Hi all,

Look to do some re-styling work on one of my cars. Would like to mock up some parts in polystyrene before taking a fibreglass mould of them and then producing the parts (obviously the buck/mould will be rough but I can tidy up the final parts, they're only one offs). I'm having trouble trying to source large polystyrene blocks at a sensible price though. I'm thinking somewhere around 100cm long, 50cm wide and 50cm deep.

If anybody has any ideas please let me know!

Thanks!

Builders merchants.


ETA..... I read the OP wrong but you could still get some thick sheets from the builders yard and clag them together....

[Edited on 7/6/13 by owelly]

I do remember someone using one of those expanding foam cans (the sort that bad plumbers use to fill in big gaps in brickwork), just dumping the whole contents into an approximately sized container and then waiting for it to go off. Seemed quite a workable substance after it had dried.

You could just spray it direct on to the car or location where you want to remodel, then trim to suit?

It is called Kingspan and is available in 8 x 4' sheets any thickness you like.

The cheapest is on ebay as damaged sheets usually at corners.

[Edited on 7/6/13 by theprisioner]

Never seen kingspan that thick.

What about contacting a manufacturer so see if they have any reject blocks.

e.g. http://expanded-polystyrene.co.uk/expanded-polystyrene-block.htm

We buy lots at work for formwork. 2440x1220x300mm. Comes from the likes of Eccleston and Hart (who make polystyrene) and Styro-tech, who are great to deal with. We also deal with several other people who have CNC machines for profiling, such as Poly Scot.

Shipping is always awkward because of the size / weight.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that we buy HD polystryene as it can be surformed and gives a good finish. Builders merchant stuff is crap and comes apart in giant lumps

[Edited on 7/6/13 by deezee]

some art shops sell this aswell..

Rather try get polyurethane foam from insulation suppliers, this is resistant to resin.

Cheers

Fred W B

If you're buying in fibreglass and resin, get some 2 part polyurethane foam, make a wooden box big enough, mix the liquids, pour it in, leave for a few hours or overnight, come back to a massive foam block



[Edited on 12/6/13 by blakep82]