Styrene suggestions...

[CAPTAIN INSANE-O]

I was building a flat bed for my dodge mega cab build... I originally built it out of sheet steel, but that weighs a bit to much for my liking when the truck already weighs a lot. My idea now is to use a hard plastic bed I have laying around, I still need to lengthen it a few inches... my question is What thickness styrene would you suggest using? and What all do I need to buy to make those styrene extensions? Thanks for any help or suggestions you can give me

[CAPTAIN INSANE-O]

ALSO... the thickness of the bed I need to extend is about 1/16 of an inch thick if that would help with suggestions.

[reddevildemo]

For structural strength I always use .060. It will be close to the stock thickness. You can also get away with thinner and layer it to help with the bed sides and matching the factory curve.

[CAPTAIN INSANE-O]

Could I get away with bending the .060 styrene to match the bed curve? or would layering be the better way to go? if so how thick should I get the styrene for layering? Thank you by the way

[j-bird]

u could always add a little heat to the .60 and bend it to whatever curve u need..as for layering i'd choose a .20 ..but if it was me id go witht he bent .60..as for beefing it up i'd go around the bottom with some square tubing plastruc or whatever it called it would also give a good scale look ...like a square tubing frame that the bed is mounted on

[CAPTAIN INSANE-O]

Thank you... I think I am going to go with the .060 and bend it... I need this to be as strong as possible, so I'll go with that and then re-enforce it with some braces and some frame like structures length wise down the insides of the sides I'm extending.

Next question I have is... What is this green crap people use & then sand down to smooth it all out flush with the pre-exsisting body? and my second question is what do you bond all of this together with?

[j-bird]

well that green stuff is a body filler..i forget the name its basically the same as bondo spot filler u can get at walmart or a auto parts store..i use usc icing its the best hands down but it cost like 35bux for a 24oz tube and hardner it self levels and leaves no pinholes(air holes)..well worth the money if ur gonna be doing alot of styrene work or if you want to have the best quality..it dont chip and fall off ur seems like the bondo or green stuff does when it flexes..as for glueing it together i use plastrucstyrene/abs solvent it melts the joint and makes them 2 peices into 1..after that u can glue the back of the joints with shoe goo for a bulletproof joint..itll flex and hold up to punishment and u get shoe goo at walmart also..as for the plastruc solvent check out ebay or just google plastruct styrene solvent it should bring up the websites for it..it great stuff

[CAPTAIN INSANE-O]

Thank you man, That covered just about all the questions I had. I'll buy the styrene this weekend probably and I'll look for those other items while I'm out. but Tonight I'll start cutting the bed apart & preping it for the extension. Thank you for your help it was very helpful & will allow me to continue with my build Thank you.

[j-bird]

not a problem if you need anything else dont hesitate to ask i'm very happy to help a fellow scaler..i wish you the best of luck...take ur time and be patient...like the saying goes measure twice and cut once lol...have a good one