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Great sources! I have begun collecting my own based on your thoughts. Already made my first scratch built window for a B-17G using a hair dryer and forming thin plastic from a product package that contained batteries. I formed the new one over the original that I had hopelessly clouded.I finally took the time to find the box of parts that I had mentioned in the other thread (a little dusty from years of disuse) and laid them out to give an idea of what I was talking about.
The vast majority of the items are of a styrene composition, so are immediately compatible in a project. A few other items are still plastic based and would be workable with alternate adhesives.
So a quick rundown of what's shown in the photo:
Top-center: old battery operated aquarium housing and "tank" - all styrene
Top-right: Compact Disk "jewel" cases - all styrene
Underneath the Jewel Cases is a remnant of an Acrylic sheet - I used this to create a 1/32 "rollaway" toolbox.
Top-left: diecast car display bases - reacts like styrene
Next to the diecast bases is a thin plastic display case (half clear, half colored) - all styrene
Lower-left: display windows from electronic devices (DVD players, Stereos, etc.), lots of great colors (clear, smoke, etc) or good for thin, flat material.
Center and Center-left: odds and ends like old clearance markers from a boat trailer (older ones were comparable to styrene), an old DVD player front fascia (display, button surround) that's opaque and has styrene properties, medicine bottles, a clear piece of plastic that came from a display package - while it's not styrene, it is firm and works well for windows and other applications. And lastly, there were a few old matchsticks left over from another project - these are great if building a diorama and "lumber" or fenceposts are needed.
Anyway, in short - there's a ton of stuff around the house that can come in handy!
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Nice! With a little work something similar could become a display stand I imagine, for an "Inflight" bird.Almost forgot:
While digging out the spare plastic parts box, I also came across a couple of "painting stands" that I had made on the fly when I was doing some 1/32 automobiles about 20 years ago...I completely forgot I had them!
Anyway, I was in a pinch and needed stands for various projects, so I improvised by grabbing some toilet paper tubes and some flat cardboard and glued them in place. Then trimmed the tubes to accommodate the body's shape so they sat secure while being painted. I even put a small dowel through one of them for additional support.
So in essence, they were tossed together with common household items.
I usually tossed out these cardboard stands after I was done painting unless they might be needed for another project...somehow, these two ended up being spared that fate!Nice! With a little work something similar could become a display stand I imagine, for an "Inflight" bird.