Any advice for angel cuts?

[NorthwoodRexo]

Hi Guys. I wonder if anyone could give me some tips on angeled cuts. I am currently working on the Mjolnir Mark 6 Gen. 2 from Halo 4. However, getting those angled cuts around the edges (blue marks) is giving me a headache. Is there any good solution for a absolute beginner like me?

Thanks and greetings from Germany

 

[Spartan4204]

As a fellow beginner, I have found that a slow steady hand, really sharp blades, and practice/patience will get it done.

 

[Creativity4ever]

Have a sharp cutting tool then cut inwards 45° angle (diagonal) on the edges of those parts

 

[NorthwoodRexo]

Have a sharp cutting tool then cut inwards 45° angle (diagonal) on the edges of those parts

i have moat problems with finding the right angel. Mostly it comes out to less or to much ....

 

[KaeSpoon]

Hi Guys. I wonder if anyone could give me some tips on angeled cuts. I am currently working on the Mjolnir Mark 6 Gen. 2 from Halo 4. However, getting those angled cuts around the edges (blue marks) is giving me a headache. Is there any good solution for a absolute beginner like me?

Thanks and greetings from Germany

I make separate pieces for those angles and glue them on... It is easier for me.

 

[NorthwoodRexo]

I make separate pieces for those angles and glue them on... It is easier for me.

So u cut them where the angel should be and then glue them together?

 

[N8TEBB]

What is everyone else's strategy for getting the angle just right? Personally, I guess. I'll cut an angle on two separate pieces and glue them together. If I cut the angle too shard, I'll shove foam in the gap and fill it in with hot glue. I thought there was a way to see what the angle has to be in pepakura...

 

[KaeSpoon]

What is everyone else's strategy for getting the angle just right? Personally, I guess. I'll cut an angle on two separate pieces and glue them together. If I cut the angle too shard, I'll shove foam in the gap and fill it in with hot glue. I thought there was a way to see what the angle has to be in pepakura...

I swear there was a way to see angles in pepakura as well, but I've been going to Armorsmith for that as I've been unable to find it recently.

 

[rickrtickr]

I have 1 main method for cutting angles:

The main thing is that I have a fairly good judge of the angle itself so I cut it without any direct measurements but you could do measured cutting. "freehand" but I will give my method a shot. and for your purposes, it may be easier to cut the "flat" pieces first and then merge the more angled pieces together at the angled edge.

but first thing first. you need to know where your long edge is going to be.
* Mark the long edge appropriately along the length of the cut. (the long edge should often be the clean or detailed side of your cut. if cutting away from the detail flip these steps.)
* if doing a measured cut measure your angle and mark the short edge of the cut. (like with the image)

* from here I use a 25 mm snap-edge blade to make my cut. (the 25 mm is the largest of the 3 main snap off blades you can get and is often plenty long enough to make most cuts with ease. [note of caution: these blades are exceptionally sharp if you are not careful it is very easy to cut yourself])

* when making the cut begin by lining the length of the blade with the long edge (detail edge) and very gently glide the blade back and fourth until the blade has caught the foam. (the very edge of the blade should lightly mark the foam so if you lift the blade away a thin blade line should be present.)
*From here you should be able to match the angle of the cut to the short edge (garbage edge) by either following the previous step with the side of the foam or by eyeballing the angle of the cut with the snap blade.
*again gently move the blade back and forth while applying consistent downward pressure for the length of the cut while maintaining the required angle using the length of the blade to cover the full distance of the cut. (once you begin an angle cut try not to pull the blade out or "backtrack" to make corrections as this will often create a cut line in your foam. I still make this mistake so no worries at the end of the day. and if not doing a detail side cut then cut lines are not important anyway.)

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Ooo fun topic....


Freehand - As people mentioned, use a sharp or freshly sharpened blade for your bevel cuts. Practice cut first. You can use a protractor to see how close you are getting to the angle (which can be found in Pepakura or Armorsmith). I like to ride the knife along a metal ruler whenever possible. But keep practicing, eventually you will get better at holding it the proper angle.

Power Tools - Many of our seasoned foamsmiths will use a bandsaw which the table can be set to different angles and does pretty good cuts in foam. I use a stationary belt sander with a silicon Carbide belt. Another option is cut it with a knife close and then dremel the edge to get a better angle. Dremels are a game changer for foam work. Not too expensive online either.

Purchasable - I recently picked up a BEVall tool that is pretty snazzy. There are other purchasable tools like it, but this one accepts standard disposable knives which will save you money in the long run. Store — Rocket Props

Definitely one of the hardest aspects of foamsmithing so don't get discouraged that you're sturggling with it. Just keep at it!

 

[N8TEBB]

yeah the real trick I do is to sand those edges back before i glue em together. That way it doesn't matter so much how straight of a line I got, or how rough of a cut it is. Once the edges are sanded they will have a nice flat surface to glue to. I could not live without my Dremel

 

[NorthwoodRexo]

Thanks to u all! I think i got a good start now. Not perfect but 10000 times better then before

 

[N8TEBB]

Pixelcube just made a guide to help us answer this very question! Super helpful read!

A simple guide to cutting angles

Hey everyone, I have seen a lot of posts on how to cut angled bevels and I figured I would create this post to show how I do it. Now of course this is just one way of doing things and there are other tools and methods that one can use but this method uses a tool that everyone who went to...

www.405th.com

 

[Thenwcp]

On the sharp knives subject, you can in fact use a basic knife sharpener (the blocks with a “v”) to sharpen a box cutter. Foam dulls blades pretty quickly so I like to have the sharpener there and swipe the blade through it frequently.