A snapshot in time. A glimpse of the Plettenberger Kleinbahn in 1/22.5 scale.

[Barney]

Excellent bit of modelling -superb detail for those day to day objects and its different !
Barney

[Hydrostat]

Thanks, Helmut and Barney.

I had shown those master forms for rail joiners before:



Meanwhile the brass castings arrived. The joints for grooved rail have a quite smooth surface,



but the ones for flat bottom rail came out very rough.



But it seems to work well. It's only a test assembly; I wanted to see what it's looking like when mounted.





The joints are burnished with Gravoxide. This results in a blackish / brownish /blueish dull surface. I used water color by Carand'Ache for the rust stains. I really would like to get this color effect with acrylics at some parts of the rails and ties, but didn't get it till now. Marc Reusser e. g. has brought that to perfection.

The master forms are made of FUD by shapeways. I've chosen a provider who uses rubber molds. So the master forms had to be scaled up for 4% according to the shrinking of the rubber. Obviously there's a reaction with the FUD during the vulcanizing process resulting in the uneven surface. In this case it's a very nice result. Unfortunately it's not predictable, as you can see at the more even joints for grooved rail.

So the "right" way using 3D-technology to create master forms for brass casting seems to be wax printing and lost wax casting to get the master form. Did anyone make similar experiences with silicone molds?

Cheers,
Volker

[marc_reusser]

Those covers, panels and grates are fantastic!  What a great selection and variety of detail. Thank you for the photos and SBS on the process and your experience.

I would so buy several of each in 1/24 and 1/35 ...heck...I am sure the 122.5 would be just fine for 1/24 and 1/20......especially considering that I would be using them out of context anyhow....and nobody but you would know what they are and how big.

If you and Dave decide to make some sets, consider me first in line to purchase some.

[lab-dad]

I think the rough texture really lends itself to the final result.
Just looks the part!

Put me on a list for some of the grooved rail joiners (if there ever is one!)

-Marty

[Ray Dunakin]

That looks incredible!

[Chuck Doan]

Thanks for the info on the process. I think it is looking very good. I need to hook up with a caster.

[finescalerr]

The project is a success and your test assembly looks very good. Your point about the reaction between FUD and rubber is critical. This has been extremely educational. -- Russ

[Hydrostat]

I first thought that the parts were badly sand blasted, but this isn't the reason, as you can see here. This is the mold for a kind of fishplate that was too thin for casting. For the mold it was important to insert a piece of rail, the foot of which you can clearly recognize. This mold is for the wax parts for the lost wax casting.



One can clearly see, that the 'FUD parts' of the resulting casting are rough and the 'metal part' is smooth. So this can't be the result of sand blasting. It's no problem of the wax, too: The mold shows the roughness at the FUD contact areas. Unfortunately the pic doesn't.





Thanks, Marc, Marty, Ray, Chuck and Russ!


Cheers,
Volker

[Hydrostat]

The first drainage for grooved rail found it's place. I glued the cardboard item with CA to two vertical card stripes to achieve a look inside through the openings (I've seen I have to blacken the substructure even more). And I added two distance stripes towards the rails: The prototype was used with grooved rail for street cars and grooved rail for Railways, which is a bit wider than this one.



The rails got their drain openings, too.



Cheers,
Volker

[Ray Dunakin]

Beautiful! I really like those drainage covers.

[Hydrostat]

Thanks, Ray.

Some time ago I'd got a shipment by Helmut, whom I'd asked to mill the parts for the gauge bars.

What I got were the completely soldered and blackened items! Thank you very much, Helmut!





Some test mounting



including the drainage.



At least the drainage is built by myself from an etched part and cardboard. This will be completely visible including the pipe because it's positioned in the middle of the bridge. I think they did that to avoid ice building up in the grooves in winter time.

Cheers,
Volker

[Hydrostat]

Here you can see how it's done: The drainage has several layers of cardboard. I printed the outlines to self adhesive paper, glued that to cardboard and cut it out. The mounted layers are sealed with CA and then filed to shape.



The nickel silver cover is mounted with CA. The tube is a ballon stick.





Cheers,
Volker

[artizen]

Even a humble drain gets the artist touch!

Nice.

[nk]

You have really captured the textures of the materials manufactured in each specific way. I really like the rough sand texture used in the lost wax casting. Excellent construction on these rails, really excellent.

[Barney]

Absolutely superb in every way a work of art !
Barney