My mum collects dolls and I want to make boxes for her to display them in. I don't want to buy ready made boxes, they are too expensive and don't come in the sizes that she needs. Can anyone help me out here? (NSW Australia).Where can I buy sheets of clear flexible plastic?
Commercial clear packaging, like CD boxes and doll enclosures, is usually polystyrene, which is moldable and inexpensive but scratches super-easily. It's not typically for sale in any useable thickness. Home improvement stores sell tons of not just replacement glass for windows, but also plexiglass (Lucite) and polycarbonate (Lexan). Lexan is super-hard and super-expensive. Plexi might be your best bet.
Special hook-shaped knives are used to score the plastic repeatedly (start lightly and build up pressure with each successive pass) so that the plastic will break with pressure applied to the underside of the score. Sharp table and countertop edges work well for this. Be CAREFUL and at the very least wear safety goggles! I've had shards fly up off a poor score line as well as a shifted table edge. To be competent at clear plastic sheeting is to be experienced and well-practiced.
Plastruct brand clear and white model plastic, including polystyrene sheeting, is too thin in general for what you want - it's at model shops - but they do sell the solvent meant to weld plastics together clearly and seamlessly. The use of those solvents requires extreme skill! I'd suggest assembly with clear silicone, much like aquariums are seamed, and a lot of patience, as silicone can take 24 hours to cure per seam. There's nothing odd at all about spreading a line of silicone or non-crazing (non-whitening to plastics) super glue on scrap paper and dabbing one of the plastic edges to be glued in it. you might be able to perfect an almost-invisible seam this way... Finally, I'd suggest all seams being glued be parallel to the ground, if not also at the lowest point, so that any excess glue flows along the seam or drips out, as opposed to pooling on one edge or dripping across the sheet.
P.S.: You could always use tiny sections of dowel rods (like toothpicks and q-tip handles) to make a raised edge on a wooden board to keep the finished display assembly from sliding on its base.Where can I buy sheets of clear flexible plastic?
you do want to make it hard on yourself, don't you? why not a display case instead? group the dolls as it suits you. you can even decorate their environment. its easier to do.
if you insist, try clear acrylic bought at almost any hardware store. its cheap and easy to use. use a sealant to join the edges. cutting them to size is another matter, though. take del's instructions and caution to heart. you need them specially if your going to do the cutting manually.
hobby lobby
Try Spotlight or Lincraft craft stores.
Or try Ebay - You may have to use search terms like acetate etc... ans you might have to make them up yourself.
You might even be able to find flat packed clear boxes in places like the Reject Shop or $2 clearance stores etc etc...
Good luck.
Try this site
http://plasticwebsite.com.au/nsw_plastic鈥?/a>
The other answers are from the good 'ol U.S.A so don't be mad at them.
Good luck!
Easy as pie! You can buy plexiglass at any hardware store and some clear apoxy type glue to piece it together.
CHeck your local home improvement store. They call in plexiglass. Its plastic and they should be able to cut it to your desired length and width.
Y ou can get (PLEXIGLASS) at your local hardware
Acrylic glass may be suitable for what you need, and you can get that from your local hardware shop, like Bunnings, Mitre 10, etc. I'm not sure how pricey it is though!
Home Depot, Lowe's, ACE Hardware and many others.... Plexiglass
