I want to make my models as cheap as possible, so the walls will be just over minimum thickness. However, I do't want them to break. At minimum thickness, just how fragile is sandstone? How fragile is White Strong & Flexible at minimum thickness? I am thinking of doing a mini, mini (like really small) model of a building from pittsburgh and I don't want to find it randomly crushed one day. Thanks!
Sandstone is fairly fragile. The fragility depends on the weight and shape as much as the thickness. For example, I have made seashell beads on the machines that make Color Sandstone that were only one millimeter thick, but at just over an inch long they were so lightweight you could throw them against a wall or squeeze them as hard as you can and they would not break. In contrast, a figurine about 6 inches tall might have a limb break off if it is knocked over on the table. If your building is more than three inches tall it is likely to break if dropped on a hard floor from waist height. On the plus side this material does not deform, so it can be repaired with superglue, which happens to be the same chemical it has been finished with (cyanoacrylate). White Strong & Flexible is more durable. At the minimum of 0.7mm it is pretty flexible and might permanently deform or crack if stepped on. For a building three inches high, go with about 1mm. Make it thicker (around 3mm) on any open edges, such as the circumference of the base to make it sturdier.
Thank you very much! All this information is awesome in helping me decide what to design, but I still have to come up with an idea. Some things I thought of are a stylus, an architectural model, or something from a video game or something. I am very indecisive.