a street track project

[michael mott]

Volker Thanks for your feedback, overall I think that you have nailed the thoughts that I have been having regarding the grain. The wood setts are first cut to the cross section on the table saw, then the only sane and safe way to cut them into the 6 inch high blocks is to use a small mitre-box.



The top surface is the straight cut surface, I have been locking up 32 at a time to sand the bottom to ensure that they are level but not so level to appear that they have been sanded



I will keep the ones I have already made as a batch of heavily weathered ones, typically these were replaced every 4-5 years in some locations. the Photograph showing the real tiles that still exist in London show a mix of smooth (most) with some heavy grain erosion on a few. The next batches, and realistically most of them I will add the sanding step and re-dye them I am also going to vary the dilution just a little to create a very soft variation in colour. I have looked at some photographs of some setts that have weathered to a more brown colour.

According to some of the old advertisements some of the wood used was Jarrah from Australia, in North America Fir was also used, which is what I am using, The key is to use very fine grained wood. Because of the porosity of the grain I have not left the blocks long in the Tamiya solution, if I leave them longer the solution with penetrate deeper into the wood which might be an advantage. I might also try some diluted India ink with alcohol. I am Working in small batches of a hundred or so at a time setting them up on top of the stove to dry. The next batch I will sand before setting them into the colorant  The setts varied in size the ones listed on one of the historic drawings list them as 3 x 6 1/4 x 7 the blocks I have are 4 x 6 x6 high, the height is determined by the hieght of the rail.  I had originally stated that the scale was 1:22.6. I changed that to 1:24 and have chosen the full gauge of 4 foot 8 1/2 inches for the width between the rails which turns out to be 2.354" exactly. 2 1/2" gauge would be used for a practical operational running track. Obviously there are compromises when building models I am OK with the ones I have made.

I also want to add a section of the roadway that has been replaced with stone cobbles. I have been contemplating how to make these and what materials to make them from to realistically represent Granite, without trying to cut the real stuff which would most certainly send me off the the institution for those who have lost it.

I have thought about Corian and putting the blocks into a tumbler, also casting some cement fondue blocks and tumbling them. to create this effect shown in a link to the Manchester Corporate tramways on Wikipedia

 

I do not want to cast a slab and carve them but rather lay them in the same way as the wooden setts.

Bill thanks for looking in and your thoughts.

Michael    



 

[Lawton Maner]

At one time many American factory floors were made from wooden tile like the cobblestones represented here.  The mail post office in Richmond, Virginia had a floor made from end grain maple blocks which resisted the attempt at destruction caused by lift trucks and steel wheeled mail trailers.

In aside note, Michael: I thought this forum was where people went once their modeling caused them to loose their sanity.

[michael mott]

Lawton interesting note about the post office. It would no doubt have been a lot quieter than concrete as well.

A question for the experts out there, has anyone tried to use baked Sculpy for hard polished stone?

I am thinking that a form of squeeze mould might work to make cobbles out of a colored Sculpy mix then bake them. Once they are glued they could be polished or clear coated before adding the grout mix.

Michael

[Barney]

Very inspiring and different
Barney

[michael mott]

Thanks Barney, I have added some setts now that have been sanded on the top surface. so fare there are 360 setts only a few thousand more to go. the third shot clearly shows the difference between the un-sanded and the sanded setts.

Mike

[michael mott]

this morning I rolled out a sheet of Sculpy that is a mixed grayish color, then using a #11 xacto blade cut it into some 1/4 inch wide strips. I rounded the top a little with some rough card by lightly rolling back and forth over the top edge. then using the same #11 blade chopped the strip into approx 3 inch (scale ) loaves off the end of the strip, I am now waiting for my wife to pull the muffins out of the oven so that I can use the residual heat to bake the Sculpy then I will see how they stack up as cobbles. if this works i will do a S.B.S of the entire process.

Mike

[michael mott]

I think that this method has definite potential



The raw loaves of the Sculpy sliced off the long strip.



After they were baked



a quick study on how they will lay up I am encouraged by the visual variation that will be achieved by the subtle variations in the cut blocks.



I will be doing more experiments with the Scuply to determine the right color mix and sizes.

Michael 

[michael mott]

I am still working out the best way to make the blocks here are some more but are a little too rounded for this application



These are some that are less rounded and glued down to see how well they polish up, after sprinkling some Rembrandt chalks they were polished with some leather.



Once the way of making the blocks is finalized I think that they will work quite well by mixing the colour in batches there will be very subtle variation in color on the polished surfaces.

Michael

[finescalerr]

They look very good ... and they should given all the work you have done. -- Russ

[Peter_T1958]

Hi Michael,

What a fascinating thread and subject per se. Many thanks also for the link to London's Forgotten Australian Timber Roads.
Your approach to the wooden cobblestone is very good indeed, and the sanding makes the result even better. Nice idea of using Sculpty for stone cobbles. Once, I have to try that myself.
However, in my humble opinion, your first quick study looks much better to me, because they don't look as uniformly as in the following trials.

Looking forward to your next post!
Peter


P.S. I can well remember your marvelous Kingfisher cutter. Did you finish it or ... I missed something?

[Hydrostat]

Hi Michael,

Your approach to the wooden cobblestone is very good indeed, and the sanding makes the result even better. [...] However, in my humble opinion, your first quick study looks much better to me, because they don't look as uniformly as in the following trials.

I'm completely with Peter. Well, now that I'm already in the corner I feel free to write this: The latest version of the cobblestones reminds me of a special kind of german bread: Kommissbrot  . It's been developed pre WWI for military purposes. During the baking process it's cobbled indeed which results in the typical appearance. It's tasty - as long as they don't use saw dust like they did in WWI when grain was becoming scarce.

I think the shape is to even and the edges are to much rounded. As convincing the wooden parts are, the stones don't work too good. For the "A glimpse of the Plettenberger Kleinbahn" project I made some trials with wood putty mixed with black pigments and some stone dust/sand. The putty gives a rather smooth surface. I have another approach because I think it is not necessary to use single stones. I emboss the putty with a joints shaped punch (a putty layer of 4 or 5 mm is sufficient). To achieve a somewhat rounded surface (indeed I feel that most cobblestones are not too much rounded) a piece of clingfilm between putty and punch brings good results, but even the punch itself leads to minimal rounded stones. A combination of both kinds of embossment and some reworking with a stiff brush and a screwdriver or even with a stone's surface (I didn't try it, but Ray's approach with the stone walls is very inspiring) may lead to a not to monotonous result. Unfortunately I didn't document my trials so this is some kind of fishing in troubled water . Maybe one can even split the stones after the process to have single stones; don't know if that works.

Another point about the switch blade: All the rails seem to be of nickle silver, but the blade and the joint/button are of brass. As long as this is not going to be a functional model of course you may color it, but if so: Maybe you can add a layer of nickle silver to the accordingly milled top of the blade and the joint to have the same appearance as the rails? Tinning the remaining brass parts may add to this.

Great project!

Cheers,
Volker

[michael mott]

Peter thanks for your considered positive comments.

your first quick study looks much better to me, because they don't look as uniformly as in the following trials.

I do agree with you on this score,
The abandoned Manchester track picture that I posted is the type of look that I want to achieve.

Volker thanks for your knowledgeable and critical comments.

I think the shape is to even and the edges are to much rounded.

Yes I agree with you, again going back to the Manchester tracks I am struck by the uneven though polished surfaces of the stones.

I think it is not necessary to use single stones.

True, and it would be much faster. At this point I am feeling a bit like a dog with a bone and will continue with my pursuit of being able to generate the right look with individual stones. The very subtle randomness that can come from this approach is one of my goals.

As long as this is not going to be a functional model of course you may color it,

My intention is to colour them, although I have considered using steel in order to get some uniform rust colours, your own work with the tracks for the bridgework almost caused me to just give up and go sit in the corner and take up knitting.

Maybe you can add a layer of nickle silver to the accordingly milled top of the blade and the joint to have the same appearance as the rails?

I will be getting back to the rails and will be ensuring that they are consistent in appearance.

Again thank you both for your good critical feedback.

Michael
   

[michael mott]

continuing with the process of making individual blocks, I have texture the surfaces of the blocks when they were still in a strip form with first a roller that was made by indenting it by rolling a wooden dowel onto rough concrete under pressure. this caused the surface to have some protrusions. this was then impressed with some worn out 60 grit sandpaper which created indents in the surface of the strips.
The strips were then cut into setts with a #11 blade.



After the glue had set I buffed the surface with some soft leather and again using chalks to fill the gaps.



The surface although better is still missing the subtle polish that many of the photographs of real cobbled streets have, including the Manchester one. so I buffed the surface with some 1200 grit wet and dry sandpaper then rebuffed with the leather and dusted and rebuffed.



Now I feel that I am getting somewhere.

Michael

[Hydrostat]

Michael,

this is an imressive improvement, looks like you nailed it. About the polish: You may try graphite powder as last step, but prior to chalking the joints.

I always asked myself when the polished appearance of the cobblestones commenced. I think this is a rather newer phenomenon resulting from car tires, but the steel tires of horse drawn carriages and horseshoes may have caused the wear at the stones' surface, but back then the stones might have looked rather a bit dulled from the remaining dust.

I think it is not necessary to use single stones.

True, and it would be much faster. At this point I am feeling a bit like a dog with a bone and will continue with my pursuit of being able to generate the right look with individual stones. The very subtle randomness that can come from this approach is one of my goals.

The result speaks for itself.

As long as this is not going to be a functional model of course you may color it,

My intention is to colour them, although I have considered using steel in order to get some uniform rust colours, your own work with the tracks for the bridgework almost caused me to just give up and go sit in the corner and take up knitting.

Come on. I didn't fabricate the steel tracks by myself. I was lucky to find someone who was willing and able to mill them for me. I would be happy if I had the technical possibilities and your manual skills. For the uniform rust colours you may use rust powder from fresh rusted steel to give it a final touch after burnishing. This works quite good. Otherwise - your knitting might have been of some interest, too  .

Cheers,
Volker

[Bill Gill]

Michael, your latest paving stones are definitely better than the first test 'german bread' variety. The texture and slight polishing and coloring are very good! I hesitate to comment, but since you have chosen to create and lay individual stones instead of embossing a pattern, (a most honorable decision) the stones themselves still have a very uniform overall shape compared to photos. The photos of streets in different countries reveal difference in how the stones are shaped and laid, but the individual stones themselves are a bit more irregular in shape along all sides. They have small, but noticeable protrusions and indentations and even slight variations in overall size where yours are more uniform and have pretty straight lines along the long sides.

http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/d6687edd181e464fbb64984c821c7a39/old-cobblestoned-street-with-historic-train-tracks-showing-in-the-s000kx.jpg

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-cobblestoned-street-prague-czech-republic-8123239.html

http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/454618/102863369/stock-photo-cobblestone-street-wood-102863369.jpg

http://theweeklynabe.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_2355.jpg

http://www.123rf.com/photo_10554553_cobble-stone-road-pattern-from-prague.html

I added so many links because I am very hesitant to appear to be any kind of authority on this topic. Different stone, different times, different workers make it impossible to say there are not many places with stones like you have. I hope that is not overstepping. I would be thrilled to have created what you have.