Tomytec buildings

[Guest ___]

It feels just like typical model grade polystyrene.

 

I use to have my master modeler friend, Squid assemble the kits for me, but after a few kits I quickly learned that as far as models go, the Tomytec are incredibly well engineered. Of all the kits I have assembled (about 20 or so) only one had misaligned-warped plastic. This was one of the ryokan models which I found odd since they just released them I would have thoguht the warping would not have occurred on such a new model so soon.

[bill937ca]

I'm still haven't got the tools for doing better work with putting my Tomytec kit together, and that led me to think about what kind of plastic the kits are actually made of so I know what I'm doing. Anyone who knows this?

 

Should say on the bottom back of the package. e.g. ABS, PS

[Densha]

It actually feels different in my opinion than kits from Faller and Pola for example. It feels a bit more 'soft' and flexible, so I thought that it was perhaps some other material or so.

Good idea to look at the box, Bill. I noticed there are two kanji characters following: PS, ABS. And the row below it says パーツ(means 'Parts'): PVC. The PVC parts seem less flexible though and have a different feel to it.

But it's good to know that it's just ordinary plastic and I don't have to use special tools or whatever.

[cteno4]

tomytec doesnt always list the plastics on the package in english, but when they do its ABS mostly and some PS, POM and PVC. most model stuff is now ABS which is a modified polystryene (PS) that has two other monomers in it for different crosslinking traits. Its a bit cheaper and easier to do than pure PS and gives some other things like a bit more bend to things, which may be needed for something that is a pressure fit kit like tomytec than a total glue together like a faller or greenmax kit. Since ABS can vary a lot you will get different appearance/feel depending on the ABS blend of the three monomers. Also some of the feel and look of the plastic is due to the moulds used and how slick they are. Ive noticed tomytec like to always have a bit of tooth to their plastic surface, rarely having really polished, smooth surfaces. also most tomytec stuff has a layer of usually matte paint on it where as the other brand kits are naked plastic. I expect Faller and others still use more PS or ABS closer to PS than the tomytec and some of the newer stuff coming out might.

 

POM and PVC are also used some. usually POM is for the soft, flexible stuff you find usually on detail bits in tomytec kits. Its usually used for little details that need to give a bit for one reason or another. I think tomytec uses it for the detail bits like bushes, etc as it allows the peg end to be able to be made a tad large and have a good pressure fit of the detail part into a base w/o glue. ABS on ABS in this situation would be hard to get the perfect fit to get a good pressure fit joint w/o glue for a detail bit.

 

anyhow tomytec plastic is pretty standard. its gotten a bit cheaper over the years, but all and all not bad and nothing special about the plastic is needed to be known to work with these kits. ABS, PS, PVC, and POM all bond pretty well together with the standard model glues. Its more the glue you have to get use to using, not the plastic. how the glue flows, sticks, squishes out, wicks, dries, and solvates the plastics is the thing that changes mostly.

 

building models like this is all about practice. you just have to do it to get the hang of it and learn techniques for fitting, glueing, and holding your parts while drying as well as getting the feel for how much glueing is needed to hold things properly in the long run.

 

ive probably got 75 tomytec buildings built and for the vast majority there were no issues with them being hard to fit together or bad warping. a few parts had a little warping, but a little bending and prefitting got them good to go. tomytec has a good system of interlocking parts to not even require glue if you dont want to. it works well.

 

only real issue i have had with warping are some of the large flat base plates. this is always going to be an issue with plastic (abs especially) in the long term. none has been horrible and ive been able to correct any of it with some hand bending. hot water would be the other trick if it really needed some reforming.

 

the kind of plastic really does not matter much as most all in tomytec is ps and abs and standard model cements or AC glues will work fine with it. again its just a matter of practice to get a hang of how they glue together and how to hold joints, etc. Most model cements should set up in less than 15 minutes. AC glues will set up in seconds or a few minutes at most. I typically use AC glues on tomytec buildings as they have easy joints and fittings to use AC on for fast assembly.

 

if you are feeling scared of ruining your tomytec on practice, look for a really cheap plastic model of any kind that has a lot of parts and use it to get practice cutting and trimming sprues, fitting different kinds of joints, clamping and gluing, etc. A cheap kit is good as they usually have some cruder moulding that will force you to trim, fit and start thinking about how things go together and the issues to look for. dont get frustrated with it, its just practice to get the hang of things.

 

tools are pretty minimal. good sharp hobby knife, small pair of fine cutters helps for fast sprue cutting (but you can do this with a knife as well), glue, some rubber bands and a few clamps are a nice addition. the clamps listed earlier in this thread can usually be found at your regular hobby shops for $5 or less. you dont need gobs of them unless you plan on building lots of things at once. a pair of fine tweezers (can be had for $1-5) and maybe a pair of gripping forcepts. you can usually find a little set of hobby tweezers for $10 or less that will do you fine to get started and hold small parts.

 

http://www.widgetsupply.com/product/BBK30.html

 

inobu's process is spot on below to follow and the rest is just practice, practice, practice. i say this from probably 45+ years of glueing models together and my fingers to models!

 

tomytecs are one of the best kits to start with though as the assembly is very minimal and what there is has very extensive engineering to make them simple to fit together.

 

one little trick with the tomytec buildings with all the parts being prepainted. some of the prepainted parts that are still on sprues will have little white patches where you trim off the sprue. i cheat and have a bunch of permanent colored art markes i use to fill in this white patch to match the paint. this works about 2/3rds of the time. other times i just take a few toothpicks and mix up cheap craft paint (the kind you can get in the craft store for 2 or 3 for a dollar) to match the colors needed to fill in. pretty fast and easy as you just need a dot of it and it does not have to be absolutely prefect as you rarely would ever see the bit.

 

jeff

[Densha]

of glueing models together and my fingers to models!

Thanks for the post! Even more I asked for, but even better. My Tomytec station will be a test practice anyway, it wasn't that expensive (though cheap is something different) and the part I already did went fairly well. Though another part didn't but now I understand what I did wrong I'm sure it will go better. I'm only a bit concerned about the glue, but I think it's best to use wooden toothpicks to spread it.

I do have some kit of Pola lying around somewhere that I haven't finished so I could try to use that as practice as well.

[cteno4]

youre welcome, you seemed curious bout the plastics and how these go together!

 

tooth picks are great for glueing! i use the bamboo ones and for thinner AC glues i use the hobby knife to split the tip a few mm to make a little Y fork. this sops up a small drop of the thinner AC glue to apply to parts, other wise the tooth pick wont hold much of any of the thin AC glue. i toss the toothpicks pretty quickly as the glue begins to set on them.

 

using glues out of tubes and applicators takes some practice, just a bit too much pressure on the bottle and too much glue!

 

you can also dab the edges/ends of parts in a blob of glue put on a surface. wax paper is great to use to put dabs of glue on while you are working on things. i just cut up little squares of it to use for a while and toss when the glue starts to get to set.

 

if you ever visit a train show you can usually find partial or opened kits cheap to experiment on. cant say practice enough!

 

jeff

[Densha]

First I'll try to get some handy tools like some tweezers, a vile and such tomorrow and then I hope to restart again soon.

[macdon]

I just received a box today from HS containing some Tomytec structures ............ and after building a few, I would say that I love 'em! No painting and no gluing and still get a good quality structure - cool! :)

 

I already have some Tomix structures, but I think the Tomytec structures are a lot better. 

 

Mardon