=listing&cid=1148&name=evergreen-v-groove-plastic-sheets&Itemid=189

[DCB]

28 minutes ago, sharris said:

 

If you're using enough pressure to do that much damage to yourself, you're probably not scribing.

 

You might want to invest in a non-slip metal rule.

 

I was using a metal rule, the blade slipped because I was not using much pressure, Even the lightest touch from a scalpel of Stanley knife blade can do a lot of damage. The adapted ruler has lasted about 20 years so far.   I actually prefer to use wood for wooden planking, for scenery and items which are not handled.  I use the top and bottom surfaces of  thin ply which has de laminated. 

Edited January 6, 2020 by DavidCBroad

[sharris]

21 minutes ago, Tim V said:

1 hour ago, Les Bird said:

Personally I would avoid the hassle and buy planked Plastikard from Slaters

 

Evergreen scribed planking is a whole lot better - more stable.

https://eileensemporium.com/index.php?option=com_hikashop&ctrl=category&task=listing&cid=1148&name=evergreen-v-groove-plastic-sheets&Itemid=189

 

Sadly, they rarely exactly match the plank widths for wagons, which are often varying on a single wagon. I agree though that Evergreen's planking is higher quality (and higher priced).

Edited January 6, 2020 by sharris

[burgundy]

You might want to try a carpenter's gauge. Let the point do the scribing and use the gauge bit to measure the distance from the straight edge.

For each line, calculate the distance from the straight edge individually, or if you try to add the width of a plank to the previous measurement, you are liable to compound any errors.

Hope this helps

Best wishes

Eric  

[doilum]

56 minutes ago, DavidCBroad said:

I was using a metal rule, the blade slipped because I was not using much pressure, Even the lightest touch from a scalpel of Stanley knife blade can do a lot of damage. The adapted ruler has lasted about 20 years so far.   I actually prefer to use wood for wooden planking, for scenery and items which are not handled.  I use the top and bottom surfaces of  thin ply which has de laminated. 

Although others use them with success, I have always thought the Stanley blade to be a bit too industrial for fine detail modelling. I probably own a good half dozen and, like the angle grinder, occasionally find them useful for work on plywood or hardboard.

My tip for cutting on a steel rule is to stick a length of quality masking tape (frog tape) to the back. This has lasted years and has saved several fingers.

[Tim V]

1 hour ago, sharris said:

 

Sadly, they rarely exactly match the plank widths for wagons, which are often varying on a single wagon. I agree though that Evergreen's planking is higher quality (and higher priced).

I forgot to say in my recommendation, that scribing plasticard can result in curling the sheet. That was my comment about stability, the Evergreen stuff stays flat. I will concede it may not come in all flavours of width, but the OP doesn't mention wagons ...

[sharris]

36 minutes ago, Tim V said:

I forgot to say in my recommendation, that scribing plasticard can result in curling the sheet. That was my comment about stability, the Evergreen stuff stays flat. I will concede it may not come in all flavours of width, but the OP doesn't mention wagons ...

 

Indeed, I actually use that property, scribing the inside of wagon roofs to make them curve more easily. I only happened to mention wagon plank widths because that's what I use my scriber for most. 

 

When it's a problem, you may be able to balance out any curvature by scribing the other side. 

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by sharris

[Tim V]

As you mention it, I heavily scribe the back of those Will's type stone sheets to bend them.