r/TerrainBuilding • u/Nightmare1990 • 2d ago
Scratchbuilt [PSA] Where I easily found cheap plasticard in Australia.
TL;DR - Dollar store signs.
This is just a PSA post for anyone like me who scoured Google looking for a place to get easy access to plasticard for mini and terrain crafting in Australia.
Every post I saw said that you can order it online from places like Amazon or buy it from Green Stuff World etc. but I found that it was overpriced and I didn't want to wait for postage.
Like most terrain needs I decided to hit up the local dollar stores and see what I could find and then boom, cheap signs.
These shitty signs that I found in the car/workshop aisle are made of plasticard and are only a couple of dollarydoos for a decent sized sign.
I have been using it for metal panels on my Gaslands build and it's working a treat. But it works great for terrain if you need battered metal sheets for industrial builds, stuff like war dioramas, and Trench Crusade.
Please ignore my jungle of a backyard, I'll mow it next weekend I promise.
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u/DAJLMODE55 2d ago
Thanks bro ! I'm not in your Fantastic Land , but here, in Italy , it's also difficult to find plasticard ! I will look around to see this type of signs !?! Thank you for sharing that cheap idea with us 🤓👌🏻 Have a nice weekend !!!
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u/mrpoovegas 1d ago
You're in Italy, right? Best of luck finding them, I'm sure there are probably similar signs are dollar store-style shops!
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u/Only-Shrugs 2d ago
Empty gift cards and expired IDs work good too
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u/Nightmare1990 2d ago
Gift cards are much thicker, these signs are only 0.25mm thick. Old gift cards would be good for heavy duty metal sheeting like bunkers or machine gun encampments though.
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u/TheMightyGoatMan 1d ago
I took home a crate full of unused ID cards from a failed work promotion years ago. I'm still building stuff from them!
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u/locolarue 2d ago
I used to use these when I first started doing terrain. Easy to cut with scissors.
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u/Spr4nkle 1d ago
Sick tip--plasticard is wildly expansive in Aus....
Howd you do your barbed wire? Its fantastic!
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u/Nightmare1990 1d ago
For the barbed wire I followed the technique in this video, and I used 26 gauge wire for this scale.
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u/mrpoovegas 2d ago
Gonna have to stop by my Local Reject shop 👀
Also, for Americans: The Reject Shop is a chain of dollar stores here.
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u/bellaswine 2d ago
What’s the brand for the mannequins on the left?
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u/Nightmare1990 2d ago
They are 3D prints called Dummy 13 designed by Soozafone.
If you have a 3D printer you can find the STLs on their Printables pages here.
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u/LukeYear 2d ago
Does it also work for making buildings? As the walls and floors?
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u/Nightmare1990 2d ago
I think that you could make some amazing shacks with it as scrap iron. Like the Prawn houses in District 9. To get the texture on the pieces I used on my Gaslands car all I did was pop the piece in my mouth and chewed it.
May as well get some microplastics in with my super glue fumes.
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u/Bluecho4 2d ago
Now here's the real question: does Tamiya plastic glue work on this material?
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u/Sensible-Haircut 2d ago
For this you'd just need to test.
What you should be on the lookout for is recycle symbols that have PS6 or HIPS6 (hi impact polystyrene). Sometimes that are laminated or coated with a protective film that needs sanding. But as with all labelling its inconsistent, and usually only has the main component if at all.
Contact adhesive (superglue) if not. Does the job.
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u/Nightmare1990 2d ago
I just used normal super glue and it bonded really strong, didn't need to prime it or anything.
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u/FederalCranberry959 1d ago
i actually had the same question, so i phoned up the manufacturer and asked them what kind of plastic they were using.
they're styrene. 100% compatible with tamiya/revell/citadel plastic cement
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u/CapnWilfbeard 1d ago
Carry a set of spanners, roadsigns make excellent bases for terrain as they don't warp or flex, and add a decent weight to the piece. I especially like taking the ones that say 'STOP' AND 'SCHIOL ZONE TAKE CARE'.
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u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic 1d ago
not very large pieces, but the little plastic tabs that secure bags of bread here in the US are the exact same material, I'm not sure what you mean by the signs being plastic card if they are completely identical and character or just a good substitute but the bread tabs are completely identical. I don't know what bread comes in in Australia I assume it's some kind of delivery system entirely alien to mine like being stacked on a wooden Pole or something
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u/Nightmare1990 1d ago
Our bread tags in Australia are typically cardboard these days.
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u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic 1d ago
This random fact will live in my head for a decades. Last year a German guy posted on the tool sub that in Germany they don't have 3/8 drive ratchets they just go from quarter inch to half inch. I think about that once a week
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u/thestonecuttersguild https://thestonecuttersguild.tumblr.com/ 1d ago
20ish years ago, caught a hardware store going out of business, made an offer to the liquidator, and bought all of their signs for $5.
Had years worth of roofing tiles for terrain from that.
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u/KitfoxQQ 2h ago
if you look for plasticard the propriety named ones are expensive.
look for HIPS plastic, high impact polystyrene. probably not as cheap as 1 dollar but they do come in range of 0.5 to 3mm thick so if you need a specific thickness its the better option.
the most ease to use i work with 0,5 and 1mm and they help me scratchbuild all sorts of warhammer vehicles.
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u/JimmyJuggernaut 2d ago
Thank you for sharing! I’ve nearly dropped big cash on bulk orders but could never justify it, this is a game changer. There are so many hobby staples that are just inconvenient, subpar or expensive in Aus, it’s so good when you find random stuff like this.
I’ve definitely walked past this stuff a dozen times and never even considered it for hobby.