This should be a pretty easy one for GW in the UK, every six months they could release a mini for 40k and one for aos that you can get in stores by trading in a certain number of sprues as a loyalty reward/recycling thing. Maybe you would need to keep receipts and the sprues to stop people cheating it.
Or maybe they could start a recycling drive where you turn in X amount of weight on sprue and you get either store credit or some off your next purchase on a rewards card or something. GW could even take the recycled sprue back and remelt it to make new minis.
Heck, I'd take a: Turn in clean empty sprues in a box no larger than x and you get a thank you. ;) But I actually use a lot of my sprues to make debris, fencing, etc.
this sounds nice, but, the major costs of manufacturing are the equipment, not the material. they'd lose money doing this, especially if it needed a new mold that ended up getting low volume of production made out of it. Molds are V E R Y expensive.
I started making models back in the mid 1960's. I'll be 62 in a few months. I used to use the sprues to make all sorts of things. Heating them up with a lighter (yes, it was all I had) you can get them nice and soft, stretch them and turn some sprues into nice, long wires, cables, antennae, trees, posts and building beams. Sprues are one of those 'waste' products that, in my time of frugality, was a sure source of quickly cobbled together items that added something to the models and dioramas I made 'back in the day.' Pretty much everything I did with them required heat of some sort. That said, you can use the sprues for all manner of bits for all the things listed above and more. With a nice hot knife (not a hot wire) you can make them into barrels, tires, wheels, logs, tent poles, fence posts, coiled wire, capstans, bogies, crane supports, legs for large stands, etc. Sprues are usable in many more ways as well, limited only by your imagination. Need a pile of scrap metal parts? Sprues to the rescue! Missing that one bit of oddly shaped equipment in your naval scene? Sprues to the rescue! Need a small bit of plastic to make that properly awesome weapon for the Orc King? Sprues to the rescue! Love the show, sir.
I heat sprue ends and then push it into micromolds of emblems, sm chapter heraldry, bolts, bricks, shell casing, etc. Much faster than rolling a kneadadite just to make a couple of bits
I clip my sprues down to small pieces and store the in large cheese puff containers. When I have some free time I melt them down in an old toaster oven. While it's still hot it's pretty easy to quickly mold it into different shapes, I particularly like making trees because each one turns out different from the last. Just make sure to do it in a well ventilated area and wear a respirator.
Brent, I cannot decide if you are a genius, or just evil. (Maybe it is evil genius). When I heard you running your fingers through the chopped up sprues I was struck with an overwhelming desire to go and buy more minis. 😂
seriously though, The Miniature Hobbyist uses these melted down all the time in his stuff. He probably would salivate at the shear amount of raw materials you have there.
I thought about this exactly! His scratch builds are pretty nice lol. But I can't wait to see what comes out of this mountain of sprues! It's so fun to see what creative things each person comes up with!
Bandai actually has a system for sprue collection in Japan for sprues from Gundam models. I think it works pretty well, but it is only confined to Japan, so that makes logistics a lil easier
They've also expanded from only limited releases of Ecopla kits to incorporating recycled material whenever they can. I think they're limited to Gundam Base locations for collecting old sprue though.
Japanese are used to serious waste sorting. Most capital cities collect a different type of rubbish every day. Plastic / glass / aluminium / but able waste. The Japanese are very used to processing their waste responsibly.
I'm pretty new to Goobertown, but I love how often I'm left in a mix between thoroughly entertained, but also feeling completely trolled. His hilarious thumbnails are another great example of this. It's very wholesome that Brent always seems to poke fun at himself in the process, being part of our shared hobby/addiction/obsession with all things mini and fantasy.
Thanks for binging this up! There was a blog post somewhere, I cannot find it anymore, in which the author proposed alternatives to recycling. One of my favorite ones was a proposal to the manufacturers to add texture to the sprues. Like that, suddenly the (mostly) useless piece of plastic that used to keep your miniatures safe can become a wood plank or a riveted beam for the next piece of terrain that you build. Basically there is a blank canvas for the manufacturers to use that could enrich the hobby but is just being wasted at the moment.
GW could pre cut their frames, so that the customer only gets the parts and not the frame. This way they can make smaler and lighter boxes and reuse old frames.
but at the same time they would just include enough parts for what it says on the box, 5 figures, no more spare bits. knowing GW greed, they would love it.
Theoretically this would be better, but you are asking for more manual or fine labor on their end. Look at other mass produced injection products. They usually have quite visible nubs still on them.
I love that after your blender broke you were "sad, overwhelmed Brent" with your hair hanging down on either side of your face and a big frown. It was funny and theatrical, but it also just perfectly conveyed the hopelessness that I've felt looking at my pile of shame sometimes. I feel you, brother! :) Don't ever change, sir. Goobertown is one of my favorite channels.
Hi Brent I just wanted to say thanks you are my favorite lunatic. You make things fun whether it's teaching us the science of paints and glues painting great minis or fishing with space marines. You do it all with a great big silly grin and 2 mad cats. And as a person who suffer from serious depression it's nice to go through some of your old (and new) videos and just have a good time. Thanks again.
6:15 Colored sprues are pretty useful for sprue goo, because it makes it easier to see what you are doing and what might need some cleaning after the sprue goo has dried.
...holy crap. I thought I was the only one hoarding sprues. 😂 My plan is to create some moulds, turn the sprues into melty plastic and use it to create cheap and cheerful scenery.
I have a solution for your broken blender. It is a wood chipper/mulcher. Amazon has a boatload of them and some shred down to fairly small pieces. Now I know what to do with my boxes of sprues. Thank you Brent.
I'd think you'd want to keep some of longer lengths. I've used sprue parts for battlefield junk or terrain, and also used them for internal supports of conversions or scratchbuilt things. But if you chop it up like that, and put it in a jar, and pour testors liquid cement over it, it becomes "sprue goo" you can use for filling gaps on models.
And to continue with the Precious Plastics suggestion, I went down that rabbit hole shortly after getting back into miniatures. They have some videos, or affiliated ones, where they hook up their DIY plastic grinding kit to older exercise bikes so you can prep your plastic bits while getting some cardio in.
I remember back when Cities of Death for 4th edition 40K came out they had an article on how they made the debris for all their urban boards. They found a manual meat grinder in a charity shop and it ate through sprues like nothing.
i fully expected Brent to fix up and glue the plastic part of the blender motor using the already blended sprue, immediately giving us a moral to the story.
there's a great channel. Miniature Hobbyist, that has some excellent videos making terrain and models out of "sprue goo" ...from simple structures, panels/boxes to entire sculpts. that being said. I actually find it relaxing to clip the sprues down, I have a large pickle jar that i put all my clipped sprues in. I keep telling myself when I have the space I'm gonna try some terrain building, So it's held in reserve as a raw material.
It was a too long time from your last video, feels good to hear your voice again 🙂 For the sprues, I wish GW would make a coupon system for a certain weight of these or offer a random foot soldier in exchange ^^ this way I wouldn't feel awful each time I throw them away 😅 But I think of using them in conjonction with Tamiya plastic glue and Green Stuff World's Blue Stuff to make molds and third party pieces for kitbashing ^^
And here's another video from Brent that you'd never expect anyone would make, yet fits so perfectly into the hobby space! xD Btw, your videos always inspires me to work on my own videos. Every time. Thank you!
I made gnarled twisted trees from sprues. I clipped the straight sections off and kept the middle part whole. I hit sections of the straight bits with short (1/2 second) bursts with a small hand-held butane ('Tradeflame') torch. This heats them enough to twist them. I did that every 1/2" or so until each straight section was transformed into a rather organic twisted 'vine'. I then twisted multiple vines together (again heating with the torch) until I had a tree trunk shape (with roots, side branches, etc). Next I took the middle part of the sprue which looks like spreading branches, and did the twisting thing again, but this time posing the 'branches' like the tangled crown of a diseased tree. I attached the crown to the trunk (I melted them together, but you could use glue). I then filled some gaps in the trunk with Sculptamold or Spackle and coated everything with a home-made texture paste made from black gesso and sawdust. This retained the shape of the twisted sprues but helped to soften out the smooth plastic to make it look a lot more organic and gave it a great texture for drybrushing. The result was a gnarled dead tree with a twisted trunk and branches (that you could easily glue foliage to). It took a while to make each tree (and - yes - using a respirator was essential), but was immensely satisfying and the trees looked great!
Polystyrene or HIPS is recycle code 6, in case anyone needed to know. Depending on where you live, disposing in the landfill is sometimes a safer option for single use plastics, because some places simply bundle up recycled plastics to sell them overseas or dispose of them, where they end up in a landfill anyway (or worse, the ocean). I think it would be pretty cool if GW had a sprue reclamation project in their stores. It may not work well outside england, but they could get a grinder in their factories and reuse them in new miniatures.
yeah it'd be cool to see a pilot program for recycling sprues centered around Nottingham. It wouldn't make much sense outside of england, but it'd still be pretty cool!
Hey Brent, a few years back someone petitioned GW to start taking back their sprues. The petition didn't pick up. If a few popular youtubers would get together and promote this idea and relative petition then we might go from "no hope" to at least "perhaps". Half the battle with big corporation is reaching their ears. If enough of their customer base insists for something they are more likely to follow through than if a few do. Quick idea foe the sprues: I've been keeping mine in the hope of findint a way of melting/softening/pressing it into textured tiles and make my own playing table 👍 Great video Brent, thoughtful and relaxing. Thank you
@@OrionTheAussie Even if it doesn't do you any good, it will be workable for many - in the UK there are lots of GW branded stores (as well as FLGS) that have to be getting restocks in, so taking the sprue away at the same time, as the sprues can't be a greater volume than the original product is a great idea. It effectively costs nothing as the delivery trucks had to be going anyway and the plastic doesn't weigh in enough to really change the fuel consumption of just moving an empty truck. May never make sense with the shear scale of the USA to ship this stuff widely, even just to a US based mini factory, but lots of Europe and some parts of the USA are densely populated enough that a return trip for the sprue isn't entirely implausible in those regions! And may even start to make economic sense if some of the ideas on taxing more heavily virgin plastics or charging the maker for the plastic produced upfront come in - though it won't work while the fresh petrochemical stuff is still cheap (and even now its spiking very high to its norm its still pretty cheap really)
I love the idea of textured tiles - perhaps the best way it occurs to me to go about it is to just take a dremmel type tool to a fairly thick sheet of steel to create those patterns or CNC if you want really neat crisp detailed tiles. Then just heat the buggery out of it and put some sprues on top, weight down with another steel sheet/back detail sheet - as long as you are careful its going to be safe for you and everyone else. But do your research on every particular plastic stuff before trying any plastic recycling - they don't all behave the same!
@@foldionepapyrus3441 yes might work but be laborious. I was thinking softening of melting them somehow (chemical process, but it is pollutant though) then laying the goo between two sheets of kitchen foil and using a texturized rolling pin
Before this video and the paint bravely podcast episode I had no idea people even saved the leftover, unused model bits - let alone empty sprues! I never really saw the point in saving old bits because you get the same bits every time you buy that kit, and if I am going to change weapon options I'll likely just get another copy of that model so I can have one of each. I just build the model and toss the leftovers out.
oh ya gotta hoard those bits! someday you'll realize that left arm you didn't want back in '17 has the perfect two-bladed axe for a conversion that you're working on!! 🙂
@@GoobertownHobbies now I feel the need to do a conversion of some kind… I’m currently working on an entire chapter of Iron Hands Space Marines (yes, all 10 companies of 100 soldiers each plus vehicles) so guess now is a good time to start saving this stuff.
The green transparent sprues that come with some Necrons are perfect for making small crystals. Sand them to a quartz-like point and attach then to bases. Some sprues can save a building or a tank. I keep some empty sprues at hand, but not many. They also make perfect rails, pipes and stuff for WH40K.
1) Print a terrain piece on a filament printer without infill or bottom layers where possible. Use a contiguous infill like Gyroid if you need it. 2) Seal the outside of the print with PVA. 3) Turn the piece upside down, like a bowl. 4) Fill voids that need reinforcement with sprue chips. 5) Place the piece upside down in a non-plastic receptacle. 6) Pour acetone in, melting the sprue, but not the printed PLA, and prevented from leaking by the PVA (I don't think acetone dissolves PVA but you're the chemist, not me.) 7) Allow the slurry to set in a well ventilated area. It allows much faster filament printing. A secondary use of the slurry would be with scenic molds like those of Woodland Scenics, a much lighter, more durable material than plaster.
I have been missing your videos lately Brent, great video. I have made so much from my old sprues without melting them down, and you really tapped into the psychology of why we keep hold of these seemingly useless pieces of plastic
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle are in that order for a reason. While we really do need a cradle-to-grave closed loop for all our manufactured goods, maybe the best plan is to buy less to begin with or support the used model market. Still, good on you for kick starting a great conversation about what to do with our "waste". There's SO much creativity in the minis community; surely we can come up with a reuse or recycling solution.
A rectangular sprue can be used as a frame for those flimsy fresnel lenses that are designed for magnifying pages but can be used to start fires when camping.
It astounds me how much solid wood furniture gets thrown in the trash when the finish gets worn or the wood is scratched/damaged. I rescue a piece now and then but there's so much of it.
After hearing you and Casey talk about this on the podcast, I was inspired to get rid of my sprues. I clipped off all the bits and tossed the empty sprues. Definitely a good feeling.
I widened the opening on an old shredder that is able to shred old CDs, DVD's, and credit cards. It's probably a lot less safe than previously was. However, it cuts sprues down into smaller "rubble like" bits fairly quickly. The sprues just need to be cut down to about the diameter of a DVD first. It is rather noisy, so it can't be done while family members are asleep in the house. The result is decent rubble for terrain pieces. Smaller bits can be dropped into thin model glue to make sprue-goo to use as a gap filler in models. Larger bits sometimes work well as parts for custom vehicles. I also use some of my sprues to test paint color schemes on, to practice a new painting technique, or as practice with my airbrush. I have storage under my bed, so I do in fact, sleep on my hoarded sprues like a dragon along with my hoarded bits of plastic and other materials to eventually build terrain out of, "one of these days..."
I like to recycle items by reusing them. Mainly I save items to be used as terrain for my D&D games. Lots of packaging material can be used in this way. Thanks for another fun video Brent.
Thank you for sharing your sprue collection. Yeah it is a collection, just not an everyday kind of thing many people have. I enjoy watching your videos and seeing your perspective’s on all things mini! I hope you do find a way to incorporate these into building something! I will be around, I hope, to see your triumphant exhalation and glorious art! See ya next time!
First thing that came to mind was melting them and using a silicone mold to make your own bases. Probably an old toaster oven only used for hobby projects would be best and in a well ventilated area. The bases would be great for kit- bashing or minis like those from Reaper or WizKids that only have enough space for the figure to stand on. As I type my brain also goes "I wonder if you could use the larger chocolate silicone molds to make your own plastic plinths?"
You're not alone. I've been trying to clip everything to make it manageable. I keep the long straight bits for bricks and crystals when basing, the melt the rest in acetone. The sprue goo is coming in handy for more basing stuff, so I'm excited to see where this goes.
I make sure to always keep a half dozen old sprues. After applying your basing compound of choice, lay in some ragged bits of sprue for instant wreckage. Can be painted as wood, steel, or crete. Some of my Nid bases have alien crystals which are just sprue bits carefully cut to appear jagged and faceted. I'll bet the smaller bits your blender produced have a unique texture and could be made to resemble shattered asphalt or broken glass. Also good if you like to mod. I made a couple custom Tyranid monsters whose thoraxes are held together by sprue. I changed out the tracks on my Taurox for some Hot Wheels monster truck wheels and they were so big I had to build a whole axle/shock assembly out of sprue bits to get them to go on. Looks pretty bad if you pick it up and look at the bottom, but looks badass on the tabletop where most of it is hidden. Buddy of mine went absolutely bonkers modding vehicles for his Orks, we're talking sprue city.
I'm already subbed, I also save my sprus deluding myself to think I'll use them for something. So Brent. It's on you. Do a tutorial every month. It's what the hobby needs.
I have a little catch tray on my hobby station that catches all my sprue cuttings, so I have a hoard of even those that I use for sprue goo and such 😊 I use my sprues for terrain, paint handles, and even just as bits for when I magnetize models (I had to use a lot to magnetize that new HH Spartan Assault Tank), and it feels great to do so!
I would strongly suggest cutting off the really long straight pieces (outer perimeter ones) and keeping those for good build material. I use a really old hand crank meat grinder with the largest screen. I have also hooked up a drill to the end rather than hand crank. It makes the cut sprues almost indistinguishable from what they were, I find that oddly a value added result. It is helpful for rubble to fill in the odd scenery and when droppering-on styrene cement, it is a VERY sturdy rubble pile when done. I had two contractor black garbage bags full when I started breaking those down, I even sold a few in sandwich bags at the local hobby store (through them).
That was so dang entertaining, you have genuine charm bud! I was expecting a HUGE batch of sprue goo, post another vid if you do find something fun with them. Its admirable that you want to repurpose things, I try to do that too and its a point of pride to show the peeps at the local gaming club/store that it was packaging Poly I used for the hills with pink foam not needed. I save all my extra bits, perhaps its time for sprues!
9:20 Brent, these last 40ish seconds of your video should become a proper asmr video for every mini-lover out there :D I'm currently going through the painful process to ask myself what to do with all these sprues (and I have a lot less than you, being back in the hobby for only 6months now). Still, my 3K points of AdMech and 1K points of Necrons sprues are starting to be somewhat tricky to store in my office xD Maybe I'll end up doing like you, and try to find some factory close to me to refine it ? Anyway, thank you for your ever optimistic and relaxing videos, you're a mate !
I use the left over sprues to build terrain pieces, as well as framing for my RC monster truck ramps. Of course you add other parts but works out pretty nicely.
Brent, I am with you. The GW sprues are my 'go to' place for basing material as they look like curbs and bumpers. Small round sprues become cans or poles. there is just so much that they are good for. Great video and has this old Marine thinking about new projects! THANKS!!
Midwinter Minis has a video about using sprues to make Ork 40K terrain. Rubbish In and Rubbish Out has a video about using a hand crank meat grinder to chop up old sprues. The insert in his is just the right size to create the perfect rubble for his scenery. Nearly everyone has seen The Miniature Hobbyist using sprue goo to cast different stuff (I love all those videos). It wasn't until I saw the above mentioned videos that I started hoarding my old sprues. I'm reading the comments to find new ideas.
Imagine, "Goobertown limited edition miniatures minted in minced sprew, hand collected by the hobby master himself!" Or some such sentimental marketing maneuver ;) Also, I think a Behind-the-Counter approach to sprew collection is the best method for sprew maceration and recycling. During slow times of the day they could chuck what they have collected into a grinder that fills up a bag (in a box) that they just seal up and send off whenever it gets full. Even if there was no reimbursement for us the hobbiests I would still participate just on principle. Like a battery/flourecent disposal at your local hardwarestore. If GW made a program where the shop invests in the grinder and GW pays x amount per filled box I think it would be a hit. There are a lot of us that would rather our grey goo be reforged into new soldiers than for it to be buried with the game night pizza box.
I’m a big recycler. And I saw this other dude (I don’t have his UA-cam Handle at hand right now) but he would Smelt the Melds/Sprue’s and make them into New Units
That pile of small runners pieces inside the box at 3:27 could become a small mountain of rubble and serve as a diorama of a collapse building. Could fit a few miniatures if position correctly.
I cut up ABS pipe and dissolve it acetone then coat the bottom of my Royalex canoe with it using a paint brush. The outer layer of PVC gets scraped off the Royalex after years of paddling over rocks exposing the ABS underneath. Coating it with a layer of dissolved ABS pipe has doubled the life of the boat. Although cutting up plastic is a pain in the butt. We need a plastic grinder that can turn it into powdered plastic or at least small granules.
Speaking of shredded sprues and lego: If I remember correctly you wondered whether you could glue lego with plastic cement in the latest episode of Paint bravely the podcast. As far as I remember lego is made out of abs so regular plastic glue wont work as far as I know however tamiya extra thin might work as it's 50% acetone. Maybe there is a recycling plant near you, who will recycle polystyrene I checked and found one relatively close to me.
Sure it's been suggested. But if you have an old hand crank pasta roller. You might be able to make sheet plastic out of your bits. Make sprue goo. Dump it out on a sheet it can't stick to. And don't let it harden fully. Slice it up to fit in the pasta roller to bring it to the thickness you want. Just an idea. You can pick up one of those rollers easy enough
Too funny! I hope your UA-cam friends will share as many ideas as possible! There have got to be some extraordinary answers to this conundrum out there. My best answer, they will make some great sound effects for film making!
always loved the idea of casting things using sprue goo. Would be fun to see an experiment where someone would use a 3d printed mold and cast something with it. I'm sure a lot of hobbyists could reduce their horde by turning them into useful bits. Plus resin 3d printers are not that hard to come by these days so it's definitely possible to find someone to make you a mold if you don't personally own one.
One thing I used sprue bits for was basing material. Clip a bunch down to vaguely brick size and voila! Bricks! Did it for my ork kill team bases. They weren't perfect, but nothing the ork and some texture paste couldn't hide lol Plus I do plan on using them to make terrain and sprue goo, but also had the idea to use them as basically the bones of a model and covering it with something like miliput or green stuff or something similar.
So you're telling me that I can make a lego sound machine out of my old Sprue Bits? That is epic, I need that. Finally, I got something useful to do with my sprues.
I collect sprues from the local game shop and use them as filler for tabletop structures, terrain, and melt some down with acetone to fill rock molds. Way better to use them than have them end up in a landfill!
It may be a bit of a boreing answer but I'd say the most practical use for sprues (and resin print supports) is to just chip them up and use'm to fill up the insides of hollow models and terrain(spritzed with enough glue or cement so it doesn't all rattle around hopefully) this solves the primary goal of keeping it out of the landfill(well at least for a few decades) for the least amount of work. Really its always gonna be faster to buy something to fill with sprue chips than it is to make the sprue chips into something presentable to fill with sprue chips
Precious plastic do a great system but it's expensive. We made a system for our makerspace ourselves to recycle 3d filament, and it works with sprues. We use a tree branch shredder, panani press, toaster oven and an pneumatic press. We make our own molds etc and are working on use sprues to make display ases using silicone molds.
It seems like insanity until I see the results, and now I just couldn't agree with you more, if I were a Dragon I too would have a room full of these. I would consider it a grand victory just to have condensed them down to that degree, great hand/eye coordination and handling practice :) Think of it as geek training even if you don't use them for years. Making a large quantity of sprue goo would be interesting if not a bit dangerous.
Hey Brent, I believe those sprue-bits could be very useful for making building rubble for bases. The larger bits could be used for wooden or steel frames/beams/pipes, and the smaller bits could be shattered bricks and other debris. (Though you may have to give them another run through the blender.) This could be amazing for a diorama of destroyed building, to base tanks that are running through collapsed rubble. As for collecting sprues, maybe ask game stores to collect the sprues to give $0.25 per sprue, then you could pay them $0.5 for them. That way the store and the customers have a money incentive to turn in the sprues. Just a thought. :)
I found recently while cleaning that about 1/4 of my hobby storage space was just old sprues... kept around in case I needed another arm or gun somewhere. It took a lot of effort but I tossed out probably 99% of them. It felt so wrong, but makes sense. Even with a 3d printer and being able to make new pieces if I want a conversion, sprues just feel like a necessary part of the hobby. I almost want to make a shrine and hang some sprues from the ceiling, with a little bitz box on a pedestal.
I had no idea it was even possible to make sprues unsettling. But this video... Very awesome stuff, though! Can't wait to see you make something with them. And I love the idea of sprue collection bins at FLGSs to recycle them.
I've mostly saved sprues to make ruins, because they kinda look like beams in buildings. They can also be used as light-weight support structures, when applying something like modelling paste.
This should be a pretty easy one for GW in the UK, every six months they could release a mini for 40k and one for aos that you can get in stores by trading in a certain number of sprues as a loyalty reward/recycling thing. Maybe you would need to keep receipts and the sprues to stop people cheating it.
that'd be pretty cool! 🙂
Or maybe they could start a recycling drive where you turn in X amount of weight on sprue and you get either store credit or some off your next purchase on a rewards card or something.
GW could even take the recycled sprue back and remelt it to make new minis.
Heck, I'd take a: Turn in clean empty sprues in a box no larger than x and you get a thank you. ;) But I actually use a lot of my sprues to make debris, fencing, etc.
@@jordanbeard6687 I used a bunch of mine in tank minis to add weight on the inside.
this sounds nice, but, the major costs of manufacturing are the equipment, not the material. they'd lose money doing this, especially if it needed a new mold that ended up getting low volume of production made out of it. Molds are V E R Y expensive.
I started making models back in the mid 1960's. I'll be 62 in a few months. I used to use the sprues to make all sorts of things. Heating them up with a lighter (yes, it was all I had) you can get them nice and soft, stretch them and turn some sprues into nice, long wires, cables, antennae, trees, posts and building beams.
Sprues are one of those 'waste' products that, in my time of frugality, was a sure source of quickly cobbled together items that added something to the models and dioramas I made 'back in the day.'
Pretty much everything I did with them required heat of some sort. That said, you can use the sprues for all manner of bits for all the things listed above and more. With a nice hot knife (not a hot wire) you can make them into barrels, tires, wheels, logs, tent poles, fence posts, coiled wire, capstans, bogies, crane supports, legs for large stands, etc.
Sprues are usable in many more ways as well, limited only by your imagination. Need a pile of scrap metal parts? Sprues to the rescue! Missing that one bit of oddly shaped equipment in your naval scene? Sprues to the rescue! Need a small bit of plastic to make that properly awesome weapon for the Orc King? Sprues to the rescue!
Love the show, sir.
I love this! this is the kind of inspiration I need. The sprues will not go to waste 🙂
I heat sprue ends and then push it into micromolds of emblems, sm chapter heraldry, bolts, bricks, shell casing, etc. Much faster than rolling a kneadadite just to make a couple of bits
I clip my sprues down to small pieces and store the in large cheese puff containers. When I have some free time I melt them down in an old toaster oven. While it's still hot it's pretty easy to quickly mold it into different shapes, I particularly like making trees because each one turns out different from the last. Just make sure to do it in a well ventilated area and wear a respirator.
I was going to say that the fumes might be pretty nasty.
That's pretty dope
you're right! I need some cheesee puffs! good thinkin :-)
That is a cool solution! And, of course, there are all those cheese puffs beforehand.😁
Brent, I cannot decide if you are a genius, or just evil. (Maybe it is evil genius). When I heard you running your fingers through the chopped up sprues I was struck with an overwhelming desire to go and buy more minis. 😂
there's a lot of power in that tinkling of plastic! 🙂
“That, is the sound of inevitability” 🤣👌
@@GoobertownHobbies I could totally go for a 10 hour ASMR video of tinkling plastic.
Righteousness Genius
He clearly gone mad, just watch the last 30 seconds 😂. He's a mad scientist, genius combo hybrid of some sort.
seriously though, The Miniature Hobbyist uses these melted down all the time in his stuff. He probably would salivate at the shear amount of raw materials you have there.
Oh he was definitely on my mind. If he lived closer I would happily hand these over.
I thought about this exactly! His scratch builds are pretty nice lol. But I can't wait to see what comes out of this mountain of sprues! It's so fun to see what creative things each person comes up with!
I was about to bring up his Tau Manta build!
He just started streaming a new sprue build this week. He's been asking for sprue donations.
This video is like porn to him! LOL!
Bandai actually has a system for sprue collection in Japan for sprues from Gundam models. I think it works pretty well, but it is only confined to Japan, so that makes logistics a lil easier
that's awesome, I didn't know that!!
I gotta give props to Bandai. They have their manufacturing down to an art form.
They've also expanded from only limited releases of Ecopla kits to incorporating recycled material whenever they can. I think they're limited to Gundam Base locations for collecting old sprue though.
Japanese are used to serious waste sorting. Most capital cities collect a different type of rubbish every day. Plastic / glass / aluminium / but able waste.
The Japanese are very used to processing their waste responsibly.
Thank you, Brent, for helping me get into this hobby. Your soothing voice and creativity always puts me in a great painting mood.
The downside is that he makes us feel inadequate.
@@MarquisDeSang he may he far and out of my league, buy something about him makes me feel proud of my little creations regardless of others
Have a great weekend 🙂
@@MarquisDeSang I love you just the way you are 🙂
The hobby of collecting sprues, right?
I'm pretty new to Goobertown, but I love how often I'm left in a mix between thoroughly entertained, but also feeling completely trolled. His hilarious thumbnails are another great example of this. It's very wholesome that Brent always seems to poke fun at himself in the process, being part of our shared hobby/addiction/obsession with all things mini and fantasy.
Thanks for binging this up!
There was a blog post somewhere, I cannot find it anymore, in which the author proposed alternatives to recycling.
One of my favorite ones was a proposal to the manufacturers to add texture to the sprues. Like that, suddenly the (mostly) useless piece of plastic that used to keep your miniatures safe can become a wood plank or a riveted beam for the next piece of terrain that you build.
Basically there is a blank canvas for the manufacturers to use that could enrich the hobby but is just being wasted at the moment.
GW could pre cut their frames, so that the customer only gets the parts and not the frame. This way they can make smaler and lighter boxes and reuse old frames.
but at the same time they would just include enough parts for what it says on the box, 5 figures, no more spare bits. knowing GW greed, they would love it.
That would automatically bump up the price, plus we’d have loads of little baggies holding all the bits to hoard then instead
Theoretically this would be better, but you are asking for more manual or fine labor on their end.
Look at other mass produced injection products. They usually have quite visible nubs still on them.
What a gift to us and the hobby you are Mr Brent
Have a great weekend! :-)
I love that after your blender broke you were "sad, overwhelmed Brent" with your hair hanging down on either side of your face and a big frown. It was funny and theatrical, but it also just perfectly conveyed the hopelessness that I've felt looking at my pile of shame sometimes. I feel you, brother! :)
Don't ever change, sir. Goobertown is one of my favorite channels.
I find the whole element of giving yourself permission to hoard or other things that might not make a heap of sense to others really comforting
What a joy to have another video from Brent.
Just perfect for some well-deserved minutes of wholesomeness.
have a great day! 🙂
No respirator while blending, you're a madman! "Don't breathe this!"
yeah... but that guy blends lithium batteries for fun hahahaha
Hi Brent I just wanted to say thanks you are my favorite lunatic. You make things fun whether it's teaching us the science of paints and glues painting great minis or fishing with space marines. You do it all with a great big silly grin and 2 mad cats. And as a person who suffer from serious depression it's nice to go through some of your old (and new) videos and just have a good time. Thanks again.
hehehe, happy to help, I hope you have a great weekend! :-)
Honestly all the furniture in my hobby space, if not entire home, came from the road. I totally get this.
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”
exactly ;-)
I have been cutting mine up as I go. I then use Acetone to melt into goo for filler and creating other plastic pieces. Usually terrain type pieces.
I need to do this now. I have a similar box of sprues building up
do it knarb, do it!!! :-)
6:15 Colored sprues are pretty useful for sprue goo, because it makes it easier to see what you are doing and what might need some cleaning after the sprue goo has dried.
totally! my bottle of sprue goo on my hobby table is gold 🙂
...holy crap. I thought I was the only one hoarding sprues. 😂 My plan is to create some moulds, turn the sprues into melty plastic and use it to create cheap and cheerful scenery.
I have a solution for your broken blender. It is a wood chipper/mulcher. Amazon has a boatload of them and some shred down to fairly small pieces. Now I know what to do with my boxes of sprues. Thank you Brent.
I'd think you'd want to keep some of longer lengths. I've used sprue parts for battlefield junk or terrain, and also used them for internal supports of conversions or scratchbuilt things. But if you chop it up like that, and put it in a jar, and pour testors liquid cement over it, it becomes "sprue goo" you can use for filling gaps on models.
Yep, that's certainly an option! I didn't save any long pieces this time, but I'm sure they will enter my collection again before too long 🙂
I would say that Sprue’s are Trees and we should call the excess Melds. I usually call them Racks, but I believe Melds would be an agreeable term.
yes, the melds. we have an excellent collection of melds.
Hey Brent, you should check out the NPO precoiusplastics. They have solutions for recycling your spruebits.
(Double plug with Crafsman and his injection mold video: ua-cam.com/video/uEXQMAM53E8/v-deo.html )
And to continue with the Precious Plastics suggestion, I went down that rabbit hole shortly after getting back into miniatures. They have some videos, or affiliated ones, where they hook up their DIY plastic grinding kit to older exercise bikes so you can prep your plastic bits while getting some cardio in.
Brent, you got to educate yourself about the Precious Plastics initiative. Go check Dave Atkens Precious Plastics YT channel. Now!
I would love to see a collaboration with the PP team, have been following them for years. Can easily be converted into panels for terrain building
whoa, this is a great recommendation, thank you!! :-)
idk but his voice and cadence makes me feel like im a fever dream, at one point i sat there watching with my mouth open and unfocused eyes
hehehehehehehe
I remember back when Cities of Death for 4th edition 40K came out they had an article on how they made the debris for all their urban boards. They found a manual meat grinder in a charity shop and it ate through sprues like nothing.
i fully expected Brent to fix up and glue the plastic part of the blender motor using the already blended sprue, immediately giving us a moral to the story.
A little JB Weld 2-part epoxy and a screw might have that thing back up and running.
there's a great channel. Miniature Hobbyist, that has some excellent videos making terrain and models out of "sprue goo" ...from simple structures, panels/boxes to entire sculpts.
that being said. I actually find it relaxing to clip the sprues down, I have a large pickle jar that i put all my clipped sprues in. I keep telling myself when I have the space I'm gonna try some terrain building, So it's held in reserve as a raw material.
I think we need an hour long ASMR compilation of Brent joyously shuffling all the sprue bits
It was a too long time from your last video, feels good to hear your voice again 🙂
For the sprues, I wish GW would make a coupon system for a certain weight of these or offer a random foot soldier in exchange ^^ this way I wouldn't feel awful each time I throw them away 😅
But I think of using them in conjonction with Tamiya plastic glue and Green Stuff World's Blue Stuff to make molds and third party pieces for kitbashing ^^
Bet you have never even give it a second thought mate
@@kennykd97 actually I'm saving up sprues for that while I'm building my Nachmund kit with my Tamiya plastic glue pot so, yes, I pretty much did ^^
Would love to see you craft a sprue monster one day
Yes!
A sprue golem!
ok yeah i commented the same thing but shoulda scrolled down first
And here's another video from Brent that you'd never expect anyone would make, yet fits so perfectly into the hobby space! xD
Btw, your videos always inspires me to work on my own videos. Every time. Thank you!
hehehe, I wasn't gonna spend days chopping up sprues and NOT make a video ;-) Thanks for watching, I hope you have a great weekend for hobbying
Hehe! I think you made a good choice in making a video out of it! xD
Thanks, and likewise! :D
I made gnarled twisted trees from sprues. I clipped the straight sections off and kept the middle part whole. I hit sections of the straight bits with short (1/2 second) bursts with a small hand-held butane ('Tradeflame') torch. This heats them enough to twist them. I did that every 1/2" or so until each straight section was transformed into a rather organic twisted 'vine'. I then twisted multiple vines together (again heating with the torch) until I had a tree trunk shape (with roots, side branches, etc). Next I took the middle part of the sprue which looks like spreading branches, and did the twisting thing again, but this time posing the 'branches' like the tangled crown of a diseased tree. I attached the crown to the trunk (I melted them together, but you could use glue). I then filled some gaps in the trunk with Sculptamold or Spackle and coated everything with a home-made texture paste made from black gesso and sawdust. This retained the shape of the twisted sprues but helped to soften out the smooth plastic to make it look a lot more organic and gave it a great texture for drybrushing. The result was a gnarled dead tree with a twisted trunk and branches (that you could easily glue foliage to). It took a while to make each tree (and - yes - using a respirator was essential), but was immensely satisfying and the trees looked great!
Your kitty seems concerned with your sprue obsession.
yeah... it turned out she was just waiting for her chance to steal a piece and run off with it... :-)
*Towards the end of the video, Brent playing with the cut up*
Kitty: Dad, what are you doing? Dad, please!
Polystyrene or HIPS is recycle code 6, in case anyone needed to know. Depending on where you live, disposing in the landfill is sometimes a safer option for single use plastics, because some places simply bundle up recycled plastics to sell them overseas or dispose of them, where they end up in a landfill anyway (or worse, the ocean).
I think it would be pretty cool if GW had a sprue reclamation project in their stores. It may not work well outside england, but they could get a grinder in their factories and reuse them in new miniatures.
yeah it'd be cool to see a pilot program for recycling sprues centered around Nottingham. It wouldn't make much sense outside of england, but it'd still be pretty cool!
Hey Brent, a few years back someone petitioned GW to start taking back their sprues. The petition didn't pick up.
If a few popular youtubers would get together and promote this idea and relative petition then we might go from "no hope" to at least "perhaps".
Half the battle with big corporation is reaching their ears. If enough of their customer base insists for something they are more likely to follow through than if a few do.
Quick idea foe the sprues: I've been keeping mine in the hope of findint a way of melting/softening/pressing it into textured tiles and make my own playing table 👍
Great video Brent, thoughtful and relaxing. Thank you
The trick is to get them back to the factory without using a ton of fuel. A collection point inside Warhammer World itself would be pretty cool.
@@GoobertownHobbies only for the people lucky enough to live near one. Most of the worlds SoL
@@OrionTheAussie Even if it doesn't do you any good, it will be workable for many - in the UK there are lots of GW branded stores (as well as FLGS) that have to be getting restocks in, so taking the sprue away at the same time, as the sprues can't be a greater volume than the original product is a great idea. It effectively costs nothing as the delivery trucks had to be going anyway and the plastic doesn't weigh in enough to really change the fuel consumption of just moving an empty truck.
May never make sense with the shear scale of the USA to ship this stuff widely, even just to a US based mini factory, but lots of Europe and some parts of the USA are densely populated enough that a return trip for the sprue isn't entirely implausible in those regions! And may even start to make economic sense if some of the ideas on taxing more heavily virgin plastics or charging the maker for the plastic produced upfront come in - though it won't work while the fresh petrochemical stuff is still cheap (and even now its spiking very high to its norm its still pretty cheap really)
I love the idea of textured tiles - perhaps the best way it occurs to me to go about it is to just take a dremmel type tool to a fairly thick sheet of steel to create those patterns or CNC if you want really neat crisp detailed tiles. Then just heat the buggery out of it and put some sprues on top, weight down with another steel sheet/back detail sheet - as long as you are careful its going to be safe for you and everyone else. But do your research on every particular plastic stuff before trying any plastic recycling - they don't all behave the same!
@@foldionepapyrus3441 yes might work but be laborious. I was thinking softening of melting them somehow (chemical process, but it is pollutant though) then laying the goo between two sheets of kitchen foil and using a texturized rolling pin
that is way more sprue than I thought from your mentioning it on Paint Bravely, I have to ask... where are all those models!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?
hehehehehehehehehehehehehhehehehehehhehehehe
Talk about an evil looking [sounding?] laugh 😉
Before this video and the paint bravely podcast episode I had no idea people even saved the leftover, unused model bits - let alone empty sprues! I never really saw the point in saving old bits because you get the same bits every time you buy that kit, and if I am going to change weapon options I'll likely just get another copy of that model so I can have one of each. I just build the model and toss the leftovers out.
oh ya gotta hoard those bits! someday you'll realize that left arm you didn't want back in '17 has the perfect two-bladed axe for a conversion that you're working on!! 🙂
@@GoobertownHobbies now I feel the need to do a conversion of some kind… I’m currently working on an entire chapter of Iron Hands Space Marines (yes, all 10 companies of 100 soldiers each plus vehicles) so guess now is a good time to start saving this stuff.
The look on ur face sifting through the spru bits made me laugh. That's worth watching the vid. Funny stuff dude!
The green transparent sprues that come with some Necrons are perfect for making small crystals. Sand them to a quartz-like point and attach then to bases. Some sprues can save a building or a tank. I keep some empty sprues at hand, but not many. They also make perfect rails, pipes and stuff for WH40K.
1) Print a terrain piece on a filament printer without infill or bottom layers where possible. Use a contiguous infill like Gyroid if you need it.
2) Seal the outside of the print with PVA.
3) Turn the piece upside down, like a bowl.
4) Fill voids that need reinforcement with sprue chips.
5) Place the piece upside down in a non-plastic receptacle.
6) Pour acetone in, melting the sprue, but not the printed PLA, and prevented from leaking by the PVA (I don't think acetone dissolves PVA but you're the chemist, not me.)
7) Allow the slurry to set in a well ventilated area.
It allows much faster filament printing.
A secondary use of the slurry would be with scenic molds like those of Woodland Scenics, a much lighter, more durable material than plaster.
Using this as a filler is a good idea! Medieval folks dumped all kinds of crap in the center of their wall construction! ;-)
@@GoobertownHobbies On pieces optimised and split to print in vase mode, this should vastly reduce print times.
I have been missing your videos lately Brent, great video. I have made so much from my old sprues without melting them down, and you really tapped into the psychology of why we keep hold of these seemingly useless pieces of plastic
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle are in that order for a reason. While we really do need a cradle-to-grave closed loop for all our manufactured goods, maybe the best plan is to buy less to begin with or support the used model market. Still, good on you for kick starting a great conversation about what to do with our "waste". There's SO much creativity in the minis community; surely we can come up with a reuse or recycling solution.
Like minds brother, like minds! Lot a Love from NC. Thanks brother.
I could listen to Brent talk about the philosophy behind paint drying and he'd hold my attention and interest the entire time.
This video put a smile on my face - I'm not quite sure why, but it makes me happy!
A rectangular sprue can be used as a frame for those flimsy fresnel lenses that are designed for magnifying pages but can be used to start fires when camping.
It astounds me how much solid wood furniture gets thrown in the trash when the finish gets worn or the wood is scratched/damaged. I rescue a piece now and then but there's so much of it.
After hearing you and Casey talk about this on the podcast, I was inspired to get rid of my sprues. I clipped off all the bits and tossed the empty sprues. Definitely a good feeling.
I widened the opening on an old shredder that is able to shred old CDs, DVD's, and credit cards. It's probably a lot less safe than previously was.
However, it cuts sprues down into smaller "rubble like" bits fairly quickly. The sprues just need to be cut down to about the diameter of a DVD first. It is rather noisy, so it can't be done while family members are asleep in the house.
The result is decent rubble for terrain pieces. Smaller bits can be dropped into thin model glue to make sprue-goo to use as a gap filler in models. Larger bits sometimes work well as parts for custom vehicles.
I also use some of my sprues to test paint color schemes on, to practice a new painting technique, or as practice with my airbrush.
I have storage under my bed, so I do in fact, sleep on my hoarded sprues like a dragon along with my hoarded bits of plastic and other materials to eventually build terrain out of, "one of these days..."
I like to recycle items by reusing them. Mainly I save items to be used as terrain for my D&D games. Lots of packaging material can be used in this way. Thanks for another fun video Brent.
Thank you for sharing your sprue collection. Yeah it is a collection, just not an everyday kind of thing many people have. I enjoy watching your videos and seeing your perspective’s on all things mini! I hope you do find a way to incorporate these into building something! I will be around, I hope, to see your triumphant exhalation and glorious art! See ya next time!
Pretty sweet collection huh? :-) thanks for hangin out and listening to me ramble
You could make a giant Smaug diorama, but with grinded sprues in stead of gold.
First thing that came to mind was melting them and using a silicone mold to make your own bases. Probably an old toaster oven only used for hobby projects would be best and in a well ventilated area.
The bases would be great for kit- bashing or minis like those from Reaper or WizKids that only have enough space for the figure to stand on.
As I type my brain also goes "I wonder if you could use the larger chocolate silicone molds to make your own plastic plinths?"
You're not alone. I've been trying to clip everything to make it manageable. I keep the long straight bits for bricks and crystals when basing, the melt the rest in acetone. The sprue goo is coming in handy for more basing stuff, so I'm excited to see where this goes.
I make sure to always keep a half dozen old sprues.
After applying your basing compound of choice, lay in some ragged bits of sprue for instant wreckage. Can be painted as wood, steel, or crete. Some of my Nid bases have alien crystals which are just sprue bits carefully cut to appear jagged and faceted. I'll bet the smaller bits your blender produced have a unique texture and could be made to resemble shattered asphalt or broken glass.
Also good if you like to mod. I made a couple custom Tyranid monsters whose thoraxes are held together by sprue. I changed out the tracks on my Taurox for some Hot Wheels monster truck wheels and they were so big I had to build a whole axle/shock assembly out of sprue bits to get them to go on. Looks pretty bad if you pick it up and look at the bottom, but looks badass on the tabletop where most of it is hidden. Buddy of mine went absolutely bonkers modding vehicles for his Orks, we're talking sprue city.
LOL, your cat is thinking "What the heck is going on?" 🤣
yeahhhh those cats normally are pretty confused about what's goin on around here :-)
Gotta say, I didn't expect a "will it blend" video. Nice!
I'm already subbed, I also save my sprus deluding myself to think I'll use them for something. So Brent. It's on you. Do a tutorial every month. It's what the hobby needs.
The return of the menthol cough drops bit! I love it. It IS a bit though right? Those aren’t candy
No, they are not candy. They are for the mature and sophisticated palate. ;-)
I have a little catch tray on my hobby station that catches all my sprue cuttings, so I have a hoard of even those that I use for sprue goo and such 😊 I use my sprues for terrain, paint handles, and even just as bits for when I magnetize models (I had to use a lot to magnetize that new HH Spartan Assault Tank), and it feels great to do so!
I would strongly suggest cutting off the really long straight pieces (outer perimeter ones) and keeping those for good build material.
I use a really old hand crank meat grinder with the largest screen.
I have also hooked up a drill to the end rather than hand crank.
It makes the cut sprues almost indistinguishable from what they were, I find that oddly a value added result.
It is helpful for rubble to fill in the odd scenery and when droppering-on styrene cement, it is a VERY sturdy rubble pile when done.
I had two contractor black garbage bags full when I started breaking those down, I even sold a few in sandwich bags at the local hobby store (through them).
That was so dang entertaining, you have genuine charm bud! I was expecting a HUGE batch of sprue goo, post another vid if you do find something fun with them. Its admirable that you want to repurpose things, I try to do that too and its a point of pride to show the peeps at the local gaming club/store that it was packaging Poly I used for the hills with pink foam not needed. I save all my extra bits, perhaps its time for sprues!
I clipped my sprues into even smaller bits and used them on my city ruin bases. the angled shapes add a good variety to sell the effect of rubble.
9:20 Brent, these last 40ish seconds of your video should become a proper asmr video for every mini-lover out there :D
I'm currently going through the painful process to ask myself what to do with all these sprues (and I have a lot less than you, being back in the hobby for only 6months now). Still, my 3K points of AdMech and 1K points of Necrons sprues are starting to be somewhat tricky to store in my office xD Maybe I'll end up doing like you, and try to find some factory close to me to refine it ?
Anyway, thank you for your ever optimistic and relaxing videos, you're a mate !
I use the left over sprues to build terrain pieces, as well as framing for my RC monster truck ramps. Of course you add other parts but works out pretty nicely.
I remember a GW White Dwarf issue from the 90s: they crushed the sprue bits in a meat grinder to create even smaller pellets for a terrain build
Brent, I am with you. The GW sprues are my 'go to' place for basing material as they look like curbs and bumpers. Small round sprues become cans or poles. there is just so much that they are good for. Great video and has this old Marine thinking about new projects! THANKS!!
I paint in sub-assemblies, I use sprue bits as paint handles for tiny parts like heads and arms. I also do sprue-goo and use it for rubble on bases.
Midwinter Minis has a video about using sprues to make Ork 40K terrain.
Rubbish In and Rubbish Out has a video about using a hand crank meat grinder to chop up old sprues. The insert in his is just the right size to create the perfect rubble for his scenery.
Nearly everyone has seen The Miniature Hobbyist using sprue goo to cast different stuff (I love all those videos).
It wasn't until I saw the above mentioned videos that I started hoarding my old sprues. I'm reading the comments to find new ideas.
Imagine, "Goobertown limited edition miniatures minted in minced sprew, hand collected by the hobby master himself!" Or some such sentimental marketing maneuver ;)
Also, I think a Behind-the-Counter approach to sprew collection is the best method for sprew maceration and recycling. During slow times of the day they could chuck what they have collected into a grinder that fills up a bag (in a box) that they just seal up and send off whenever it gets full.
Even if there was no reimbursement for us the hobbiests I would still participate just on principle. Like a battery/flourecent disposal at your local hardwarestore.
If GW made a program where the shop invests in the grinder and GW pays x amount per filled box I think it would be a hit. There are a lot of us that would rather our grey goo be reforged into new soldiers than for it to be buried with the game night pizza box.
I’m a big recycler. And I saw this other dude (I don’t have his UA-cam Handle at hand right now) but he would Smelt the Melds/Sprue’s and make them into New Units
That pile of small runners pieces inside the box at 3:27 could become a small mountain of rubble and serve as a diorama of a collapse building. Could fit a few miniatures if position correctly.
oh yeah, that's some good rubble right there 🙂
Wargame spirit, a shop in France dedicated to wargaming, recycles the sprues into goblets. People can then use them back at home.
I cut up ABS pipe and dissolve it acetone then coat the bottom of my Royalex canoe with it using a paint brush. The outer layer of PVC gets scraped off the Royalex after years of paddling over rocks exposing the ABS underneath. Coating it with a layer of dissolved ABS pipe has doubled the life of the boat.
Although cutting up plastic is a pain in the butt. We need a plastic grinder that can turn it into powdered plastic or at least small granules.
Speaking of shredded sprues and lego: If I remember correctly you wondered whether you could glue lego with plastic cement in the latest episode of Paint bravely the podcast. As far as I remember lego is made out of abs so regular plastic glue wont work as far as I know however tamiya extra thin might work as it's 50% acetone. Maybe there is a recycling plant near you, who will recycle polystyrene I checked and found one relatively close to me.
learn something new everyday, thank you! :-)
Sure it's been suggested. But if you have an old hand crank pasta roller. You might be able to make sheet plastic out of your bits. Make sprue goo. Dump it out on a sheet it can't stick to. And don't let it harden fully. Slice it up to fit in the pasta roller to bring it to the thickness you want. Just an idea. You can pick up one of those rollers easy enough
Too funny! I hope your UA-cam friends will share as many ideas as possible! There have got to be some extraordinary answers to this conundrum out there. My best answer, they will make some great sound effects for film making!
My favorite use of sprue bits outside of making sprue goo is inspired by a 52 miniatures video where he uses them to make cobblestone bases.
always loved the idea of casting things using sprue goo. Would be fun to see an experiment where someone would use a 3d printed mold and cast something with it. I'm sure a lot of hobbyists could reduce their horde by turning them into useful bits. Plus resin 3d printers are not that hard to come by these days so it's definitely possible to find someone to make you a mold if you don't personally own one.
One thing I used sprue bits for was basing material. Clip a bunch down to vaguely brick size and voila! Bricks! Did it for my ork kill team bases. They weren't perfect, but nothing the ork and some texture paste couldn't hide lol
Plus I do plan on using them to make terrain and sprue goo, but also had the idea to use them as basically the bones of a model and covering it with something like miliput or green stuff or something similar.
So you're telling me that I can make a lego sound machine out of my old Sprue Bits? That is epic, I need that. Finally, I got something useful to do with my sprues.
Broken futons on the side of the road can also be an excellent source of bedbugs.
yeah!! :-)
I collect sprues from the local game shop and use them as filler for tabletop structures, terrain, and melt some down with acetone to fill rock molds. Way better to use them than have them end up in a landfill!
It may be a bit of a boreing answer but I'd say the most practical use for sprues (and resin print supports) is to just chip them up and use'm to fill up the insides of hollow models and terrain(spritzed with enough glue or cement so it doesn't all rattle around hopefully) this solves the primary goal of keeping it out of the landfill(well at least for a few decades) for the least amount of work. Really its always gonna be faster to buy something to fill with sprue chips than it is to make the sprue chips into something presentable to fill with sprue chips
Precious plastic do a great system but it's expensive. We made a system for our makerspace ourselves to recycle 3d filament, and it works with sprues. We use a tree branch shredder, panani press, toaster oven and an pneumatic press. We make our own molds etc and are working on use sprues to make display ases using silicone molds.
The grit and determination to plough through that third box of sprues can only come from someone who has spent many hours in the research lab
I sometimes chop up bits of sprues and use them as chunks of rubble on bases and terrain. Gives it a nice effect!
It seems like insanity until I see the results, and now I just couldn't agree with you more, if I were a Dragon I too would have a room full of these. I would consider it a grand victory just to have condensed them down to that degree, great hand/eye coordination and handling practice :) Think of it as geek training even if you don't use them for years. Making a large quantity of sprue goo would be interesting if not a bit dangerous.
Listening to you be happy wallowing in your horde made me happy. This is like asmr for minis nerds.
hehehe, thanks for watching! :-)
Hey Brent, I believe those sprue-bits could be very useful for making building rubble for bases. The larger bits could be used for wooden or steel frames/beams/pipes, and the smaller bits could be shattered bricks and other debris. (Though you may have to give them another run through the blender.) This could be amazing for a diorama of destroyed building, to base tanks that are running through collapsed rubble.
As for collecting sprues, maybe ask game stores to collect the sprues to give $0.25 per sprue, then you could pay them $0.5 for them. That way the store and the customers have a money incentive to turn in the sprues. Just a thought. :)
I remember an old issue of White Dwarf recommended using a meat grinder to break down sprues. The issue was from around the time Cities of Death.
Also laughing here when you introduced the second half of the hoard! ^^ Thanks for the video.
What a wild ride lol. Now you need like 10000 hot wheels cars. Because all I see is a bin of mounted turrets and ramming bars for gaslands.
I found recently while cleaning that about 1/4 of my hobby storage space was just old sprues... kept around in case I needed another arm or gun somewhere. It took a lot of effort but I tossed out probably 99% of them. It felt so wrong, but makes sense. Even with a 3d printer and being able to make new pieces if I want a conversion, sprues just feel like a necessary part of the hobby. I almost want to make a shrine and hang some sprues from the ceiling, with a little bitz box on a pedestal.
I had no idea it was even possible to make sprues unsettling. But this video...
Very awesome stuff, though! Can't wait to see you make something with them. And I love the idea of sprue collection bins at FLGSs to recycle them.
I've mostly saved sprues to make ruins, because they kinda look like beams in buildings. They can also be used as light-weight support structures, when applying something like modelling paste.