Damm Ray, Even your seep springs look real, Until it stops… A small pipe coming out of the hill, to a water trough with a bathing miner in red long johns.
Yikes Ray,
hope like heck everything stays put. That is scary
They finally got someone out to fix the leak yesterday, and now everything is drying out.
No landslides or sink holes I take it?
We do not want one of these in the middle of the In-KO-PA RR
I finally got a little modeling time the past few days, and the depot is progressing nicely…
Adding the blocks to the pillars was kind of tedious due to the need for custom fitting many of the blocks:
After I finished the pillars, then I installed blocks on the south side of the depot:
With the blocks finished, I could finally put the roof on over the waiting area. I started by gluing styrene strips on the inside of the north and south walls. These were sloped just slightly towards the end, for drainage purposes:
The roof was cut from 4mm Sintra sheet, and styrene rafters were added:
Then the roof was glued in place. I added short strips of styrene between the rafters, at each end:
The terra cotta tile floor was made to look less perfect, and more natural, by carving cracks, pressing in irregularities, etc:
I also finished adding the capstones along the tops of the walls. These were mostly made of 2mm thick Sintra strips which were scribed, then bent to fit and glued in place:
I added a few other details too, such as the rafter “tails” under the eaves, and support beams under the balconies. Here’s how it all looks so far:
I installed two styrene tubes to drain the flat roof over the waiting area:
The foundation on the south side needs some work. Some parts aren’t level with the floor of the depot, and there is a large crack that needs to be filled with mortar:
At the west end, I need to extend the foundation to create a sidewalk around the end of the depot:
I’m using some large, fancy brass buttons to represent decorative concrete castings on the depot:
Here’s one with a quick coat of concrete color paint, just to get an idea of how it will look:
I was going to work on the Spanish tiles for the roof next, but I want to try casting them in resin and my mold compound has gone bad, so I have to wait to order some more. In the meantime I’ll work on making the doors and windows. I still need to make the interior details too.
Beautiful work, as usual.
Do you work from a sketch or do you wing it as you go?
Happy New Years.
John
WOW !! Impressive…
I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen that depot out somewhere south of 29 Palms.
BTW: You have a really good supplier of casting stuff in SD, AeroMarine Products. You could just drop over and pick up what you need and not pay shipping.
John Caughey said:
Beautiful work, as usual.
Do you work from a sketch or do you wing it as you go?
Happy New Years.
John
Thanks John. I do a little of both. I usually start with a very rough sketch and then work out the details as I go. On more complex structures I may do a bit more work on the design before starting the model. For this depot, I originally created a rendering using an old 3D modeling and rendering program several years ago, then set it aside because I didn’t think it should be my first structure. When I came back to it this year, I played around with some rough drawings just to get a feel for the dimensions, and then I made a crude mockup.
DA-AM! That is nice, it looks real.
Thanks for the comments, everyone!
I got a little work done making doors and windows. On the freight doors, I started by scribing planks and wood grain onto pieces of 4mm Sintra:
The trim was built up using styrene strips. Here’s one of the finished freight doors temporarily installed on the building:
Next I made the small windows for the west wall of the baggage/freight room:
The windows for the main part of the depot are a bit more involved. My standard method simulates the appearance of a sash window, but uses a single piece of glass. I start by putting together the frame that fits into the opening, then add the “bottom” layer made from wider strips. The sash details are then added:
And here is one of the finished windows, temporarily installed:
Ray
That thing is screaming Damask wallpapers with a frieze and dado on the wall and picture rail with cornice moldings
ON the inside that is
It is? I don’t hear anything…
David Maynard said:
It is? I don’t hear anything…
What you have to realize is that Rooster hears things that all of us normal people don’t…(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Ken, who are you calling “normal”? I am not normal, and I hear things too.
David Maynard said:
Ken, who are you calling “normal”? I am not normal, and I hear things too.
Well, then, let me introduce you to Rooster. Dave, this is Rooster, Rooster, this is Dave…(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Ray, Simply fantastic workmanship… Beautiful building, as are your others…
Knowing Ray, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Got a little more done…
The doors were built up from styrene strips, in much the same way as the windows:
Here’s one of the doors temporarily installed on the building. I haven’t added the doorknob yet:
I added the structural components for the bay window:
The window frames were built separately. Here they are temporarily installed:
The silicone molding compound I ordered arrived yesterday, so it looks like I’ll start work on the Spanish tiles next.
The next stage of the project was a bit of an adventure…
I made some Spanish tiles using 7/16" (.438") diameter styrene tubes. I marked lines on the tube lengthwise, dividing it evenly into thirds. Then I scored these lines with a sharp hobby knife. I used the extruded aluminum rail on our patio door as a guide to draw and score the lines. Then I cut the tube into 3/4" segments:
After sanding the ends of the segments, I snapped them apart along the scored lines. This gave me three tiles per segment, each about 3/8" wide:
Next I sanded the edges to a slight taper, making them narrower at one end:
Now, I could have just gone ahead and made all of them like this. However, I wanted to try making a mold and casting them in resin. Although the shape is simple enough for a one-piece mold, the tiles are so thin that it’s not possible to pour the resin in and get all the air out. So I would try using a two-piece mold.
I built a small box which is held together with screws. Most of the box was made from 6mm Sintra. Only the top piece is styrene:
The tiles were glued to the inner side of the styrene top, using a solvent:
To make the first half of the mold, I had to fill half the box with sulfur-free, plasticine clay. I held a piece of Sintra against the tiles to support them while I pressed the clay around them. I had set the clay in front of our small, electric space heater for a few minutes so it would be soft and supple:
Then I used the blade of a small screwdriver to press tiny bits of clay into the gaps and smooth it around the tiles:
The styrene top was secured on the box, with one side open. Then I finished filling the box halfway with the clay, again using the screwdriver blade to smooth it:
I used the end of a paintbrush handle to press small dimples into the clay. These will form “keys” in the silicone to aid in aligning the two halves of the mold:
I taped the corners of the box to prevent any possible leaks, then filled the box with silicone molding compound. (The brand I use is Oomoo 30.)
After the silicone had set, I removed the bottom and one side of the box so I could access the clay. The clay easily pulls away from the mold, especially if it’s not warm:
I cleaned out all bits of remaining clay, then replaced the bottom piece of the box. Next I brushed petroleum jelly onto the silicone, thinning it a little with paint thinner. It’s very important to cover the silicone completely to prevent the two halves becoming one. Then I poured in the second layer of silicone and let it set:
After the silicone had set, I disassembled the box and pulled apart the two halves of the mold. These were coated with a mold release spray that I bought at Michael’s (craft store). The spray was allowed to dry:
The resin was dribbled into one half of the open mold. The mold was then closed and quickly set upright. I used two bricks to keep the halves of the mold pressed together. Extra resin was poured over the top to replace any that leaked out. This method worked, but it’s very messy and wasteful, getting resin all over everything. It also required a few tries to get the best results. After an evening of making castings, I had about 80 useable tiles.
The cast tiles had a lot of flash that had to be sanded off, as seen on the left and middle tiles in this photo:
Here are several tiles after sanding:
Sadly, I came to the conclusion that although the tiles could successfully be cast, the process was too slow and labor intensive. I can make them individually from styrene tubes just as quickly, if not quicker, and with a lot less mess and waste. Which is a real shame, because that two-part mold sure turned out nice. But at least it provides a good “step-by-step” on the mold-making process.