Art project from Japan

[intokyo]

Greetings. I intend to flock a few larger items, this will be a radical departure in my artistic life but sure looks fun.

I am completely and utterly useless with electronics....would love to have a go with one of the diy units you describe else where on the forum but really I know it will all be one giant cockup.

So I'm thinking about a commercially produced electrostatic applicator, or possibly a canister unit that fits inline with a spray unit. I've seen the very nice and shiney Flock Concepts site, but $1370 is kinda on the dear side, for their electrostatic unit.

Can anyone shed light on the quality and longevity of the cheap & cheerful units that are sold on ebay for $30-40? These are only advertised as of use in the modelling scenic department. Is the drawback that the flock applicator head size is quite small meaning that larger piece could take a while to cover (while hoping that the adhesive doesn't start to cure)? I had the idea of doing larger areas in sections.

Thanks

Peter

[Ray (Flock Man)]

If you can do the project in sections (where there are seams or color changes) then with practice a small unit could work.

Issues will be the size of the piece and the open work time of your adhesive and the power of the small DYI unit.

www.flocking.biz/index.html

Can help you judge which type of machine you need and whether it is worth it to invest in a commercial device or try a DYI device.
I would first learn to use a small device- get to know how it works and what it's short falls are. Then I would use that knowledge to decide whether to move on to something bigger.

On a large piece the glue up will be the biggest task. You may need to roll it or spray it on.
You have to remember here we mainly deal with small 1/6th scale toys and bigger projects can react much differently.
Hope this helps!