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"Crushing" plastic cars?
Topic Started: Jan 8 2010, 06:41 PM (721 Views)
consectari
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Rat king
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A while back, I was looking for some older model vehicles on ebay to add to my wasteland.

I found a set of 12 early 80's models described as tin for $1.99. They looked really bad, but I thought I could "crush" them to make a salvage yard. So I bid and won and for the low low shipping price of $5.00 they were on there way to me.

Sadly, when they arrived, they were plastic and not tin. :frustry:
I wasn't going to spend $5.00 to ship them back for a $1.99 refund, so they sit in my closet.

I could spend a ton of time with a knife carving bends and dents, cutting off rooves, and what have you, but I really don't have the time to spare.

Does anyone have any ideas for giving plastic cars that "crushed" look without spending alot of time on them?

BTW, in case anyone's wondering, I posted in terrain because these were meant to become terrain.
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strangelove
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Wastelander
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What about a quick pass with a blowtorch and then a good stamp? If it's really cheap plastic you could try dropping them in some boiling water to soften them up and then put them in a vice, or give them a good stamping.
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mattblackgod
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Big boss warlord dude!
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I would try either one of strangelove's ideas. Another idea is to take tin foil casts of the cars and palster cast wrecks.
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Ironblood
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Cannie!
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I agree with the flame idea, a zippo type lighter or candle will work. You can get some decent results with plastic fairly easily. Plastic vehicles at this scale is in my opinion sort of a blessing. Heated plastic bends more easily and can look more "scale" if done properly, where diecast vehicles when dented and broken tend to look for the most part like dented and broken small toys.
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dexter
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hi a soldering iron works well on plastic cars ,gives you more control than a blowtorch too.
Dex
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Mr. Clean
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Wasteland Legend/Cat Skinner/Bad Speller/Super Nice Guy B^)
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I second the plaster ca st idea.This how i do most of my wrecked cars and it works out well
There is a tutorial on Terragenisis that is very good.
Brian



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RavenFeast
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Mutant Hunter
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Hmm. How about 30 seconds with a blow-dryer set on high, then carefully smush to taste? All the heat with none of the toxic fumes! Wait. Is that a benefit or a detriment? :(|confused:
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consectari
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Rat king
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RavenFeast
Jan 11 2010, 01:39 AM
Hmm. How about 30 seconds with a blow-dryer set on high, then carefully smush to taste? All the heat with none of the toxic fumes! Wait. Is that a benefit or a detriment? :(|confused:
I think I'll give this a try first.

I'd seen the tutorials on making crushed cars with plaster castings, but these were supposed to be tin and that should have made them much less work.

Now that I'm stuck with them, I really wanted to find a way to use them, but they are really bad. They are too short and too wide. Crushing them would have hidden their flaws. Stack a properly scaled car on top of 3-4 awful ones and it wouldn't be too noticable.

Heating seems a reasonable option. If the hair dryer doesn't work, I'll buy a cheap toaster oven from a thrift store and try it outside (wouldn't do to fill the cooking stove with toxins and melted plastic :doh: ).

Thanks guys!
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Ninjamonkey73
Raider
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Extreme heat may be your best bet. Try tossing them in the dryer, just don't tell your wife. Another idea might be using one of those little torch-thingies they use to make fancy desserts. Or maybe toss them in your back-porch grill and squirt some lighter fluid on them. If there are no metal parts, experiment with the microwave... again, wifey doesn't need to know. ;)
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v_lazy_dragon
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Enforcer
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Be careful using open flames on plastic in enclosed enviroments - if it starts burning, it's going to start kicking out all asorts of carceogenic crud. But you should be fine doing it outside :)
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