Hello YouTube, this’s Frank from architectural aesthetics.
Today in this video, I want to share with you guys my experiences of working with plexiglass,
or acrylic glass when making architectural models.
Using this type of material is mandatory if you wish to discuss transparency in your model.
However, since this material is relatively more expensive and harder to cut than your
generic white paper based materials, acquiring the correct tools and methods is going to
save you a lot of time and mental energy comparing to delving into it blindly.
In today’s footages, I’m showing you the making process of a detailed section model
of our “book-less library” proposal, I’ll link the proposal in the description box.
This model was crafted by my partner Brian Xu, and as you can see from the shots, it
was very elegantly made, the irregular geometrical patterns within the double paned glass is
crystal clear and devoid of any glue-marks.
Right off the bat, you ought to have a durable cutting mat to protect your working surface,
and a straight edge for you to guide your knife while cutting.
Our studio cutting table is scarred with cuts, but we are not responsible for that.
Secondly, if the purpose of plexiglass material in your model is not load bearing, I would
recommend buying the thinnest ones you can find in your local art store.
This is because plexi thicker than 0.3 mm require a designated scorer, and takes tremendous
efforts to cut.
As you can see in this clip, I was using a scorer to cut a 0.5 mm plexiglass, it took
me several hard strokes to make the incision, and since I had to snap it off, the margin
of error was relatively big.
On the contrary, in this clip my partner was able to make very clean cuts on a 0.2 mm plexi
sheet with a simple olfa knife.
Moreover it is imperative to choose a thinner plexi material when you want to make small
and precise cuts, as Brian is doing in this clip.
Cutting small pieces like these off of thick plexiglas sheets would be a total nightmare.
Another tip for cutting plexiglass is that when you’re making tick marks to determine
the dimension of the piece you want to cut, it’s better to do it on the protective membrane
that comes with the plexi sheets.
I used to take the protectives right off completely, but as you can see Brian has been pealing
it off gradually, piece by piece, and did all the markings on it.
This way it is ensured that the plexi is not scratched.
As for the adherents for putting together plexiglass, though you can use white glue
or super glue, however neither of these is ideal.white glue tends to leave ugly glue
marks after dried, and superglue smudges the surface.
I recommend something called methylene chloride.
I normally just call it plexi cement.
It’s a form of translucent liquid, which attaches pieces of plexiglass together by
eroding their surfaces.
One word of caution is that it’s evaporative and toxic, so be sure to work in a well ventilated
space and never get this stuff in your eyes.
Other than that this cement is perfect for working with plexiglass.
As you can see you just hold your pieces temporarily in place using transfer tapes, and apply the
cement carefully with the small brush that comes with it.
Then after several minutes they’ve been successfully adhered.
It’s worth mentioning that this cement is not suitable for pieces that are going to
bear weight , super glue is better equipped for that purpose.
The rest of the model was much easier to construct comparing to the glass portion.
I’m not including the footages here because it’s not pertained to today’s topic.
Lastly I want to point out that small scaled figures can be a great addition to your model,
they’re relatively expensive, but the plus side is that you can recycle them for repeated
use.
Alright guys, I hope you’ve found today’s content informative, please like, share, comment,
and subscribe to the channel, and I’ll see you in the next video, byebye.