Large Scale Central

In-ko-pah Railroad: Brick building

I’ve started a new building for the town of Mineral Ridge, on my In-ko-pah Railroad. This is my first attempt at modeling a brick building. I’m using Sintra PVC foam board, and scribing the brick pattern. I began by cutting out the front wall from 6mm thick Sintra, and drawing the door and window openings with pencil. This must be done lightly so as not to leave indentations that will mar the brick pattern:

To scribe the horizontal lines, I made a special tool out of brass. Two pieces of .020" thick brass strips were soldered onto opposite sides of a square brass rod:

Another simple tool was made from a strip of .020" brass, for scribing the vertical lines. (I call it scribing, but on these short lines I’m really just pressing the tool into the material.)

Here are a couple shots of the entire front wall, after the basic brick pattern has been scribed. There are some goofs that will need to be patched up with putty. Also, the top portion of the wall will be built up with layers of thinner scribed PVC for a 3D effect:

I used 3mm board to build up the decorative upper portion of the wall:

I still have to add more layers to create the trim at the top edge of the wall, but here’s how it looks so far:

And here it is set in place on the layout, to give you an idea of how this building will look in its environment:

There will be stone arches above the door and window openings on the ground floor, and stone lintels on the second story windows. To create these, I will be casting resin stone blocks. I started by carving the masters from 3mm Sintra. Here they are laid out and ready to pour the silicone rubber mold:

While I was at it, I also carved some blocks which will be used on the next building:

That’s all for now, more later. Enjoy!

Wow. Another outstanding effort, Ray. The brick looks VERY nice.

Yea! Wow!

Good lawd… Totally Awesum… :slight_smile:

Sigh …here we go again…heheheheheheh

Love where this is going…

Wow :wink:

Ray,
I am always impressed by your work. You are truly gifted.

Nico

Ray

I have been working with the pvc board for quite a few years now and I really enjoy what your doing with it. Excellent as always!

That’s really looking great Ray. You have a real eye for modeling architecture as well as the skill to make it happen.

Ray rides again! Just as I was thinkin’ “I wonder what Dunakin is up to,” bam! He comes up with this gem. And some great ideas on how to make brickwork. Terrific!

Questions: did you just press the “die” against the Sintra to make the brick indentations? I mean, is that material soft enough to just get crushed by your tools? Assuming the Sintra is soft enough for “carving,” which density is it? And what thickness?

How did you make the window openings?

In case you missed the accolade, “Stupendous.”

Thanks guys!

Joe, the Sintra is just soft enough to crush down with a bit of firm pressure. And you could leave a mark with a pencil or your fingernail. Yet it’s not so soft that it can’t hold up to outdoor use.

Unlike Precision board or other types of foam, it’s not sold by density. Also, Sintra tends to be harder towards the middle, and more workable on the exterior surface.

The window and door openings were cut with a #11 blade in an X-acto knife. That’s another nice thing about this stuff, you don’t need power tools to work with it. Even the 13mm Sintra, which is about a 1/2" thick, can be cut with an X-acto, it just takes more time.

BTW, I’m currently experimenting with some methods which will, hopefully, take a little of the pain out of painting all those bricks.

Very nice Ray. Your layout is amazing.

Very nice Ray. Your layout is amazing.

Very nice Ray. I don’t have the patience (or the time) to hand scribe and carve that much detail, but I’m glad you do!

I really enjoy working with the Foamed PVC board too. Sintra is just one of many brand names. The most noticeable difference between brands is the surface texture. Of the brands I’ve seen in the sign business, Sintra is the smoothest finish. Intacell has a slightly stippled finish and Azek is glossy. There are other brands, but those are the three we use most often.

Here’s a brief update:

I finished the fancy trim on the top edge of the wall:

(http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_Mineral_Ridge_2_files/Media/IMG_8654c/IMG_8654c.jpg)

This is supposed to represent a pretty old, run-down building, so I’ve also started distressing some of the bricks:

(http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_Mineral_Ridge_2_files/Media/IMG_8656/IMG_8656.jpg)

Still have more distressing and aging to do, but this gives you some idea of where I’m headed.

I’m fresh out of superlatives.

But I did have another question: what scale are you modeling (1:22.5, 1:20.3)? How big are the bricks?

I’m modeling in 1/24th scale. The depth is pretty close to 2.5" scale inches, but the length is 9 scale inches and the width is about half that. It should be more like 8 scale inches long, but I’m fudging a little.

Ray, looking even better.

How many passes with your tool do you make for each row of bricks?

Do you clamp a straight edge to the Sintra to help keep rows straight?

Are you just using hand pressure for the vertical lines, or do you smack it with a hammer?

Bruce Chandler said:

Ray, looking even better.

How many passes with your tool do you make for each row of bricks?

Do you clamp a straight edge to the Sintra to help keep rows straight?

Are you just using hand pressure for the vertical lines, or do you smack it with a hammer?

On the horizontal lines I usually do at least 2-3 passes. I use a metal ruler to help keep the lines straight, but it’s not clamped down or anything. I set one blade of the tool into the previous line to get the spacing correct, and put the ruler against it. Check both ends of the line to make sure the ruler is positioned properly.

The short vertical lines are just pressed in by hand. The blade of the tool is just slightly narrower than the distance between the two rows, including the width of the horizontal lines, so I press it down in the center, then again at each end of the short line. If necessary I go over it a couple times.