Paper Model questions

[doctorwayne]

I've not printed my own buildings, but I have used the ones from KingMill Enterprises.
I mount them on .060" sheet styrene, using gelled contact cement. The styrene is braced with strips of the same material, allowing the low-relief building to stand otherwise unsupported. The background flats generally need to lean against something, and I've noticed some warping of them, too. :?

Here's the braced rear face of a flat:



To apply the paper, first the styrene is prepped with a coat of lacquer thinner - this prevents the plastic from drawing too much thinner out of the contact cement:





After it's been coated, it's set aside while the contact cement is applied to the backs of the cut-out paper images. Then, the prepped styrene surface is coated with contact cement:



Here's some styrene flats and their corresponding paper images, all sitting while the contact cement dries:



To apply the paper to the styrene (this will work for almost any sheet material application to a large surface using contact cement), first cover the styrene with a sheet of waxed paper, then lay the paper in its approximate position:



Align the edges: here, the bottom edge is aligned, while the paper still needs to be slid to the left somewhat. Note that the waxed paper isn't covering the bottom edge of the styrene, but its thickness is preventing the paper from touching the glued surface:



With everything lined-up, the bottom edge of the paper is pressed onto the styrene - bonding is immediate on contact and is permanent. :



With the lower edge secured, the waxed paper can be slowly withdrawn, making sure to follow along with finger pressure to prevent trapped air bubbles between the paper and the styrene:





...and finally, the paper image secured:



The next step is to paint any exposed styrene edges on the top or sides. I use a brush and PollyScale paint, mixed to match the printed image.
Here are a few of them, mostly just set onto the layout to see how they look:












Wayne