Read the labels

[ezdays]

I was building a small office structure for my N scale fuel depot challenge (yeah, months later but I'm still at it), and I was wondering why I was having so many problems with the  sheet plastic I was using. I had some leftover Plas-Tex that I thought would be ideal, it was textured on one side, smooth on the other, cut easilly and was .060" thick. I had rolled up what I had left so to didn't take up as much room, and it sat that way in the garage for the best part of a year.

First of all, the parts I cut out had curves in most of the walls and roof that would not flatten out, even though the building dimensions were only 2" x 4" x 2". The second thing that was problematic was gluing the pieces. I tried several different solvent-based glues and none of them seemed to stick. Some wouldn't adhere to the plastic, others seemed to bond, then the parts would come apart easily after the glue dried. Even "Crazy Glue", didn't work well.

Well, I went out to the garage and luckily the label was still on the back of what was left of the sheet. I think it is self-explanatory why I was having these problems. You can also see what happens when you don't follow directions. :oops:  :oops:

Amazing what information the manufacturer gives you when you take the time to read it....

Yes, I did scrap the structure, yes I will redo it, no, I won't make the same mistakes this time.   
I just thought I'd post this and possibly save someone else the frustration and embarrassment that I went through.  

   
   

[MasonJar]

Thanks Don. That's a great public service. Saves the rest of us from having to read the directions!

Reminds me of "Let us now bow our heads as we recite the Men's Prayer.... I'm a man, and I can change, if I have to, I guess." - Red Green (as seen in Canada and on PBS in the USA)




Andrew

[zstripe]

Ezdays,
It appears to me anyway, that the use of that one word, ( READ) seems to be missing in our Society these days.
Cheers,
Frank, zstripe

[teejay]

Reminds me of the green lumber I foolishly bought a few years ago to , uh, " save some money " ..........course , after I went out and spent more money on the proper kiln dried lumber , it didn't save much

I find myself not reading destructions all the time so thanks for the reminder .

T

[sailormatlac]

Once got a few 4'x8' styrene sheet for a few bucks at a plastic dealers... It was clearance. Sheets were rolled up for months in the store. Now they are permanently curved for 3 years!

You get what you paid for.

Matt

[ezdays]

You know, the irony in all this is that my background is engineering and I have a tendency to read the manuals that come with a product. I have written my share of instruction manuals as well, so I know what they're all about. I have learned that reading such boring things as CC&Rs, legal contracts, medical data and yes, instruction manuals can save you all sorts of grief later on. But hey, in this case, plastic is plastic, it was soft and white, so I thought PVC. We all make assumptions at times, sometime they're right, other times they're not. In this case, it the label also shows that it's "recycled plastic", which can be a mixture of anything.

FYI, I cannot cut through that "coating" so I think it's embedded in the plastic, but I did manage to flatten out some of it with a heat gun and sandwich it between some heavy boards, and so here comes the Liquid Nails...

[ezdays]

Once got a few 4'x8' styrene sheet for a few bucks at a plastic dealers... It was clearance. Sheets were rolled up for months in the store. Now they are permanently curved for 3 years!

You get what you paid for.

Matt

There's this lady judge on TV (not Judge Judy) and one of here favorite sayings is"cheap can turn out to be expensive". Like you, I have learned the hard way in the past. In this case, a 4' x 8' sheet was around $22 at Home Depot. Compare that to the cost of a small 6" x 6" sheet of styrene at your LHS and it sounds like a real bargain. Especially since I already had the stuff, so it was basically free.

[sailormatlac]

Once got a few 4'x8' styrene sheet for a few bucks at a plastic dealers... It was clearance. Sheets were rolled up for months in the store. Now they are permanently curved for 3 years!

You get what you paid for.

Matt

There's this lady judge on TV (not Judge Judy) and one of here favorite sayings is"cheap can turn out to be expensive". Like you, I have learned the hard way in the past. In this case, a 4' x 8' sheet was around $22 at Home Depot. Compare that to the cost of a small 6" x 6" sheet of styrene at your LHS and it sounds like a real bargain. Especially since I already had the stuff, so it was basically free.

My old boss is always saying the same this as this judge... everyday! The guy got 45 years of experience in architecture practice and customers laugh when he says it... until they find out it's true too late!

I got my sheets for 5$ each... When I think back, they really wanted to get rid of this useless material at any cost! I had to over brace some structures to be sure it wouldn't warp to badly. At least, the styrene is usable for small part and kitbashing purpose...

Matt

[BR60103]

Reminds me of "Let us now bow our heads as we recite the Men's Prayer.... I'm a man, and I can change, if I have to, I guess." - Red Green (as seen in Canada and on PBS in the USA) Andrew

Red also said "First thing you do is destroy the instructions. Then you can claim it didn't come with any."

[zstripe]

Reminds me of "Let us now bow our heads as we recite the Men's Prayer.... I'm a man, and I can change, if I have to, I guess." - Red Green (as seen in Canada and on PBS in the USA) Andrew

Red also said "First thing you do is destroy the instructions. Then you can claim it didn't come with any."

David,
It appears to me anyway! A lot of people, especially on another Model Railroad forum must watch Red a lot, for that is the favorite line used, when asking for advice.
Cheers,
Frank, zstripe

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Well, you can always make Quonset Huts and airplane hangars with that stuff!

[ezdays]

Well, you can always make Quonset Huts and airplane hangars with that stuff!

Yeah, just as long as you don't have to glue the parts together...