RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted April 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 12, 2011 Has the 'stretcher bond' (ordinary) type 'Plasticard' always been badly out of register in the vertical course alignment or is this a recent trend? It makes it very hard to do accurate building corners. Presumably the South Eastern Finecast equivalent vacuum formed stuff doesn't suffer from this problem. Experiences/opinions please. Many thanks John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Seems to have happened on other bonds as well. My old stock is fine, anything bought in the last couple of years is poor. I have ended up throwing a lot away, particularly when using largish panels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Its been out of line for years John, and no sign of improvement . I use their stone embossed plasticard quite frequently (both New hey and Spotland had shed loads of it on) and I noticed there that the definition on the stone work has deteriorated badly over the last few years - obviously a sign of the moulds getting shot and needing replacement. no sign of that happening though! I'm loathe to recommend the SE Finecast sheets either - on face value they are well defined, in line and when finished look better than the Slaters product. problem seems to be you mek it onto the base laminate of plasticard, and all seems OK. Then a bit later it all warps to bu**ery. Why - well if you turn the other side of the sheet you see it is vacformed and therefore there are air pockets withinn each brick. I am presuming these hold the MEK fumes / residue and hey presto, instant warping. For small jobs Ive gone back to Slaters and the largers stuff - lets just say it well braced and even then it warps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted April 13, 2011 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 13, 2011 Many thanks both. Seems to have happened on other bonds as well. My old stock is fine, anything bought in the last couple of years is poor. I have ended up throwing a lot away, particularly when using largish panels. Silly me! There was me thinking that my 'English bond' was OK..... until I liiked at it closely. Its been out of line for years John, and no sign of improvement . I use their stone embossed plasticard quite frequently (both New hey and Spotland had shed loads of it on) and I noticed there that the definition on the stone work has deteriorated badly over the last few years - obviously a sign of the moulds getting shot and needing replacement. no sign of that happening though! I'm loathe to recommend the SE Finecast sheets either - on face value they are well defined, in line and when finished look better than the Slaters product. problem seems to be you mek it onto the base laminate of plasticard, and all seems OK. Then a bit later it all warps to bu**ery. Why - well if you turn the other side of the sheet you see it is vacformed and therefore there are air pockets withinn each brick. I am presuming these hold the MEK fumes / residue and hey presto, instant warping. For small jobs Ive gone back to Slaters and the largers stuff - lets just say it well braced and even then it warps. You're right Andy, the moulds must be shot if they're producing stuff like this now. I think that they should rectify it as it just really isn't good enough....fat chance though! Regarding SEF I've used it for Balcombe viaduct sides with a thixotropic (Timebond) glue directly onto the laser cut MDF. I'm hoping to part finish the middle section (1 of 5) for the Taunton RMw meet where I've used this glue, and in view of your experiences I may consider now trying out solvent free 'grab' adhesive to fix the plasicard to the MDF. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I've just got a pack of Slaters EB - drifts about 1mm across the 200mm short side of the A4 sheet. Not too serious but there shouldn't be any. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy C Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I've just got a pack of Slaters EB - drifts about 1mm across the 200mm short side of the A4 sheet. Not too serious but there shouldn't be any. Tragic thing is i dont see them doing anything about it - its a cash cow for them, and people buy it because its plasticard and everyone uses plasticard. Cue a good new manufacturer ! As for SEF I used Evilstick solvent free on it for New Hey's goods shed but that was on a base of 16th ply, braced by battens. Still got a bit of warp but Im not sure how!! At one stage I was going to build a very low relief model of Coral Mill to go at the back of the goods shed which would attach direct onto the backscene (which is in the right position for it) Did a test piece about 18 inches long with a view to getting Geoff (Taylor) to do some factory window etches for it. The base was 40 thou with a top laminate of 30 thou and the raised pillars in between the windows of 30 thou. The whole fascia was braced by a shed load of 4mm wide 30thou uprights at 90degrees to the back, both vertical and horizontal. The SEF EB was then MEK'd on. A week later and I had a banana shaped mill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jim s-w Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Hi chaps Just use double sided tape to laminate sef to whatever you are using. Doesn't warp then Hth Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.