Retaining walls

"Eddie Bray" wrote in news:77LGf.286163$ snipped-for-privacy@fe3.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

SuperQuick(*) "Brick paper" (they do stone as well) 10' x 6" should only be a few quid ... or if you've got a colour printer print out your own.

A tip to give stone effect/brick paper texture is to place it face up over rough sandpaper and rub it so the texture of the sandpaper imprints itself on the paper.

Put it on over a base of thick card, plywood, hardboard or similar makes a very stong and inexpensive wall. (Hardboard from my local shop comes out at

98p for a 4'x2' sheet)

(*) Mail order from Mainly Trains or even from over the counter at your local shop. Other firms also do similar products but I'm a traditionalist :-)

Is there by any chance a web site with nice sample images of masonry for download? Of course I could Google for 'brickwork' images, but is there a specialist site?

John

"John Rampling" wrote in news:XVMGf.35576$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net:

Not that I'm aware of, it's just a case of looking around and if you see it grab it and put it through an art program (say Paint Shop Pro) to get the scaling right and away you go.

Ought to add, a lot of images on the web are pubic domain and you're free to use them as you like, however many more are the property of someone (copyright). If you are going to use an image grabbed from teh web it's good practice to write to the webamster of the site asking for permission before hand (unless there's a clear notice to "help yourself") - not that he'd ever know, but good manners being what they are.

Thanks for your reply,

I have ended up purchasing some retaining wall kits over the internet from

which was recommended on RMWEB where I asked the same question.

You print out what you need after purchasing the templates. Looks pretty good so far. Range of materials covered different coloured brick, stone and concrete.

Whilst investigating the same subject i discovered a large section in Google. There is a pay site but also a free site with lots of choice.

Peter A

The Linka moulds are pretty good for such things and give a realistic effect. It'd be a lot of work though, the moulded squares are only 1.25 inch square. The moulds aren't always very cheap either at between £2 and£6 each depending on where you source them.

Ivor

"Eddie Bray" wrote in news:8vNGf.287604$ snipped-for-privacy@fe3.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

...

I've just tried downloading thier freebie waiting shelter, first time I got a "This is not a valid archive" and the second time acrobat reported that it couldn't decrypt the file ...

... could be my system and software ... it's old, old I tell you but I'm not inspired by confidence.

Shame I looked at their "bog standard" brick papers for scratch building and I'm quite attracted to a couple of the patterns.

Eddie,

With such a large area to do, I wouldn't bother with any kits, paper or Linka. Kits/plastic sheets will always have joins which you will find hard to hide and are usually very monotonous in appearance. Butresses will be a problem. Paper, well, looks like paper, looks unreallistic, has no texture and can buble over long periods of time. Linka would be too much like hard work, although I do use it in small areas myself. My advice to you would be to build your walls in the same way I built my viaduct. See the pictures at the bottom of:

The method is to use a 3mm plywood structure coated with plaster and scribed with a mini-countersink on a drill when the plaster is about 2 days old and not fully hardened. The scribing is a time consuming process, but the rest of the method is very quick for large areas and doesn't suffer joins. Paint is with water colour, so the stoner effect looks almost natural and you get a very reallistic texture. Above all, it is a very cheap method!

See

for a picture of the viaduct today. The home page of the MROL website shows the viaduct. There are more pictures in the magazine which you can download.

If you need any more information, just ask.

Graham Plowman

Eddie Bray wrote:

Hi Chris,

I had no trouble downloading either the walls or the shelter, if you email me direct (remove the ??? from the supplied address), I will forward the shelter on to you.

Eddie.

Not bad at all. I've just bought a couple. Of course, you need to factor-in the cost of ink in your printer. Also, be aware that some ink-jet print is prone to fade in sunlight (not a problem in my loft!).

Still, the PDFs I have just downloaded are very nice, with a photo-realistic look about them.

The retaining wall kit looks particularly good, with walls, capping and even a grafiti bit.

I'll try building one tonight, but the instructions look very clear and professional.

Adrian

Don't thank me. Eddy Bray posted it, but I'm well impressed too. I built the retaining wall this weekend and very nice it looks too. I've printed off another set, so I;ll attempt a curved section now...

I'll keep an eye out for the promised new kits too...

Adrian

All too true, but scarcely relevant to model railways :-)

Andy

It would be nice, but I cant see an option of engineers blue brick, or better still, a weathered version. Have I missed something?

Fiddle with the colour balance?

In message , Andrew writes

Where did you buy the latex (and plaster) from? I want to do something similar for rock structures on the HO American layout I'm building.

In message , Mike Hughes writes

I do a lot of casting and purchase all of my latex [there are various forms and bulking agents etc.] from Magnacraft Midhurst - on the web as

For casting plaster or stone try Hobby Craft Ltd Handicraft House Notley Road Braintree Essex 01376 347000 and they will either supply direct or steer you toward your nearest local supplier. Three kilo of fine stone cast will cost about a fiver. It will do a hell of a lot of walling.

I have recently discovered when using fine stone cast that play dough makes superb open style or trough moulds and can be used over and over again. I had to replace the small persons supply with new but it was well worth it :0)

An excellent use for 'spare' latex is to cover twisted wire formers to make decent tree structures etc.

Cheers.

Saw this similar technique in a modelling book from the library, don't know the title:

Raid the small persons Lego tub (or even your own!) for a largish flat baseplate.

Build a small, 1 brick high wall around the edge of the base, or to suit size of wall being moulded.

Line the bottom with Plasticene and smooth/level out. The brick edge gives a nice sharp edge to the moulded item.

Use a small tool (shaped from wood, styrene, old tooh brush handle, etc) to make the impression of bricks in the Plasticene.

Pour in your moulding plaster.

Wait for it to set.

Hey Presto!

With imagination you can mould all sorts of textures such as paving slabs or roof tiles. Lay extra bricks or blocks of wood, etc in before the Plasticene to make door or window openings.

You could use your first one as a master for a latex mould

MBQ

"Roy" > I do a lot of casting and purchase all of my latex [there are various

Excellent.

Do you mind expanding on which product to use? There appear to be several on the

site. and i'm not sure which mould, final positive and release agents i need.

I have in mind 3 applications (and have had for some time but haven't yet found a how-to on the web nor a model shop seller - lots of bulk commercial ones.).

1 A cast of Thomas's face and hang faces on some of my non thmas applications for Thos Days. I tried it in DAS negative but it shrunk and distorted.

2 Stone walls. About an inch high. 20ft. Some curved. Edges of the board to keep the kids from knocking the trains as they go between rooms and close to edges. Happy to make in DAS positive for a foot or so. But then a wooden box; latex mould and turn them out by the foot?

3 Church windows. The big things with arches and filigree? I thought to make one in DAS or carved plastic strip, Latex mould and then make copies in glass fibre (boat building? - got some in the shed) resin.

Oh - and it quite appeals to do stone embankments using Wills sheets...... The big slaters sheets aren't knobbly enough.

I have seen the feature on that Garden Railway Sky Discovery Xtra series where he showed the lady making (a tower was it?) in plasticene, commercial latex mould and then resin - and also read the article in the 1960s Model Rail Constructor annual showing making interlocking moulds (somehwat akin to the linka things) for garden and field walls.

Thanks for you help

Ken