ORGANIZING THE USEFUL MATERIAL

To organize the useful material you must check if you have all the needed tools and substances cousins within which you plan to work. If no, try to acquire it form stores or garbage. After this check, you will need to see if it is necessary to do any work on some of the substances cousins for its correct storage and use.

Following there are some important tips to do that:

Beer can, kitchen oil can or soft drink can

It exists several can types with distinct thickness, around there, being possible to find fine and fragile beer cans that are incapable to support folds. They exist, on the other hand, thick and very difficult to be worked cans. I have tested some can types, before starting to gather them as useful material, and I just prefer to store them cut in can sheets.

You need to handle the can sheets with care because its alloy is hard and this characteristic made them sharp, offering a high risk of accidents. If possible, you must use gloves when handling them

I also recommend to keep only one specific scissors for the work with can. (It can be any scissors type or size sufficient resistant to cut the can, but you must only cut can with it, in order to not blind the other scissors you use with another materials.

Cardboard

There are some cardboard types in the market. Some of them are very flexible, and others are very firm. In general, a firm and coarse cardboard can be found on leather shops: The ‘Panama’. It will be sold according to their weight in g/m³, but it isn’t very adequate to the coating of models. The cardboard found in stationery stores also is very firm and fragile, in the majority of times. Usually, the best papers are the low weight cardboards that can easily be found in general product packings, like the cereals or the shoes boxes, among others. The cardboard of detergent boxes, or of still humid packed products will be, however, inadequate for our use in the majority of times.

It must be considered that some impermeable papers may have advantageous behavior in some straight-line pieces that cannot suffer warping. It is common to get this type of deformation when we apply white glue on the cardboard. This material gets inflated in the wet points. See that the glue’s surface will dry before the cardboard, offering resistance to the return of the part to the original size. Thus, the piece will warp. On other hand, the impermeable papers offer low tack to the glue in its smooth face. This occurs because the fluids of the glue can’t flow among the paper’s fibers. As a result, you will only glue the paper surface. When this occurs, small tensions and movements can be capable to separate the glued faces. If this problem to occur in a still ready and painted part of a model, the result will be disastrous and very difficult to repair.

To choose the cardboard is an important step in the materials organization. It must be fine and flexible for coating, it must absorb part of the applied glue among their fibers, and it need to be easy to cut. When you’re making multi planar cross structures, it can be interesting to use impermeable cardboard, even so, exists other ways to prevent deformations: Corrugated cardboard can still be used to make multi planar cross structures.

Normally the general product packings have a waxed or impermeable face (waterproofed and colorful face), and an internal rough face. This type of cardboard will present problems when we try to glue it. Therefore, each face warps in a specific way. Unhappily, this is the easiest fine cardboard you can find out there... But don’t worry; you need not to be looking all your life for the perfect cardboard. It is useful, although to prepare this material for use. In such a way, we must remove the impermeable layer of the cardboard with aid of a fine sandpaper. You do not need to remove any signal of ink, plastic or wax of the cardboard sheet. Just sand it to get a rough face. Remember, although, that the preparation of the cardboard must be made immediately before its use, because to storage it with its waterproof layer guarantees greater durability.

Corrugated paper

For some applications you may want to use corrugated paper. See that it isn’t necessary to buy it in stationery stores or artistic materials stores. This type of paper can be gotten of the corrugated cardboard, that in the truth is an anti-chock paper mainly used for packaging.

EVA

The EVA is the acronym for ‘etileno vinil acetato’ and is a synthetic rubber used for manufacture of shoes soles. This material absorbs most of the impact deformations very well and is of easy work. Its storage demands, however, some care. The exposition of the EVA to the minor pressures can deform it at long time; it will assume a definitive shape, ruining the material. It is convenient not to support anything heavy on it, even if it seems irresistible to leave that difficult to storage rubber at the bottom of all remaining materials you have...

Storage trough the time

All the material used in the manufacture of the alternative models has a definite lifetime, with rare exceptions.

Perhaps, of the entire materials list, the wood and the cans are the only materials that can be stored during much time, and without special care.

The paper and the cardboard quickly lose its mechanical characteristics when badly stored. Even if well accommodated, these materials will lose their elasticity and flexibility with few years.

Glues and inks have their lifetime informed in their packings, but they can still function after their lifetime stated period. Remember that, in these conditions, you will be running in risk to lose material, and worse, your work. Moreover, the ‘dead’ white glue will present a horrible smell!

The polyethylene almost does not suffer perceivable natural decomposing during the human lifetime, but throughout many years of storage the material can lose their brightness and start to become rough. Don’t worry about this problem. On the other hand, a very serious physical consuming of the material will occur if it is badly stored. For example, if you constantly keep the polyethylene into movement, it will get scratched. If the material will be rolled pressed, it will appear small crunches on their surface within few days. If the material will be stored totally static trough long time, it will lose its elasticity. Moreover, you must keep the polyethylene in a shadowed place and free from impacts. Since it, you will need to uncurl the material with a constant time basis, if it is stored in rolls, or you may try to keep it as pilled-up sheets.

Higiene

All the material, either wood, paper, cardboard, cans and plastics must be stored in a dry and clean place. It is best if the storage place is aired, and skips direct light, but avoid completely dark places. This will prevent the appearance of fungus, moths and mouses that will spoil the material. The exposition to the humidity will be harmful to the paper, cardboard, can and to the wood. The incidence of direct solar light will dry up the cellulose, turning the paper yellow. It will become fragile too. Finally, the polyethylene will be destroyed with time, if exposed to direct solar light.

The appearance of mouses, moths and fungus are unhygienic. I think I do not need to say such a thing, heim!?