Hard foam to stick cocktail sticks into for part painting

[bigdave146]

Hello !

Sorry for the woefully bad description in the subject !! I am looking to find where I can buy the pieces of hard foam that Paul uses in his tutorial videos. He mounts the parts for spraying onto cocktail sticks and sticks them into the foam. I cant work out what the correct description might be for them so i can look at the usual model shops / eBay / Amazon...

Hope this makes sense !!

Dave

[Paul]

They are made by ustar but I'm having trouble locating them

[bigdave146]

Thanks for your reply Paul !! In the past I have left parts on a small bit of sprue and held that in one of the clips on the Tamiya painting stand, but that always leaves some finishing up to do after. I love your tip to drill a small hole and mount on a cocktail stick !! I will keep looking, otherwise I will have to use a small bit of Celotex foam insulation from my shed.....

[bigdave146]

Hobbycraft and other places seem to do 10mm thick foamboard so I might pop into the store in Reading to get some to try it out....

[digger303]

Is this the stuff your after.
https://www.foamboards.com.au/What-is-Foam-Board
https://tradewarehouse.com.au/more/depr ... white.html .......thicker pieces with a coating both sides.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/U-Star-Alli ... 2840875059
this just looks to be ordinary polystyrene

[AlexBB]

These are the ones..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/USTAR-U-STAR-T ... Swla9cnEC7

[digger303]

These are the ones..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/USTAR-U-STAR-T ... Swla9cnEC7

Gotcha.
these ones.............. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Model-Hobby-Pa ... 0010.m2109

[MarkSzeman]

Alternatively

UK

USA

Get a big piece for less than the price of that tiny one, cut into multiple pieces and you have part storage for dayz.

I didn't put the link to Bunnings as the only thing they have was 12 bucks but sill you get the idea, im sure you can get something similar to the others for less, I hear Bunnings is quite expensive anyway

[digger303]

Alternatively

UK

USA

Get a big piece for less than the price of that tiny one, cut into multiple pieces and you have part storage for dayz.

I didn't put the link to Bunnings as the only thing they have was 12 bucks but sill you get the idea, im sure you can get something similar to the others for less, I hear Bunnings is quite expensive anyway

I have been looking for that type of insulating board here, but so far haven't been successful. The other types of foam board does seem to be way more expensive than it should be here then you add on freight and it's way over the top.
Bunnings is expensive for some items...you just have to be aware.

[MarkSzeman]

I was lucky, they were doing work on the next door neighbours house and they had a few panels left over and they kindly gave me 2 so im set for life
I like looking for alternatives, unfortunately allot of the hobby craft manufacturers jut take items that are mundane everyday items you can get elsewhere, they just slap their brand on it and repackage with less items per package and charge hobbyists a premium.

Tamiya does it with the cutting tools, all Tamiya cutting tools are made by OLFA, they just slap a Tamiya logo on the side, give you 5-10 pieces less of the consumables in the package and charge 10-20% more for it because its ooooh "Tamiya"
I did a search recently on getting the blades direct from OLFA, and either at a distributor or Aliexpress you can get more blades per package for less, and its the exact same thing!!

It's like that with allot of things, the cotton buds they do for example, silly money for anything from 10-50 pcs per package, when they are basically glamorously packaged surgical swabs, which if you go to the medical supply store to buy you can get 100 in a box for no more than 2-3 dollars !! .. And those are on wooden sticks, when you finish with the swab, don't throw it away snap the swab off the end and presto, wooden stick to mount things to for painting...
Keep a wary eye fellow hobbyists

[digger303]

I was lucky, they were doing work on the next door neighbours house and they had a few panels left over and they kindly gave me 2 so im set for life
I like looking for alternatives, unfortunately allot of the hobby craft manufacturers jut take items that are mundane everyday items you can get elsewhere, they just slap their brand on it and repackage with less items per package and charge hobbyists a premium.

Tamiya does it with the cutting tools, all Tamiya cutting tools are made by OLFA, they just slap a Tamiya logo on the side, give you 5-10 pieces less of the consumables in the package and charge 10-20% more for it because its ooooh "Tamiya"
I did a search recently on getting the blades direct from OLFA, and either at a distributor or Aliexpress you can get more blades per package for less, and its the exact same thing!!

It's like that with allot of things, the cotton buds they do for example, silly money for anything from 10-50 pcs per package, when they are basically glamorously packaged surgical swabs, which if you go to the medical supply store to buy you can get 100 in a box for no more than 2-3 dollars !! .. And those are on wooden sticks, when you finish with the swab, don't throw it away snap the swab off the end and presto, wooden stick to mount things to for painting...
Keep a wary eye fellow hobbyists

We need a dedicated resource page to highlight these cheaper replacements..... with links to point us in the right direction. Not branded modeling products cause it will get way out of hand
What do think ?

[MarkSzeman]

I was thinking the exact same thing mate, but maybe an idea thread would be good. Seeing as peeps here are from all over the world people get things from different places, having links to things would also get out of hand and they might possibly expire over time.

Like a thread with info. on what people use the in place of "x" branded product thats just the same.

Maybe a "real world modelling supplies" or "modelling supplies hacks"

[digger303]

I was thinking the exact same thing mate, but maybe an idea thread would be good. Seeing as peeps here are from all over the world people get things from different places, having links to things would also get out of hand and they might possibly expire over time.

Like a thread with info. on what people use the in place of "x" branded product thats just the same.

Maybe a "real world modelling supplies" or "modelling supplies hacks"

We need friendly admin type.................DO we know any

[bigdave146]

Thanks for all your help guys. I managed to get some Celotex 25mm hard foam insulation from a builder friend, and I dont think I will be running out of it too soon !!! The USTAR foam looks good but its a small piece !!! I am all for a thread of how to make really useful modelling tools/widgets from other materials, there are so many of you experienced modellers, that there must be a ton of things people do to make it easier !!!
Dave

[WordenB]

It's that time of year in the UK when garden kneel pads are available in your local supermarket/pound shop. I cut them up into more manageable sizes which means an 18 x 10 cm pad works out at less than 40p! The foam holds cocktail sticks or larger bbq skewers beautifully and is almost self healing so lasts forever.

[Quax]

If your local TV seller does set up and removal of waste ask them if they have some because new tvs usually come packed in polystyrene blocks. Alternatively use it as an excuse to buy that 65" flatscreen you've always wanted ...

Paul

[WordenB]

Nice thinking! The trouble with polystyrene is that it falls to bits before long, the kneeler foam is more of a closed cell type which just keeps on giving. Not that I will ever find out but maybe high end tvs come packed in the same!

[Joker56]

I use a cardboard cat scratch pad, check your local pet shop buddy

[Panzón]

I make my own holders out of scrap corrugated cardboard or coroplast:

[dogsbody]

I've got an old piece of blue foam insulation that would make a lot of those. It's about 3 feet wide and 5 feet long.


Chris

[chops1sc]

I used to use floral foam but it eventually turns to crumbs and bakes a total mess. I like the kneeling foam but I have TONS of cardboard thanks to our Amazon addiction.....